SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 7:15-20
KNOWING THE DIFFERENCE,
AM
#23 – SERMON
ON THE MOUNT
According to R. Kent Hughes,
Chuck Swindoll, the radio preacher on Insight for Living, tells a story about
a friend of his who attended a get together in the elegant home of a physician
in the area of
R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount - The Message of the Kingdom (
What is the point of this
story? Make something look good enough
and taste good enough, and people can be fooled. This is especially true in Christianity,
where throughout all denominations this morning there are people standing in
pulpits who look religious, who sound religious, but they are phonies. They are
deceivers. They are leading people astray.
They work for Satan and not for
God.
Satan is a deceiver. He makes
himself and his servants look beautiful, wonderful and even religious and God
fearing. 2 Corinthians 11:14-15
As we wind down our study of the
Sermon on the Mount we discover that Jesus is giving us a very definite warning
against pretenders in the pulpit who are the agents of Satan and not of
God. In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus
tells us to beware of false prophets, of wolves in sheep’s clothing.
THE DANGER OF FALSE PROPHETS
Matthew
Because we love our children we
will warn them more than once. God loves us. And because He does, he warns us
in His Word more than once about false teachers.
Here are some examples: 2
Timothy 3:1-5, 2 John 1:7, Jude 1:3-4
Jesus says, Beware of false prophets…
What comes into your mind when
you hear the word “prophet”?
Probably you think of someone
who predicts the future like a Jeremiah or an Isaiah.
In the Bible a prophet was not
only a foreteller, but a forth-teller.
Sometimes he predicted the future, and others times he simply spoke,
representing someone else. God’s
prophets were God’s representatives who spoke for God.
Today God has appointed
evangelists, pastors and teachers to speak for Him. Ephesians 4:11-12
Jesus commanded the apostles to
go and preach the Gospel and this is the responsibility of all of us today,
especially preachers and teachers. Mark
God has ordained that through
the preaching of the cross of Christ, people will come to Him.
1 Corinthians 1:21
God has further ordained that Christians
will mature as they adhere to the accurate preaching of God’s Word. Paul told
one of his associates, Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2: Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke,
exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Throughout Christianity this
morning there are literally thousands of people who claim to speak for
God. Many of these people do. Many do not. Just because a person has gone
to Bible college or seminary, it doesn’t mean that he
or she is a true spokesman for God.
THE DECEPTION OF FALSE PROPHETS
Matthew 7:15 - Beware of false prophets, which come to you
in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
In order for false
prophets to deceive they wear sheep’s clothing. According to John MacArthur,
this does not mean that they dress up to look like sheep. They dress up to look
like the shepherd! What were the
shepherds’ clothes made of? Wool! Shepherds wear sheep’s clothing and so do
ravening wolves who are trying to destroy God’s flock instead of building it. John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary - Matthew
1-7 (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1985), p. 465
So, the people who get up and
preach on Sunday Morning who are false prophets, false ministers of God often
look, act, and sound like true ministers of God. How then are we going to be
able to tell the difference? 1 John 2:20
We have the Spirit of God living
inside of us, who, if we let him, will guide us so we will know when a person
is a true representative of God or not.
THE DOCTRINE OF FALSE PROPHETS
Doctrine, of course, is
teaching.
You must listen carefully to
what preachers are saying.
You can tell if a person is a
false prophet based on what he teaches or doesn’t teach.
Last week we examined Matthew
7:13-14
·
A false prophet will give you a
wide gate and a broad way to Heaven.
·
A false prophet might teach that
loving your neighbor is all you need to enter Heaven.
·
A false prophet might teach that
keeping the Ten Commandments will get you into Heaven.
·
A false prophet might teach that
living morally will get you into Heaven.
·
A false prophet might teach that
giving money to Him or his church might get you into Heaven.
·
A false prophet might teach that
doing good works will get you into Heaven.
·
A false prophet may tell you
that as long as you are baptized you will go to Heaven
·
A false prophet might not even
discuss how to get to Heaven or how to be forgiven of sin.
·
A false prophet might suggest
any number of ways to get into Heaven, but he will not show you the entrance
through the straight gate and the narrow way.
Entering through the straight
gate means coming through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus came to earth and lived a
sinless life.
Jesus then died on the cross
taking our punishment for sin. Isaiah 53:5
Jesus didn’t stay dead. He arose
on the third day.
Because Jesus died for you, all
you need to do is to place your faith in Him, for forgiveness and eternal life.
Ephesians 2:8-9
John 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
This is the narrow way.
Any preacher or teacher who does
not teach this way to Heaven is a false prophet.
Some false teachers will tell
you other ways to get Heaven other than the prescribed way.
Many false teachers will never
tell you how to get to Heaven.
THE DETECTION OF FALSE PROPHETS
Matthew 7:16-20 - Ye shall know them by their
fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? [17] Even so every
good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt
tree bringeth forth evil fruit. [18] A good tree
cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt
tree bring forth good fruit. [19] Every tree that bringeth
not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. [20] Wherefore by
their fruits ye shall know them.
You would not want to eat a
“grape” that was really a thorn.
It would not satisfy.
You would not want to eat a
“fig” that is really a thistle. This will not satisfy either.
If the lives and teachings of
false prophets do not bring forth, good satisfying, fruit we can detect that
they are false prophets.
Jesus says, “Look at the fruit”
and detect or discern who the true prophets of God are.
A good tree will bring forth
good fruit.
A corrupt tree will bring forth
corrupt fruit.
I suggest to you that there are
at least three types of fruit that a true messenger of God will show, and that
a false prophet will not show.
Look at a preacher’s life and
see if you can detect,
·
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
No preacher is perfect, but a
true messenger of God is going to show the evidence of a spirit-filled life.
Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, [23] Meekness, temperance:
against such there is no law.
If the fruit of the Spirit is
not evident in the preacher’s life, the preacher is either backslidden and in
need or repentance, or he is not a believer, and henceforth a false prophet.
Look at a preacher’s life and
see if you can detect,
·
THE FRUIT OF SOULS
A true minister of God, as we
have said before, will preach the Gospel of Christ. As a result, there should be those coming to
faith in Christ. Sometimes, there are
many, sometimes they are far and few between, but there should, at least once
in a while, be conversions to Christ.
The Apostle Paul was one who was
constantly looking to be fruitful among those who needed the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. Romans 1:13
The true ministers of Christ
will have a burden for winning souls to Christ and will see the fruit of their
labors. Psalm 126:5-6
Look at a preacher’s life and
see if you can detect,
·
THE FRUIT OF SAINTHOOD
What is a saint?
A saint is someone who is set
apart for God.
It is someone who has trusted Jesus
Christ as their Savior.
How does God want his saints to
live?
When saints were saved they were
justified, or declared righteous by God.
Now God wants us to show the
fruit of sainthood by living righteous lives.
Romans
And please note what John tells
us in
1 John 3:7 - Little children, let no man
deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
A preacher of righteousness will
practice righteousness.
1 John