Greetings!
After giving the invitation to "enter by the narrow gate" (Matt. 7:13), to come to God by the only way He has provided, Jesus warns that not everyone who claims to belong to God and to speak for Him actually does so. When we stand at the crossroads of decision, we should remember that the true way to God is narrow and that the false way is broad; the true way is difficult and demanding, and the false way is easy and permissive; the true way has relatively few following in it, and the false way has many.
Jesus now says, in effect, "As you strive to enter that narrow gate and walk that narrow way that leads to life, beware of those who would mislead you. Just as there is a misleading gate and a misleading way, there are also misleading preachers and teachers who point to that gate and promote that way." Just like the false gate and way, they will claim to show the way to heaven and life, but they actually show the way to hell and destruction. The false gate has false prophets standing in front of it who seek to lead people into the false way and hinder them from entering the true.
In the present passage Jesus first gives a warning and then calls us to be watchful. Just as He described the true and false ways (Matt. 7:13-14), He now describes the true and false teachers of those ways.
BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS
MATTHEW 7:15-20
Part 7 of 7
THE CREED
OF FALSE PROPHETS
Matthew 7:16-20 (NASB)
"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."
As we saw in Part 6 of this devotional series, the first area in which a false prophet can be judged is character. A second area in which a false prophet can be judged is that of doctrine.
Superficially what he teaches may seem biblical and orthodox, but careful examination will always reveal ideas that are unscriptural and the absence of a strong, clear theology. False ideas will be taught, or at least important truths will be omitted. Often, there will be a combination of both. Eventually the "fruit" will show a tree for what it is, because "a good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit."
On a later occasion Jesus said to the Pharisees,
- Matthew 12:34-35 (NASB)
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"You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.35 "The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.
- Matthew 12:34-35 (AMP)
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You offspring of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)? For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man from his inner good treasure flings forth good things, and the evil man out of his inner evil storehouse flings forth evil things.
When judging whether or not a teaching is from God, Isaiah counsels it has no light:
- Isaiah 8:20 (NASB)
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To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
- Isaiah 8:20 (NLT2)
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Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict His word are completely in the dark.
The teaching of a false prophet cannot withstand scrutiny under the divine light of Scripture.
All false prophets will have an incomplete, distorted, or perverted view of Christ. If Satan can confuse and mislead people about the person and work of Christ, he has confused and misled them at the very heart of the gospel.
Jesus has just shown that the way of salvation, the gate to God's kingdom and life, is narrow and demanding (Matt. 7:13), whereas the gate to hell and destruction is broad (Matt. 7:14). Immediately He begins the warning about false prophets and how to identify them. The false shepherd's way to heaven will never be God's way, and their way of living will never be according to God's standards.
One commentator says,
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"False prophets are to be found in the circles of the most orthodox, and they pretend to have a fervent love for souls, yet they fatally delude multitudes concerning the way of salvation. The pulpit, platform, and pamphlet hucksters have wantonly lowered the standard of divine holiness and so adulterated the Gospel in order to make it palatable to the carnal mind."
The creed of false prophets never has a narrow gate or a narrow way. On the surface their message may sound difficult and demanding, but it will always rest on the foundation of man's works and will therefore always be accomplishable by man's own effort. They never reveal the depth or danger of sin and depravity, the need for repentance, forgiveness, and submission to the Lord, or the destiny of judgment, condemnation, and eternal destruction for those apart from God. There is no brokenness over sin and no longing after righteousness.
They have easy answers for small problems. Jeremiah says,
- Jeremiah 6:14 (NASB)
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"They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace."
- Jeremiah 6:14 (NLT2)
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They offer superficial treatments for My people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace.
There is no humility, no warning of judgment, and no call for repentance and a contrite heart of obedience.
They have a ready hearing among most people, because they say only what people like to hear (2 Tim. 4:3-4). Just as did ancient Israel in Jeremiah's time, people today like it that way.
- Jeremiah 5:31 (NASB)
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The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?
- Jeremiah 5:31 (NLT2)
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the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. Worse yet, My people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes?
They want to hear illusions, not truth. They are enamored with pleasure and fantasy and resent being confronted with anything disquieting and condemnatory. They want encouragement but not correction, positive words but not negative truth. They will accept grace as long as it is cheap grace and does not reflect against their own sinfulness, inadequacies, and lostness.
The creed of the false prophet, if he has any at all, will be vague, indefinite, and ethereal. No demanding truth will be absolute or clear-cut, and every principle will be easy and attractive.
The same commentator rightly declares,
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"Any preacher who rejects God's law, who denies repentance to be a condition of salvation, 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 is a false prophet and should be shunned as a deadly plague"
False prophets talk...
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much about the love of God but nothing of His holiness
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much about people who are deprived but nothing about those who are depraved
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much about God's universal fatherhood of every human being but nothing about His unique fatherhood only of those who are His children through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ,
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much about what God will give to us but nothing about obedience to Him,
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much about health and happiness but nothing about holiness and sacrifice.
Their message is a message of gaps, the greatest and most tragic gap of which leaves out the truth that saves.
THE CONVERTS
OF FALSE PROPHETS
False prophets can also be identified by their converts and followers. They will attract to themselves people who have the same superficial, self-centered, and unscriptural orientation as they do. "Many will follow their sensuality," Peter tells us, "and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned" (2 Pet. 2:2). They have many followers because they teach and promote what the majority of people want to hear and believe (cf. 2 Tim. 4:3).
Their followers will be like them—egotistical, proud, self-centered, self-indulgent, self-willed, and self-satisfied, while being religious. They will be both self-oriented and group-oriented, but never God-oriented or Scripture-oriented.
God has not ordained false prophets, but He has ordained that they exist. Paul explains to the Corinthian church,
- 1 Corinthians 11:18-19 (NASB)
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For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.
- 1 Corinthians 11:18-19 (AMP)
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For in the first place, when you assemble as a congregation, I hear that there are cliques (divisions and factions) among you; and I in part believe it, 19 For doubtless there have to be factions or parties among you in order that they who are genuine and of approved fitness may become evident and plainly recognized among you.
- 1 Corinthians 11:18-19 (NLT2)
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First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. 19 But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!
False factions will act as magnets to attract others who are false. In that indirect way they will help protect true believers by partly separating the chaff from the wheat.
But true believers who are carnal and worldly can also be attracted and corrupted, becoming grapes on thorn bushes and figs on thistles. Generally speaking, however, false prophets attract false believers, and in that way act as a sort of negative protection for the true church.
False prophets and their false followers...
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10b-12 (NASB)
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[Do] not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10b-12 (AMP)
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[Do] not welcome the Truth but refuse to love it that they might be saved. 11 Therefore God sends upon them a misleading influence, a working of error and a strong delusion to make them believe what is false, 12 In order that all may be judged and condemned who did not believe in [who refused to adhere to, trust in, and rely on] the Truth, but [instead] took pleasure in unrighteousness.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10b-12 (NLT2)
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Refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.
Ultimately, God makes sure that "every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (cf. John 15:2, 6). Peter says such shepherds are "bringing swift destruction upon themselves" (2 Pet. 2:1).
- Jeremiah 23:30-32, 36 (NLT2)
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“Therefore,” says the LORD, “I am against these prophets who steal messages from each other and claim they are from Me. 31 I am against these smooth-tongued prophets who say, ‘This prophecy is from the LORD!’ 32 I am against these false prophets. Their imaginary dreams are flagrant lies that lead my people into sin. I did not send or appoint them, and they have no message at all for My people. I, the LORD have spoken!... But stop using this phrase, ‘prophecy from the LORD.’ For people are using it to give authority to their own ideas, turning upside down the words of our God, the living God, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
- Jeremiah 23:39-40 (NASB)
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"Therefore behold, I will surely forget you and cast you away from My presence, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers. 40 "I will put an everlasting reproach on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be forgotten."
Lord Jesus,
You teach us that we "will know them by their fruits," help us Lord
to be be discerning when listening to preachers who call us
to the broad way that leads to death and eternal hell.
Amen.
Proverbs 22:19 (NASB)
So that your trust may be in the LORD, I have taught you today, even you.
Amen.
