Matthew 7:15-20

If you want to find your place in the scriptures

as we resume our study in the book of Matthew,

we're still in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7. Our text this morning will be considering

verses 15 to 20. Our Lord speaking as he's coming

to the end of the sermon, he issues a warning.

He says, Beware of false prophets who come to

you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are

ravenous wolves. You will know them by their

fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes

or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree

bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a

bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does

not bear good fruit is cut down. and it is thrown

into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits, you

will know them. Let's pray. Father, Lord, once

again, Lord, we hear the word of the Lord, and

we hear the sober tone, and Lord, we do well

to stop what we're doing, and Lord, God, to take

heed, to listen. Father, would you give us ears

to hear. Lord, God, may the Spirit of God work

in your church this morning. Lord, remove distractions,

remove anything that would take our focus from

the word of God and help us, Lord, to see clearly,

Lord, what the meaning of this passage is and

to see how we need your son, Jesus, and his protection

over his people even more earnestly today. We

ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. We live in an

age of appearances. That's no surprise. So it's

an age of appearances where you have photos being

filtered and you have... online profiles. And

when we look at these online profiles, we see

that they are carefully curated. Houses, if you're

going to buy a house, oftentimes you'll go into

a home and the home is staged. And they do these

things so that they can exert influence or they

want to leave an impression. Usually the impression

is that one of perfection, like this is how it

always is going to look. But sadly, the reality

can never, ever live up to the hype. And we all

know that. We kind of have grown accustomed to

that. But what matters most in our culture is

how things look, not necessarily how things are.

It's just if it looks good, not that it is good.

So it's no surprise to us that we live in an

age of superficiality. Our culture lacks depth.

There's really no substance in our culture. But

sadly, that same philosophy has been transferred

into the church or the spiritual realm as well.

There are many today who purport to speak for

God. There are many, many voices, a plethora

of voices, all claiming to be speaking the truth.

And yet they have divergent opinions. Well, who

should you believe? When you have multiple voices

all claiming to be the mouthpiece for truth,

who should you believe? Today, there are many

charismatic leaders, and they look great, and

they sound great, they're great with rhetoric,

but they're deceptively... leading people away

from the truth. And our Lord gives us a warning

in this particular passage. And basically we

start out and see that looks can be very deceiving.

Not everyone who is claiming to be speaking for

God actually has been sent by God. That's nothing

new from the earliest, from the dawn of time.

So Jesus then says, listen, he's issuing this

warning to his people. He says we are to be on

guard because, here's why we need to be on guard.

There are many counterfeits. There are many deceivers.

There are many prophets who are falsely preaching

who have infiltrated into the church of the Lord

Jesus. And that's the chief danger. Where do

these men come from? They don't come from without

the church. They arise from within. Someone who

openly denies Christ or someone who... comes

and denying a core tenet of the faith, they are

easy to spot. We know immediately that is a false

prophet. But what do we do from someone who arises

from within our own ranks and he begins to lead

people away subtly from the truth? The Apostle

Paul warned. He knew that he was going to be

leaving the earth. He knew that he was going

to die as a martyr. And he was very concerned

for what would take place upon his death. In

Acts chapter 20, he writes this. For I know this,

Acts 20 · chapter mention

that after my departure, savage wolves will come

in among you. He's talking to the church. Not

sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves,

men will rise up, speaking perverse things. Now

notice this last phrase. To draw away the disciples

after themselves. Most false prophets, one of

the hallmarks of a false teacher or false prophets

is they want to make disciples or followers of

themselves rather than of Christ. And they're

going to do this ever so subtly. But the apostle

Peter, he issued the same warning. It wasn't

just Paul. Peter saw the same thing, and we see

that in 2 Peter. He says, but there were also

false prophets among the people. Go back to Old

Testament Israel. You see all the prophets, Isaiah,

Jeremiah, fighting against false prophets. He

said, even as there will be false teachers among

you in the church, who will secretly bring in

destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who

bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.

And many, many is going to follow their destructive

ways because of whom the way of truth will be

blasphemed. Peter's like, listen, there's going

to be some people come into the church, and they're

going to be preaching a false message, and many

people will be led away, but they will be led

away to their destruction. The final judgment

of God. These deceivers, they claim to be Christians.

They look like Christians. They say they are

disciples of Christ, and yet they come and they

deceive others, but they also are deceived. See,

I don't think all false teachers realize they

are a false teacher. Now, some do. They're charlatans.

But others are deceived, and in their own deception,

they start to deceive other people. Now the context,

and we're in Matthew 7 here. This is the Sermon

on the Mount. Jesus has been speaking, and the

last time we met, Jesus said, there are just

two gates. There's a very wide gate. You can

go into it, and it'll lead to hell. And there's

a very narrow gate. And you enter into it, and

it'll lead to life. But he said, that wide gate

that leads to hell, it's an easy path. No briars,

no thorns, man, it's good, smooth sailing. That

narrow gate, it's a very difficult path. It's

full of heartache and affliction. But there are

also two groups. He said many people are going

to go into that wide gate, and only few will

go into that narrow gate. Now, immediately after

mentioning the narrow gate, That leads to life.

Jesus then issues this warning. Which is our

text this morning. He's warning the people about

false prophets. And he's saying listen. There

will be false teachers. They're going to come

on the scene. They're going to look attractive.

They're going to sound very persuasive. But they

will be on that broad easy way. That leads to

destruction. They're standing there. And they're

beckoning people. Come enter into this wide gate.

There's plenty of room for you here. All is well.

And it sounds good. And by the way, usually what

they say has an element of truth. Almost every

deceiver, they don't come with blatant lies.

That's easy to detect. There's an element of

truth. It's just not the whole truth. It's not

completely revealed. So they dressed like sheep.

They're dressed like sheep. That means they look

the part of God's people. They sound and look

like Christians. And that's what they claim.

They claim to belong to God. So you and I, Should

not be surprised at this at all. We should not

be surprised that this is the case. Why? We have

an enemy who hates God, hates Christ, hates the

gospel, hates the people of God, thus hates you.

We're told that he's a roaring lion going about

seeking whom he may devour. But listen, here's

how he devours. He devours by deception. This

is his chief tool. Satan and his demon horde

have infiltrated the church and they look like

they belong there. Paul wrote to the church at

Corinth and this is what he said. For such are

false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming

themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no

wonder, don't be surprised. For Satan himself

transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore,

it is no great thing if his ministers, if his

servants, the demons, the servants of Satan,

if they also transform themselves, notice, into

ministers of righteousness, whose end will be

according to the works. Do you see why this is

hard? Do you see why discernment is so needed?

Satan comes on the scene not looking like we

would expect Satan to look. It says he looks

like an angel of light. He looks like he's leading

people to the truth. And those whom he has sent,

also they pose as ministers of righteousness.

Looks indeed can be very deceptive. These people,

they have a lot of truth, just not the whole

truth. But how do you know they're not from God?

How do you know we're not deceived? How can you

tell the real from the counterfeit? Jesus said,

by their fruit. Study them. Watch their lives.

Ultimately, their works will reveal their character.

The narrow way that leads to life, it is a way

of self -denial and humility. The false prophets,

they're going to come on the scene and they're

going to speak of self -fulfillment and even

comfort. They appeal to the flesh. They gather

a following. They gather disciples. They promise

them an easy road. So what they're doing, they're

appealing to the sinfulness of man. But they

don't say that, of course. What is the essence

of sin? It is self -centeredness. Isaiah 53 verse

Isaiah 53:6

6 says, We all like sheep have gone astray and

turned every man to his own way. So that means

we've all turned away from God. That's what's

wrong with the world today. We are born away

from God. We're turned away from him. We've left

following him and what do we do? We start to

follow our own devices, our own imaginations,

our own plans. And we don't factor God into the

equation. So fallen man, there's only self -interest

in view. That's all he can have. He can't have

any God interest. It was Augustine and later

Luther, centuries later, they... coined this

Latin phrase, and they talked about man being

curved in on himself. In Latin, it's incurvatus

in se. Incurvatus, curved, in se, toward oneself.

You are bent in on yourself, and this is the

natural way of man. We would say at conversion,

you're excurvatus ex se. You're bent away from

yourself and toward God. We have turned inward.

Not just as every man on the planet. Every woman

on the planet, we're turned away from God, and

we start to focus on our own desires, and man

desires to be his own master. This is the essence

of sin. This is what it means. The sinner's anthem.

Some of you are probably familiar with this.

There's a famous poem called Invictus. You may

not remember the poem, but you'll remember these

lines. In this poem, Invictus, that last stanza,

it says this. It matters not how straight the

gate, how charged with punishment the scroll.

I am the master of my fate. I am the captain

of my soul. That's what man believes. That's

what he truly is. Man wants no one to rule over

him except himself. And the false prophets will

appeal to that all day long. Sinners can take

God's gifts. They will even take God himself

and somehow they'll twist them and make them

about themselves. That's how this works. The

gravitational pull of sin. is inward. It's as

though we are walking black holes. We just suck

everything in. You're connecting all the dots

back to you. The sinner makes everything about

himself. And the false teachers, being very clever,

they appeal to this self -interest. They know

that man has a desire for gain. Man has a desire

for pleasure. Man has a desire for comfort. Well,

let me package that and sell it in the name of

Jesus. Yet the Lord Jesus said, no. He's the

man of sorrows. He said that narrow gate, it's

a hard way. It's a difficult way. Oh, it's worth

it because it leads to life. So the question

we need to ask this morning is how can you and

I safeguard ourselves against the false teachers

of Christianity? Again, it would be easy if we're

a couple miles down the road on 141 and we're

at the Arian church known as the Jehovah's Witnesses

and they deny the deity of Christ. That's an

easy thing to spot. It's low -hanging fruit.

But that's not what we're talking about. So how

do you spot counterfeit? Well, we're told those

who deal in counterfeit money, they don't spend

their time studying counterfeit money. What do

they spend their time studying? Real authentic

currency. So I'm going to suggest to you at the

very beginning, the lion's share of our time

ought to be spent studying and meditating on

the truth. Why? Because soon as you know the

truth, then when something comes that deviates

from it, you will immediately be able to spot

it. I don't think it is helpful. To spend inordinate

amounts of time studying heresies and false teachings.

Now you need to know some. But I'm talking about

spending all your time studying what's false.

No. So acquaint yourself with the truth. You

have it so deeply ingrained it's in your DNA.

That when something comes and it doesn't measure

according to that rod of truth. You immediately

reject it. J .C. Ryle said this. What is the

best safeguard against false teaching? Beyond

all doubt. The regular study of the word of God

with prayer for the teaching of the Holy Spirit.

Amen. The Bible was given to be a lamp to our

feet and a light to our path. The man who reads

it aright will never be allowed greatly to err.

It is neglect of the Bible which makes so many

a prey to the first false teacher whom they hear.

This is why people are rife with appealing to

false teachers today is because doctrine is not

taught. We don't have truth being presented.

We have a lot of TED Talks behind a pulpit. And

that's not going to prepare you to stand against

the evil day. So Jesus says, beware. That means

pay attention to, and by the way, it's a command.

He says, you better be cautious. You better be

aware of the danger that is lurking about you.

But how many of us live our lives like that?

There's danger around us. Most of us don't. But

he said, this is the duty of every Christian,

and it is certainly the duty of every church.

Be on guard that not everyone who looks good

is good. Not everyone who comes in the name of

Christ has been sent from Christ. Let's just

start there. Not everyone who says Jesus really

means Jesus, the son of God, the divine one sent

for the salvation of sinners. Now Satan's going

to be sure that the truth of the gospel does

not go unchallenged. Absolutely. So that means

you and I can no longer be naive. Ignorance is

not our friend. You and I are involved in a spiritual

war. But as soon as I said spiritual war, some

of you probably bristled a little bit. Oh, come

on, Pastor. Spiritual war? I mean, doesn't that

kind of like sound Star Wars, Star Trek -y? It's

a little unsophisticated for our modern age.

I mean, we're too enlightened. We're 21st century

people. And I will admit it does not sound sophisticated

and people will mock us for believing that you

and I are in a war against unseen forces. But

if I believe the word of God, that's exactly

what it teaches. Ephesians 6, Paul, the erudite

scholar, he says, put on the whole armor of God

that you may be able to stand against the wiles,

the schemes of the devil. Why? For we do not

wrestle against flesh and blood, but against

principalities, powers. the rulers in darkness

of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness

in the heavenly places. Therefore, because that

is true, you better take up the whole armor of

God so that you may be able to withstand in the

evil day, having done all to stand. He says,

listen, if you think this is funny, if you think

this is just one big cosmic joke, you're going

to fall and you will fall hard. If you're going

to take seriously your walk with Christ, you're

not going to go unopposed. We live in a world

in which we are under attack and bombarded daily.

We live in spiritual warfare, which is why we

need to pray and we need the church and we need

the ordinance and sacraments of the church and

we need the prayers of God's people. We need

the means of grace that God has given. Paul told

the church, hey, listen, you do not. In 2 Corinthians

11, he said, or yeah, 2 Corinthians 2, do not

be ignorant of Satan's schemes. Why? Because

he's going to take advantage of you. That's what

happens. Now, there's three different types of

false prophets. We'll go through these quickly.

There are heretics, there are apostates, and

then there's what we would call false teachers.

So first of all, heretics. What's a heretic?

Heretics are those who openly reject the word

of God. and teach what is contrary to divine

truth. They're going to come on, deny the virgin

birth. They're like, come on, a virgin conceiving?

No, that didn't happen. They're denying the supernatural.

They're heretics. They're going to deny the bodily

resurrection of Christ. Come on, the dead don't

rise. They're not going to believe that. That's

a heretic. They deny revealed truth. They're

heretics. Then you have the apostates. These

people, they once followed the true faith. They

were numbered amongst the people of God. But

they turned away from it. They rejected it. They're

now leading others astray. Today, the modern

term, you can see it online a lot, is these are

those who have deconstructed. They no longer

claim to be a Christian. So they once embraced

the truth, they once held the truth, and now

they openly deny it. They're apostates. Heretics

and apostates do not represent biblical Christianity.

But lastly, here's the most deceptive ones. We

come to the false shepherds, the false teachers.

We can say in our text the false prophets. These

are the deceivers. They claim to be orthodox.

They give the appearance of truth. So these people

will speak favorably of Christ. They will talk

about the cross. They will talk about the Bible,

the Holy Spirit. They will associate and even

be among true believers. So they're given the

appearance that they're one of us. They appear

orthodox. They appear fundamental. They appear

evangelical. So that means they look like a believer.

They sound like a believer. But they are deceptive

liars. Jude chapter 4. Jude says, listen, certain

men have crept in unnoticed who long ago were

marked out for this condemnation. Who are they?

Ungodly men. But notice what they do. They turn

the grace of our God into lewdness. They use

grace as an excuse for sin. And they deny the

only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. They

deny him by their works, by the way. Now, in

our passage, Jesus is speaking to a group of

people that assembled on that hillside. But who

are the false teachers that Jesus is referencing?

Clearly, without a doubt, it's been in view the

whole time, the scribes and the Pharisees, the

religious leaders of his day. These men were

claiming to be spokesmen for God. They were the

self -proclaimed spiritual leaders. They were

the guides of the blind, the people leading ones

to God. They looked holy. They sounded holy.

And Jesus said, oh, they're hypocrites. They

were whitewashed tombs that looked only good

on the outside, but inside were just dead. Self

-serving men. But here's the problem. This is

what you and I know for the word of God tells

us this. They loved the praise and acclaim of

man. In just one chapter back, the same sermon,

Jesus said these men, these religious leaders,

they do their charitable deeds before men to

be seen by them. They were hoping someone would

catch them in the act of praying and then compliment

them. Chapter 6, verse 2. So that they may have

glory from men. They love titles like rabbis.

They love being called pious and holy. They love

being invited to the feast. Verse 3, verse 5.

They did everything to be seen by men. See, they

looked religious. No one looked more religious

than Pharisees. But Jesus said, no, their true

motivation was not to receive glory from God.

It was to receive glory from man. They were itching

for commendation. I just hope someone notices.

Let me sound a trumpet so that people can take

notice of how much I'm giving right now. And

they twisted the word of God and they elevated

their own man -made traditions higher than the

word of God. But listen, they didn't make life

easier. They made it more strict. That was the

irony here. In Mark chapter 7, Jesus speaking,

Mark 7 · chapter mention

he says, Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes

came together to him. They came from Jerusalem.

So they came from the headquarters. Now, when

they saw some of the disciples eat bread, that's

Jesus' disciples, eat bread with the file that

is unwashed hands, they found fault. So they

were really upset. You know why? These guys just

took a bite of a sandwich and didn't wash their

hands first. Now, is there any command that you

must wash your hands? No. Is it a good idea?

Yeah, probably. But these people aren't doing

it for the right reasons. For the Pharisees and

all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their

hands in a special way. Notice the phrase, holding

to the tradition of the elders. Not God. Now

when they come from the marketplace, they don't

eat unless they wash. Why? Because sometimes

you would interact with the Gentile and Gentiles

to them were unclean. So we better wash that

Gentile dust off of us. So when you come back

from the market. And then he said, there are

many other things which they have received and

hold, like the washing of cups and pitchers and

copper vessels and couches. Then the Pharisees

and scribes asked him, hey, Jesus, why don't

your disciples do what we do? Why don't they

walk, notice the phrase again, according to the

tradition of the elders. But they're over there

eating bread, and they didn't even wash their

hands first. And in my mind, I'm thinking, you've

got to be kidding. Who are they, the hygiene

police? No, listen. Jesus said, well did Isaiah

prophesy of you hypocrites. As it is written,

you honor me with your lips, but their heart

is far from me. He said, stop it, guys. He can

see right through their charade here. He said,

in vain they worship me. Why? Why is vanity?

Why is worship vanity? They teach as doctrines

the commandments of men, right? So that's the

vanity there. You don't get to worship God in

any way we choose. For laying aside the commandment

of God, you hold the tradition of men. The Washington

pictures and cups and many other such things.

He said them all too well. You reject the commandment

of God in order that you may keep your tradition.

Verse 13. Thus, making the word of God of no

effect through your tradition, which you have

handed down, and many such things you do. And

friends, this is the absolute denunciation of

these people. They sounded pious. If you looked

at them, they looked pious. They sought to act

pious. They gave. They prayed. They worshipped,

supposedly. Strictly worshipped. And this is

how they were able to deceive so many. Jesus

said, you go and you make a proselyte twice the

son of hell. These men aren't servants, guys.

What did Jesus come to serve, right? Not to be

served, but to give his life as a ransom for

many. These guys didn't serve. They loved to

be served. They loved position. They loved status.

They loved elevation in the community. And Satan

used their greed and their love of praise to

blind them to the truth of Christ. Now notice

the clothing. Jesus uses a great illustration.

Christians are referred to as sheep. Who belong

to the flock of God. He said, these guys come

to you in sheep's clothing. But inside they're

ravenous wolves. Now the natural enemy to the

sheep is the wolf. Ferocious, will rip sheep

apart if allowed to. These false prophets, they

come. Hey, I'm a part of you. I'm one of the

flock. But inside, secretly, there are wolves

who want to devour that flock. They don't want

to. feed the flock of God. They want to feed

upon the flock of God. And the problem is that

these false teachers are more dangerous than

actual wolves. Oh yeah, a real wolf can hurt

you physically. He could even take your life.

But through deception, these false prophets lead

you to hell. Eternal run. They're going to use

God's name. They're going to quote scriptures.

They're going to preach messages. But these messages

will appeal to the flesh and they're going to

actually seek to devour the very flock they're

claiming to serve. This is why it's so dangerous.

We live in a dangerous age. Now, if we know who

our enemy is, it is much easier to be prepared.

But the problem, what happens when the enemy

comes looking like your friend? Remember in the

Vietnam War, Vietnam conflict? That was one of

the problems people had. You had the North Vietnamese

and the South Vietnamese, and they looked exactly

alike, which made it much more difficult to know

who the real enemy was. See, false teachers,

guys, false prophets are not going to come into

the church and openly deny a core tenet of the

faith. They're much too savvy for that. They

won't do that. They will not deny out loud. In

their heart, they may. They're not going to deny

the deity of Christ or the virgin birth or salvation

alone by grace alone through faith alone. But,

listen, they will ignore those teachings. They're

not going to preach on those things. They do

not preach the whole counsel of God's word. They're

going to cherry pick. They're going to pick and

choose selective tasks, selective texts. They

want to tickle ears. Why? They appear nice, charismatic

guys, winsome guys. And the whole time they're

drawing people toward themselves and drawing

people toward themselves or drawing people away

from Christ. Many times, this happens especially

in our day, in our country, many of them are

involved in Christian service for financial gain.

That's all they do. They are merchants of Christ.

They peddle Christ. They sell him. When Paul

was writing to Titus about false teachers, here's

what he said. Whose mouths must be stopped, who

subvert whole household, teaching things they

ought not. Why do they do it? For the sake of

dishonest gain. There's financial profit there.

This is sad. So many who claim to be Christian

teachers, they make huge profits, live luxuriously.

How? Off of God's naive sheep. They have multiple

mansions, luxury cars, private jets, and when

they ask them about it, they're like, oh, that's

a sign of God's blessing. See, I must be preaching

the truth. Look how God has blessed me. He wouldn't

bless a sinner. And man's like, that's right.

That is a sign of God's blessing. But true servants

don't peddle Christ. They preach Christ. They

proclaim him as Lord and Savior. Why? Because

we are not in need of his blessings. We are in

need of his grace, being desperate sinners. So

these false teachers, many live in luxury. But

listen, there's an opposite spectrum. On the

other hand, there are some who will take vows

of poverty in order to faithfully serve Christ.

Now some of them, I'm not saying all, Some of

them become proud of their poverty. And they

take pride in their ascetic lifestyle because

somehow this earns them merit before God. But

Paul, he denounced those who were in ministry

for financial gain. But then over here to the

Colossian churches, he said, listen, guys, stop

it. Don't allow those people who just think because

they can deny the body that they think that's

impressive to God. Colossians 2. He says, therefore,

if you died with Christ from the basic principles

of the world, why, as though living the world,

do you subject yourselves to regulations? What

are they? Don't touch, don't taste, don't handle,

which all concern things which perish with using,

according to the commandments and doctrine of

men. Now notice this last phrase. They do have

an appearance of wisdom. They look good in self

-imposed religion. This isn't command from God.

You're not commanded to abstain from meat on

a certain day of the week during a certain period

of the year. False humility. Neglect of the body.

But they're no value at all against the indulgence

of the flesh. They don't help you because you

can become proud of how strict you are. So what

do you do? You behold Christ. What is sad is

that so many of these people, they're deceived,

believing that they're serving God by what I'm

doing. I'm living so very strictly. I'm living

so very tightly for God. They're deceived. And

then you have some of the charlatans who know

they're fleecing the sheep. They're just doing

it because they can get rich off of you. Now

if the situation is so dangerous and the outcome

is so desire, heaven versus hell, We better be

able to tell who's who. Jesus said, you will.

A tree is known by what it produces, right? How

do you know it's an apple tree? There's apples.

How do you know it's a lemon tree? Well, there's

lemons. Likewise, how do you know it is a servant

of Christ? It will not be because how attractive

he is or how winsome he may speak, but look at

the fruit of his life. You better know these

people. For instance, if you ever have to call

another pastor, you better know what he's like

before you call him. Look at the character of

his life. And the fruit that's speaking here

is a fruit of their actions, their character,

their obedience to God, the way they rule their

house. We know when Paul is laying down criteria

for bishops. It's the same word. There's bishops,

elders, and pastors. All three refer to the same

office. Presbyteros, episkopos, and then poinos.

So, point main, all those concerned in the same

office here. But with laying down qualifications,

1 Timothy 3, notice how he said this is how you

evaluate him. Look at what Paul's looking at.

Character. A bishop must be blameless, the husband

of one wife, temperate, sober -minded, good behavior,

hospitable. Now, he must be able to teach. Not

given to wine. He can't be a drunkard. Not violent.

Can't be greedy for money. Gentle. not quarrelsome,

not covetous. He rules his own house well, having

his children in submission with all reverence.

Moreover, and that's by the way, I have little

children. Here I have four of them. You all need

to look and see if my children become insubordinate

and absolutely out of control. You ought to remove

me from this office. Now listen, they're going

to run after church and if you're saying, hey,

they're running, listen, that's not what we're

talking about here. They will be running. I get

on them. They're still going to run. They're

kids. So they're not going to be perfect. But

if they are insubordinate and I don't have control

over my house and I'm being serious, I or Kyle,

get us out. Take us out. That's what Paul said.

Moreover, he must have a good testimony among

the outside. If people outside in the community

say, man, that guy is a shard, that guy rips

us off, that guy doesn't pay anything, he deceives

everyone, he takes advantage of everyone, get

me out. Why? Lest you fall under approach and

the snare of the devil. What did Paul focus on

there? Character. That's what God's word, that's

what is important to God. See, it's easy to look

at a decaying, rotten old tree and say, well,

that's a bad tree. That's not what Jesus is talking

about. What about the tree that looks healthy

and strong but has no fruit? That's a bad tree.

What about the tree that looks healthy and strong

but has bitter fruit or even poisonous fruit?

That's a bad tree. Jesus said this is easy. If

you see grapes, you know they're on a grapevine.

They're not coming from a thorn bush. If you

see figs, you know it came from a fig tree. It

didn't come from thistles. And he says, the lives

of false prophets cannot produce a godly fruit.

They'll hide for a while. They can. But eventually,

what's in here gets revealed out here. It always

does. Do you remember when John the Baptist,

and I'm trying to hurry up here. John the Baptist,

when he's talking to the scribes and Pharisees,

he said, you need to bring forth fruit in keeping

with repentance. What did that mean? What he

meant was your actions, not your words, will

show if you really repented. He said, I don't

care what you say, I want to see what you're

doing. That shows your repentance. So how do

you discern a false prophet? What do they teach?

So first of all, listen, if he's teaching error,

he's false. So do they teach the full counsel

of God's word? Do they hold to an orthodox confession?

This is why I'm a big fan of confessional Christianity.

We have confessional statements. Can they agree

to that? Do they preach the true gospel? Are

their sermons centered on Christ or do they make

it about you? False teachers make everything

about you because sinners love that. How do they

live? Are they serious? Take what they're doing

seriously? Are they humble? And again, no one

does this perfectly. You're saying, Pastor Ryan,

you can be arrogant. Yes, God help me there.

Self -controlled? Do they live modestly? Are

they always wanting to talk about money and wealth

and influence? Do they see those signs as a source

of God's blessing? What is the result? Are people,

and this is I think the key, are people made

to be more disciples of Christ or are they making

them disciples of themselves? Some people elevate

themselves way too much. They want to have control

over your life. Friends, I am not your priest.

I am not your prophet. I can't tell you what

to do. I am here as one who proclaims the word

of God, period. Martin Lloyd -Jones spoke about

this. He was a British doctor, was rising in

the ranks there in London, had all the world

before him. And he actually saw a man lose someone

who's very carefully to him. And he said, that

man sat there despondent, looking to the fire

for two hours. And he said, it changed my life.

And he left medicine to go into the ministry.

That's Martyn Lloyd -Jones here. Became a very

famous British pastor. He said, a Christian can

generally be known by its very appearance. The

man who believes in the holiness of God and who

knows his own sinfulness and the blackness of

his own heart, the man who believes in the judgment

of God and the real possibility of hell and torment,

the man who really believes that he himself is

so vile and helpless that nothing but the coming

of the Son of God from heaven to earth and his

going to the bitter shame and agony and cruelty

of the cross could ever save him and reconcile

him to God, this man is going to show all that

in his personality. He is a man who is bound

to give the impression of meekness. He is bound

to be humble. Our Lord reminds us here that if

man is not humble, be wary of him. He can put

on a kind of sheep's clothing, but that's not

true humility. That's not true meekness. And

if a man's doctrine is wrong, it will generally

show itself at this point. He will be affable

and pleasant. He will appeal to the natural man

and the things that are physical and carnal,

but he will not give the impression of being

a man who has seen himself as a hell -bound sinner

and who has been saved by the grace of God alone.

Amen, Dr. Jones. False teachers, they're not

going to preach the depravity of man. They're

not going to preach repentance from sin. They

don't preach the terms that the Lord Jesus laid

down in discipleship, which include taking up

your cross and being willing to follow him, even

in suffering if need be. They're going to preach

an easy road, an easy path, wide gate, broad

way. They preach that you can have heaven on

earth now. Arthur Pink says, any preacher who

rejects God's law, who denies repentance to be

a condition of salvation, and there are some

here today in our land, in our county, who deny

repentance, who assures the giddy and godless

that they are loved by God, who declares that

saving faith is nothing more than an act of the

will, which every person has the power to perform,

that man is a false prophet and should be shunned

as a deadly plague. Wow. So what's the conclusion?

Look at the last verse. Well, look at verse 19.

I went to verse 20. Go back to verse 19. Every

tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down

and thrown into the fire. It's judgment time.

The stakes could not be higher. Friends, God

will hold men accountable. Those who have misled

others will face the fierce judgment of God,

which is why James says, don't be many teachers

for you will receive the greater condemnation.

God is not indifferent to what is taught into

his people. He's not indifferent to what is being

taught in his church. Corruption is taken very

seriously. What's the point of a fruit tree that

bears no fruit? It's just taking up space, cut

it down and burn it. Jesus already told us, wide

gate, easy road leads to destruction. They are

so deceived and blinded by Satan. These men can't

even perceive that they're on that way that is

headed for hell. may allow false teachers to

rise within the church for a season. He will,

but not forever. See, friends, this is the truth

of Scripture, and it's all throughout. Judgment

Day is coming when all will be revealed. All

the false teachers are going to be unmasked.

They will be exposed for what they truly are.

So knowing the stakes are so high, you and I,

friend, today our call is to be more discerning.

Be on guard in the pulpit. Be on guard in the

pew. Examine carefully those who have influence

in the church. Don't just allow anyone there.

Be vigilant to guard against error. How do you

do so? Love the truth. I close with this. Don't

be gullible where you believe everything. Don't

become so cynical and jaded that you believe

nothing, but become discerning where you test

all things by the word of God. Bad teaching,

that'll lead to bad living. Jesus said, by your

fruit you'll know them. Jim Boyce, that great

preacher in Philadelphia, he said, true teaching

involves realities of men's depravity and sin,

God's wrath and coming judgment, the need for

repentance, and the answer to man's sin in Christ's

vicarious atonement. Any teaching that omits

these truths or these elements is erroneous.

Hold fast, church. Hold fast the pattern of sound

words which you have heard from me, Paul said,

in faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus.

Hold to this apostolic doctrine that was given

and has been passed down. Don't let it go. You

fight for your life and you absolutely stand

on the truth of this. If any man, doesn't matter

how good he looks and he comes and he's saying

anything other than those things, you get him

and remove him and don't allow him to have any

influence whatsoever. This is the call of God's

church to God's people. Let's pray. Father, I

thank you this morning, Lord. God, help us, Lord

God.