WEBVTT 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:12.960 This morning, Matthew 7, verses 19, or 15 through 20. 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:14.400 Let me read it for us. 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:25.920 Jesus says this, Matthew 7, verse 15, Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:28.559 You'll recognize them by their fruits. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:32.320 Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:38.079 So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:42.640 A healthy tree can't bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:47.920 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:52.960 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:59.600 This is the word of our Lord, and I pray that he would seal it to you in your hearts. 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:03.840 It is true that our world is overrun by false prophets. 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:06.319 There are false prophets everywhere. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:09.599 People who say, The Lord told me this and the Lord told me that. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:11.519 People who say, I dreamed a dream. 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:15.519 I had a dream, and the Lord told me this or the other thing. 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:18.959 They make false prophecies about the future. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:28.719 They tell you who's going to win the next presidential election, or they tell you when a war is going to start, or they tell you any random future thing. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:32.719 They tell you about the future as a way to authenticate their dreams. 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:34.480 And normally they are driven by dreams. 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:39.040 Normally they say they had a vision or a dream where the Lord made extra revelation to them. 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:43.599 I watched this week a massive prophetic conference, it was called in California. 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:52.560 I was able to make it halfway through one of the sermons, and the uh the lady preacher was preaching on why it was okay to have women preachers. 00:01:52.719 --> 00:02:01.040 And she said, I know the Bible in 1 Timothy 2 says you shouldn't have women preachers, but the Lord spoke to me in a dream and gave me a better way to understand that passage. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:06.239 That is the normal way these kind of prophets interpret scripture. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:07.439 They elevate their dreams. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:08.960 They say, The Lord told me this. 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:16.240 You know, I was there, I was having my quiet time the other day, and the Lord spoke to me so clearly and told me this other thing. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:20.719 This is often the way those false prophets operate. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:25.439 They make false statements about the future, they make false prophecies about the Holy Spirit. 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:27.439 Think of all the Toronto blessing. 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:33.039 Remember that holy laughter phase that people went through a while ago where you were laughing in the spirit in the late 90s? 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:37.360 And that gave way to uh the barking in the spirit, holy barking. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:41.199 That was kind of the zenith of that movement right there, it was the holy barking. 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:45.120 It'll only be followed by the holy meowing, I think, one day. 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:51.840 They make false statements about the future, false statements about the Holy Spirit, false statements about money, namely that they need yours. 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:58.479 They tell you send them money, and you will be healed, or you will be happy, or you'll be healthy as long as you give them enough money. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:00.159 They make false statements about God. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:02.240 Usually that God is fine with your sin. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:10.080 That's the normal, typical way these false prophets uh operate, and what they declare is that your sin actually doesn't matter that much to God. 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:12.800 God has a lower standard of holiness than you might imagine. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:20.800 You're concerned about something in your conscience or in your heart being sinned before God, but this prophet is here to tell you that you need not worry. 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:23.520 God is fine with you as you are. 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:28.479 They take the focus off of Christ and put it onto themselves. 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:37.199 They become the sun in their solar system, they become the dominating feature, and the the gospel becomes the moon, and it is eclipsed by them. 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:40.560 They do healing crusades. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:46.080 They tell you to mail in prayer requests with your money, and they will answer according to your gift. 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:49.840 When I was in seminary, I uh tried one of these. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:53.360 This was an experiment only for research, I assure you. 00:03:54.159 --> 00:04:03.360 And I heard a uh phone number for prayer from one of these people, and so I called it and left my prayer request that I would pass my Hebrew exam. 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:06.080 This is how desperate I was as a seminary student. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:15.039 And it was Robert Silton Ministries, and they mailed me back in the mail a life-size picture of Robert Tilton. 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:25.920 You unfolded it, and I actually taped it on the side of my refrigerator, and he had his hands up like this, and so I could put my hands on his hands, and I was supposed to put my nose on his nose like this and pray. 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:30.959 And the Lord would hear my prayer through the poster of Robert Tilton. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:33.199 My roommates thought I was crazy. 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:52.240 It came with the dollar bill, and the instruction said to put the dollar bill in your Bible, next to your favorite Bible passage, and then mail it back to them along with your own gift, and he would pray for your prayer request in accordance to the amounts that you sent in, in accordance to your faith, which is measured by the money you sent back. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:05:02.560 So I took that dollar bill and I put it in my Bible next to Deuteronomy 13, which is the test for false prophets, and mailed it back. 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:12.480 And he in turn sent me a prayer scarf that he supposedly wore while praying, and a bottle of oil to anoint my Hebrew learning head, I guess. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:17.759 And at this point, my roommates insisted I tap out and research over. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:20.560 I don't know what would have happened had it kept going. 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:23.519 By the Lord's grace, I did pass Hebrew. 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.399 I don't think it was because Robert Tilton prayed for me. 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:41.199 And it was around that time, by the way, that 60 Minutes did an expose of him where they sent a TV crew to his uh ministry headquarters and they found these trash bags filled with unopened prayer requests in dumpsters. 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:45.680 And he alleges, he strenuously denies any accusations. 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:55.120 He says he went through every prayer request, he spread them around in his floor, and some of you might have remembered this, it was in the news back then, that he would spend just hours laying on top of the prayer requests and praying for them. 00:05:55.279 --> 00:06:04.240 He spent so much time praying for them that the chemicals from the paper and the ink had gotten into his bloodstream and was causing him strokes. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:08.240 That's how much he was praying for the prayer requests people sent in. 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:12.399 You can choose which version of that story to believe. 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:20.560 What these people have in common is that they take the focus off of the Word of God and put it on themselves. 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:22.319 And listen, we're in the Washington, D.C. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:31.120 area, so you are generally hardworking people in the government, so here for fears as you climb the ranks of the military or law enforcement or whatnot. 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:38.160 And so you, just through your own worldview and your own personal history, are unlikely to get sucked into these kind of false teachers, I would imagine. 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:42.879 And so it's very easy to lose sight of the fact that this is the majority of Christianity around the world. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:07:00.959 So-called Christianity, the biggest churches in the biggest cities all over the world are these kind of health, wealth, prosperity churches, these kind of false prophet churches, these kind of churches where the leaders make predictions about the future that don't come true and tell you if you give them your money, you will be healthy, wealthy, and wise. 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:04.160 This is majority of Christianity around the world. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:15.680 We don't experience it, and so we think that it's, you know, it's otherworldly or it's exaggerated or it's far-fetched, you know, in our mind, charismatic stuff is maybe you pray in tongues when you're praying or something like that. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:20.639 Understand that this stuff here, this is majority Christianity in the world. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:26.879 Radical predictions about the future, but I could think of one example that maybe intersected with more of our world. 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:31.920 You remember the Y2K shenanigans 23 years ago? 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:49.199 Y2K, where you were told that if you're, you know, if you were driving at midnight on this day, your car would, you know, drive into a lake, and if you were on an airplane, you'd fall from the sky, and all the bank doors would be flung wide open at midnight, your thermostats would explode, make sure everything was powered down. 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:51.519 Some of the younger people think I'm exaggerating. 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:53.519 Oh no, I am not exaggerating. 00:07:54.319 --> 00:08:01.439 And these were always, often, not always, but often followed with people who said, the Lord told me this would happen. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.959 The Lord told me that famine will be in the land. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:07.439 Remember Joseph, how how he stored for seven years? 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:19.920 And so you had all kinds of Christians in Bible churches that were putting swimming pools of distilled water in their backyard, filling their basements with flour and sugar and and whatever, because famine is coming January 1st. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:23.600 It's better to be safe than sorry. 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:28.480 These people said, the Lord told them to tell you to do that. 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:30.720 And many of you did. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:35.600 And what happened to those so-called prophets who told you this or told you that? 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:38.639 What happened to them on January 1st or January 2nd? 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:44.480 Man, they went to Europe with your money and came back and just filled their pulpit on January 14th. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:46.879 They went right back to business as usual. 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:50.480 And many of them remain there to this day. 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:54.159 These are false prophets. 00:08:54.399 --> 00:09:02.159 When people say the Lord spoke to them in a dream and revealed this about the future, and you know, just give them your money kind of stuff. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:03.039 False prophets. 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:05.360 Deuteronomy 13 warns you about false prophets. 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:08.159 Warning against them doesn't start with Jesus here in Matthew 7. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:09.759 This goes back to the Old Testament. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:15.200 Remember, God told Israel he was gonna send them a prophet like Moses, which is pointing forward to the Messiah. 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:19.840 A prophet like Moses will come, we'll speak God's truth, we'll do the miracles that Moses did and all that. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:20.960 That'll be the Messiah. 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:26.399 In the meantime, he's gonna send them other prophets to confront them on their sin and prepare the way for the Savior. 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:33.279 Israel doesn't want to be confronted on their sin, so they're gonna elevate false prophets to drown out the noise of the real prophets. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:40.080 So Deuteronomy 13 gives some tests for you to know if the person that comes to you is a true or a false prophet. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:42.080 What's very interesting is how the tests go. 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:48.960 Deuteronomy 13 says, if a prophet comes to you and says, The Lord told me in a dream, that's your first warning sign right there. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:50.879 But hear him out. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:53.759 And they say, This will happen in the future, or that will happen in the future. 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:56.480 Okay, and then maybe that does happen. 00:09:57.519 --> 00:10:02.720 Deuteronomy 13 says, just because they predict the future does not mean they're a true prophet. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:14.399 If they predict their future and what they say was gonna happen happens, and then they distract you from the Lord, they are a false prophet. 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:17.360 So what if they got a guess right about the future? 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:20.559 So what if they knew who was gonna win the presidential election? 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:21.360 Who cares? 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:22.879 Demons know the future. 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:24.240 Whoop do you do? 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:31.919 If they distract you from God, if they obscure the gospel, they are a false prophet. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:37.440 So they say, the Lord told me in a dream, the Lord said this and the Lord said that. 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:41.039 But you all are wise enough to know that if it ain't in God's word, it ain't fact. 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:41.840 Amen? 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:46.240 So people come with their visions. 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:48.240 You can ignore them. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:53.120 This morning in Matthew 7, Jesus warns you about these false prophets. 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:56.159 Now, this is not Jesus changing topics here. 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:59.360 He's wrapping up the Sermon on the Mount, he's giving his conclusion. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:04.799 I mentioned last week that the conclusion is about the wide path versus the narrow road. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:16.799 The narrow path leads to eternal life, the narrow gate goes to a narrow path, which leads to life, the wide gate goes to a wide path, and everybody, it seems, in the world is on it, and its way ends in hell. 00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:18.960 That was the passage we looked at last week. 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:21.919 So now Jesus is warning you about false prophets. 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:22.720 Why? 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:30.399 That's because the biggest danger, the biggest obstacle to you finding the narrow gate is the false prophets. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:33.120 The false prophets keep you away from the narrow gate. 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:43.519 They see you on the wide road, minding your own business, living for yourself, living for self-righteousness, trusting in your own goodness, trusting in your own ability, just living for yourself. 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:48.399 And if you slow down in front of the narrow gate, the false prophets say, Oh no, keep going, keep going. 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:50.399 Everybody is living for themselves. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:52.320 Everybody, God knows your heart. 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:55.279 The narrow gate, you have to count the cost. 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:56.639 You have to repent from your sins. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:58.639 You've got to pick up your cross and follow Christ. 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:00.960 The narrow gate is such a narrow life. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:03.679 Look how few people are on that narrow path over there. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:05.600 So few people on the narrow path. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:08.399 You belong on the wide path with everybody else. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:10.240 That's false prophets. 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:13.600 They obscure the narrow gate. 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:21.440 And so Jesus says, you be careful to enter by the narrow gate and watch out for those false prophets that'll try to hide it from you. 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:26.159 These false prophets are everywhere. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:29.279 In the DC area, as I mentioned, politics brings them out. 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:33.759 Every four years, you have no shortage of people who the Lord told them who's going to win the presidential election, right? 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:38.960 And when they get the guesses wrong, it doesn't even slow them down. 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:43.200 Do you remember when President Trump was inaugurated? 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:49.200 He had some of these health, wealth, prosperity preachers come to his the Oval Office and lay hands on him and bless his ministry. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:58.960 And one of them came outside afterwards and gave a said that the Lord revealed to him in a dream that a high-ranking government official was going to try to assassinate President Trump. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:00.480 So pray for him. 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:09.519 Well, the Secret Service comes and follows up and wants some information, which I I find interesting, but whatever. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:12.159 What exactly did the Lord reveal to you in your dream? 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:17.200 And he said, Oh, I can't give you any more information than that clergy confidentiality. 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:22.480 That kind of nonsense is the mark of a false prophet. 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:24.320 A false prophet. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:32.639 Well, Jesus warns you against them, and he captures the crux of their message, how they preach, how they operate. 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:34.559 He gives you some warnings about them. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:38.799 And I'm going to give you these warnings this morning in the form of this outline. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:43.600 Four truths that are inadvertently preached by these wolves. 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:46.720 Four truths that wolves inadvertently preach. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:55.200 These wolves, their lives communicate something to you, and what their lives communicate is a warning. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:59.279 Their lives communicate, namely content about evil. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:01.759 They don't mean to preach a good message to these false teachers. 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:03.200 It happens to them accidentally. 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:06.080 Jesus draws from their teaching these four things that are true. 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:10.879 And yes, that is papyrus font, because only a false teacher would use papyrus. 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:15.039 First, the first truth. 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:20.399 Evil are sorry, evil exists. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:21.200 The first truth. 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:30.639 The whole worldview Jesus is operating from here presupposes the existence of category distinctions. 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:32.559 Good and evil. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:34.799 True and false. 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:37.200 Good fruit, bad fruit. 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:39.919 Healthy tree, sick tree. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:43.039 Jesus is not a relativist here. 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:47.679 He is embracing this worldview that speaks of right and wrong. 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:50.480 There are things the Lord hates. 00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:54.639 There are things that make a person's ministry not. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:57.440 There are things that nullify. 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:00.000 There's truth and error. 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:04.960 This is anathema in our often considered postmodern worlds. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:10.320 If you're older than, I don't know, 30 or 40 or so, when you went to college, you probably interacted with relativism. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:21.519 There's probably the ethos on your college campus that what's true for you might not be true for me, and you know, two plus two is four for you, man, but not for me, or Jesus is your way to heaven, but that doesn't mean he's my way to heaven. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:22.960 We all have our own truths, you know. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:27.360 That was the kind of relativistic worldview of the 1990s, the early 2000s. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:30.320 That is not the normal worldview today in a college campus. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:33.600 If you're younger than 30, that sounds like a fictional past. 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:38.480 You know, today the worldview is if you say the Bible is true, you are evil. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:42.240 It's not that your worldview is works for you, but doesn't have to work for me. 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:45.759 No, it's your worldview is categorically evil and false and wrong. 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:48.480 And this is the way the cultures slide. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:54.240 This is the Romans 1 kind of logic that God reveals truth, and the first interaction with it is to reject the truth. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:57.759 Second is to, you know, relativism, to, you know, what is truth after all? 00:15:57.840 --> 00:15:58.879 Everyone has their own truth. 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:08.320 And the final stage of this slide is to totally reverse it, to reject the truth and proclaim replace it with idols, to worship yourself. 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:16.000 Jesus comes into this kind of culture with category distinctions that turn our world on its head. 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:20.080 No, it doesn't matter how many people think this is true. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.639 If the Lord says it is false, it is false. 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:26.639 Something is true if it corresponds to God in his nature as revealed through his word. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:28.000 That makes something true. 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:31.759 Something is false if it goes against God and God's nature as revealed by his word. 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:33.039 It's as simple as that. 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:36.559 Truth and error is not a democratic system. 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:40.159 It doesn't matter if most people believe a lie, that doesn't make it true. 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:43.519 Something is true if it corresponds to God and his word. 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:53.120 God's truth is not concerned about being on the right side of history, is not concerned about pulling data from the field, doesn't care if most people think this sounds good or not. 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:55.360 God's truth doesn't care about that. 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:58.080 Something is true if it corresponds to God and his nature. 00:16:58.159 --> 00:16:59.600 And Proverbs 6 talks about this. 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:07.839 Proverbs 6, 17 through 19 lists sins that are offensive to God, that God hates haughty eyes, in other words, pride. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:09.200 God hates a lying tongue. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:11.279 God hates hands that shed innocent blood. 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:15.920 God hates feet that make speed to run to do evil. 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:18.559 God hates a false witness who breathes out lies. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:21.119 God hates someone who sows discord among their brothers. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:24.480 God hates those kind of sins, hates them. 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:26.079 Doesn't matter if everybody does them. 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:27.759 And this is the lie of the wide road. 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:30.319 Oh, your pride is excused because you're probably good enough. 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:34.960 Oh, your division, that's okay that you cause division because you're probably right after all. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:36.640 Oh, you lied about that person? 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:38.000 They probably deserved it. 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:40.559 Your heart devises wicked plans, that's okay. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:42.960 God knows you're just doing the best that you can. 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:45.440 That's false teacher kind of language. 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:47.839 Excusing your sin. 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:52.960 That list is picked up in the New Testament, by the way, in Galatians chapter 5. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:56.400 Now the works plural of the flesh are evident. 00:17:57.359 --> 00:17:58.720 Works is a plural word. 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:12.720 There's all kinds of ways to serve the flesh: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these, Paul says. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:15.440 He can't even list all the ways you can rebel against God. 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:18.319 Just all kinds of things like them are against God. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:24.640 In contrast, the fruit of the spirit, fruit is singular. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:28.559 Works of the flesh, infinite number of ways to feed the flesh. 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:33.279 One way to have the fruit of the spirit in your life, to be conformed to the image of Christ. 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:37.519 Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:39.359 That is the fruit of the Spirit. 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:48.960 So when Jesus says, beware of false prophets, he's forcing you to engage with a world where some things are true and some things are false. 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:51.680 And the things that are false, God hates. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:53.839 Second. 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:55.279 Evil exists, second. 00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:56.880 Evil devours. 00:18:57.680 --> 00:18:58.720 Evil devours. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:02.480 These false prophets are inwardly ravenous wolves. 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:04.000 They're insatiable. 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:06.640 They eat everything. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:13.680 You know, in the in the wild, predators have some kind of internal restraint to them. 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:15.119 I don't understand how it works. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:19.440 I watch hawks and owls eat squirrels in my backyard. 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:22.480 And then they're so easy to catch those squirrels. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:24.720 You think, how do squirrels even exist? 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:26.559 They get eaten all the time. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:30.319 There's some kind of internal restraint to the hawks and the owls. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:31.920 They don't just eat all they can. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:35.839 False teachers don't have that internal restraint. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:39.359 They will eat everything they get their claws into. 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:40.880 They devour everything. 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:46.880 Zechariah 11, verse 16 says, the false teachers devour the fat sheep, tearing off even their hooves. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:52.079 That language, tearing off their hooves, what that means is they will boil even the feet to get all the meat from around the hoof. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:55.839 They don't want to leave any morsel of meat stuck behind the hoof. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:57.680 That's what a false teacher is like. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:19:59.680 They are never ever satisfied. 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:04.079 They never have enough money, they never have enough influence, they never have enough pride. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:07.920 You devour people. 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:10.400 Well, how do they really devour people in our world? 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:16.799 Well, they devour people by telling you that you don't need to worry about God, that your wide road that you're on actually leads to heaven. 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:17.920 That's how they devour you. 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:19.039 Don't worry about sin. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:20.240 Don't worry about repentance. 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:22.000 You're fine like you are. 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:26.559 And this is the same way those false teachers operated in the Old Testament. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:29.359 Every generation of Israel ran against those false teachers. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:33.440 Those false teachers said one word two times peace, peace. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:40.720 Jeremiah is thrown into a pit because he's telling all the Israelites, you guys are going to captivity. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:42.880 Pack your bags, head to Babylon, you're out of here. 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:46.720 They throw them in a pit and he's shouting from the pit, Repent, you guys are going to exile. 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:53.279 They can't hear him because they fill the stage with all these false prophets that say, The Lord told me in a dream there would be peace. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:54.559 Peace, peace. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:55.599 You're not going to exile. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:57.839 God loves you too much to send you into exile. 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:03.039 Isaiah ran against the same thing, Isaiah chapter 30, verse 9. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:06.960 The Israelites told Isaiah that they were done listening to his prophecy. 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:10.079 They'd rather have somebody come and say good things about them. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:14.640 We should remind you of Ahab and Jehoshaphat. 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:19.440 Remember Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Ahab king of Israel, they were going to war. 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:22.880 Jehoshaphat said, Can we have a prophet tell us if we're going to win? 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:25.759 I mean, if you got a prophet around, that's a good thing to ask him. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:28.559 And Ahab says, sure, and brings out prophets. 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:34.400 And remember the prophets Ahab brings out, they put on horns and they dress up in costumes and they're prancing around the stage like a bull. 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:37.920 And they're like, oh, as we gore these people, you guys will win in battle. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:38.160 Ra. 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:39.440 Look at my horns. 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:39.680 Ra. 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:46.319 And Jehoshaphat says, you know, nice song and dance. 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:48.880 Is there a prophet of Yahweh we can ask? 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:51.279 Do you remember what Ahab says? 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:53.039 It's one of the funniest lines in the Bible. 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:59.759 Ahab says, Well, there's one prophet of Yahweh around here, but I don't like him because he always says bad things about me. 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:07.279 That might be a hint that you're doing something wrong. 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:08.799 So remember, they bring him out. 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:10.799 And he says, You guys are all gonna die in battle. 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:12.799 And he points at Ahab, you're gonna die. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:15.599 And so Ahab throws him in jail and says, Lock him up. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:22.640 And then he tells Ahab, if I he tells the prophet, Ahab tells the prophet, if I don't come back alive, you're not getting out of jail. 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:24.720 You'll die in jail if I don't come back alive. 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:31.440 He's holding God's prophet captive, trying to blackmail or extort God to get him to return from battle. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:36.000 And remember, the prophet just says, listen, if you come back from battle, I'm not a real prophet. 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:41.119 God knows how to spring his prophets out of jail. 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:43.440 That's the language of the false prophet. 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:44.400 Don't worry about God. 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:46.319 Oh, that true prophet over there, don't listen to him. 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:47.440 He only says bad things about us. 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:48.960 That guy's just getting in the way. 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:50.559 This is the Holy Spirit's work. 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:52.720 That guy poo-poos it. 00:22:54.000 --> 00:23:00.559 Well, these evil men devour because they give false hope. 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:02.640 They give false hope. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:05.359 They distract you from the narrow path. 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:07.599 And it ends up in your spiritual harm. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:14.960 It ends up, by the way, if you look at verse 19, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:16.880 That's the end of these people. 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:20.240 They, along with all their followers, will be cast into hell. 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:22.720 Fire here is echoing verse 13. 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:25.119 The wide road leads to destruction. 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:33.359 Earlier in Matthew 5, Jesus says, Better to cut off your hand or pluck out your eye than to have your whole soul thrown into the fires of hell. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:38.000 These false prophets are like the stewardess on the airplane that's crashing. 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:39.759 Yeah, they're the leaders on board. 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:44.400 Yeah, they helped you buckle up, but they're going down with the plane, and everybody's going down with them. 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:48.319 You're all going to end up in hell when you follow these false prophets. 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:55.519 They encourage the flesh, they downplay sin, and their end is destruction. 00:23:55.759 --> 00:24:01.039 So, first, these wolves inadvertently teach us that evil exists, that evil devours. 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:03.519 Thirdly, that evil is revealed. 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:06.000 God does reveal evil. 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:10.480 You look at this false prophet for a moment and you might not be able to tell. 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:12.720 Not everything a false prophet says is false. 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:22.000 You listen to all that and you think, that sounds right. 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:25.440 You think, how can I tell who a false prophet is? 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:27.039 Well, come back next week. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:28.640 Or come back next year. 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:30.880 Time and truth go hand in glove. 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:35.039 Give them enough time and they will out themselves as a false prophet. 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:38.880 You're not called to police all the prophets in the world. 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:45.359 You're not called to call out every false prophet on Twitter, but you are called to police your ears, to guard your heart. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:50.960 And so if you're letting yourself be influenced by somebody, it's worth asking. 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:53.119 Are they leading you astray? 00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:55.680 Are they promoting themselves or promoting Christ? 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:59.599 Give them enough time and they will be revealed. 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:03.920 Jesus used the analogy of fruit here. 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:08.640 You know, you plant a tree, a fig tree is going to produce figs. 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:10.480 I'm an expert in fig trees right now. 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:12.799 I'm in a fig tree growing phase of my life. 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:15.039 It's a lot of work to grow a fig tree. 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:20.799 Those thorn branches, those rose bushes, and those raspberry bushes, they call them out here, which I don't think even grow raspberries. 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:23.599 You've got thorns everywhere, they're all over the place in Virginia. 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:25.839 You don't need to labor to grow those things. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:27.599 You're not going to confuse the two. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:30.720 You're not going to look at a fig tree and go, I can't tell. 00:25:31.039 --> 00:25:32.480 Is it a vine? 00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:34.240 Or is it a fig tree? 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:39.039 And if you are confused, come back next year or come back in two years. 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:41.039 If it's growing figs, guess what? 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:42.640 You found a fig tree. 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:45.759 If it's just got thorns everywhere, guess what? 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:47.599 You found a thorn bush. 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:51.839 Time and truth go hand in gloves. 00:25:52.559 --> 00:25:53.920 Listen to their preaching. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:59.119 If you listen to their preaching, it's often permissive, telling you, you know what, the Lord's not concerned about these sins. 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:01.680 Whatever sins are culturally in vogue, they downplay. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:04.559 Homosexuality, God doesn't care that much about that. 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:05.279 Come on. 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:08.000 He cares more about love of neighbor than that. 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:10.160 Being straight doesn't get you to heaven. 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:11.839 That's the kind of stuff they say. 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:19.279 And of course they're right, being straight doesn't get you to heaven any more than loving your neighbor gets you to heaven. 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:29.039 The point is, these prophets distract from what the Word of God says to mask your own sin. 00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:32.799 Their sermons offer encouragement but no correction. 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:35.279 They talk about God's love but not his holiness. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:36.400 They deny repentance. 00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:37.680 They say you don't need to repent. 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:39.440 Jesus loves you like you are. 00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:41.440 He would never tell you to repent or change something. 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:43.440 Don't you think God loves you? 00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:47.440 They tell you, follow Jesus, but remain in your sin. 00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:50.240 And they do that, by the way, to cover for their own sin. 00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:57.200 They teach about health, they teach you about happiness, but not about holiness. 00:26:57.359 --> 00:26:59.519 And their followers will become like them. 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:04.480 The followers become like them because their followers accumulate for themselves teachers that tell them what they want to hear. 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:06.559 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 3. 00:27:06.720 --> 00:27:14.079 The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they'll accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:18.000 They'll turn away from listening to truth and wander in the myth. 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:21.680 And so these people say, you know, I like this kind of sin. 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:25.680 This teacher excuses that kind of sin, so I like this teacher. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:27.839 So don't confuse cause and effect. 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:32.000 They like that kind of sin, so they find teachers that give them what they want to hear. 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:38.319 Their inward passions here, the word probably uses for passions, epithet, like internal strong desire. 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:42.000