Tag Archives: false prophets

Three Warnings Against Deception

Posted on by
1

From Matthew 7:15-27, Jesus presents to His disciples three pictures with three warnings.

The first picture is of the false prophets who will come to them in sheep’s clothing (verses 15-20). This warning is addressed to Christians to be not deceived by these false prophets (teachers) who will look just like any other Christian teacher.

The second picture is of the judgment day when a professing Christian is surprised that Jesus has rejected him as a Christian and says to him, “I never knew you” (verses 21-23). This warning is addressed to the professing Christian—who is not a Christian at all. The warning is to be not self-deceived into thinking that you are a Christian.

These two (above) scenarios I have already posted, so I won’t write any more on them.

The third picture is of two men who build their houses. The houses look the same, but one is built with a good foundation and the other skips that part (verses 24-27). The warning is addressed again to the professing Christian who is seeking the benefits of salvation without the commitment of salvation. The warning is not to deceive yourself into thinking that salvation needs no commitment to Christ. Here is the teaching:

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. 25 “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. 26 “And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. 27 “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.”

So, in this teaching we have the wise man and the foolish man. And “these words” are referring to Jesus’ entire sermon. And the one who acts upon them will become a Christian and a wise man, and the one who does not act upon them will remain a pagan and a foolish man.

But the thing that is so deceptive in this picture is the fact that the two houses look the same, except for the foundation—which you never see, because it is underground. So, one house will stand and the other will fall. And one man is proved to be wise and the other a fool.

In the illustration, the fool, who is not a Christian at all, is in a hurry to get all the benefits of his house (of salvation), without putting in the work of salvation. The other man is wise. He hears Jesus and responds to His words of truth.

Here are a few more implications about these two men:

  • The two men are both church goers and members.
  • The two men both desire forgiveness and peace; one of them has a genuine forgiveness and peace, the other has a false sense of forgiveness and a false peace—because he is not a true believer.
  • Both men desire to live a good life; but one has a selfish motive, the other desires to glorify God.
  • Both men are highly moral men, but one is not a Christian. He is living a pure life just for himself to put on a good front before others.

Those who say to Him, “Lord, Lord”

Posted on by
1
The narrow way and the broad way

The Bible says that on the judgment day it will be revealed that some who think they are Christians are really not. In the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus said,

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

This may seem to you to be a very strange thing, that some people will be so self-deceived, that they think they are Christians when they are not. How can this happen? How does someone not know that he is not a Christian? How does he or she live so much of a life thinking that they are Christians when they are not?

The only answer is that they haven’t really known what a Christian is. They evidently have allowed false prophets to influence them; and they, at the beginning, entered not at the narrow gate but at the broad gate and went down and lived in the broad way—the way of the world. And all along in their journey, they never at any point got to know the Lord and to be changed by Him. What a tragic deception.

But how is it that they are so deceived?  And also, how is it that true Christians are also deceived into thinking that some false Christians are true Christians? Here are a few reasons why:

  • Knowing Him does not mean saying the right words. It is possible for a person to say all the right words, to have a very holy and righteous speech, and yet not be a Christian. A changed language does not mean that there is a changed heart.
  • Some unbelievers may use Scripture and Scriptural teaching as a kind of philosophy, but they don’t really know Christ or are converted.
  • Some may speak and even preach the Scriptures fervently, but it may be entirely of the flesh and not for the sake of Christ.

The test of course is whether a person has the fruit of the Spirt, and also whether they know Him or not. Do they pray and read their bible regularly? Do they have a growing love relationship with Him?

 

Beware Of the False Prophets; Be Fruit Inspectors

Posted on by
1

Matthew 7:15-16a

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits…”

The most dangerous person is not the one who is a persecutor of Christians, but those who pretend to be Christians but are not. Even more, it is the pagan who seeks to make money as a preacher and to seek out those gullible young Christians to profit off of them. Jesus knows this kind, that will steer people away from the narrow way into the broad way—the way of the world. Hence, he says, Beware of them! Beware of these false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing. You will know them by their fruit.

What is meant here is that the true nature within a person is bound to express itself. It is bound to show up in his teaching and life. That is, what is in the center of the heart (what a man really is) is certain to proclaim itself. So, as a man thinks, so he is and does.

It is D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ opinion that we should discipline ourselves to look carefully for the fruit—in ourselves and in others. Otherwise, why would Jesus insist that we can know them (the false prophets) by their fruit. I think we too often, when we come into a church, just accept the pastor for whatever he says, and believe that he is a good man. I think we should observe carefully to see if he is a true prophet of God or not. And we can do this for everyone—even ourselves. In my reading of Lloyd-Jones sermon on this passage, I collected the following ways to check the fruit in people, especially preachers, to see if they are true Christians or false.

  • Try to identify a person’s motives. If he tries to live a good life for any reason other than for Christ than he is false.
  • The false prophet does not have the character of a true Christian. Their outlook on life is secular, their entire attitude is worldly, and they lack the joy of the Lord.
  • The false prophet does not exemplify the beatitudes: being poor in spirit, mourning over sin, being meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, etc.
  • The false prophet does not have the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, etc.
  • The false prophet does not have the same joyful appearance of a Christian. For what is in the nature of a Christian will show in his whole personality. He has the joy of the Lord that is easily shown on his face. (Of course, if a Christians is not walking in the Spirit, that inner Christian nature will be hard to see.)
  • The true Christian is humble, but the false prophet is full of the pride of life and is full of worldliness.
  • The false prophet, and generally the non-Christian has idle words. When he is off guard (when he is joking with his friends) he may show who he really is; his real ungodly nature comes out.
  • The way in which a preacher preaches is more significant than what he says. If he laughs and jokes about serious things as God’s holiness and the judgment, this will reveal his nature. We give ourselves away by our unguarded actions and words.

Ten Descriptions of a False Prophet

Posted on by
1

Matthew 7:15

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

This verse (and the following few verses) follows directly after where Jesus spoke on entering by the narrow gate and walking along the narrow way (v. 13-14). Hence, what Jesus is suggesting here is that we beware of those who will try to persuade us not to enter at the narrow gate and walk in the narrow way. These are false prophets.

We will now take a closer look at these false prophets, according to what D. Martyn Lloyd Jones has preached on in his Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. In my reading and note taking, I have come up with ten descriptions of the false prophet.

1. They will appear as Christians. They will come to us in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they will be ravenous wolves. Therefore, they will look like good people and no one will suspect anything false from them. They will be nice and pleasant and appear to be Christians. They will use Christian terms and talk about God, and Jesus, and about the cross, and about the love of God, etc.

2. We will know them by their fruit. When we really get to know them, we will discover that their teaching is wrong and also their life (their conduct).

3. We may recognize them by what they do not teach. As far as recognizing the falseness, it is not so much recognized by what they say, but rather by what they do not say. They will tend to leave out or pass over certain important biblical teachings. And they do this in order to not offend you or to be more popular.

4. His teaching is absent from doctrine. His preaching is almost entirely absent from doctrine. He does not like doctrinal preaching, and when he does preach doctrine, it is vague and in error.

5. He does not speak on holiness. The false prophet rarely speaks about holiness and righteousness and justice and the wrath of God. He will not say that he does not believe these things, yet he says next to nothing about them.

6. He leaves out bible prophecy. The false prophet fails to talk about bible prophecy and future things. This is true of most preachers these days. But I have a remedy for them. If they would just preach through the bible one verse at a time, they would be forced to preach on bible prophecy, since almost one-third of the bible is prophetical.

7. He fails to preach on sin. He will not emphasis the doctrine of sin and the sinfulness of sin.

8. He will not preach on what Jesus did for us on the cross. He will talk about the cross and about the death of Christ, but he will fail to preach on what Jesus’ death did for us—that God made Him to be sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21) and that He paid the penalty for our sins.

9. He dislikes self-examination. He will not emphasize the necessity of entering the narrow gate or walking in the narrow way. He is not interested in true holiness; thus, he dislikes the process of self-examination and the mortification of sin as taught by the Puritans.

10. They reject the idea of being a Christian warrior. They reject talk about fighting the good fight of faith, and they do not see the need for putting on the armor of God. They would rather practice easy salvation and living an easy and prosperous Christian life.

Defund the Police: An Indication of His Coming

Posted on by
1

There are certainly many indications today that we are living in the last days, and that we are inching closer and closer to the coming of Jesus Christ to rescue the godly ones from this evil world. One of these indications (or signs) is the increase of lawlessness spoken of in Matthew 24:12. In this context Jesus is speaking of that period of time called “the Tribulation,” in which many false prophets will arise and mislead many (v. 11); and because of lawlessness (sinfulness), people will grow to hate and betray one another (vv. 10-12).

And during that time of tribulation there will arise one called the “lawless one,” who is known as the antichrist. At first, during the first part of the Tribulation, he will be restrained by God from doing his great evil; but at the midpoint of the Tribulation those restraints will be removed, and being empowered by Satan, he will then be free to do great lawlessness (2 Thess. 2:3-12).

Of course, we are not now in the Tribulation; but, as I said, we have indications that we are fast arriving. I say that mainly because of the present attitude we have toward law enforcement and the police department. Certain groups like Black Lives Matter, along with many liberal democrats and the media, are now pushing the idea of defunding the police department and even abolishing it. Can you imagine what will happen if that idea becomes a reality? There would be chaos and no law and order—lawlessness!

According to Scripture (2 Thess. 2:7), “The mystery of lawlessness is already at work.” This means, according to John MacArthur, that the “The spirit of lawlessness [is] already prevalent in society, but [it is] still a mystery in that it has not been fully revealed [in the coming antichrist].”

Hence, what I get from that, is that this attitude we have in society about wanting to be free of the police, is in our sinful spirit. But we do not see what is coming and how damaging that spirit can be in us. In a sense we all want to be free of the law, because we are all sinners. But we often fail to see how God has given us authority figures like the police to help us and keep us safe.

I think this country should do all it can to shut down this radical idea of defunding the police department. But if it happens that we are not able to do it, or if our government isn’t willing to do it, we Christians need to be aware, and even comforted in the fact that His coming is near!