You Will Know False Teachers By Their Fruit

Had to make a decision. From Faith Lutheran Church, Greenfield, Indiana, I'm going to be reading a portion of Pastor Daniel O 'Connor's sermon entitled,

Words Not Deeds. And I don't have audio on this, so I have to read this. But let me, in fact, let me read the text.

The text for this is going to be Matthew chapter 7,

I'll start at verse 15, and I think I'll go to 23. Yeah, here it is. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

So every tree that bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.

A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire, thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my

Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

All right. Now that's the gospel text that makes up the basis for, like I said, I'm going to be reading this, large portions of the sermon here.

It's not very, you have to understand, the Lutheran homilies, they get to the point quick. You know, we

Lutherans can say in 15 minutes what it takes a Calvinist an hour to say. I'm just, no, that's a joke.

It's not true. It is to say that homilies in the Lutheran tradition are generally kept short and a lot of the, you know, the in -depth biblical instruction happens during, you know, a different time than not during the, my answer, normally during Sunday school.

Anyway, yeah. So let me read to you Pastor O 'Connor's sermon, okay?

Again, it's entitled Words, Not Deeds, and going back, just remember that the opening of the program, I asked the question, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down.

What is the fruit of somebody who is a ravenous wolf? Is the saying we test them by their works?

Well, listen to what Pastor O 'Connor says. He says, there used to be an old mantra used by those folks from the more

Protestant, shall we say, fundamentalist tradition of Christianity. By the way, I would disagree with him here.

I think this phrase actually comes from the Unitarian Universalist. But anyway, it went like this, deeds, not creeds.

It spoke of the importance of living the faith and not just confessing it so that others could see your faith and how you lived rather than how you spoke.

To be sure, there is an element of truth to that. It is important to live the faith.

Good works do matter for us Christians, but not as a means for salvation.

When it comes to salvation in Christ, it's more a matter of words, not deeds.

We see that from today's Gospel reading, to which we now turn our attention, here again our

Lord says, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

You will know them by their fruits. Now what is Jesus talking about here? What does

He mean when He refers to fruits usually? When people hear those verses, and I had this happen on a shut -in call just this past week, they think of how a person lives.

They think of deeds. Later on in today's Gospel, Jesus does go on to say, not everyone who says to me,

Lord, Lord, shall enter the reign or the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father. So there you have it.

He who does the will of Jesus' Father is the one who enters the reign of heaven, right?

Where Jesus says, you will know them, i .e. false prophets, by their fruits. People just assume, and I used to be one of those making this assumption,

He's talking about how false prophets live. What they do. Again, He who does the will of my

Father. But folks, Jesus is not talking here about how false prophets live.

He's talking about how they speak. You see, Jesus says in today's

Gospel that false prophets wear sheep's clothing, which means that to the outside world, they look pretty good.

Their deeds are the kind that nobody questions. Not only that, but Jesus is speaking here about false prophets, and a prophet is known by what he says.

A prophet speaks the words of God. Jesus says elsewhere in Matthew's Gospel that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

That's Matthew 12, verse 34. So if someone claims to speak to you

God's Word, and inside they're a ravenous wolf, to use

Jesus' metaphor, you'll know it by what flows to you from their heart.

You will know it by their words. They won't speak in the manner of the good shepherd of the sheep, and in that their words will be wolf -like.

So when Jesus says that we will know them, i .e. false prophets, by their fruits,

He's talking about words, not deeds. A true prophet is one who speaks only as Jesus Himself speaks.

And what does Jesus speak? Well, in this section of His Sermon on the Mount, He speaks of mercy.

He speaks of not judging your neighbor. He speaks of helping your neighbor, helping him overcome his or her sin, and so avoiding

God's judgment of your own. He speaks of loving your neighbor, as He says just a few verses before those of today's

Gospel. In everything, therefore, treat people the same way that you want them to treat you, for this is the

Law and the Prophets. Referring, of course, to Leviticus 19 .18, which says, Love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus speaks of love, folks. He speaks of mercy, our mercy, and love for our neighbor as a reflection of God's mercy and God's love for us and His Son.

Yes, Jesus also speaks some pretty stringent words of law in His Sermon on the Mount. We heard some of those words a couple of weeks ago when we looked at Matthew 5, and Jesus is teaching there on anger.

But ultimately, Jesus teaches in a way that draws people to Himself. He teaches in a way that leads people to trust in His own saving deeds for them.

We see that when we look closer at Jesus' words about doing the will of His Father in heaven, we quoted them earlier, not everyone who says to me,

Lord, Lord shall enter the reign of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. At first glance, those words appear to put the emphasis on a prophet's works, his doing the will of the

Father, but they don't. For Jesus speaks of doing the will of His Father in two other places in Matthew's Gospel, and in the first place, chapter 12,

He commends those following Him for doing the will of His Father.

In the second, chapter 21, He commends those who follow John the Baptist. John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus, leading people to repent.

He pointed to the deeds of Jesus by laying the sin of the world upon Jesus in His baptism, in preparation for Jesus' death on the cross.

When we put those two passages together, we see that for Jesus, doing the will of the

Father means repenting of our sins. It means following the one John the Baptist pointed to by being a disciple of Jesus.

One does that, of course, by heeding the words of Jesus. The words of Jesus are emphasized in this portion in the

Sermon on the Mount. In fact, the words right after those of today's Gospel are these. Jesus says, everyone who hears these words of mine, hears and does them, will be like a wise man who builds his house on the rock.

Jesus' words are important because they point to His deeds of death and resurrection for the world's salvation.

A true prophet heeds those words. He repents of his sins and he clings to the mercy of God in Christ.

He trusts in the word of God's Son instead of his own deeds. He trusts in the word of God's forgiveness.

A true prophet preaches and teaches only the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for his sins.

Indeed, for the sins of the whole world, doing the will of the Father is about those words not deeds.

That's important because it speaks to what makes living the Christian life so difficult, the fact that we are always focused on our deeds.

We get caught up in how bad we are, or at least in the awareness that we're not good enough. We deal with guilt and shame over the way we lead our sinful lives, or else we feel too smug about the good lives we lead and we end up being self -righteous like the

Pharisees of Jesus' day. The gospel, however, consists of the word of Jesus, words that take our focus off of our deeds and put it squarely on the deeds of Jesus, who lived, died, and rose again for us.

That's the key to being able to enjoy the blessings of the reign of heaven, keeping the focus of our attention on the words of Jesus, not our deeds of sin.

True prophets help us do that, false prophets do not. And so, today's gospel speaks a warning to us about false prophets, pastors, or preachers.

It tells us to beware of what they say to us because if they tell us things that are supposed to be from God, that do not point to the mercy of God's Son, then even though they may look like harmless sheep on the outside, inside they are ravenous wolves.

I said a couple weeks ago that the key to understanding the Sermon on the Mount is to be read through the lens of the Beatitudes, which stand at the beginning.

Well, it's the first Beatitude where Jesus says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

That describes a true prophet, poor in spirit. A true prophet looks to God's Spirit, present in His Word, to make him rich in Jesus.

That's not just true for pastors either, but for all who endeavor to speak

God's words to others. They, we, cling to that Word for forgiveness.

Jesus tells us in today's gospel again, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the reign of heaven, but he who does the will of my

Father who is in heaven. The will of the Father is to follow His Son, Jesus, believing that because of His death and resurrection,

God's mercy and grace and forgiveness is for you. That is THE message of God's Word, the message all true prophets speak.

God grant that we all heed that message in faith and so cling to Jesus' words, not to our deeds.

In His name, Amen. Great sermon, great, great sermon, and I'm gonna, by way of tag teaming,

I'm gonna just add a little bit of biblical emphasis here, okay? Lenski in his commentary on the

Gospel of Matthew provides us some really good cross -references that really help us flesh out the fact that the false prophets, the fruits that they bear, the bad fruit is bad teaching.

And here's the idea, is that, ultimately this is the question we're trying to answer, is that false prophets, of course they're going to have what looks like good deeds.

The reason why is because those good deeds are the things that, that's the fleece that hides the wolf fur.

You see what I'm saying? Anyway, let me give you a couple of cross -references here that will help. The Apostle Paul writing in, well, not writing, but speaking in Acts chapter 20, verse 29, he's talking to the churches in Ephesus, he says,

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Okay? And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away disciples after them.

Notice here in Acts chapter 20, verse 30, the

Apostle Paul makes it clear, the fruit that you're to be listening for are those who are speaking twisted things.

And therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease, night or day, to admonish everyone with tears, and now

I commend you to God and to the word of His grace. So they're commended to God and the word of His grace, keeping in mind that, listen, there's wolves coming and they're going to speak twisted things, and this is what

Jesus is getting at. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire, thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

The Apostle Paul says here in a direct cross -reference that wolves are coming, they're going to speak twisted things.

That's how you'll know they're a wolf, okay? Other cross -references,

Isaiah chapter 8, verse 20, to the teaching and to the testimony, if they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn, they have no light, okay?

False prophet will not speak according to the word of God. They'll twist it, mangle it, you know, basically pull out their

Ginsu knife and turn it into julienne fries, but they won't properly speak it and they won't preach

Christ from it, okay? First John chapter 4, verse 1, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out in the world.

The way we test them is with the word of God. Hebrews 13, 9, Do not be led astray by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods which have not benefited those devoted to them.

Do not be led astray by diverse and strange teachings.

Second John, verse 9, Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have

God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the

Son. Or verse 11, For whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

Wicked works are, well, according to Second John, the wicked work of not abiding in the teaching of Christ that we have in Scripture.

Another sign here that even Jesus points out in Matthew chapter 15, verse 9,

In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. That's a sure sign.

You've got somebody who's teaching the doctrines of men, that's a wolf. They're not teaching what's in the word of God.

And of course, Titus chapter 1, verses 9 through 12, which make it clear that an overseer in the church must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine, and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.

They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families, by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.

One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons, therefore rebuke them sharply.

See, the common theme throughout all the Scripture is that the fruit that you test a false prophet by are their words.

If they're not teaching sound doctrine, if they're not pointing you to Christ, if they're going beyond what is written, if they are not abiding by what

Scripture says, but running off on their own, okay, or comforting you in your sin rather than confronting you with it and driving you to repentance and forgiveness through Christ's shed blood on the cross, that's a false prophet.

That's a false prophet. The fruit that you test a prophet by is their teaching.

Plus Jesus himself in this Gospel text, listen to this, not everyone who says to me,

Lord, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father on that day, the day of judgment, many will say to me,

Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Notice they're pointing to their works,

Lord, we prophesied in your name. Notice that that's what they're holding up to Jesus as somehow proof that they're a

Christian. Look at Lord, we prophesied in your name. They're pointing to their works, not

Christ's. And we cast out demons in your name and did many mighty works in your name.

See, on the last day, the false prophets point to all of their good works as if their good works somehow merit

God's favor. So they're full of works that to the casual observer look like, quote, good works.

But if you had listened to their teaching, you would have identified the fact that they were pointing you to Christ, they were pointing you to yourself in your own good works.

And so they're holding up their good works to Jesus on the last day, right? Many will say to me,

Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

Yep, let me read to you what the notes in the Lutheran Study Bible point out.

False prophets, such prophets seek to lead astray those on the narrow way. Okay, they are outwardly, these prophets seem to be followers of Jesus, but their goal is to devour the sheep.

And then the note on verse 16 says this regarding fruits. It's used seven times in verses 16 through 20, and it does not refer to good deeds, but to what the prophet says, his preaching and his teaching.

Grapes gathered, rhetorical question on judging a prophet, okay? And then here's kind of the summary of this little section from the

Lutheran Study Bible. Just as there are two ways, the good and the bad, so there are two kinds of prophets.

One can identify false prophets by what they teach, especially by what they teach about the person and mission of Jesus.

Here's what Luther said. You must hold on to the chief part, the summary of the Christian teaching, and accept nothing else that God has sent and given

Christ, his son, and that only through him does he forgive us all of our sins and justify and save us.

Preserve me, O Lord, from all false prophets who would take away my trust for salvation in you alone.

It's always the key, okay? And false prophets, you know, they are very subtle.

And they might use big words like vision casting, God has given me a vision. And they might point to how quickly and rapidly their church has grown as the miraculous proof that God has given them the vision.

But when you listen to their teaching, that's where the fruit is. When you listen to their teaching, they're not pointing you to Christ and him crucified for our sins.

They're pointing, well, you to them or pointing you to yourself and basically say, work harder.

Do big things for God to somehow merit his favor. It's what they teach. Always a false prophet will take your eyes off of Christ and put them either squarely on the false prophet himself or herself nowadays, or have you basically hold up a mirror to constantly look to see if you're producing, you know, look to your own works as if somehow your own good works could stand on the day of judgment.

Their works won't, and they will plead before Jesus on the day of judgment, Lord, Lord, do we not prophesy in your name?

Prophecy apparently in God's name, don't you think that would be a good work? Do we not cast out demons in your name? That would be a good work.

And do many mighty works in your name and Jesus will declare to you, to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

So when you hear the preaching of Matthew chapter seven, beware of false prophets.

You will know them by their fruit. Their fruit is their words, not their deeds.

All right, we're up on our second break. If you'd like to email me regarding anything you've heard on this edition or any previous editions of Fighting for the

Faith, you can do so. My email address, talkbackatfightingforthefaith .com. Or you can ask me on my friend on Facebook, it's facebook .com

forward slash pirate Christian. Or you can follow me on Twitter, my name there, at pirate Christian. We will be right back to a sermon review on the other side of this break.

You're not going to want to miss it. We don't need to rethink