Study in Matthew’s Gospel

1. Study in Matthew’s Gospel Presentation 32

2. Sermon On The Mount False Prophets Chap 7v15-23 Presentation 32

3. Introduction Some time ago an essay appeared in the Glasgow Herald entitled ‘Redefining God’. It argued that since society has freed itself from the moral inhibitions produced by the 10 commandments and since so many of the claims found in the New Testament, including the miraculous nature of the virgin birth, the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, are unacceptable to the highly tuned intellects of our day, what we need to discover is a God of our time, a new God. The essayist then went on to unveil his new god and that god was none other than the values of secular humanism. The writer had merely produced god in his own image, someone he could live comfortably with. This kind of thinking sets off alarm bells that spell out danger. Presentation 32

4. The Reality Of The Danger Throughout the course of human history there have been men who have seen dangers where they did not exist. Those who have not taken to heart the lesson of the little boy who called ‘wolf’. Paranoids like General McCarthy who have seen danger lurking in every shadow or in his case ‘reds under every bed’. But Jesus was no alarmist! He would never have given this warning about false teachers if he did not believe that they presented a very real danger. His were never exaggerated claims or hollow warnings. He knew only too well the devastation and destruction that false teachers dragged in their wake. And this is the substance of the passage before us. Presentation 32

5. The Reality Of The Danger Why was the danger which Jesus describes in these verses so real? Quite simply because it came from a direction where it was least expected. The church as she mounts her battlements of expects attacks to come from the outside. From a world that is opposed to God and his values. We can so train ourselves to scan the horizon as we look out for danger that we do not see it creeping up behind us.. Presentation 32

6. The Reality Of The Danger Jesus’ illustration of the sheep in wolves clothing is very graphic. His hearers were well aware of the danger that wolves presented to their flocks. The shepherds among them knew the importance of looking out for the very distinctive shape of the wolf. What they did not expect was a wolf that had zipped itself into a sheepskin in order to subtly infiltrate the flock in order to do untold damage. The idea seems so ludicrous. But we are always at our most vulnerable when we are positive that we know the only direction from which an attack could come. Presentation 32

7. The Reality Of The Danger If you are familiar with the history of the second world war then you will know the reason for the collapse of Singapore the most impregnable navel base in the British empire. In 1942 the base was overrun and I quote by ‘a band of little yellow men on bicycles’. Her powerful 15” guns were facing out to sea from where the expected the attack to come. Jesus’ point, quite simply, is that false prophets are of great danger to the church because they attack and seek to undermine it from within. Presentation 32

8. The Reality Of The Danger Jesus was only too well aware that throughout the church’s history false prophets had infiltrated the church and misled God’s people. Jeremiah the prophet called of God to minister to his people discovered that the message God gave him to preach was being contradicted by other so called prophets. “Don’t listen to Jeremiah, He’s been out in the sun too long. He really should be locked up for his own good. He’s become a bit of an extremist. Now the religious leaders of Jesus’ day discouraged the people from listening to him. They taught contradictory things. Teaching that would have a detrimental effect and disastrous consequences. They were well described by Jesus as ‘blind leaders of the blind’. Presentation 32

9. The Reality Of The Danger Invariably such false teachers attack the very foundation of the faith and because of their status and rank within the church they are often believed. You may know that John Wesley and George Whitefield were greatly used of God in the C18th Religious Awakening on both sides of the Atlantic. It was an age of great godlessness and depravity and these men took the message of the gospel to the people and gathered great crowds in the open air preaching upon the necessity of being born again. There greatest opposition however did not come from those outside the church but from those within, ‘Don’t listen to these enthusiasts’, they said, ‘don’t be disturbed by them. You are fine the way you are. You are religious enough. Do not let them turn your heads.’ These too are the false teachers of which Jesus spoke. Presentation 32

10. The Reality Of The Danger And they are with us still today. They seek to undermine our confidence in God’s word. They attempt to devalue the atoning work of Jesus upon the cross. One of the most recent offerings has appeared in an essay in the Glasgow Herald.... These things should disturb and anger us but they should not surprise us and take our breath away. Jesus warns us to expect danger from within the community of professing believers for only then can we contend for the faith. Presentation 32

11. The False Prophet’s Deceptiveness Not only is the danger of false teaching a real and present danger but those who purvey it are dangerous because of their ability to disguise their true identity. In Jesus’ illustration the cunning wolf has disguised himself in order to gain credibility with the flock he is mixing with. They are not aware of being under attack. You will know that during conventional warfare, if a soldier is dropped behind enemy lines out of uniform, and captured he is shot. I understand that the reason for this severe penalty is that the enemy soldier is considered to have taken an unfair advantage of his opponents. He cannot be recognised for what he is and therefore there is no opportunity to put up resistance. His disguise enables him to quickly overwhelm his target. Now says Jesus it is the deceptive quality of the false prophet’s disguise that makes them such a danger to the flock. Presentation 32

12. The False Prophet’s Deceptiveness The false prophet will not advertise himself as a communicator of error. He does not hold up a banner that reads, ‘I specialise in heresies that are guaranteed to deceive’. He will claim to teach the truth while hiding behind a cloak of Christian piety hoping that this disguise will prevent detection. The real danger to the church does not come from those who are obviously heretical. If a preacher were to claim that Jesus was really a spaceman and that the only way to get to heaven was to deposit all of your life savings in his personal numbered bank account in Switzerland, I think it is fair to say that we might be reasonably suspicious. The real danger comes from the person who can give the appearance of being orthodox and who is likeable and sincere. Presentation 32

13. The False Prophet’s Deceptiveness The dangerous false prophets in Jeremiah’s day, and of Jesus day and the churchmen opposed to the C18th religious awakening and those of our own day have a singular characteristic in common. They all claim to be orthodox. I once spoke to someone who sat spellbound through a sermon and for months raved about it. The preacher had been a great communicator and a very able academic. But the content of his preaching subtly undermined the whole fabric of the Christian gospel. Jesus is encouraging us here to use our critical faculties and not to be dazzled by a person’s outward clothing, charm, learning, or ecclesiastical honours, for these things do not guarantee authenticity. Presentation 32

14. The Test Of Genuineness How are we supposed to tell if a person is a false teacher or not? Jesus provides us with a test in vs16 and 20... ‘you will know them by their fruit.’ A tree cannot disguise the character of its fruit. The process of producing fruit may take some time but when that first bit is taken its true character is revealed. What then is the fruit we are to look for in the life of the Christian communicator? It is found in both the content of a person’s teaching and the character of a person’s life. Presentation 32

15. The Test Of Genuineness It seems to me no accident that J’ teaching on false teachers follows immediately upon his teaching about the narrow gate. The favourite preaching pitch of the false teacher is outside the narrow gate. He not only muddles and distorts the gospel making it difficult for his hearers to find the narrow gate, but those who have been directed towards it from elsewhere he actively discourages from entering. Presentation 32

16. The Test Of Genuineness It is precisely this danger that Bunyan illustrates in Pilgrim’s Progress. As Pilgrim travels towards the narrow gate he is met by a false prophet called Mr Worldly Wise Man, who persuades pilgrim that the narrow gate would take him on a dangerous, difficult and unrewarding journey. He tells him he should instead go to a town called Morality and to a teacher called Legality. There he would learn that he did not need a Saviour but learn all he needed to do was to try hard and to be on his best behaviour. Thankfully Pilgrim was not deflected for long. Now I have had people come and tell me that professing ministers of the gospel have given them similar directions. Presentation 32

17. The Test Of Genuineness The false prophet will sometimes teach that the narrow gate is really much broader than Jesus implies and that there is no real cost involved in Christian discipleship. Some openly contradict Jesus’ teaching and that the broad road does not really lead to destruction, that all roads lead to heaven. But it is important for us to recognised that the false prophet can also be recognised not only by the content of what he says but also by what he does not say. His preaching may not contain obvious error but there are often things which he skips. He will not mention that sinful mankind stands guilty before a holy God. He will not attempt to persuade his hearers of the danger of standing under the judgement of God and of their great need of salvation. Presentation 32

18. The Test Of Genuineness He will not point to the narrow gate where men have to humble themselves in order to seek God’s forgiveness and where we come to a place of trusting Christ alone for salvation. His preaching will be soothing, comforting and comfortable but never disturbing. One writer puts it like this: There is nothing in their preaching which searches the conscience and makes his hearer uneasy, nothing which humbles and causes their hearers to mourn before God; but rather that which puffs up and makes them pleased with themselves and to rest content on a false assurance. Presentation 32

19. The Test Of Genuineness Not only are we required to look into the content of man’s preaching but into the content of his character. Of course we are not looking for perfection. If you are you will be constantly disappointed for every Christian has feet of clay, we all remain flawed this side of eternity. But what we should be looking for is the evidence of God’s Spirit. This fruit which is the product of God’s Spirit cannot be counterfeited. There are such things as counterfeit miracles as v22 indicates and we will deal with that next week, but the fruit of Christian character cannot be counterfeited. The fruit of love, joy, peace, - patience, kindness, goodness, - faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Presentation 32

20. The Test Of Genuineness If you examine the character of false prophets throughout history you will find no evidence of this fruit. Look at the lives of those who tormented Jeremiah- what do you find? There is hatred, envy, jealousy, severity, nothing approaching the fruit of God’s Spirit. Look at the lives of the false teachers opposed to Jesus and what do you find? Hatred, envy, jealousy, severity, legalism, impatience, treachery..... Now it may take some time before a person’s character becomes clear to us. A great deal can be disguised behind a cloak of charm, politeness and a hearty spirit. But when the pressure comes on, in time of crisis, or when they are caught off guard, then their real character will be displayed. Presentation 32

21. Conclusion Someone has said if you are going to place poison on a shelf alongside healing medicines then you had better label it clearly. Jesus is attempting here to label clearly the poison of false teaching that is often placed along side the healing balm of the gospel. He wants his people to be able to identify false teaching and false teachers before any real harm is done. Jesus is no scare monger nor does he want to produce a band of scare mongers. His great concern is that we learn to be vigilant and discerning. The stakes could not be higher. For we are dealing with the eternal destiny of those who may be led astray. Presentation 32