Daily Devotional For Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Well, it’s Wonderful Wednesday. We are making our way through Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount. We come now to Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:15-20:

“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. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? (17) So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. (18) A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. (19) Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (20) So then, you will know them by their fruits” (NASB).

After giving the invitation to “enter by the narrow gate,” to come to God by the only way He has provided – through Jesus Christ, we come to one reason so many people choose the wide gate instead of being diligent and intentional to find the narrow gate – false teachers. When it comes to false prophets/teachers/preachers, the Bible speaks of three types: heretics, apostates, and deceivers. Heretics openly reject the truth of God’s Word. They see no need for it and believe it is a bunch of lies used to control people and to keep people in suppression. Apostates are those who once did follow the truth of Scripture, but over time have come to reject and then lead others to reject it. At least with heretics and apostates they have a certain quality of honesty because they do not claim to accept biblical truth. And a good student of God’s word can spot them rather quickly.

Deceivers are more dangerous. Pastor and author John MacArthur writes this about deceivers:

“Deceivers give the appearance of orthodoxy, frequently with great declarations and fanfare. He is not a liberal or a cultist but one who speaks favorably of Christ, the cross, the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and so on, and who associates with true believers. He may go out of his way to appear orthodox, fundamental, and evangelical. From his looks, vocabulary, and associations he gives considerable evidence of genuine belief. But he is not genuine; he is a fake and a deceiver. He has the speech of orthodoxy, but is a living lie” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 465).

The Apostle Paul addresses this in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. (14) No wonder, for even satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (15) Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds”  (NASB). These false prophets/teachers/preachers are dangerous because they masquerade as someone who is a true prophet/teacher/preacher. 

One of the reasons false prophets/teachers/preachers are so dangerous is because they are almost always pleasant and positive. You like them and want to be friends with them, but that is part of their deception. They like to be with Christians, to talk like Christians, and to be identified as Christians. They know how to use, but twist biblical terminology and often appear highly knowledgeable about Scripture. The doctrines they affirm are seemingly biblical.

Another reason false prophets/teachers/preachers are dangerous is because they come across as being sincere. That is part of their deceptive charm and this is how they are able to mislead so many people. The Apostle Paul warned young Timothy about this in 2 Timothy 3:13, “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (NASB). Because these deceivers have been deceived by the ultimate deceiver, the devil, many of them really believe they are advocating the truth, not lies.

They are so blind to the truth that now darkness appears to them as light and lies appear to them as truth. Since deceivers are that dangerous, how can you spot one? It is not so much in what they say, it is in what they do not say. They typically will not openly deny the doctrines of heaven, the reality of hell, the depravity of humanity, Jesus’ substitutionary atonement on the cross for us, His Resurrection, the penalty for sin, the lostness of humanity, and the repentance from sin.  So, what do they do? They ignore these doctrines.

Far as their outward character, they live what appears to be moral lives on the surface. New Testament scholar John Broadus writes this about them:

“Many of the false prophets have come from traditional religious training, and because of the ingraining of early traditional Christian moral values they find it difficult to overtly overcome the restrictions on their minds by their early training. Outward morality helps give the impression of spiritual genuineness and therefore helps perpetuate the deceit” (Source: John Broadus, Matthew, p. 186).

Consider these warnings from Scripture that show what motivates them:

• 1 Timothy 4:1-2, “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, (2) by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron” (NASB).
• 1 Peter 5:2, “Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness” (NASB).
• 2 Peter 2:19, “Promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved” (NASB).
• 2 Peter 2:14, “Having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children” (NASB).

A Christian document in the 2nd century AD called The Didache was written because these early Christians were concerned even then that heresy, false teaching and deception was making its way into the early church. Some scholars believe the earliest parts of it came as early as 49-50 AD to battle a pagan ideology called gnosticism. Gnosticism teaches we are saved by knowledge from the light of truth – meaning – by what we know, not by Who, Jesus Christ the Light of the world. The Didache used a term used to describe false prophets/teachers/preachers as “Christemporos,” which means “Christ merchants.” False prophets use Jesus Christ and His gospel and church as means for serving their own ends. They use the things of God as mere merchandise to promote and dispense to their own advantage.Some of the ways The Didache said you could recognize a false prophet/teacher/preacher are:

1. “One was that a true prophet would not remain as a house guest for more than two days, because he would need to be up and about his work. A false prophet, however, would willingly stay indefinitely, since he had no real mission to accomplish except serving his own interests. 
2. The second test was in regard to asking for money. The true prophet, said The Didache, would ask for bread and water, but nothing more— that is, only for necessities to keep himself going. A false prophet, on the other hand, is not the least averse to asking for or even demanding money. 
3. A third test was in the area of life-style. A person who does not lead a life that corresponds to the standards he teaches is clearly not a man of God.
4. Still another test was in regard to willingness to work. If a person wanted to live off others and would not work for his own keep, he was a Christ trafficker” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 466).

A false prophet/teacher/preacher is involved in church work only to pad his own pockets, to get praise for his own personality, and to receive prestige for his own ego, to get power to satisfy his own greed and recognition. If money is involved, they will make sure they will reap the benefits, not the church. Today, the Christian community has more “merchants” than we can count. Through books, podcasts, radio, television, both video (mp4) and audio (mp3) recordings, in churches, conferences, seminars, crusades, and by various other means they package and sell the gospel in much the same way that Madison Avenue sells cars and soap. They are insincere peddlers of the Word of God who corrupt it for their own ends. This is the point of 2 Corinthians 2:17, “For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God” (NASB).

Questions To Consider

1. Having read this devotional, what do you think is the greatest danger from false prophets/teachers/preachers and why?
2. How would you personally know someone was a false prophet/teacher/preacher?
3. Have you ever been impacted by a false prophet/teacher/preacher? If you have, in what way and how did you recover from it?
4. Jesus said that false prophets/teachers/preachers were like wolves in sheep’s clothing. Why is Jesus’ analogy the perfect one?
5. Our culture is flooded with so called “truth” from so called experts. How do you know who to trust and why?

Scripture To Meditate On: Mark 13:22-23, “For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will sho ]signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. (23) But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance” (NASB).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I want to know the truth and be set by that truth. I do not want to be misled nor do I want to mislead anyone. Lord, give me a discerning heart to know who is a false prophet/teacher/preacher. Give me courage to call them out. Lord, help me to always stand for the truth of Your word. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly