False Prophecy is Bad Fruit

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:10

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

00:18

Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

00:25

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the seventh chapter.

00:58

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 is thrown into the fire, thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

01:11

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

01:17

Father who is in heaven. On that day 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?

01:28

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

01:34

This is the gospel of the Lord, in the name of Jesus. Hear again the words of Jesus Christ, 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.

01:49

I would note that within the charismatic movement in a lot of churches and evangelicalism today false prophets are just not a concern.

01:58

They don't particularly care about people who are giving false prophecies. In fact, they encourage people to stretch out in faith, to take a risk and see if they can hear

02:08

God's voice and then communicate it and tell others what God is telling them. This is to train people in blasphemy.

02:16

Remember the second commandment. The Calvinists are wrong, by the way. The second commandment has nothing to do with making graven images.

02:22

The second commandment has to do with taking God's name in vain and misusing it.

02:28

Luther asks the question, what does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not, what? We do not use

02:35

God's name. We do not use satanic arts, lie or deceive by God's name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks.

02:42

That being the case, everybody who speaks falsely, who says that they have words from God that God has not given them, they are guilty of breaking this commandment.

02:53

And you're going to note here, you're going to sit there and go, listen, we're at Kongs of Inger Lutheran Church. Pastor Roseborough has been teaching us to not listen to false prophets via prophecy bingo and what a fun game that is.

03:06

I would remind you of the words of the Apostle Paul in our epistle text, our second reading. The Apostle Paul, as he was getting ready to depart, noted that he had spent three years in Ephesus, preaching to them night and day, even doing so with tears.

03:22

And he told them that after he left, that fierce wolves would rise up amongst them and teach twisted things.

03:29

So note then that God is warning us because just because you have a faithful pastor at the moment doesn't mean you're going to have a faithful pastor in the future.

03:42

And you'll note that we human beings are prone to follow after fads.

03:47

And when the major part of the visible church follows after a fad and does the latest and greatest thing, you think of like the purpose -driven life or something like that.

03:56

Everybody had to do purpose -driven life Bible studies, right? You'll note that God requires you to test that against the

04:05

Scriptures before you start heading down that road. And so the idea here is that if you think that you are standing, beware lest you fall.

04:15

We in our own strength are not capable of fully protecting ourselves against deceit.

04:20

We must rely on God and His Word and the Holy Spirit. So do not approach this with some kind of pride saying, listen, we've got this one in the bag.

04:31

You know how tempting it was for me to sit there and go, oh, it's False Prophet Sunday. I think I could just coast this sermon in, right?

04:38

No, you can't do that. So let's take a look at a few things here. In our Gospel text,

04:43

Christ says you're going to recognize them by their fruits. And He asked the question, are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

04:52

Listen, I do not have an agricultural degree, okay? None of the farmers here are asking me for advice when it comes to planting their crops or things like this.

05:01

But I'm pretty sure that grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes and figs are not gathered from thistles.

05:08

I'm pretty sure of that. So much so I'd be willing to bet money on it. But this is the point.

05:15

And you'll note that there are a lot of people running around today who are saying, listen, we're in the era of the

05:21

New Covenant. And Old Testament prophets, they were required to be 100 % accurate.

05:26

But now in the New Testament, we don't need perfectly accurate prophets.

05:32

And they say that's not the standard of Scripture for the New Testament. I would note that Jesus didn't say these words.

05:39

Listen, sometimes healthy trees lay bad eggs. From time to time, a healthy tree is just going to put out a piece of fruit.

05:49

He doesn't say that. And by the way, it's not in the Scripture. I'm just summarizing, okay?

05:55

Jesus says, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.

06:01

A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

06:09

Does that sound like Jesus is making room for false prophecies in the New Covenant, which then we can sit there and go, well,

06:17

I know that they told us that God told them that Trump was going to win in 2020, and he didn't, but that doesn't make them a false prophet.

06:27

Isn't that bad fruit? I think that's bad fruit. And not only is it bad fruit, it shows that we're dealing with a bad tree.

06:35

And by the way, all the new Trump prophets, they are out in force since last weekend.

06:42

Oh, the internet is full of them. In fact, there's one particular one that is making the rounds because this guy gave a prophecy that appears on the surface to be a true one.

06:54

Let me tell you about this guy. I think he goes by the last name of Biggs. And this fellow, back in March of this year, on his prophetic

07:04

YouTube channel, and what's a prophetic YouTube channel? Well, he's hearing from God all the time, man, and he's making videos about it all the time.

07:11

And if you look at some of the weird videos he's put up, it's just nonsense, right? Well, it just so happens in March of this year, he prophesied that there would be an assassination attempt against former

07:23

President Trump. And I would note, do you have to be a prophet to think that there would have been?

07:30

I remember Tucker Carlson saying a few things a few weeks back about there being a potential assassination attempt against Trump because of the rhetoric that was being spoken, you know, by the left on this matter.

07:45

And last time I checked, Tucker Carlson does not have a prophetic YouTube channel, nor does...

07:50

Does he even claim to be a Christian? I don't know. I'm not even sure, right? So, you'll note that's not very miraculous.

07:58

And plus, political assassinations during election cycles seems to be a part of our tradition now here in the

08:05

United States. You know, think of Robert Kennedy and others, right? So, this isn't exactly a stretch. But here's the part that really got everyone's attention.

08:13

He said that during the assassination attempt, the bullet would miss, it would whiz by his ear, and you sit there and go, wow,

08:23

God must have told him that. Well, wait, there's more, okay? He said that the bullet would break

08:28

Trump's eardrum because of the sonic boom, and that when he fell to the ground, he would ask

08:34

Jesus into his heart and come up praising God having been filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.

08:44

So, let me see if I got this right. What he got correct was assassination attempt and the word ear, okay?

08:52

And everything else falls apart after that. Did he really prophesy?

08:58

And considering the fact that we can look at his prophetic record by looking at his YouTube channel, it's just filled with nonsense.

09:04

In fact, I plan on featuring him in the next Prophecy Bingo because there are some buzzwords coming out of his face that just would make for some good bingo, right?

09:14

This guy is not a true prophet. He might have got a little bit right, but the rest he got wrong.

09:22

Is that good fruit or is it bad fruit? It's bad fruit.

09:28

So, note here, using Jesus' own standard, we can rule this guy out. But think then about our

09:35

Old Testament text. Note what God says in verse 26 of Jeremiah 23.

09:42

Thus says the Lord of hosts. Now, the word host, it's a good thing to review this from time to time.

09:50

What is a host? When we think of host, we think of people who like serve drinks and things like this. That's not what the

09:56

Lord of hosts is. So, whenever you see this in your Bible, hosts in the Old Testament, the

10:02

Hebrew word behind that is sava, and it means army. The Lord of armies. Thus says

10:08

Yahweh of armies. And listen to this, and tell me if this is a command or not. Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes.

10:21

They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of Yahweh. They say continually to those who despise the word of Yahweh, it shall be well with you.

10:31

And to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, no disaster shall come upon you.

10:40

Does God want us to listen to people who do these things? No. That's the point.

10:45

This command, although it was given in the Old Testament, still applies today. This is why in 1

10:52

John chapter 4, we are admonished and commanded by God the Holy Spirit to test the prophets, to test the spirits.

10:59

So you'll note that back in Jeremiah's day, they had a YouTube profit problem too.

11:05

The only thing is that YouTube hadn't been invented yet. And so what were the prophets of Jeremiah in his time doing?

11:13

Oh, they were telling everything was going to be well with them. And you'll note, when somebody claims to be hearing from God today,

11:21

I would note, they say, oh, listen, we're going to give a prophecy, and this is for everybody, that God has told me to tell you that there is an upcoming season of breakthrough, that God is, that you're the head and not the tail, and you're the bee's knees in God's eyes, and He's going to be sending you prosperity and health and all the things you're going to be looking for.

11:44

Those of you who listen to these prophets, they might even tell you, He's going to give you well -behaved children.

11:51

And I know some of you are saying, that would be nice, but the children are listening going, yeah, right, right, challenge accepted.

12:01

What are they doing? They're promising God's blessings without repentance.

12:09

They are promising God's blessings to those who despise His words and refuse to obey

12:16

God's command to not listen to yahoos like this. Do you think that just because somebody put a

12:23

YouTube video up, that God's going to be releasing suddenlies and breakthroughs and prosperity and well -behaved children all over the world to people who just watch that video regardless of whether or not they are a penitent believer in Jesus Christ?

12:38

Not on your life. And by the way, if you want well -behaved children, spare the rod, spoil the child, the scripture says.

12:46

Discipline is cold when it comes to things like that, not magic ideas about prophecies and God releasing stuff like that.

12:54

So you'll note, in Jeremiah's days, the false prophets, they were speaking all kinds of nonsense, and they were speaking it to people who were steeped in idolatry, they were steeped in sexual sin, they were steeped in injustice, and they were steeped in extorting money from the poor and oppressing them.

13:11

You think God was about to bless them? No. In fact, God sent the prophet Jeremiah, and Jeremiah was as popular in his day as a pile of manure is today.

13:24

People there did not want to listen to him. They did not like him, because what was

13:30

Jeremiah prophesying? He was prophesying, repent of your idolatry, otherwise

13:36

God's going to send for the armies of Nebuchadnezzar. He's going to come and he's going to defeat you, and there's only going to be a remnant of you left.

13:44

Oh, and by the way, if you want to survive the armed attacks of Nebuchadnezzar's army, you're going to have to do one thing.

13:54

You're going to have to surrender to him, and everybody who surrenders to Nebuchadnezzar will live, and they will have their life as a prize of war, and everybody who resists and disobeys

14:08

God and his command to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, where would they end up? Dead.

14:13

That's what God said. And who made good on his word?

14:19

God did make good on his word, so you're going to note here. Jeremiah was a true prophet, and when we look at the biblical standards for true prophets, true prophets' words will always be fulfilled, always, because they're not speaking their own words, they're speaking words from God, and God is not a blathering idiot who doesn't know what the future's going to bring, nor is

14:42

God senile and incompetent mentally so that when he says he's going to do a thing, he forgets to follow through.

14:50

Instead, God knows full well that when he raises up a prophet and he says something's going to happen, it's going to happen.

14:58

Deuteronomy makes this very clear in chapter 18. If a prophet says something's going to occur and it doesn't take place, well, what do you do with him?

15:06

You stone him. And so this is the case, and so there's a wonderful story, is it really wonderful though?

15:13

It is an interesting story. In Jeremiah chapter 28, just five chapters after our

15:19

Old Testament text today, and in Jeremiah 28, Jeremiah has a run -in with a false prophet, a fellow by the name of Hananiah, the son of Azer.

15:31

And Hananiah was one of these guys who set up his own YouTube channel, and he prophesied the nonsense of his own heart.

15:42

And he was telling people what they wanted to hear. By Jeremiah 28, God had already sent

15:48

Nebuchadnezzar the first time. He's going to send him two more times. He's already sent him once, and he's already taken all of the utensils out of the temple of God.

16:00

Solomon's temple is now utensilless. Those have been removed from the temple. And the first wave of exiles has now gone into exile in Babylon.

16:11

And what did everybody want to hear? Well, they wanted to believe that what had happened to them was evil, was brought on them by Satan, and that God was going to deliver them, and he was going to defeat their enemy.

16:26

But who sent Nebuchadnezzar? God did.

16:33

So Hananiah decided he was going to contradict Jeremiah. And at this point, a little more context,

16:41

God had told Jeremiah to create kind of a prophetic prop, if you would.

16:47

The prophetic prop was a yoke. If you don't know what a yoke is, back in the day, they didn't have combines and things like this.

16:55

So in order to till up the ground, you'd have to put two oxen together under a yoke, and then they'd be able to pull a plow and dig the holes necessary to plant crops.

17:06

So God told Jeremiah to make himself a prop, to make himself a yoke, and Jeremiah was going about the business of prophesying and telling

17:18

Judah that they needed to submit themselves to the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar.

17:24

Well, this got Hananiah's hackles up, and he decided that he was going to give a contradictory prophecy.

17:33

Jeremiah 28 says, In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year,

17:40

Hananiah the son of Azer, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of Yahweh, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying,

17:50

Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon, and within two years

17:59

I will bring back to this place all the vessels of Yahweh's house, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon.

18:08

I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares

18:16

Yahweh, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Well now we've got a problem.

18:26

We have dueling prophecies. How are we to distinguish who's telling the truth and who's telling a lie?

18:34

Who was truly sent by God and who was sent, well not by God, maybe by Satan, maybe by his own delusional mind, right?

18:45

And so that's the question that's before us. The prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of Yahweh, and the prophet

18:55

Jeremiah said, Amen! Way to go, Hananiah.

19:01

Way to go. May Yahweh do so and may Yahweh make the words that you've prophesied come true and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of Yahweh and all the exiles.

19:12

Yet hear this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people.

19:18

The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times, they prophesied war, famine, pestilence against many countries, and great kingdoms.

19:28

And as for the prophet who prophesies peace, you'll note that what Jeremiah is pointing out here is that Hananiah is kind of like that game that you used to listen to or watch on Sesame Street, right?

19:41

Remember the game? One of these things is not like the other. One of these things is not the same, right?

19:48

Find out what doesn't belong is the idea here. And so Jeremiah points out, listen, the prophets of the past, they prophesied war and pestilence, calling countries and great kingdoms to repentance.

19:59

But as for the prophet who prophesies peace, that doesn't sound anything like Isaiah. That doesn't sound anything like Micah.

20:07

That doesn't sound anything like the prophets of old. As for the prophet who prophesies peace, note the words, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that Yahweh has truly sent the prophet.

20:27

So then Hananiah took the yoke bars from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and he broke them.

20:33

Was it Peter Townsend? He used to break his telecasters on stage, you know, just get up there at the end of the show and just smash those things, you know, they pull a

20:40

Peter Townsend here, right? What a good waste of yoke bars and also a good waste of telecasters, but that's a whole other story.

20:49

So he broke the bars from Jeremiah and Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people saying, well thus says

20:56

Yahweh, even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.

21:04

But Jeremiah the prophet went his way. Now what should happen at this point to Hananiah?

21:17

He's a false prophet and do you think this is his first false prophecy? Does a good tree bear bad fruit?

21:24

Does a bad tree bear good fruit? Who's telling the truth here? Clearly Jeremiah is.

21:31

And so what should have happened to men like Hananiah, which Judah wasn't doing, which they were called upon God by Deuteronomy 18 to do, is they should have been executing these fellows.

21:46

Under the Mosaic covenant, under the theocracy of Israel, God made it very clear that those who blaspheme

21:52

God's name by giving prophecies that he hasn't given them to give, that the punishment for this crime is death, death penalty for false prophets.

22:05

So he's supposed to die. Do you think Judah in their state of apostasy is about to kill and put to death and execute

22:15

Hananiah as an example so that other people will not prophesy falsely, not on your life?

22:22

Oh don't worry, God can step in in situations like that. If they're not going to do what

22:28

God's word commands them to do, never fear, God will step in, he'll take care of it himself.

22:35

So sometime after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah.

22:43

You go tell Hananiah, thus says Yahweh, you've broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron.

22:51

For thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke to serve

22:59

Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and they shall serve him.

23:05

For I have given to him even the beasts of the field. And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet

23:11

Hananiah, listen Hananiah, Yahweh has not sent you and you have made this people trust a lie.

23:20

Therefore, thus says Yahweh, behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth and this year you shall die because you have uttered rebellion against Yahweh.

23:33

Now a little bit of a note here, we heard Hananiah's prophecy, where in his prophecy did

23:38

Hananiah say we need to grab our pitchforks and go storm the gates of heaven and depose

23:44

God? Isn't that what rebellion does? It deposes the one who's in authority, kills him and puts somebody else in his place.

23:53

You'll note that he didn't overtly do that, but it doesn't matter if it was overt or not.

23:59

By giving words that God had not given him and saying that Yahweh was behind it, he was giving commands for Yahweh that Yahweh had not commanded.

24:11

In fact, they contradicted God's clear commands. And as a result of it, he was uttering complete rebellion against Yahweh, the true

24:20

God. And God doesn't take that lightly. Every false prophet is an apostate rebel against Yahweh.

24:32

And anybody claiming to have direct revelation from God and has not passed the test, you need to think of them as churchly insurrectionists who are leading a revolt against Jesus himself, who seek to depose

24:50

Christ and his word and replace him with Satan and his words. That's what rebellion is.

24:58

So in that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah, he died.

25:05

Just like Jeremiah said. Remember Jeremiah's words. Jeremiah's words were, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the

25:14

Lord has truly sent the prophet. Who is speaking truth here and who is speaking lies?

25:19

Jeremiah was speaking the truth. And you're going to note then that now, upon this judgment of God, with Hananiah dying, who represents one of the false prophets of Jeremiah's day,

25:32

God then pushes the issue further. In Jeremiah chapter 29, God pushes it further by sending an epistle, a letter to the exiles in Babylon because it just so happens that some of the

25:47

Hananiah type of yahoo wingnuts made their way to Babylon and they were saying the same nonsensical, rebellious words.

25:58

So Jeremiah 29 then says, these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles and to the priests and the prophets and all the people whom

26:08

Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was after Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs and the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the metal workers, they had departed from Jerusalem.

26:22

And this letter was sent by the hand of Elisa, the son of Shaphan, and Gamariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom

26:28

Zedekiah, the king of Judah, sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. And here's what the letter said.

26:34

Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, build houses, live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce.

26:49

Take wives and have sons and daughters, take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters and multiply there and do not decrease.

27:00

Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to Yahweh on its behalf. For it is welfare, you will find your welfare.

27:07

For thus says the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name.

27:21

I did not send them, declares Yahweh. For thus says Yahweh, when 70 years are completed for Babylon, then

27:30

I will visit you and will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

27:40

False prophets were saying in two years, in two years, in two years. And Jeremiah says, no, 70.

27:48

And God was behind it. And who was right? How long did it take for the exiles to return?

27:54

70 years. So brothers and sisters, note, the standard is simple.

28:01

Anybody claiming to be speaking for God, who is incapable of rightly telling you what the future will be, despite the fact they are giving future prophecies, they are false prophets and God does not will for you to listen to them.

28:14

Take note of the end of Hananiah. Also, true prophets teach what are consistent with the scriptures.

28:22

They don't twist God's word. And in this regard, we have to take something into consideration.

28:29

And that is this, and that all pastors, there's,

28:35

I'm going to say a phrase that's going to sound stupid, but hang on a second here. For every pastor, there is a prophetic dimension to their preaching.

28:44

And when I use the word prophetic dimension, I sound like I should go on Sid Roth's It's Supernatural like next week. Let's talk about the prophetic dimension of preaching.

28:52

No, here's the thing. And what I mean by prophetic dimension is that every pastor has been tasked by God to preach the word.

29:03

In season, out of season, and we are admonished, in fact, commanded by God to preach the word as taught.

29:11

We don't get to put our own spin on it. God wants us to rightly handle, to rightly divide his word.

29:17

And even the apostle Peter in his first epistle makes it clear that pastors who preach the word are to preach as if they are preaching the very oracles of God because they are.

29:29

That being the case, note something here, is that if pastors have to preach the word correctly, how much more should somebody be required to preach the word correctly is somebody who claims that they are hearing directly from God.

29:45

And yet I can tell you, without a single exception, I have never run into a person's ministry, a prophetic ministry, somebody claiming that they're a prophet today who was capable of rightly handling a biblical text.

30:01

It's the craziest thing. But note here, this does then become one of the standards, and here's the reason why.

30:08

In 2 Peter 1, verse 16, Peter writes, Here we have the prophetic word.

30:40

The what? The prophetic word. The prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

30:53

Knowing this first of all, no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.

31:02

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the

31:11

Holy Spirit. So note then, all of scripture, the prophetic word,

31:17

Peter calls it, is inspired by God, the Holy Spirit. It's theanoustos, it's God breathed.

31:23

So if somebody's claiming, I'm hearing from God, the Holy Spirit, and he's told me to tell you

31:29

X, Y, and Z, right? Listen carefully to that person then and how they handle God's word, because as soon as they start twisting it up and making it say things it isn't saying, that's an absolute sure sign, that's bad fruit, that they're not hearing from God, the

31:46

Holy Spirit, because God, the Holy Spirit, is the one who in producing the scriptures, did so not from people's own interpretations.

31:55

And he doesn't want my interpretation or anyone else's interpretation muddying up his word.

32:04

Therefore, when somebody twists it up, you know for sure you're dealing with a false prophet, and if they're claiming to hear from God, then why isn't

32:10

God, the Holy Spirit, speaking to them going, hey, stop twisting my word, right?

32:18

If they were really hearing from God, God would be telling them to repent of their false doctrine and their Bible twisting, which is proof that they're not hearing from God.

32:27

And I would also note that true prophets, they encourage repentance.

32:35

Like God's word and the prophets of old, they call people to repent of their sin, their idolatry, their adultery, their thieving, their misbehaving and rebelling against governing authorities and call them to repentance and assure them that there is forgiveness for all who repent.

32:54

True prophets do that. Don't believe me? Read the Old Testament prophets. It's all over the place.

33:00

False prophets, they tell people what they want to hear. And then also, a true prophet's life reflects their divine call.

33:10

Which of the true prophets of God, and I'm going to just kind of ask this, which of the true prophets of God were out there wantonly committing sex crimes and things like this?

33:23

And I would note, I don't think it is a coincidence that two of the major leaders within the

33:30

New Apostolic Reformation in the past 12 months have been exposed for horrific sexual crimes.

33:39

Not just sexual sin, but crimes. You think of Mike Bickle of the International House of Prayer, and boy, that was kind of the mainstay, ground zero church for the

33:52

New Apostolic Reformation and for today's modern prophetic movement. And turns out that a while back,

34:01

Mike Bickle sexually assaulted a 14 -year -old girl. And if that wasn't enough, well, one of the major leaders within the

34:09

New Apostolic Reformation, who's written a book, Robert Morris, who's written a book about how to hear the voice of God, I think it's called

34:17

Frequency, turns out he had sexually assaulted a 12 -year -old girl long before he was a megachurch pastor.

34:26

I don't think these things are coincidences. I don't think they are at all. In fact,

34:31

I would note, it seems to be a recurring theme that people claiming to be prophets that they are, as Scripture warns us, they are not only waterless rain clouds, but they are blots and blemishes at our love feasts, and they have eyes full of adultery,

34:48

Scripture describes them in such ways. So brothers and sisters, I think we've learned quite a bit about false prophets, but let me remind you of their fate.

34:58

Jesus, talking about the fact that we will recognize them by their fruit, notes then, not everyone who says to me,

35:05

Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. And here's where the rub is. So many people have a laissez -faire attitude regarding people claiming to be prophets today, that basically the only rule for being able to hear them is they have to claim that Jesus is their

35:19

Savior. Well, Jesus says that the wolves come to us in sheep's clothing, and they come to us in Jesus' name.

35:26

I have yet to see a false prophet saying, I come to you Christians in the name of Shiva and Vishnu.

35:32

Okay, never seen that. It just isn't going to happen, because nobody would listen to them.

35:38

They have to actually put on the sheepskin, right? So Christ then unmasks and pulls the sheepskin off to show the wolves, and here's what he says.

35:48

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

35:53

Father who is in heaven. On that day, many, not some, many.

36:00

Think about the tragedy here. Many will say to me,

36:05

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

36:21

Where are they doing all this stuff? In the visible church, right? On YouTube and other places.

36:29

This sounds exactly like today's New Apostolic Reformation. We have prophets and apostles aplenty casting out demons and doing deliverance stuff and claiming to do mighty works in God's name, like lengthening legs and things like that.

36:43

Jesus says to them, I declare, I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

36:51

So note, Christ doesn't have the highest opinion and doesn't sit there and go, well, you know,

36:56

I'm glad that you had at least a 36 % accurate prophetic record. He doesn't say stuff like this.

37:04

Instead, he says that their fate is hell. And so we must take that into consideration.

37:11

And here's the thing. Not only is that the fate of these leaders who spouted these false prophecies, this is also the fate of those who listened to them and followed them in the rebellion and exchanged the wholesome and true words of Scripture for the false prophecies and nonsense of these wingnut wackerdoodles.

37:33

So note, this is the fate of all who go down the road of rebellion against God's command to not take his name in vain.

37:43

And here's where we have to then seek the gospel. Because I can tell you without blushing that I am guilty of speaking words for God that God has not given me to speak.

37:57

I have spent time in the latter reign movement, Barb and I both, and the things we said and did are beyond blasphemous.

38:07

I know that some of you come from bad churches and that you have been guilty of also doing the same.

38:14

So you're going to note, we need to hear words of comfort because these words that I have given up to this point condemn every one of us.

38:24

And so where, where can we find grace? Well, I would come back to that primary text from Deuteronomy 18.

38:33

In Deuteronomy 18, Yahweh gives a prophecy about a prophet that he will raise up.

38:39

Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, Moses says, from your brothers.

38:46

It is to him you shall listen. Just as you desired of Yahweh your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my

38:55

God or see this great fire anymore lest I die. The Lord said to me, they are right in what they have spoken.

39:03

Now, let me kind of summarize that. If you think about the children of Israel having been brought out of slavery, they were there at the base of Mount Sinai and God descended on the top of Mount Sinai.

39:14

The whole top of the mountain itself was on fire, smoke rising from it.

39:20

And when the Ten Commandments were delivered, there was a sound of a heavenly trumpet blast accompanying each of the commandments and the voice of God thundered and boomed.

39:32

I mean, this is as terrifying as a scene as it gets. And so when they heard the law given by God verbally, it was done so in a way that shook them to their core.

39:45

You shall have no other gods before me. Right.

39:51

You shall remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery.

39:57

Boom. Crash. Cruel. Right. And in a very real way,

40:02

Scripture is very clear on this. It's Moses who brought us the law, but Christ brings us something else.

40:10

And so this prophecy of Moses is not to enforce the condemning aspect of God's law.

40:17

And God's law does condemn us all rightly. God says they're right in what they have spoken.

40:23

The law has terrified them. So I will raise up for them a prophet like you, Moses, from among their brothers.

40:29

I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I have commanded him.

40:35

Whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

40:40

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.

40:48

So here we have a prophecy regarding Christ. And God says that he will put words in the mouth of Christ.

40:56

Jesus makes it clear during his earthly ministry that he only spoke the words that the father had given him.

41:03

So what were the words that Jesus has given? What did he say?

41:08

The words given to him by the father? He spoke words like this. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

41:18

That whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

41:24

God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

41:32

Jesus said to his apostles, receive the Holy Spirit. The sins you forgive will have already been forgiven.

41:39

The sins you retain are retained. And so you'll note that Jesus is not like Moses at all.

41:46

And the words that he has been given by the father are words of comfort, of words of forgiveness, words of peace and being reconciled to God by the death, burial, resurrection of Christ.

42:00

In fact, Jesus is a true prophet. How do we know? Because his words came true.

42:05

Remember when Jesus went into Jerusalem one time and he made a cord whip out of out of cords and he drove the money changers out, scattered all their tables and said, stop making my father's house into a house of business and trade.

42:21

And so the leaders of the temple came up to Jesus and said, what sign do you give us to show us that you have the authority to be doing these things?

42:30

And Jesus said, tear down this temple. I'll build it again in three days. It's taken 46 years to build this temple and you're going to rebuild it in three days.

42:39

Right, Jesus. But the text says the temple he was referring to was the temple of his body. Jesus prophesied his death, but more than that,

42:49

Jesus prophesied something more amazing, his resurrection from the grave. And so, brothers and sisters,

42:55

Jesus truly is the prophet that God prophesied would come through Moses. And we must listen to him.

43:03

He calls each and every one of us to repent of our sins. And he gives us words of comfort, words of grace, words of mercy, and assures us that he has suffered, bled and died for your sins and mine and carried upon himself the sins of the world.

43:18

And that through him, there isn't condemnation from God, as we all rightly deserve.

43:24

Instead, there is mercy, pardon and grace. And the record of debt that stood against us with all of its legal demands,

43:32

Christ himself has nailed to the cross and set it aside so that God will not condemn us, but give us something that we don't deserve.

43:42

Eternal life, forgiveness of our sins, all is a gift. And you'll note that you hear these words from no other prophet than Prophet Jesus.

43:52

And his apostles were sent with his authority to preach this gospel, that in him there is the forgiveness of sins.

43:58

So, brothers and sisters, let us stop listening to voices that God has told us not to listen to.

44:05

Let us repent of those voices that we have listened to that God has told us not to listen to. And let us help our erring brothers and sisters who've come under the sway of those whom they are commanded by God not to listen to.

44:19

And let us be diligent in showing the false fruit that shows the bad tree that they are.

44:25

But let us stick to the good tree, Jesus, who was nailed to the cross, the tree of the cross, so that we can be forgiven.

44:34

And you'll note that a good tree like the cross only bears good fruit.

44:40

And it's only through the cross that we have the fruit of our salvation won by Christ. In the name of Jesus.

44:46

Amen. If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, you can do so by sending a tax free donation to Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

45:05

Avenue Northwest, Oslo, Minnesota 56744. And again, that address is

45:12

Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

45:19

Avenue Northwest, Oslo, Minnesota 56744. We thank you for your support.

45:26

All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message.