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Well, today is Thursday and we have been looking at questions that are asked in the Bible. Some are asked by people and some by God, our Lord. Scholars have gone through the Gospels counting the number of questions Jesus asked during His 3-year ministry here. They have counted 135 questions Jesus asked. The next question we will look at today is asked by Jesus in Matthew 7:16, “You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?” (ESV).

This question asked by Jesus comes right after Jesus’ warning and teaching about false prophets. Pastor and author John MacArthur writes this:

“A fruit tree may be beautiful, decorative, and offer pleasant shade in the summer. But its primary purpose is to bear fruit, and it is therefore judged by what it produces and not by how it looks. (That understanding is the key to interpreting John 15 properly) – (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 467).

We know an apple tree is an apple tree because the fruit it produces are apples, not pears, not peaches, and not plums. Jesus’ point is this is what is obvious and cannot or should not ever be mistaken. So prophets, especially false prophets, should be known by their  lives – what they produce, not their appearance, not their teaching, not their charisma, not their personality, not their energy and excitement, and especially not by their popularity. In other words, false prophets should stand out as much as a bank robber holding a gun in a bank. It should be that obvious. Yes, some hide their true nature and hide their false teaching in what appears to be biblical teaching, but the obvious – they are still a false prophet.

Jesus says we will know false prophets by their fruit. There is no reason or excuse for being deceived if we look closely. So, then, why are so many deceived into our modern day false “prophets'' or false “preachers?” Many have been misled by the “health and wealth” theology of preachers and teachers and the unbiblical teaching and preaching of others who call themselves a pastor or preacher. There are websites that will give a list of names of who they considered to be false. One I looked at even listed Billy Graham. 

The person who posted this website did give some clarifications. First, she said Billy Graham was an evangelist, not a pastor. Therefore, she said, his sermons were more about sharing the Gospel and not going any deeper. What she failed to say is that Billy Graham partnered with local churches where his crusades were to follow-up and disciple those who came to Christ as his crusades. Therefore, if you do go try to find a list, you need to be discerning as you read it. Some of these people posting their lists have more of an agenda of personal bias rather than being biblical in their assessment. 

No one is perfect. We are all sinners, and many of the lists I read by these well-meaning and well-intentioned people are quick to point fingers at others while never pointing that at themselves. Going by their standards, they should call King David a “false teacher” because he did commit adultery and then murder to cover-up his adultery. 

This same lady named Michelle Lesley, states that Franklin Graham is a false teacher because of his Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Ministry (OCC). She believes that sharing the Gospel through a shoebox is not the most “effective and direct way” to share the Gospel. She also calls Franklin Graham a “false teacher” because he has partnered with TBN and other “Christian” organizations and pastors to get OCC publicized she considers to be false teachers/preachers. Her point is Franklin Graham is guilty by association. Well, if that is true, that is true of all of us. Jesus was known for associating with tax collectors, fornicators, thieves, prostitutes, and etc. So, does that make Jesus a false prophet? I think that sometimes some people are jealous they do not have the platform or audience others have. This was certainly true of the religious leaders' rejection of Jesus as a respectable teacher and rabbi.

So, let’s get back to Jesus’ question in Matthew 7:16. Jesus’ point is false prophets are obvious by their fruit. Jesus understood that believers who are not in the Word, who do not pray for discernment and who are simply lazy when it comes to prayer, and who do not rely upon the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit to give them wisdom in this area (i.e., James 1:5-8), will be deceived by someone who comes across as pleasing, upbeat, understanding and even tolerant to sinners and their sin.

Jesus warned us about this in Matthew 24:24, “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect” (ESV). The devil loves to use God’s people to promote and deceive his agenda into their hearts. As a small child, I grew up on a “farm” so to speak. We grew our own vegetables and my mother and her mother, my grandmother, canned a lot for later use. We had apple trees, pear trees, peach trees and plum trees. As a child, I remember picking some fruit from one of those and eating it directly from the tree. I remember helping my mother pick strawberries and eating many right out of the ground as I picked them. Sometimes, the outside appearance of these fruits looked good until you bit into them. Sometimes they were rotten on the inside or had worms. 

The problem was not the fruit, but me. It was desire and self-centeredness that wanted to eat the fruit before inspecting it. That is Jesus’ point. We can be enamored with personality, not character. We tend to be deceived by charisma, not Christ. We tend to be vulnerable to persuasion, not prayer. Judging who is a false prophet is not as easy as judging fruit on a tree. So, how does God’s Word tell us to do this? 

  1. First, look at their character. Look at their motives, values, standards, and ambitions. I could write more on this and you might be here until Jesus comes back reading it. True fruit-bearing starts on the inside – in the heart. There is holiness, godliness, righteousness and a commitment to fulfill the Great Commission. The Apostle Paul writes this in Philippians 1:9-11, “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, (10) so that you may approve what is excellent, sand so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, (11) filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, wto the glory and praise of God.” (ESV).

This means we look to see if they are building God’s kingdom or their own kingdom. There has to be evidence that their deepest motives and life patterns are to honor, glorify, and magnify God, and to grow in humility, holiness, and obedience. If not, they are a false teacher. Pastor and author Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes this:

“A Christian can generally be known by his very appearance. The man who really believes in the holiness of God, and who knows his own sinfulness and the blackness of his own heart, the man who believes in the judgment of God and the possibility of hell and torment, the man who really believes that he himself is so vile and helpless that nothing but the coming of the Son of God from heaven to earth and His going to the bitter shame and agony and cruelty of the cross could ever save him, and reconcile him to God—this man is going to show all that in his personality. He is a man who is bound to give the impression of meekness, he is bound to be humble. Our Lord reminds us here that if a man is not humble, we are to be very wary of him. He can put on a kind of sheep’s clothing, but that is not true humility, that is not true meekness. And if a man’s doctrine is wrong, it will generally show itself at this point. He will be affable and pleasant, he will appeal to the natural man, and to the things that are physical and carnal; but he will not give the impression of being a man who has seen himself as a hell-bound sinner, and who has been saved by the grace of God alone” (Source: Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Vol. 2, pp. 258-259).

  1. Doctrine – false teachers will have a distorted view of Jesus Christ and His Word. Just like an apple tree does not produce peaches, and a peach tree does not produce apples, neither can a false teacher produce biblical doctrine. Jesus made this clear in His attack on the Pharisees and Sadducees In Matthew 12:34-36, “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (35) The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil” (ESV). The prophet Isaiah warned Jews in his day of the same thing in Isaiah 8:20, “To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn (light)” (ESV). If the devil can confuse and mislead people about the person and work of Christ, he has confused and misled them at the very heart of the gospel. Why? Jesus is the Gospel.

Pastor and author John MacArthur, quoting Arthur Pink, writes this:

“False prophets are to be found in the circles of the most orthodox, and they pretend to have a fervent love for souls, yet they fatally delude multitudes concerning the way of salvation. The pulpit, platform, and pamphlet hucksters have wantonly lowered the standard of divine holiness and so adulterated the Gospel in order to make it palatable to the carnal mind . . . Any preacher who rejects God’s law, who denies repentance to be a condition of salvation, who assures the giddy and godless that [Matthew 1–7, they are loved by God, who declares that saving faith is nothing more than an act of the will which every person has the power to perform is a false prophet and should be shunned as a deadly plague”” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 471).

False teachers do not call people to holiness, godliness and righteousness. They tell people what they want to hear. We are warned about this in 2 Timothy 4:3, “For the time is coming when people will not tolerate (endure) sound and wholesome instruction, but, having ears itching for something pleasing and gratifying, they will gather to themselves one teacher after another to a considerable number, chosen to satisfy their own liking and to foster the errors they hold” (AMP-C). When listening to any preacher, do you feel convicted or comfortable?

  1. Followers – false teachers’ followers will simply be a mirror of them. They will have the same egotistical, arrogant, prideful, self-centered, self-indulgent and tolerant and rejective view of sin in their own lives. Their followers will treat these false teachers as idols. Peter talks about the deception in 2 Peter 2:2, “And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed” (ESV). There is a grave warning in Scripture by God for such false teachers and their followers. Look at 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12, “And with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. (11) Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, (12) in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (ESV).

Questions To Consider

  1. Jesus makes it clear that in nature, it is easy to tell what kind of tree it is by its fruit. Why do you think it is much more challenging when it comes to “false prophets” or false teachers? Have you ever been fooled? If so, how and why?
  2. Adolf Hitler swayed an entire nation to slaughter over 6 million Jews in concentration camps and furnaces. Looking back today, it seems mind-boggling that he was able to do this. Why wasn’t his message seen for what it was – false? 
  3. In the Christian faith, we have been taught that Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Science, Catholicism, The Way, “Health & Wealth theology” and others are cults. Yet, they flourish. Why?

Scripture To Meditate On: Galatians 4:16, “Have I then become your enemy by telling the truth to you and dealing sincerely with you?” (AMP-C).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I do not want to be deceived by my own desires nor the false teaching of false prophets. I want to know Your truth so that Your truth sets me free and helps me become more like You in my character and my discipleship. Please convince me to be in Your Word so that I know the truth and please convict me to rely upon Your Holy Spirit to speak to me in that still small voice so that I am not deceived by myself or others. I love You Jesus! In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly

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