[8:00 a.m.] False Prophets and the Fruit of Truth (Matthew 7:15-20)

Well, our scripture reading. Scripture reading is from The

Book of Matthew. Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew Chapter 7, We're coming down now to the last about 20%

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

of The Sermon on the Mount today.

We're in Matthew chapter 7, in our scripture, reading and text

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

comes from verse 15 and following here.

Now, the word of the Lord This is Jesus speaking, of course,

beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing,

but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

You will recognize them by their fruits are grapes, gathered from

thornbushes or figs from thistles.

So, every healthy tree Bears, good fruit, but the diseased

tree Bears. Bad fruit a healthy tree cannot

bear, bad fruit. Nor can a disease done-- bear,

good fruit. Every tree that does not bear.

Good, fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Does she will recognize them by their fruits, the word of the

Lord, and you may be seated. False prophets.

First thing I did last this week when I began to prepare for this

message was, I just sat down? and pulled out a my legal pad

and yeah I use it legal pad I don't use one of them silly

little and I started sketching all sorts of groups and

movements and things that in my opinion were false prophets led

by false, prophets espousing false teaching and in many ways

practicing Wicked and false practices.

And I filled up the legal pad before I could hardly realize

what I'd done. And it stunned me I began to

think about it. I kind of knew this, but as I

laid it out before me, The vast majority of what calls itself

Christian today. Is false.

That's just hard to imagine. but there are Heretics of the first

order. People, that deny the

Incarnation. People that are totally mistaken

about what Authority base. We have, whether it's the word

of God or tradition or the latest word from man.

God told me this morning and on and on I went and I was

frustrated to try to categorize it all because I wanted to spell

it all I wanted to name names. I know lots of names, I wanted

to match them up with doctrines and pull something out of the

scripture and I said, first of all, I don't have the time to do

that but more importantly, I really don't have the wisdom and

discernment to do that. A good make a good shot at it,

but it's unbelievable. Amount of false things that are

being taught in the name of the one who said, I am the truth.

While later in this particular passage, we're going to get to

where Jesus talked about. Those that did a lot of

wonderful things in his name. And what he'll say to.

We'll save that for us under your two down the road.

What I thought I would do, since I filled up with a legal pad,

full of all sorts of false, teachers and false Doctrine, and

false movements, and heresies, and everything, I could think of

off the top of my head, I just decided Well, instead of

sketching, you my opinion, why don't I just read you a few

words of scripture and let the scriptures speak for themselves?

And see what the apostles Doctrine is concerning these

false teachers and how we are to relate to them and what we are

to do to them. So this will be as about every

third sermon, I try to put together a listing on a reading

of Holy Scripture. The first place I'll go is to

Acts chapter 20. Paul is on his missionary

Acts 20 · chapter mention

Journeys. He's coming back through a place

where he had been before he stops in the elders, from the

fusion church, as well as the surrounding area.

Probably join him for. A real real long sermon and he's

teaching them and he's telling them and testifying to them

about how his ministry was among them.

And in Acts chapter 20, Verse 29.

Acts 20:29

Paul says, know that after my departure Fierce wolves will

come in among you not sparing the flock and from among you

your own selves will arise men speaking Twisted things to draw

away the disciples after them. Notice Paul uses the same

language, Jesus does, he calls them wolves?

Ravenous wolves are here to Devour the flock.

And Paul says, After I'm Gone, these men will come in But

they're not going to come from the outside.

They're going to come from among you.

And that's my application here in a few moments.

I'm going to talk about what's happening Among Us with the

false movements. The false teaching in the false

doctrines are in the PCA the Presbyterian Church in America,

not going to talk about the Mormons, the Jehovah's Witness,

the Roman Catholics and all the rest.

We're going to talk about the Presbyterian Church in America

things that have Arisen Among Us and are being taught and

countenanced by our own. Pastors and professors and

leaders. Let out a hold attention for a

few moments. By the way, let's see how they

did the church at Ephesus that Paul was preaching to over in

Revelation. Jesus speaks to the church at

Ephesus. After about 50 years have gone

by maybe 40 years have gone by and so he has a critique for the

churches, the seven churches of Asia in John's Revelation in

Chapter 2. There the first portion first

few verses apply to the church at Ephesus to the angel of the

Church of Ephesus write. And then he says, I know your

works. It works your toil in your

patient endurance and how you cannot bear with those who are

evil but have tested, those who call themselves Apostles and are

not and found them to be false. Church of Ephesus had managed to

do it. They had identified the false

teachers. They had recognized the true

Apostolic Doctrine and had held to that faith in paste in the

faithful and patient endurance. And you cannot bear with those

who are evil. That teach the false Doctrine,

wouldn't put up with it, called it out named it.

And as we'll see in a moment, what Paul says, mark them.

Mark those that are false and avoid them and so that's what

the church at Ephesus had done. Now he has some other critique

of some of the things they had done one thing if we're not

going to isolate ourselves here. But he told them they've left

their first love. It's an interesting.

They were really good at discernment.

They could tell what was false. They didn't put up with it, they

disciplined. They put the in avoided, the

false teachers. But they'd still left their

first love. They had grown cold indifferent

backslidden, what do you think? Their first love was Should be

Christ. The bridegroom.

Sometimes we can do that, sometimes we can be real

Discerning and can really separate truth from error and

falsehood from the truth, and still lose.

Our first love. Well, that's another sermon for

another day. Let's get back on topic.

Paul. In Romans 16 said just what a

moment ago, I anticipated it. He tells the people that they

are to, I appeal to you, Brothers to watch out, or to

Mark those who cause divisions in create obstacles, contrary to

the doctrine that you have been taught and avoid them.

In other words, watch out for them.

Keep your eyes and ears open. And when you discover them when

you discernment, avoid them for search persons, do not serve our

Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own appetites.

And that's a theme through this false Doctrine warnings.

We find in the apostolic Doctrine, the teachings of the

Apostles is that these people are operating in the

satisfaction of their own bellies, it's their own

appetites. It's their own Pleasures that

they are really working for their working for their own, And

Grand Iseman and they're working for their own profits.

And these are the, some of the motives, but by smooth talk and

flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

That's the thing. You'll notice about false

teachers is there usually excellent teachers.

You know, they were just incoherent teachers and didn't

have any appeal you wouldn't listen to anything that said

true or false. But because they are have smooth

teaching. They know theological words,

they know things to say, they know the tone of voice, then

they know the temperament of God's people.

And so they're able to be highly deceptive.

And that's why they're told we're told to watch out for them

by smooth talk and flattery Jude will say, later on if we get to

it in a moment, Hilt, I say they have men's persons in

admiration. They're people that like to be

in high places and they like to be with others that are in high

places. Dr. So-and-so here.

Reverend so-and-so here. Bishop so-and-so there.

They have men's persons in admiration and they move ahead

by flattery, and they move ahead by by compromise, so that things

can keep going and they can be elevated.

One of the things you watch for, well, let's stay with Paul for a

little bit over toward the latter part of Paul's Ministry.

Paul was very interested in reaching people, but so much of

his work in the latter. Part of Paul's Ministry was

where he would go back to place. She had been before, if you

receive his missionary Journeys, their big circles on your maps,

in the back of your Bible and they started Antioch in the go

all the way through and they come back and they go around and

he goes to some places. He's being, he's going to some

other places but the time he writes the book of Romans he's

ready to operate and go all the way to the to hispania to Spain

and Portugal to the further and western part of the

Mediterranean, and he seeks to carry the gospel where the

gospel is not been before. But he still concerned about all

those churches that he's planted and all these churches, he's

ministered to in his missionary Journeys, in the prior years and

he does another thing. He sins young men, he has a

whole group of young men. They're listed in several of his

Epistles. He sends them to these places.

And instructs them. And two of those men, we have

some of the documentation that Paul gave them in.

It is the man Timothy young, man, Timothy and also Titus, and

Paul several places, and let me just sort of sketch through

here. As we go in first, Timothy

Chapter, 4 verses, 11 and 2. Now, the spirit expressly says

that in the latter times some will depart from the Faith by

devoting themselves to Seat for Spirits.

Do me notice how the theme is false?

It's deceit, it's misleading. Those are the things that that

are that are in the Forefront to deceitful, spirits and teachings

of demons through the insincerity of liars, Liars,

whose consciences are seared. Continuing and in chapter 6, in

verse 3, he admonishes Timothy, Teach an urge these things, if

anyone teaches a different Doctrine and does not agree with

the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the teaching

that Accords with godliness and he goes on to talk about

quarrels and controversies that spring up and all sorts of

things that are happened, constant friction among people

who are depraved in mine and depressed and deprived.

Out of the truth. Well, if I was a preacher, I'd

be a good to point sermon right there, depraved in the mine.

And deprived of the truth. And they're imagining that

godliness is a means of gain. Is there anything that you've

noticed in our Christian culture today, where they're concerned

with money? Well, that's who he's talking

about here. Who saw him at those guys.

I don't have time to name right now.

But continuing on, let's sketch through this, pretty quickly 2nd

2nd Timothy Chapter 4. Verse 3.

For the time is coming, when people will not endure sound

teaching. But having itching ears, they

will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own

passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and

wander off into myths. Is that happening in these days

where you have a tractional preachers who collect to

themselves a huge, massive audiences who come to here?

They come to hear but they have ears that they're ready.

Just to have scratched like you would scratch your puppy dog.

And they tickle their ears and the pet them on the head and

they coddle them. And they tell them things that

are peaceful and good, and success and prosperity.

They say, peace with the word, peace means, by the way, it

means Health wholeness Prosperity.

Well-being, they say, peace, peace.

When there is no peace. Because the troubled soul of the

wicked heart will never find peace but will always be seeking

and always be churning and always sneaking into these

deceivers. These false teachers will make

that their operational principle.

They will draw to themselves those that have itching ears and

they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit

their own Passions. Yes.

Titus. Titus Chapter 1 verse 10.

Titus 1:10

For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers,

and deceivers, same thing, false deception lying especially those

of the circumcision party and we won't go into who that is.

But Paul name that name, they knew who they were and everyone

else knew they were because he pointed him out.

They must be silenced. They must be silenced.

They must be silenced in the rebuke an admonition, every

proof not silenced any violent way, but silenced, in terms of

making their doctrines known and their mouths hushed, they must

be silent. Since they are upsetting whole

families by teaching for shameful gain, shameful gain

that, which they ought not, to teach and then Titus in three

10:00. As a person who stirs up

division after warning him once and then twice having nothing

more to do with him knowing that such a person is Warped and

sinful, he is self-condemned Paul speaks in the same terms,

the Lord speaks in our text, it's you discern by their

fruits, you know, them by their fruits.

There's a good tree, bringeth forth, good fruit.

Which Bears. Good fruit.

And, you know it you can see it and brings forth the fruit of

the spirit, the fruit of righteousness.

The fruit of holiness. then there is The bad tree bringing

forth the bad fruit. Things that only deceive and

only mislead. Peter, we've looked at Paul.

It's looking Peter for just a moment. 2nd Peter chapter 2, but

false prophets also arose. Among the people just as there

will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in

destructive heresies. They don't bring it in with

banners flying. They bring it into the

smooth-talk words of flattery outstanding, presentations,

charts, and graphs, you know, all kinds of PowerPoint

presentations, that sound will come in.

Be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in to suck,

destructive heresies even denying the master, who bought

them bringing upon themselves, Swift destruction.

That's what Jesus said, said, Peter heard him say it when he

said it that this kind of teaching leads to destruction,

And many will follow their sensuality since you Alchemy,

and they'll follow their emotions, their senses, they

will follow their, their, their feelings, the things that are

that are sensible to us and because of them, the way of

truth truth as opposed to false truth will be blasphemed.

That's one of the interesting things is that our world today

with so much error in the church and and so much, so many false

teachers Ears. When you do hear a sound

biblical? Theologically orthodox.

Teacher. They're usually blasphemed

somewhere another. If they're to biblical and too

much dedicated to the word, it seemed by the people they're

accused of not having the spirit of God.

Not realizing that it's the spirit of God that inspired the

scriptures. Wouldn't have any scriptures.

One of the spirit of God, those that are in the Bible, they're

not ignoring the Holy Spirit. They're going to what he said.

They're the ones that are hearkening to his voice.

They're the ones that's listening to the Holy Spirit,

not some of the people that are doing and I won't go into what's

going on in the name of the Holy Spirit.

I'm trying to be restrained today.

How am I doing so far? It was the Holy Spirit that

guides us into all truth. Those that wrote the scriptures

as they were borne Along by the spirit of God.

So that where they ended up was where God wanted them as the

holy wind, the holy spirit of God, the holy Breath of God

inspired scriptures. If you want more and more of the

Holy Spirit to be operative in your life, you need more and

more of his Holy Scripture. The operative in your life.

This is the holy spirit that enables you to understand the

scriptures. He is the one that illuminates

and sheds light upon. He's the one that brings

conviction to your soul when you read it and you say this is

verily, the word of God. There's a false economy between

the holy spirit in the Holy Scripture.

We're going to worship God and no God.

We have to worship God in spirit and in truth, Thy word is truth.

And that's how we come to know and often the the true teachers

are blasphemed. They're accused of all kinds of

nuances of error that are really more than the inferential

reasoning of the hearers, not in want the band actually taught.

In other words, they attribute the good word of the spirit of

God as blasphemy. So it's a serious confrontation

is going to call for serious discernment, on the part of

people. Well John we read 11 from John

first John four. Beloved, do not believe every

Spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.

For many false prophets, have gone out into the World.

By this, we know the spirit of God, every spirit that confesses

Jesus Christ is come in. The flesh is from God.

And every spirit that does not confess.

God confess. Jesus is not from God.

This is the spirit of antichrist.

That's what Antichrist is. It's that spirit that goes.

Against Christ at every Point. What world religions are

Antichrist. Well, I'm out of time.

But will you grant me a couple of minutes to mention the PCA Or

maybe. Ultimately wisdom and knowledge.

Or not exactly the same thing. You need to know something

knowledge. The Latin word that used it all

the theological studies, the word skin, see a science science

is knowledge, but wisdom is taking knowledge and

understanding it in such a way that it can be applied.

It can be used a certain way, it sets a framework for

understanding, all things and the worst false teachings that

come into the church or not, the variances of Doctrine, whether

you believe in baptism by immersion or baptism by

sprinkling, or whether you believe this.

This viewer that view and all kinds of nuances and two sides

to almost every theological coin.

You'll ever study every Doctrine scriptures is controverted in

the in the history of the church.

And it's a maze walking through it, but but all of that be as it

may and I'm all for doctrinal Orthodoxy and doctrinal Purity

and correctness. But the, but the first principle

of understanding, the things of God is to understand God's

Viewpoint in the world God's worldview and any attack upon

God's world view is attack upon ski and see us knowledge

science. Because God, created the world

and all things are as God created it and it's all the way

God called it to be. And we have three movements in

the PCA right now by movements. I mean, to say there's outside

influences and then there are men with in our denomination

that are beginner sympathize except a firm and even batik,

subtly things that derive from these influences.

Let me mention him to you. He quickly one is the feminist

movement been around a long time.

It's been around so long, we're in the third wave of feminism,

and now it's an egalitarian view.

It's a view of the world. It's a view of the way the human

being is. And it says that there's such an

equality between men and women, a same nest, no differentiation

whatsoever that you can have women doing things that God in

his creation ordained man to do. It's an egalitarianism that says

men and women are interchangeable and it works

itself out in roles of leadership.

And so they're saying that women can be Bishops and elders and

presbyters and even deacons. And I wish I had time to work on

that a little bit, but we're already out of time.

So I'm on borrowed time. Anyway, I'll just suggest that

to you and let you think. If you can hear anything

yourself in that area, the second one has to do with race.

The Bible says that God made of humanity, one Ray, Race.

There's no such thing as race is.

Mmm, it is God's one single race, the human race Adams Race.

And it's a fallen race of sinful race.

It's a redeemed race in Christ. There are prejudices their

hatreds. They're all kinds of

misunderstandings. There are all kinds of abuses

and oppression that comes in and among the people of the One race

and it's based on all kinds of things.

And we are now having Men in our denomination who are

intellectually flirting with, if not outright holding up to alien

Concepts, that have come in Social Marxist analysis, that

starts with there are two kinds of people, the oppressed and the

oppressor, and the oppressed are to be favored in the oppressor.

So that we have now kind of a chance to make bring about a

Justice and equality, a fairness that is not the justice that God

has set forth. It.

And so, we end up with all kinds of Reverse Racism, we end up

with demands. We end up with Perpetual guilt.

You can never be forgiven of the sin of being One racer.

Another, and that is pressing hard Upon Our denomination.

It followed the feminist movement about 10 years ago.

This one's been in our in our midst now, for about seven or

eight years. And the else.

And the third one is the homosexual agenda.

There are about five years, we've had a revoice conference

that was hosted by one of our churches and what they talked

about was a group of men who are gay but claim to be Christian

and wanted to be called gay or homosexual gay Christians and

the debate is whether you can be such a thing, whether you can

identify with your sin, and with your depravity, and with your

lostness and but the issue is not whether Not thinking be in

the church. The issue is whether or not they

can be pastors elders. And, and officers within the

church man who identify with their sin, this this conference,

the revoice conference was organized especially by men who

know how to speak. The language.

They had been raised in conservative Evan Joseph

denominations. They knew all the tones of

voice, they knew how to pronounce God just right.

And they. And so they come in smoothly.

And they talked all about warmth and sanctification, and loving

the Lord, and worshiping in the spirit and the feelings, they

can outtalk you with respect to the the, the trappings of

Christianity. But yet they're bringing in this

particular idea. By the way, the they targeted

the most conservative and dominant and staunch to this

point doctrinal denominations the Southern Baptist convention

the Missouri. Synod Lutheran and The

Presbyterian Church in America. They're trying to come in and

bring this gay Christian side B Christianity and how these men

can be officers in the church just as well.

That come from Among Us. They're smooth.

They're very, very attractive, they very subtle, they're very

emotional, they're very I sat through General Assembly meeting

in 2019 and watched a whole room full of Paris Petit.

Rien Elders, ruling elders, and teaching Elders.

Be enthralled by the testimony of one of these men.

And that's what we got to look out for.

I'm trying to warn you. There's no retirement anywhere

in the Bible. I found a verse over in Ezekiel

where it says that, I mean, in Isaiah where it says the

Watchman on the wall has got to stay there for the duration and

Warren God's people about the enemy that is within us.

There's no retirement anywhere in the Bible.

I found a verse over in Ezekiel where it says that, I mean, in

Isaiah where it says the Watchman on the wall has got to

stay there for the duration and Warren God's people about the

enemy that is within us.