Beware of False Prophets, Part 1

The Sermon on the Mount's Application: Entering the Kingdom

0:05 In the main bulk of the Sermon on the Mount, as we have been studying it now for, this is the third year, we have seen that our Lord Jesus lays out the basic characteristics of the kingdom of God. He lays out the standards by which those who are in the kingdom are to conduct themselves both with reference to God, to the world, and to one another. And as he's drawing this Sermon to a close, he comes into an area of very intense application concerning what he has been teaching by way of instruction. And that's always the pattern of God's Word and must always be the pattern of our teaching and of our preaching. One eminent servant of God said that unapplied truth is in some instances worse than no truth. For having said, with some facts, we will think that we are the better for having had those facts. And so our Lord, having described the kingdom, having laid out the characteristics of the kingdom, now comes in verse 13 and begins to apply in a very specific way an invitation for us to enter that kingdom.

1:26 We have considered verses 13 and 14 under two main headings. First of all, conversion by which we enter the kingdom, Jesus said, is a difficult and a rare thing. He said that to enter the kingdom is to enter a very now gate and to walk upon a compressed or now way, and it's only that gate and that way which leads to life. And I would repeat here this morning what we considered in our college class in the Sunday school hour.

2:02 That it's my own personal... It's my personal and deep conviction that the dividing issue in evangelical circles today, Bible-believing, Bible-preaching churches such as these, is not the issue of the deity of Christ or the inspiration of the Bible.

2:19 That separates us from the liberals. But the issue is this. Is conversion a difficult and a rare thing? Is the gate really now?

2:31 And is the way really a compressed way? Most evangelicals have made the gate very broad. And men can come through clinging to their lust and to the world and to a disposition of self-will and still be told that by simply nodding to a man on a bloody cross, all is well. Our Lord did not so teach.

2:56 He taught that the gateway to life is narrow and that anyone who enters the gate must walk that narrow road. For no one gets to life but by the gate and the road. And in contrast with this, our Lord teaches that spurious conversion, false conversion, sham conversion is an easy and a popular thing. For he said that wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there be which go in thereat.

3:32 And it's a heartbreaking thing to read. We must realize that the wide gate of spurious conversion and the broad road of counterfeit Christianity are being constructed by evangelical workmen who give lip service to the deity of Christ and the inspiration of the scriptures, but who by taking a few select verses at the expense of the whole drift of biblical teaching have relegated salvation to something even the most simple, which multitudes say they possess. But our Lord's words have never been rescinded from the pages of divine revelation that we are to enter into that narrow gate. Now, having dealt with the issue of conversion as the entrance into life, our Lord comes in verse 15 to a subject that at the outset looks perhaps rather unrelated to what is preceded. Verse 15. Verse 15.

The Command to Beware of False Prophets

4:37 Verse 15. Verse 15. Verse 15. Verse 15.

4:37 Verse 15. Verse 15. Verse 15. Verse 15.

4:37 Verse 15. Verse 15. Verse 15. Verse 15.

4:37 Verse 15. Verse 15. Verse 15. Verse 15.

4:37 Verse 15. Verse 15. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.

4:47 Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Verse 15.

5:07 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruit ye shall know that. Having dealt with the nature of true conversion and contrasting it with spurious conversion, we now come to a warning concerning false prophets. It's interesting that the first verb in the imperative form after verse 13 is this one in verse 15.

5:42 Our Lord says, Enter in. It's a command. The next command is verse 15, Beware. You get the connection?

5:53 Verse 15 is for those who've taken seriously verse 13. Have you heard the invitation of Christ? Enter in at the straight gate. Are you concerned this morning about eternal life?

6:09 Are you concerned about heaven, conversion, the salvation of your soul? Then it's to you that Jesus says, Beware. It's only those who are concerned about entering the gate of true conversion that need to beware of false prophets. Why?

6:29 For just outside the gate of true conversion, they're always seen. They don't understand the false prophets to direct you into the wild gate of spurious conversion. People who aren't concerned about the false prophets, we live and we die like the beast. They're not interested in the narrow gate.

6:54 They don't care that Christ has entered in at the narrow gate. So they couldn't care less about false prophets and bother them in the least. But it's for people to whom verses 13 and 14 are a matter of importance. I want to know that I've entered the narrow gate.

The Danger of Deception for Awakened Sinners

7:08 I want to press in to that straight way that leads unto life. It's to us that our Lord says, Beware. Beware of false prophets. The word beware simply means give heed beyond your guard.

7:25 Do you see what our Lord is telling us here? We think that when we were in those days of sinful unconcern, when the narrow gate that leads to life and the broad road that leads to destruction were of no concern to us, we thought that that was our most dangerous state. When we were in the blindness and death of an unawakened sinner, indifferent to our soul's salvation, unconcerned about the wounds of the Son of God,

7:57 and we are prone to think that having been rescued from the danger of sinful unconcern about our souls, that our dangers are over once we get interested in the narrow gate and begin to attend. To the word of God and to the scriptures, Jesus said no. He said, Having been delivered from the danger of that blind unconcern which leads many people into hell fast asleep, having been delivered from that danger, and having turned your face to the kingdom of God and to the narrow gate and the narrow way, he said the dangers have not ceased to exist. Beware beyond your guard.

8:38 In fact, in some ways it may be accurate, is to say the dangers of an awakened sinner are greater than the dangers of an indifferent sinner.

8:49 And it's to people concerned about that gate that our Lord says, Beware. Why? For the simple reason that to embrace any wrong directions as to how one gets into the way that leads to life is to bring upon oneself eternal destruction.

9:11 Jesus said, Beware! Beware! For that broad way is entered by people who follow the directions of false prophets who will tell them in the name of the Lord, This is how you enter to life. Jesus said, Beware of them.

9:26 Beware of them. Beware of them. Be on your guard. Sincerity and desire are not enough to deliver us from danger.

9:34 You may come up to a house outside of which there is a sign, Beware Vicious Dog. And you see this sweet-looking pup, inside the gate, who wags his tail and looks so sweet. And you say, Well, that can't mean him. So you disregard the sign.

9:54 You open the gate, and you've no sooner taken two steps when you feel some poop clamp into your thigh. Well, you were sincere in believing that dog was sweet.

10:05 You were convinced in your own heart that there was no danger. Your sincerity and your conviction didn't change the fact that there was a vicious dog who was dangerous, to you.

10:18 You see the application? Jesus says to every one of us, I'm not talking now, this is not an evangelistic message as such to unsaved people, or obviously so. He's saying to the most mature Christian this morning who's interested and soberly concerned about knowing that you're in that gate and on that way, He's saying, Beware. Sincerity and peace are not enough.

10:44 Beware. Beware. Lest you take heed to false directions given by the false prophet. And so it's obvious that this next section, beginning with verses 15 and going down through verse 20, is dealing with the subject of false prophets.

Outline for Studying False Prophets

11:03 And to think our way through over the next several Lord's Day mornings, and it will take us, I believe, at least three, possibly four mornings to get through this section, we're going to consider, first of all, the definition of a false prophet, as we find it here. Then the deception, the doctrine of a false prophet, as it's laid out in the text. Then the doctrine of a false prophet, the discovery of a false prophet, and then last, the destiny of a false prophet. May I say at the outset of our study that I'm deeply concerned as your pastor that none of you sleep through these messages.

11:40 Oh, I don't mean sleep physically. That rarely happens here. I just talk too loud to let you go to sleep.

11:50 There are many of you who slept through many a service while your eyes have been riveted on mine.

11:56 And you haven't heard what the ears of an awakened soul and the love that I trust that God will help you to realize. Listen. What you believe may damn your soul if it isn't the right thing.

12:13 That's serious business.

12:17 Serious business. And I want over the top of every comment made on these verses the word beware! The word of Christ to stand in flashing bright red neon lights. Beware!

12:30 Beware! Beware! Beware! If you're interested in the narrow gate, beware of the advice you take as to how you manage.

Defining a False Prophet

12:39 With that as our backdrop and introduction, let us consider then, first of all this morning, the definition of a false prophet. Jesus said, Beware of false prophets. Well, before I can beware of them, I've got to know what they are. When the sign says, Beware of the dog, why, I've got to know what a dog is to know what I'm supposed to beware of.

13:01 If it simply said, Beware! Well, maybe there's some witch in the house that I ought to watch out for. Maybe there's some naughty little kid in the second story who likes to take plastic bags full of water and drop them on the heads of people who come up. I don't know what I'm supposed to beware of.

13:14 So I just go around with a general feeling I've got to beware of everything. But if it says, Beware! This is dog, and I know what a dog is, why, then I know that the only thing in that context is going to hurt me is the dog. Now, Jesus said, Beware of false prophets.

13:29 Now, how are you going to obey that unless you know what a dog is? How do you know what a false prophet is? Would you know one if you walked in here this morning and stood up in the pulpit? How do you know I'm not a false prophet?

13:38 Oh, pastor, we just know. How do you know?

13:42 Well, you're just... No, how do you know?

13:46 Can you locate a false prophet? What is a false prophet? So it's necessary at the outset that we get a definition of a false prophet. And you can't know what a false prophet is if you know what a prophet is.

13:56 So we've got to start there. What is a prophet? Well, a prophet is basically a vehicle of God's communication to men. A prophet, was an authoritative messenger of God.

14:08 Hebrews 1 and verse 1 is the best, I think, definition or description of a prophet where we read, God spoke in times past unto the fathers through the prophet. Now, that's a good definition of a prophet. The prophet was the vehicle through which God spoke His mind to men.

14:31 You got it? A prophet is an authoritative messenger or mouthpiece of God. Now, even before man fell, he needed a verbal communication from God. When Adam was put down there in the Garden of Eden, he didn't go around and scratch his head and sit in the log and sort of cogitate for a minute and say, now let's see, what shall I do?

14:53 No, God came to him and said, now look, Adam, see that garden? I want you to dress it and to keep it. See all the animals? I want you to give them names.

15:04 See that tree over there? I don't want you to take of that tree. That's the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the day you eat thereof, you'll die.

15:11 See your sweet wife? Take her to yourself. When I join together, let none put asunder. Be fruitful, be mull and multiply, replenish the earth.

15:20 Even before man fell, he needed a verbal communication of the mind of God.

15:29 Now, follow me. This is vital.

15:33 Even sinless man was not to direct his life according to his whims and fantasies. He needed a voice from heaven to tell him, this do, and thou shalt live. This do, and thou shalt die. Now, if that was true of man before he fell, how much more after the fall, for the fall of man not only affected our disposition to God, our will, but the fall of man affected our minds so that the Bible says in Ephesians 4.18, our understanding is darkened. It's not very flattering, but it's true. 1 Corinthians 2.14 says, the natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God.

16:19 They're absolute foolishness to him.

16:24 How is this going to be overcome, then, if we're to know God's thoughts about us, about himself, about sin, about redemption? God must break through and speak to men. And this he has done. And how did he do it?

16:37 All through the Old Testament, he spoke by the prophets. Hebrews 1.1, he spoke to the fathers by the prophets. And then Jesus Christ, became the embodiment of the whole prophetic office.

16:48 He became God's last message to us. And then he promised that the prophetic gift of authoritative utterance would be given to the apostles, that the Spirit would enable them to teach all things and to lay out the truth of God. Now, that's what a prophet is, a man who communicates the mind of God by verbal statement.

The Counterfeit Nature of False Prophets

17:12 Now, it's only natural that something so blessed is this and so necessary, would be counterfeited by the devil. And from the very start, the devil had his counterfeit prophets. Men who came saying, I speak by the authority of God, therefore listen to me. But they didn't speak by the authority of God.

17:30 They spoke by the authority of their own depraved reasons or their own depraved desires or by the influence of the devil himself. So a false prophet is the man or woman who poses as a mouthpiece of the devil. He is the mouthpiece of God but who does not accurately convey the mind of God. Another definition of a false prophet, one who, acting the part of a divinely inspired prophet, utters falsehoods in the name of God.

18:02 Now, follow. If a man stands out here in the corner and lifts up his fist to heaven and says, God is dead, there is no God. And in my name, I'll tell you everything. You won't listen to him.

18:19 But if someone stands out there with a very winsome character, personality, very persuasive, and says, in the name of the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I want to declare to you what God has revealed to me. And then he'll flavor his language with Bible phrases. And there'll be about him maybe even something that is an imitation of the fruit of the Spirit in the gracious Christ-like character that he bears. So the evening, you feel he is a mouthpiece of God and you're willing to trust his word.

18:54 That's the false prophet. The one who poses as an authoritative messenger of God and utters in the name of God falsehoods to deceive. And there are many examples in the Scripture of false prophets. False prophets seem to reach their peak under the ministry of Jeremiah.

19:13 In Jeremiah 14.14 we read these words.

19:18 Jeremiah 14.14 The Lord said unto him, The prophets prophesy lies. How? Now notice.

19:27 In my name.

19:31 You get it? They prophesy falsely in my name. I sent them not. Neither have I commanded them.

19:41 Neither spake I unto them. They prophesy unto you a false vision and divination a thing of naught and the deceit of their own heart. When a man wanted to get a hearing in Israel, he didn't stand in the midst of the children of Israel and say, I come to you in the name of Baal. They would have thrown him out.

20:00 If he came and said, I come in the name of Asherah or I come in the name of some pagan god, they wouldn't have heard him. When he would come and say, Thus saith Jehovah, God of Israel. People, That's our God. This is a prophet.

20:17 But God says, Though they prophesy in my name, they're false prophets. They don't convey my message. I haven't spoken to them. I haven't revealed anything to them.

20:26 They speak. It's a prophecy that is rooted in the deception of their own corrupt natures. Apparently, there were many in Israel. We could read about them if we had time to develop this.

20:36 But Jesus said in Luke 6, 26, Warned you when all men speak well of you, for so spake they of the false prophets that were before you. Now, with the coming of the Lord Jesus, when the prophetic ministry reached its peak in God's final prophet, the devil came up with a great counterattack, and intensified the ministry of false prophets. For Jesus said in Matthew 24, in verses 11 and 24, that many false Christ would arise. Many false prophets would arise and would lead many astray.

21:13 2 Peter 2 and verse 1, Peter says, that in the last days, that there shall be many false prophets and teachers. 1 John 4, 1 says, that there are many false prophets gone out into the world. Paul said in Acts 20, verses 29 to 31, he said, after my departure, wolves shall come in, not sparing the flock, and he says, there shall rise up from your midst false teachers who shall lead people astray. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11, verses 13 to 15, that Satan himself can transform himself into a man, a messenger of light, and that there are many false prophets and false apostles.

The Pervasiveness of False Prophets Today

22:05 You say, Pastor, why are you laboring the point? For the simple reason that I'd be willing to bet my last shoe if I did that,

22:14 that outside of labeling people like Joseph Smith who started the heretical movement of the Mormon church,

22:23 and outside of some people like Judge Rutherford and some of these men who were instrumentalists in starting that heretical sect of the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mary Baker Eddy who started the sect of Christian science. Most of you don't feel you've ever met a false prophet. How many of you ever think you've met a false prophet?

22:43 Few of you. But most of you say, I wouldn't know one if I saw one.

22:49 I'd want you to say everybody here has heard a false prophet at one time or another.

22:54 And that's why I'm laboring this point. That most of us are too naive. We have not taken Jesus' word seriously. Beware!

23:04 Now, if there were not any false prophets running loose about whom I was to be wary, then our Lord's invitation and command is meaningless.

23:16 But if you're here this morning and I've set your faith like a flint to enter the narrow gate and walk the narrow way, I venture to say at one time or another you've heard a false prophet.

23:34 Now, what makes them so deceptive? We consider the definition. A man who stands in the name of Christ or God or Jehovah to declare the truth but who is not doing so. Now, what makes them deceptive?

The Deceptiveness: Sheep's Clothing, Ravenous Wolves

23:45 Well, notice the Lord's word. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravening through. They are deceptive because they always appear as sheep. Now, what are we?

24:05 As God's people we are likened to sheep. So they appear as one of us. And that's what Paul said in Acts 20 in verse 30. He said, From your own sound men shall arise.

24:18 That's what makes them so deceptive. They're one of us.

24:22 Now, two things that are characteristic of a sheep. I believe they're included here. The sheep is not a carnivorous animal. He doesn't exist to devour flesh.

24:30 He's just one of those poor dumb creatures that goes around chewing a little grass and a little hay.

24:36 He's a meek animal. That's why God pictured his son suffering under the figure of the Son of God. The sufferings of a lamb who is dumb before it's sheared. The sheep that is dumb before it's sheared.

24:50 It looks harmless. You parents who love your darling children as I love mine. You wouldn't have any reservations about putting your little darling two or three year old in a little corral somewhere where there are a bunch of little sheep or lambs. Why, you'd think that was a wonderful experience for them.

25:10 They'd talk about it for years to come.

25:14 The sheep looks harmless. It is harmless. And it exists for others. A sheep, one of those peculiar animals that is continually giving its life for others.

25:24 For the product of its life is that heavy coat that it grows every year that gets sheared off. You don't shear a cow's coat. It has its coat for itself. You don't shear a horse's coat.

25:35 It has that coat for itself. But the coat that the sheep grows is continually growing for others. It gets its shorn every year.

25:46 You see why the false prophet is deceptive? He's always the person who looks harmless and looks like he's killing himself for the good of all animals. But Jesus said though they have the appearance of sheep, what are they? They are wolves.

26:03 And what is the characteristic of a wolf? It's the carnivorous animal that exists for only one purpose. To find the flesh of other animals and consume it.

26:14 That's all a wolf exists for. It doesn't exist for a house pet. It doesn't exist for meat. It exists as a scavenger beast that roams trying to find flesh upon which And Jesus said the deceptiveness of the false prophet is found in this very area.

26:33 That he appears as one of us harmless, actually existing and ministering with a view to helping us. But in reality he said that false prophet is a divine beast not upon flesh but upon the immortal never dying souls of men. Now if you were a wolf and you saw up yonder a flock of sheep and you just wanted their flesh how would you get it? Well you could come as a wolf and bear your fangs with your drooping tail and your sinister looking eyes and come up upon the sheep but for the most part they would scatter and you might get one or two.

27:17 But if you were a real smart wolf and you wanted to get that flock of sheep you know what you'd do? You'd somehow work out a scheme whereby you could get yourself inside a sheep's hive with all the wool on it. I'm sorry yes with all the wool on it.

27:38 And then you would go in amongst the flock perhaps they'd all be busy grazing and you'd just sort of sneak over a hill somewhere where they wouldn't see that you were not one of them and you'd suddenly be found amongst them grazing all the rest and you'd get real familiar with them until one day you'd suggest to one that you got quite familiar with why don't we just go off for a little walk together there's a little place over in the woods here that's a little bit nicer than where the other sheep are and after you're out of sight you'd bear your fang and you'd grab that sheep by the throat until the life was gone and you'd devour it and you'd spend a few days enjoying the fruits of your cunning and then you'd go back and work yourself into the flock again and when you'd gain the confidence of the other sheep then you'd sneak away with another until gradually you would devour that entire flock now there's the picture that Jesus gives you they come in sheep's clothing with the appearance coming with a message for our but Jesus said if you associate with them they will devour your soul Paul found this true in the early church in that passage I mentioned several times in Acts 20 but another in the book of Romans where he says in chapter 16 listen to these words Romans

The Doctrine of the False Prophet: Broadening the Narrow Gate

29:06 chapter 16 verse I beseech you brethren mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine you have learned and avoid them for they are such which serve not the Lord Jesus but what do they serve their own belly their carnivorous appetite now how do they do it listen listen and by good words and fair speeches deceive them the hearts of the simple how does a false prophet deceive by heretical words if I were to stand up here some Sunday morning and say I've changed my views on the truth and I were to begin to deny that this Bible is the word of God and Christ is the son of God and that there is salvation through his blood this would be so obvious that before I finished I trust there would be at least a dozen men of you man enough to stand to your feet and in the name and authority of Jesus Christ tell me to be still and to march out that door and label me a heretic Paul says how do they do it by ugly heretical words but by fair speeches and by good words Jesus talk of the blood talk of heaven talk of hell

30:35 he said to where beloved if God does anything this morning I hope he'll send us out of here at the thought that we ever encounter and be seduced by a false prophet that God will shake us loose from the discharge the false prophet is relegated to Israel or to the day of the antichrist the deceitfulness of the false prophet is found in that he appears as a sheep but in reality he's a wolf so the only ones who are exposed to false prophets are those of us who believe in God a prophet is a mouthpiece of God he comes saying I speak in the name of God so it's only those of us who admit there is a God these people who say God is dead they're not in they're not the mercy of false prophets they're not they're at the mercy of false philosophers but it's only the person who admits there is a God that God can speak and he can speak through men now those of us who admit he speaks through a book for in our day the false prophet is generally not one who comes speaking in the name of direct revelation but he comes saying I'm going to teach you what the Bible says but he twists and manipulates the facts and the statements of the Bible

32:03 so that instead of using the Bible as a springboard of declaring the mind of God he's used it as the melting pot of his own corrupt thoughts to deceive and to lead ministry having seen the definition of a false prophet the deceptiveness of a false prophet let us begin this morning and that's all we'll be able to do to discuss what is the doctrine of a false prophet now where are we going to find what the doctrine of a false prophet is well there's some hints of it in our context here and there is also a fuller development in other contexts and as we have continually reminded you whenever you have a question about a given passage that is not quite clear you interpret it in the light of the passage that is very clear but now in its context we have a wonderful or I should say a terrible not a wonderful a terrible hint as to the doctrine of a false prophet see if you can discover Jesus has been standing here saying now that you've heard about my kingdom enter it and if you're serious about entering there's a narrow gate and a narrow road that leads to life having just completed that invitation he now says beware of the false prophet who comes in sheep clothing but inwardly he's a wolf do you see some hint

33:32 as to the doctrine of the false prophet I believe this is it the general characteristic of a false prophet is that he makes vital godliness to be less strict and an easier thing than it really is he makes it more agreeable to fall in human nature and in this way encourages unregenerate people to be satisfied with something less than true grace in other words the false prophet says you can enter life some other way than the narrow gate and the narrow way beloved will you listen to me this morning any man any woman any preacher any denomination any evangelistic effort that tells sinners they can enter life any other way but the narrow gate of a true side and conversion in which sin is repented of Christ is embraced as Lord and as Master we gladly confess we have been we have nothing to commend us to him the world and self and the flesh and the devil are left behind and we abandon ourselves to Christ from fence to walk

35:00 that narrow road that is against the world against the flesh against our lust against the devil anyone who says there's any other way to enter heaven is a false prophet I don't care how many Bible verses he quotes he's a false prophet he's a false prophet in its context our Lord says the doctrine of the false prophet is making the narrow gate wide and making the compressed road of Lord mode and I tell you as I've studied that and I'm convinced that in its context that's what it's saying I don't want to preach but in faithfulness to your soul and to my own I'm the false prophet and someone who says you can get in some other way but the narrow gate and the narrow way you see it's not what the false prophet denies that makes him a false prophet but it's what he fails to affirm do you remember that statement at the last part of the book of the revelation I believe the Lord brought this to remembrance in terms of the message to help me

36:28 in my own understanding of it turn for a minute to revelation 22 if you will revelation 22 verse 19 or verse 8 for I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book if any man shall throw out the book no but if any man shall do what add unto see it's a matter of adding unto these things God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in the book now what's the opposite of adding unto verse 19 and if any man shall take away from the words of the book not take the book away he's not talking about the man who takes the Bible and said nothing but a collection of myths chuck it out no it's the man who retains the major content of the Bible but he's willing to throw away some things that are objectionable to the flesh some things that put the screws on Adam's nature and make him say ouch maintains the main substance but what does he do he deletes certain words from the book God shall take away his part out of the book of life

37:56 beloved what has modern evangelism done listen to me you know what it's done it's maintained the basic substance of this book that talks about Christ as the son of God heaven and hell and the cross and the blood and it's talked about believe but it's taken the words and the concepts of repentance of conviction of sin of surrender to Christ of discipleship and it's kindled proclaim the way that is brought and it stands under the condemnation of almighty God for the same Jesus who said him that comes to me I'll in no wise cast out and thank God he said it also said if any man come to me and forsake not all that he hath he cannot be my disciple modern evangelism has proclaimed the first the same Jesus who said my sheep hear my voice and I know them and I give to them eternal life and they shall never perish also said he that endureth to the end

The False Prophet's Comfort Where No Comfort is Warranted

39:22 shall be saved the essence of the doctrine of the false prophet is not primarily what he denies but what he fails to affirm with clarity he deletes from the content of the message by his silence or he adds to the content of the message with his own opinion if that's the basic doctrine is found in the context what else do we learn about the doctrine elsewhere I close this morning by just mentioning one aspect and then I'm going to have to leave the last half of my notes for next week it's always a comforting ministry that the false prophet has now thank God the Bible is full of comfort to whom comfort is due comfort ye comfort ye my people who did God say that to he said that to some people who'd finally been whipped and broken and blasted and bent until because of their idolatry cast out of their land they're found down in Babylon conscious that they were there by the judgment of God and acknowledging their sin and their corruption God says to them through the prophet Isaiah comfort ye my people thank God that he's the God of all comfort

40:51 Jesus pronounced comfort in Matthew 5 the very section we're in blessed are they that mourn blessed are they that hunger but the mark of a false prophet is that he gives comfort where no comfort is warranted when you look at Jeremiah 6 14 Jeremiah 6 in verse 14 what is the message of the false prophet notice Jeremiah 6 14 they have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly saying peace peace when there is no peace you see what the false prophet did gave comfort where no comfort was warranted we read about it in Isaiah 30 in verse 10 where the people said prophesy unto us smooth things tell us all is right tell us because we come to the temple tell us all is right tell us because we offer sacrifice that all is well oh sure our religion doesn't touch us in our home doesn't touch us in our pocketbook doesn't touch us in our business ethics but tell us smooth things we want to be told that we're the covenant people of God we want to be assured that we're Jehovah's chosen tell us smooth things and the false prophet

42:17 turned and prophesied smooth things but what did Jeremiah and Isaiah prophesy I'll tell you what they prophesied listen to Isaiah when he said he said here's the multitude of your sacrifices the keeping of the new moon and assemblies I cannot away with it when you stretch forth your hands and make many prayers I will not hear for you're covered with blood wash you make you clean put away the evil of your doings for before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well come now let us reason together though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as well wool if you be willing and obedient ye shall eat of the land but if you refuse and disobey ye shall be devoured with the sword Isaiah 1 15 to 19 see what Isaiah said he said it isn't enough that you make a decision it isn't enough to say the name of Jesus and talk about the blood and talk about the Bible and talk about nation if there is no practical godliness flowing from the renewing fire thinking abomination in the sight of God they couldn't do it they couldn't do it we want to be told all is well ah beloved that's the curse in the church today

43:46 tell us everything is well we made a decision we voted for Jesus we come to church and we want to go to a Bible believing church and we want to go where the Bible is preached but tell us smooth things tell us all is well because we voted for Jesus listen to me beloved if you're not walking the narrow road of holiness hating sin struggling against the lust and passions of your heart taking a stone if you want to be your neighbors if you're not a blessing upon your soul if you're not a blessing upon your soul if you're not a blessing upon your soul if you're not a blessing upon your soul if you're not a blessing upon your soul Jesus said if the world hated me I'll hate you if you're godly in Christ you'll suffer persecution if your life isn't a constant witness to the world and its folly and its sin and its uncleanness beloved you don't need smooth things you need to have the barbs and arrows of the truth of God break beneath your deceit break until it lays it bare and you see oh God oh God I'm undone I'm undone it has happened in our day it has happened in the day of Ezekiel and with this I'm done when God says of the false prophets in Ezekiel chapter 13 and verse 22

45:14 the false prophets 1322 of Ezekiel because with the lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad there are people in this building this morning who have come to me and unburdened themselves and I have made them sad they've said pastor I've been in places where the word was supposedly preached and when I've tried to talk to people about my struggles my struggle against sin my feeling desire to go on with God it made me feel like I was a nut I've gone with it why did you trust the Lord don't you say just believe the promises and they're made sad the heart of the righteous people who are standing against sin and struggling against the flesh and longing to go on with God they're made to feel in the context of the evangelical church today something wrong with them you trusted Jesus you're going to heaven silence and clap your hands and feel happy all is well I know because I've had this told me by words by looks but what did they do to the others look at the next part of it and they've strengthened the hands of the wicked that he should not return from his wicked way how by promising him life you got it they come to the person who's never turned from his own way and they say have you trusted Jesus

46:43 yes well they're here saved they've promised him life and the reason why multi-truths don't turn from wickedness and the evangelicals that's because he's a God right apart from the narrow kings and the narrow Lord beloved do you see the doctrine the false prophet preached in Ezekiel's day preached in our own day you say pastor you talk like you're the only one who preaches the truth God knows I don't think that I know it's not true I've got esteemed brethren in the ministry when I get around them I sit at their feet and I pump them with questions and I learn and I've got some dear men of God whose bones have long been interred in the earth who sit upon my shelves at whose feet I come and reverently study week by week no I don't want to give the impression that we think this is the only place that says anything true but I will take this clear stand and if it costs my ministry I'd take it let any church any preacher any movement that promises life in any other way home and be close conversion lying to many other people holding a that's a false prophet and I'll take that stand if it costs me blood

48:11 by the grace of God and the thing that makes the false prophet so dangerous is you've got to vote and vote for it because the human heart wants its cake and wants to eat it too so when the man says you can have life and still have your own world the human heart says that's the message I want that's why you better beware if this man says you can have life if this preacher right here ever tells you that this book says you'll go to heaven any other way but by a thorough work of repentance and conversion and a life of holiness don't you listen to me shout me down give me my walking papers and I don't care doctor so and so or doctor so and so or doctor so and so I don't care who they be when they contradict and delete the words of my beloved Lord about an hour gate and an hour wait to lose the life of condemnation of God's love I look out into the faces of you dear young men who are called to the ministry and I could stand here and weep because I know what it's going to cost them but may God give you grace to stay true to his word don't you dishonor the wounds of Christ by broadening up that way

49:40 broadening up that path the judgment of God will be upon you fellas and it'll cost you it'll cost you you dear elders and bird members you dear elders it's going to cost us increasingly if under God we're going to have a church to meet to the full council if you're not willing for some reproach and some stigma declaring your colors and passing your resignation it's going to cost but blessed be God hallelujah to his name the Holy Ghost will own the truth and the Lord Jesus will see of the travail of his soul and if he stands high he will see let the world frown and let the churches look with a jaundiced eye but if we can see God by his spirit doing that work in men it gets them through that narrow gate it takes them on the narrow way and we can see this place become an incubator of hungry and dusted God then all is well all is well fill the church with anything in our day but only God can fill it with soul that love his son and hate sin

Prayer for Discernment and Faithfulness

51:07 and that's the only thing I'm here for may we under God beware of false prophets the Lord willing next week we shall continue our studies in the doctrine of the false prophets let us pray blessed Lord forgive us for our naivety forgive us for being so gullible as to believe everything that every preacher has told us make us as a people those who search the scriptures who prayerfully cry out for light from the sacred page O Lord for those among us who believe the voice of false prophets who've told them everything's alright because they've believed a few facts about Jesus the people who this morning know nothing of true conviction of sin who know nothing of real Bible repentance who know nothing of real Bible holiness O my Father have mercy upon them today may you win them may your words thunder in their hearts until broken they fall at your feet and cry for mercy Lord deal with these dear young men going out into the ministry many of them O Father keep them we pray don't let them

52:36 compromise truth for success or for fear of men but O write your truth upon the tablets of their hearts that they'd sooner die than lead souls astray in impermanence that they'd sooner die than lead souls astray in impermanence that they'd sooner die than lead souls astray in impermanence that they'd sooner die than lead souls astray in impermanence Lord have mercy upon us O the church as a board every facet of the leadership of this place Lord God for your glory raise up a standard in this generation hear us as we cry this morning for the honor and for the praise of your beloved Son we ask in his worthy name Amen field O O Lord Christ the Lord God save me O Lord my soul