1071 - The Gospel of Matthew

II. The King’s Authority (5:1–9:38)

A. Discourse 1: The Sermon on the Mount (5:1–7:29)
8. Righteousness and Salvation (7:13–29)
b. A Tale of Two Fruits – vs. 7:15-20

Our study in the Gospel of Matthew takes us now to consider a visual indicator of correct
judgement and discernment...and are marks of distinguishing features of false teachers…

Matthew 7:15–20
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are
ravenous wolves.
16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs
from thistles, are they?
17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.

Beginning in 1958, Harold Camping served as president of the California based - Family
Radio, which, at its peak, broadcast to more than 150 markets in the US.

Camping first predicted that the Judgment Day would occur on Sept. 6, 1994 - it failed to
happen – so he revised the date to Sept. 29 – failed - then to Oct. 2, 1994, which failed.

In 2005, Camping predicted the Second Coming of Christ to May 21, 2011, in which the
saved would be taken up to heaven in the rapture, and that "there would follow five months
of fire, brimstone and plagues on Earth, with millions of people dying each day, culminating
on Oct. 21, 2011, with the final destruction of the world."

That was widely reported, in part because of a large-scale publicity campaign by his radio
station, causing extensive ridicule from atheist groups, and rebukes from Christian groups.

But when May 21 passed without the predicted events, Camping said he believed that a
"spiritual" judgment had occurred on that date, and the physical Rapture would occur on
Oct. 21, 2011, simultaneously with the final destruction of the universe by God.

Except for one press appearance on May 23, 2011, Camping largely avoided interviews
after May 21, in part because he suffered a stroke in June 2011.

After October 21, 2011, came and went without the predicted apocalypse, the mainstream
media labeled Camping a false prophet and said that his ministry would collapse after the
"failed 'Doomsday' prediction"
Camping was infamous for issuing a litany of failed predictions on the End Times which
gained him a global following and millions of dollars of donations...some followers sold
everything – gave the money to his ministry - and waited for the end - which didn’t come

At that time - he had a stroke and retired - but maintained a role at the Radio until his death,
in Dec. 2013

This is guy who used the Bible, quoting it often, perverting it to his own ends…and without
a doubt – used his position to gain fame and fleece thousands of people of money… which
is a ploy used by many false prophets.

Camping isn’t the only one, and he isn’t the last one. Jesus said,

Matthew 24:24 “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs
and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.

2 Peter 2:2–3
2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be
maligned;
3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is
not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

False teachers have invaded many so-called churches. Deceivers pretend to be servants or
heralds of Christ but are serpents, hirelings, and compromisers. Many imposters will even
work as pastors but are wannabe psychotherapists. Not all heretics are the same.

Many openly teach and bloviate about the heresies they teach. In contrast, some are more
deceptive, masquerading as sound teachers, but are vague about their convictions, leading
many to think they teach the truth while secretly embracing liberalism.

But, according to Scripture, those who teach heresy are guilty of blasphemy. And those who
remain silent about false teachers are hirelings. And they will defend wolves because they
themselves are wolves. False teachers are historically known for these practices.

We should, therefore, never tolerate or use euphemisms to describe their diabolical deeds.

Heretics will always give excuses for their actions, they try hard to present themselves as
loving counselors who care for hurt people.

After gospel ministers expose their corrupt teachings, wannabe psychotherapists will stray
in their feelings and whine about feeling persecuted, disparaging everyone who disagrees
with their liberalism as "unloving" and "mean-spirited."
Deceitful ministers are inclusive, agreeing with everyone they speak to privately. They will
not make their actual views known until gospel ministers call them out and people realize
they are counterfeits, not Christians.

Wolves who masquerade as ministers know how to simultaneously teach heresy and stay
connected with those who oppose it.

All they need to do is teach heresy and, when called out, quickly redefine their terms, even
while their doctrine is antithetical to Scripture that’s so their gullible friends will agree with
them. This allows false teachers to remain pacifying with heretics and those who oppose it.

Wannabe psychologists, pretending to be ministers, disrespect doctrine and tell people they
are free to embrace whatever doctrine or philosophy they want.

Nonetheless, false teachers cannot prove the points they desperately try to make; their
arguments prove they are heretics and expose them as false teachers.

Therefore, beware of false teachers who are wannabe psychotherapists, not pastors.

Jude 4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand
marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into
licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

We’ll always have them - and they’re not all exactly alike in their modus operandi, either.
Some are rather blatant and flagrant in their deceptions - others much more subtle.

Some are very clean - appearing virtuous, i.e. - Joel Osteen – and come in all shapes and
kinds -- but the heart is always the same – it is the heart of a devil.

According to the NT - they tend to fall into three categories...

First are the heretics. These are the ones who openly defy the truth, Paul says in Titus 3,
these are to be admonished and then put away...have nothing to do with them... because
they’re the ones who blatantly stand against the truth.

Second - there are the apostates...these are the ones who knows the truth, who was reared
in the truth, who was around the truth, but in the fullness of its understanding, turned their
back on it and rejected it.

They can be flagrant too – but these are ones who, generally, are openly against the truth.

Third are those who fall into false prophets – they’re deceivers – and are the ones who
never comes out against it, who don’t accept the fact that they’re a heretic, and will not
acknowledge apostasy, but are still those who, nonetheless – still deceive.

One is a wolf in garments of a shepherd; others “creep in unnoticed” as Jude says...

Some are subtle – some blatant – but sit on the crossroads of life, the crux of decisions,
they stand – humanly speaking – when people go to make a choice between the narrow gate,
the narrow way that leads to life, or the broad gate, the broad way that leads to destruction...

And while the Spirit of God draws the elect to the narrow gate, false prophets shove them
on to the broad way that leads to hell -- deceiving them as if that is the way to heaven...

They come in all forms of sophistication, of education, all types of garb and dress, with
various kinds of ecclesiastical trappings, but they are all the same.

And our Lord, in referring to them here, certainly having in mind the scribes and Pharisees...

In Matthew 23, if there’s any doubt by the time we get to that chapter - you’ll know He’s
talking about them – because He sees them as false prophets...

They are, with all their supposed religiosity, making sure they fulfill every miniscule aspect
of the law; they are the religious of the religious, and are utterly beyond imagination in
terms of the scruples that they maintain for their religion.

If there’s ever to be a kingdom of God, they assume that they’ll be at the highest level of
that kingdom. They’re super-religious, and yet He says to them, “You’re false prophets.”

You know - you can dot all your I’s, cross all your T’s, and still spell Jesus wrong.

That’s exactly what they did. And that’s exactly what the Pharisees and scribes were doing;
they were very religious, and were simultaneously - damning men to perdition.

So, Jesus says that in your efforts to enter the narrow gate, the way to life, beware of the
emissaries of Satan, who will mislead and deceive you. That bunch is NOT saying, “Hey
everyone - let’s all go to hell” they’re not saying that, they tell you it’s the way to heaven.

And, there are two words in order to understand this passage that we need to focus on.

The first is warning. People all over the globe stand at the crossroads of that decision, the
false prophets are selling their particular perspective, and we have to preach the truth, and
we have to call people to beware of false prophets. That’s the warning, beware of them.

And there’s a definition: they’re false prophētēs, those who speak forth or speak before.
They spoke before in the OT, and true prophets had 2-things on which their office was built:
a divine commission, and a divine message. They spoke FOR God, and spoke FROM God

A false prophet doesn’t have a divine commission or a divine message. They don’t speak
for God or from God, but stand in their own authority with their own message, and it is
utterly false. TURN TO 2 John

They are pseudo-prophētēs, pseudo-christos, pseuda-delphos, ALL false. And since they’re
false - we need to do what? BEWARE of them; that’s the warning of our Lord.

That word beware means to literally - hold your mind back from – don’t expose yourself to
them. Listen – you are NOT expose your mind to them – what you do is you hold back
your mind...and not expose your thinking to them.

2 John 7–8
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus
Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.

John says - they’re everywhere, they don’t acknowledge Jesus Christ came in the flesh. By
that, he means the deity of Christ and the work of Christ, both, His person and His work.

In other words, they do not hold a Biblical view of who He is and what He does…which
BEGS the questions - What are you going to do with Him? Who is this Christ?

First, recognize he’s a deceiver and an antichrist – but don’t forget to look to yourselves...

2 John 8 Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you
may receive a full reward.

So, take stock, conduct self-examination so that you will NOT lose what you gained…

You could get sucked into that deceit, and forfeit the reward you’ve already gained by your
service to Christ….not losing your salvation if you’re a true believer - but lose your reward.

9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God;
the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your
house, and do not give him a greeting;

WHY NOT invite them in – or give them a greeting? Because you do not want your mind
exposed to that…don’t even give him a greeting….no ‘...have a nice day, travel mercies’ or
whatever - don’t say a word to him, because if you do, if you give him a greeting!
11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

The point John is making is that they’re so vile, so wretched, and so deceitful, don’t you
even open your door to let them in there.

You can deal with a heretic, and you can even deal with an apostate. It is a deceiver that
you cannot deal with, without getting spotted and stained by the filth of their own garment.

2 Timothy 3:8–9
8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of
depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith.
9 But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as
Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.

So, what do we do with them? First, recognize them, they’re going to be judged, because
they don’t believe what the Bible teaches...

10 Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance,
11b persecutions, and sufferings,

In other words, make sure you make a distinction; you know how different we are.

13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being
deceived,

I’ve heard people ask – and it’s a good question: “Do you think false prophets know they’re
false prophets?” Some do, some don’t, because deceivers are often also deceived, so they
continue in the Satanic delusion, and draw others into it. How do you protect yourself?

You keep your mind back from them - don’t be exposed to them...

But - you can’t exist in a vacuum, can you? You’ve got to put something in your mind!

14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of,
knowing from whom you have learned them,
15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you
the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Remember what you learned and the good and godly people you learned it from.

I.e., give yourself to what was taught to you by good and godly people…and Scripture...
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
for training in righteousness;
17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

So, we have the warning - Beware, hold your mind back from them, fill your mind with
the Word of God...

Is 26:3a “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace...

Peter says, “Grid up the loins of your mind” – pull your head together in the things of God,
because if you expose yourself - they’re coming to you in sheep’s clothing.

Sheep’s clothing is a wool garment, and a wool garment is what a shepherd wore, and he’s
not coming disguised as a sheep, but as a shepherd. Back to our text in Matt 7...

15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are
ravenous wolves.

I.e. - in garb described as reaching the feet, made of the wool of sheep...like the garment
Achan stole in Joshua 7 - a garment which the Greek word the author of Hebrews uses for
sheep skins that the persecuted saints wandered around in...

One commentator says, “...it was the way of deceivers, profane men, to cover themselves
with their talith (long garment) as if they were righteous, that others receive their lies...”

That describes the Pharisees, who would’ve been seen as holy and righteous, humble,
modest, and self-denying men -- when in fact they were inwardly full of hypocrisy, iniquity,
oppression, and covetousness; and, under a pretense of religion, devoured widows' houses.

John Gill says...“There are some who appear to be humble, and fear God in a deceitful and
hypocritical way, but inwardly lay wait - a humility the wise call a wolfish humility.”

So, they come in to be a shepherd, but are nothing but a ravenous wolf who will rip and tear
and shred in a ferocious, malicious, devouring manner…

Thing about it – TURN TO Acts 20 -- Paul’s last words to the elders of Epheus – spending
some 3 years with the church that he planted there – what would be your last words?

Acts 20
28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made
you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
29 “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the
flock;
30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away
the disciples after them.
31 “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I
did not cease to admonish each one with tears.

There’s two words, watch and warn -- you watch and you’re warned, Paul says. They’re
going to be there, right in the midst of us...and guess what - you might think you can spot
them, but you’re going to have to look very carefully; they’re not outwardly manifest...

It appalling really, that millions of people are sucked in by false prophets and don’t know it
– while many Christian leaders lock arms with them in common causes and they’re false
prophets, but they’re deceitful...yet, their end is, as Jude says…

Jude 13b ...for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.

And along with the people they deceive, the Lord will declare to them…

Matt 7:23 “ ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

This is such a critical word from our Lord, because it is an utterly essential message for us
in this day of compromise; when so many people are parading as Christian leaders, and so
many true Christians are linking up with false Christians and false teachers...

It’s so essential that we understand this. And we’re given another method by our Lord,

16a “You will know them by their fruits...

So, now that we’re warned, what are we looking for? How do we know when we see one?
If we’re to be aware of them because they’re going to tear us up, what do we look for?
What are the marks of a false prophet?

Praise God that He doesn’t give us a warning without the tools to address it...it’s serious
and dangerous, so the Lord is going to help us to understand who they are...so we read...

16a “You will know…

That is not a command...this is an assurance...this is a confidence...how will we know?

16a “You will know them by their fruits.

20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.

People everywhere views trees and fruit the same way...a tree is judged by its fruit. If you
want to know what the prophet is like, look at what he produces.

In other words, a perverted morality will inevitably come from a perverted theology. This is
the characteristic of a perversion in theology...it leads to perverted morality.

Remember that that action is acceptable to God which is done for the glory of God out of a
heart of faith. So that even an action which man may pronounce as good – can easily be an
action that falls short of the divine standard...

So, it is true that inevitably, a perverted theology leads to perverted morality. Luther said:

“It is not good works which make a good man, but a good man who does good works.”

And the way which we’re to distinguish the false from the true is to observe the products of
their lives, the Lord Jesus says, since characteristic of those who have followed the faith is
the life of holiness and the desire to see the truth of God prevail.

Arthur Pink refers to those who create an easy way into heaven and regard the exhortations
and commands of the Christian life lightly, saying...

“There is nothing in their preaching which searches the conscience or renders the
professor uneasy, [or] which humbles and causes their hearers to mourn before God, but
rather that which puffs up, makes them pleased with themselves, and to rest content in a
false assurance.”

We sure have so many of them today...because characteristic of true preaching is that it

renders the empty teacher uneasy, and humbles and causes hearers to mourn before God,
and real preaching should lead people to humility, and a consciousness of sin, and desire
to confess that sin before God.

Now we could ask -- is that the only danger we need to look for?

Well, no, the Lord Jesus said it’s possible for us to be self-deceived, and self-deception, as
we all know, is one of the easiest ways to miss the way to heaven. How do we know that?

22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and
in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice
lawlessness.’

It’s entirely possible to attend the meetings here, attend the ministry of the word, partake in
the Lord’s Supper and prayer meeting and Bible Study; and speak Biblical speech…
...to know what justification, sanctification, and glorification, even the doctrines of grace –
and to know and profess these things and be engaged in all that and more - and still not
have vital union with Jesus Christ. That’s what he’s saying.

It’s very possible to be so close to the saints of God and miss the connection to eternal life.

These words are very solemn. They’re strong words, and should bring every one of us to the
question, do we really have a vital union with the Lord resulting in everlasting life?

So, we’ve got to be a discerning – not get sucked in and line up with false teachers…and we
know who they are WHY?

16b “…Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?

They’re the grapes stuck on the thorns and the figs stuck on the thistles. Those fruits are not
found on opposing vegetation - but you can stick them there.

So, there are people who will attach themselves, unwittingly; they’ll get stuck on some false
teacher who appears to be a Christian. But if you look closely, there’s a simple principle in
v. 17-18...so, if you look closely, you will see that they just don’t belong there.

Good trees produce good fruit, bad trees produce bad fruit...that’s why the Bible says,

1 Sam 16:7b “...for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

So, when you go up there you might see a false prophet, and there’s a real grape and a real
fig, real fruit...but it’s stuck on a thorn or a thistle, because when you look at the stuff that
they produce -- it’s going to be bad fruit no matter what it looks like on the outside.

So, what are we looking for when we look at the by-product?

Let me give you a few things we need to consider as we look to the application.

First off, look at their character, what is the attitude, and motive, thinking and perspective
towards life? What kind of lifestyle, what kind of pattern is there?

Character results from what I think to what I do. That’s the first thing that manifests fruit.

So, when you look to the Bible and you want to find out about fruit, you’ll find it based on
several things. It’s what we do. For example, Luke 3:8, John the Baptist proclaims that...

Luke 3:8a “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance,

Luke 3:10–11
10 And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?”
11 And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him
who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.”

In other words, the fruit of repentance is giving to somebody in need, not taking more than
you deserve.... Fruit is the way you live, it’s a lifestyle, fruit takes action

James 2:15–18
15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not
give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith
without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

It’s not – as some people believe - that the fruit is only in their doctrine. No, it’s in their
actions too; that’s clearly throughout the Scripture.

John 15:8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My
disciples.

And what is that?

John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

So fruit is obedience, it’s action in response to God...and not only the action, but the
attitude behind it, right?

Galatians 5
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

It’s called in Ephesians 5 the fruit of light...that is, the light of God in your heart produces
certain kind of attitudes.

In Phil 1:11 it’s called the ‘fruit of righteousness’, Col 1:10, says, “being fruitful in every
good work.” Fruit is both action and attitude. What you feel and think, and what you do.

So, one of the first tests of a false prophet is their conduct, and their character, which
becomes manifest – and that pattern is a visible one…
And we see this simply because you cannot get true righteousness from a rotten tree.

But here’s the thing - they sure can cover that -- they can cover it with ecclesiastical robes
and religious trappings, with a Christianized lifestyle, and being part of Christian groups...

They can cover it by talking about the Bible and Jesus Christ and salvation, so many ways!

So you may not be able to tell from their actions, because it looks good, like the Pharisees...
they didn’t murder, didn’t commit adultery, didn’t do other things, and it looks really good -
- they fasted and prayed and gave, and it all looked good.

But upon further examination - you’ll likely find a lot of skeletons in their moral closet.

There’s a lot of wretchedness and evil greed, and a lot of money problems, or a string of
women somewhere, and so on…but if you can’t find that, - you go to their attitude, and
start looking for how they think, what’s their attitude?

Many times, they can suppress the outward visibility of the vile and evil on the inside, but
think about this illustration, it’s a good one…

2 Peter 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so
that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in the world by lust.

True Christians receive the very nature of God. Peter differentiates between internal
corruption and external pollution since they’ve never been changed on the inside...

They’ve gotten rid of the external pollution, but nothing about the internal corruption, see?

Then after a cascading character qualities…Peter says a few verses later in...

2 Pete 1:8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless
nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That’s what He’s saying...and there are many false prophets who deal with the pollution on
the outside. They get the pollution off, and look good -- so how are you going to tell?

So, you look at the motive, look at the inside, the attitude – not just for your sake – but for
the sake of the people trapped in their evil systems...

Unless the motive is to genuinely desire to glorify God, pursue holiness, and overcome the
offensiveness of sin, then their good deeds is filthy rags, used menstrual cloths Is 64:6 says
Matthew 23:27–28
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs
which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all
uncleanness.
28 “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy
and lawlessness.

That’s the Sermon on the Mount, frankly; that’s what Jesus is saying the whole sermon.

You know - false prophets attract unbelievers much more than believers because they
appeal to carnality and the flesh of the natural man.

Another fruit of false teachers - not surprising – is their confession or creed... which points
to their actual teaching. Their teaching will be wrong. Look closely...their teaching goes
wrong at critical points, and here’s the subtle one – they’ll leave out certain things too...

Matt 12:37 “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be
condemned.”

We need to listen very carefully to what they’re saying. Do they speak the Bible? Do they
give the whole counsel of God, from the beginning to the end? Do they withhold anything?

Show me a man who does not teach from the Word of God, or teaches error from the Word
of God, I’ll show you a false teacher...even though they talk about the Bible, they don’t
talk out of it.

So, not only what they say and compare it with Scripture, but what they don’t say.

You can always tell a false teacher as they have a twisted work of Christ, i.e. salvation...
when you get into dealing with a false teachers - look at their doctrine of salvation. This is
where it all goes wrong.

False prophets are found in circles of the most orthodox, they pretend to have a fervent love
for souls, yet they fatally delude multitudes concerning the way of salvation.

They reduce the standard of divine holiness and so adulterate the gospel in order to make it
palatable to the carnal mind...cheapening the doctrine of salvation – all you have to do is
sign a card, walk an aisle, raise a hand up, love Jesus, and hey - you’re in.

Doesn’t matter what your life is; everybody’s included – and the biggie in their doctrine is
there is no narrow gate – their gospel has no narrow gate. And the lie, beloved, is in what
they don’t say, they say nothing offensive - they want to please everybody.
Their message is comforting and happy, and will be praised by liberals and evangelicals.
And there’s no offense in the cross. Their message is of easy believism; come down the
aisle, get baptized.

Their gospel is the message of health, wealth, happiness, positive thinking, easy salvation.
They’re compromisers...Jeremiah says, “They say, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.”

I.e., they lie. They say everything is fine, but it isn’t, because there’s no repentance, no
warning, no judgment, no brokenness, no contrite heart, no mourning over sin...

So they line up, behind the sappy Holy Spirit healers, positive thinkers, and cheap grace
preachers, in one great, big, comfortable group, saying, ‘Peace, peace, but there’s no peace.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones said,

“Inevitably, false prophets are characterized by an almost entire absence of doctrine.

Repentance means you realize you’re a guilty, vile sinner in the presence of God. That you
deserve the wrath and punishment of God, you’re hell bound, and you begin to realize that
this thing called sin is in you, and you long to get rid of it, and turn your back on it in every
shape and form. You renounce the world whatever the cost, as well as its practice, and you
deny yourself and take up the cross and go after Christ. Your nearest and dearest in the
whole world may call you a fool or say you have religious mania. You may have to suffer
financially, but it makes no difference; that is repentance.”

False prophets don’t preach it that way. They’re vague about everything. We better listen
to the true prophets and not the false.

How do you know them? By their fruits. What are their fruits? Character and creed.

Third area of fruit is whose following them...you can learn a lot about someone by who
their being followed by… see who’s buying their message and accepting their influence...

The converse is true along these same lines – who is critical of their teachings? If you have
trusted Biblical scholars calling them out – you may want to stay clear of them...

And there’s one more that I want to just run by you – because it’s important – and that is in
their fruit – you’ll see what they take in – or embrace…

The truth here that I want to stress – is something that you may have never thought about
before - God has ordained that false prophets exist. Have you ever thought about why?

1 Corinthians 11:19 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are
approved may become evident among you.
There must be heresies among you. WHY? Why couldn’t the Lord leave them out? Why
do we have to have this problem with false teachers? All so that those who are approved,
may become evident among you…

God says if you have a heresy, then that heresy becomes a magnet that pulls away the false
disciples and leaves manifest the genuine ones. It’s like wind that blows the chaff away...

Paul is saying there will be converts who will identify with them. Error divides the chaff
and the wheat – all by means of true and false prophets, God reveals who’s genuine.

So, generally speaking, false teacher are ordained by God to become the magnet that draws
the ungodly to themselves, and by doing that -they damn them. It’s part of God’s judgment.

2 Thessalonians 2
11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe
what is false, 12a in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth,

God sends delusion, because it becomes a point of attachment for all who reject Christ, and
it obviously separates the chaff from the wheat. So they’re ordained for what? Judgment.

So be warned, beloved, stay on the alert - keep watching…because many of these false
prophets are going looking like the real thing, they’re pleasant, sincere, talking about Jesus,
and the Bible, and salvation, completely inoffensive, wanting to please everybody, let’s just
accommodate other people’ views, rarely critical in their thinking, praised by many,
condemned by few.

Large crowds will gather around them and listen to them and think they’re great, shoving
masses of people on the broad way that leads to destruction.

JMac says this,

“They talk about the love of God but not the wrath of God, and about people being deprived
and not being depraved, talk about God, the Father of everybody, full of love and
understanding, and nothing about a holy God, whose only children are those of faith in
Christ. Their message is a message of gaps, that just leaves out the truth that saves.

We should know that COLD - this is why this message is SO critical and SO important for
us – in this culture – at this time…NOTHING is more important for us to hear today, than
the Lord’s words to us on this text today…nothing!