Beware of False Prophets, Part 2

Review: The Context of False Prophets and Their Deceptiveness

0:02 We turn again to the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 7.

0:20 The Apostle Paul said in Philippians that for him to write the same things to his readers, to him was not grievous, and to them was necessary. And for me to introduce each message each Lord's Day morning with a period of review and introduction, to me is not grievous, and I believe to you it is necessary. If I were seeking to attain reputation in pulpit oratory, I would bypass all this, for it's one of the rules of homiletics that you don't encumber each message with tying back to the other. But I don't know who gave the rule.

1:02 I don't see it in the Bible. And my concern is not to maintain or attain. I don't want to attain a reputation of pulpit oratory, but to communicate truth. And I know of no better way to communicate truth than to introduce each new step in the ladder of progressive understanding than to go back and catch quickly the runs that have preceded us and bring us to that level where we find ourselves today.

1:32 And we have come in our studies of the Sermon on the Mount to this last section beginning with verse 13, in which our Lord intensively applies all that has preceded in the entire sermon. He has been laying out the conditions of the kingdom of heaven. He has been laying out the characteristics of those who are in the kingdom, the laws and regulations by which the subjects of His kingdom are to be governed in their religious life and in their practical experience among the sons. And now, lest people simply feel good because they've learned something,

2:16 He urges upon them the necessity of entering into this kingdom and of some of the pitfalls that await each soul that is in earnest about entering the kingdom of heaven. We saw the invitation to enter under a two-fold heading in verses 13 and 14. True conversion. A difficult and a rare thing.

2:39 Enter the narrow gate and the straightened way. Few there be that find it. Spurious conversion. A very easy thing and hence a common thing.

2:51 For wide is the gate of false conversion and many there be which enter in thereat. And now last week we began our study of verses 15 to 20. The general theme of this section is false prophets. Our Lord says in the imperative, verse 13, Enter in.

3:15 The next imperative is verse 15, Beware of false prophets. The greatest danger which any man or woman in this building faces who has some interest in entering the kingdom of heaven lies right here. Your great danger is not becoming an atheist.

3:36 Your great danger is not that you're going to throw off all your possessions. You're going to throw off all semblance of Christian doctrine and commitment to Christian truth. Your conscience won't let you do that. Most of you.

3:48 You couldn't live with yourself if you try to be an atheist. Most of you. You've just heard too much Bible truth that has awakened and instructed your conscience that you could not become an atheist or a complete libertine just going out and living with the philosophy, eat, live, drink, tomorrow we die. You couldn't do that and be happy.

4:09 Your great danger is that maintaining an interest in the kingdom of heaven, you will accept some false direction as to how to enter that kingdom and end up not through the narrow gate and the straightened way of true conversion, but the wide gate and the broad road of counterfeit conversion. That's your danger. That's my danger.

4:35 All the while thinking that we've entered the narrow turnstile and the narrow way of conversion. And that we are walking the straightened way. And so we looked last week at the definition of a false prophet as our Lord gives it here. Beware of false prophets.

4:50 And basically a false prophet is one who acting the part of a divinely inspired prophet utters falsehoods in the name of God. The prophet always came in the Old Testament with the name of Jehovah upon his lips. So the false prophet came with the name of Jehovah. He didn't come in the name of Bethlehem.

5:10 He came in the name of Jehovah. And so the false prophet in our day does not come kicking the Bible and spitting on it and throwing dirt on the Bible. He comes holding the Bible in his hands. He comes quoting Bible verses in his ministry.

5:28 And he poses as a divine messenger, but in the name of God he utters falsehoods. Then we saw the deceptiveness of the false prophet, for Jesus said, They look like sheep. Notice. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

5:51 They have the sheep's appearance. They look like one of the flock of God. Their language sounds like the language of sheep. Their coat looks like the coat of sheep.

6:01 But inwardly they are ravenous wolves. They come to devour. They bring in, Peter says, damnable heresy. 2 Peter 2 and verse 1.

The Doctrine of the False Prophet: A Comforting and Popular Ministry

6:15 Now as we closed last week, we had just begun to consider the third aspect of this passage, having looked at the definition of a false prophet, the deceptiveness of a false prophet, we were beginning to study the doctrines of the false prophet. In its context, the main doctrine of the false prophet is the doctrine of a wide gate and a broad road. Now he says, They lead to light. See, this is not the person who stands in the corner to beat Nick, who says there is no God, we're nothing but ooze, and we're nothing, there's no soul, there's no life hereafter.

6:53 He's not the false prophet. He's the fool who said in his heart there's no God. God described him. But the false prophet, his doctrine centers on life.

7:04 He talks about how to get to heaven. But the core of his doctrine is that he says there's a way to heaven, that bypasses the narrow gate of true Bible conversion and the narrow road of true Bible holiness. And he says you can get to heaven some other way. Therefore, his ministry is always a comforting ministry.

7:29 Jeremiah 6.14, speaking of the false prophets, they have healed slightly the hurt of the daughter of my people, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace. He's never a boat rocker. The false prophet has the capacity of throwing oil upon the troubled waters of a convicted soul.

7:52 But it's not God's peace. It's a false peace. Now that's our review. This morning we continue with our consideration of the doctrine of the false prophet.

8:01 And we move from considering his doctrine in a general sense as comforting to considering it as a popular ministry. Notice what Jesus said in Luke 6.26 about the doctrine of the false prophet. In Luke 6.26, he says,

8:26 Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you,

8:32 for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

8:40 Jesus said to his disciples, Woe unto you when everybody from every kind of background and every strata of religious conviction can speak well of you, for the moment, if this happens, you've branded yourself. You see, the false prophet not only had a comforting ministry, but he had a popular ministry. Now let me qualify this before I develop it. Some true prophets may have a large sphere of ministry.

9:09 John the Baptist was a true prophet. Jesus had the greatest of the prophets. And it says that all of Jerusalem and all of Judea went out to hear him. Multitudes came to hear John.

9:20 Our Lord was a true prophet. And great multitudes, followed him in the early days of his ministry. George Whitefield was a true prophet of God who spoke the way of God. Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

9:32 These men touched multitudes. But, listen, what we know little of these men is that great segments of the world and primarily the religious world lined up against these men and did everything in their power to utterly nullify their effect upon the multitudes. Though great multitudes, great multitudes heard them and in that sense they had a popular ministry, they did not have all men speaking well of them. You just read a little bit of the history of George Whitefield's experiences and Spurgeon's and better yet, of our Lord and of John the Baptist.

10:08 But the false prophet, you see, gains his popularity from all classes of people at the expense of the sharp cutting edges of divine truth. He has learned how, to what I would coin a word, pablumize the word of God to make it palatable to everybody. Everybody can eat pablum.

10:33 Everybody. The man with an ulcer, the little six-month-old baby, the strapling, strapling, 250-pound tackle on a profession, anybody can eat pablum, you see. It's so bland and so mushy that people without any teeth can eat it and people with good teeth can eat it. Now that's the mark of the false prophet.

10:56 It's the, the dilution of divine truth so that it's palatable to everybody. Evangelicals can swallow him. Liberals can swallow him. Everybody can swallow his pablumized version of divine truth.

11:13 Something struck me with tremendous force as I was preparing for the message this morning when the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and I want you to turn to this for it relates to the whole subject we're seeking to amplify, the doctrine of the false prophet. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 17, Paul says, Christ sent me not to baptize, doesn't mean he didn't baptize because this wasn't my primary mission, but to preach the gospel

11:54 not with wisdom of words lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. Do you get the weight of what Paul is saying? He said, I was commissioned to proclaim the gospel but not only to proclaim the gospel but to proclaim it in a certain way. And he said, if I just change the manner of my delivery, I can take the cutting edge off my message and nullify its God-intended effect.

12:28 Now, if just the manner of delivery can take the rough edges off the truth, how much more when you tamper with the subject of your delivery? You follow me? The apostle said, if I just preach the gospel in philosophic language that would have flattered my hearers that I respected their great intellects, he said I would have nullified the cutting edge of the gospel.

12:59 Now, if just the manner of delivery can nullify the effect of the message, how much more when you tamper with the matter that you are delivering, the subject matter itself. And that's the mark of the false prophet.

13:14 The mark of the delusion of divine truth. He speaks in the name of God. He speaks certain things that carry overtones of the truth of God. But his manner and his subject matter is such that it's palatable to all men.

13:33 Now, in what areas is this true, both historically as we see it in the Bible, wherever we find the subject of false prophets dealt with? We want to make a study of this this morning. And then we want to apply it to the contemporary situation in our own day. It's not enough, dear ones, for you to know what the doctrine of the false prophet was in Jeremiah's day.

13:55 Because you're not going to be damned if you hear the voice of the false prophet in Jeremiah's day. He's dead. But, beloved, if you listen to the voice of the false prophet speaking in the 20th century, and speaking to you, and if you hear his word and receive it as the word of God, then you will be damned. You may damn your own soul.

Distortion of God's Character: All Love, No Holiness or Justice

14:17 And so we want to look at this in its historical context and then apply it to its contemporary context. First of all, the false prophet is marked by his delusion of the truth concerning the character of God. The false prophet does not deny the existence of God. He comes in the name of God.

14:42 But what does he do? Well, look at Jeremiah 14, 14. And I want to hook each of these principles onto a text and passage of the Scripture rightly interpreted, lest any go out this morning and say why I don't agree with the preacher. The only way I've been able to find out what is the doctrine of the false prophet is go to the Bible and see what God has left for our instruction.

15:08 Jeremiah 14, verses 13 and 14. Then said I, O Lord God, behold the prophet, say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place. You see, Jeremiah had been saying, though you're the people of God, though you were brought out of Egypt by the power of God, though you were established in the land by the blessing of God, because of your sin, judgment is coming. The false prophets came and said, don't listen to Jeremiah.

15:44 God's a God of love. He's a God of grace. Didn't he bring God of Egypt? Didn't he bring in the land?

15:50 Didn't he promise I'm giving you this land into your seed forever? They said in the name of God, all is well. Notice the next verse. Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name.

16:05 I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them, but they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of naught, and the deceit of their heart. You see what their false doctrine was? They propounded a concept of the character of God that was not true. They said God was all love and mercy, and he wouldn't judge you.

16:31 You're his people. You're his people. They proclaimed a God who was all love, and no justice, and no wrath, and no judgment. What is true in Jeremiah's day has been true historically in the church, and is true in the evangelical church today, that the false prophet set before you a God who's all love, and essentially love.

17:02 Whereas the scripture sets forth a God who is essentially holy, whose love is a holy love, who is just, and whose justice is a holy justice, who is mercy, but whose mercy is a holy mercy, who is wrath, and whose wrath is a holy wrath. I have come to the deep-seated conviction that the proclamation of God's love as the initial proclamation to sinners is both unscriptural and devastating.

17:42 The first truth a sinner needs to know is not that God is love. And I can give you clear scripture. John says in 1 John 1, that which we've seen and heard declare we unto you. John 1.5, 1 John 1.5, and what is it that he saw and heard?

18:07 Here it is. That God is, and in him no darkness is. John says that's the essential message that broke through in the person of the word of life, the Lord Jesus. Jesus said, he that has seen me hath seen the Father.

18:30 John says what did he show us of the Father? He showed us that the Father is a God of light. John 3.16, everybody knows.

18:41 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3.17, for God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. John 4.18, he that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life,

19:00 but he that believeth not the Son shall not see light. But what's verse 19 say? And this is the condemnation. What is the condemnation that rests upon the world?

19:10 Is it a condemnation of love refused? No. Is it a condemnation of love refused? No.

19:13 Is it a condemnation of love refused? No. Is it a condemnation of love refused? No.

19:15 What does John say? It's the condemnation of light rejected. This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. Neither will they come to the light lest their deeds should be reproved.

19:35 Isn't that Bible?

19:38 And the whole concept that the problem of the world is that it's rejected divine love is not biblical. It has rejected divine love. But it's rejected divine love because that love is holy love and I can't draw near to the God of love without being struck with burning light and I don't want light because I love my sin.

20:03 And the preaching to men that God is love, you've spurned His love, now accept His love without preaching that His light has produced the crop of deceived mental professors of Christianity who've snuggled up to this God of love while they still... still cuddle their bosom sin.

20:24 Beloved, if you ever get saved, you'll get saved by a God of love who dwells in a realm of burning light. And you'll never know the sweet caress of His love until you're willing to turn your back upon your sin, your pride, and the stubbornness of your heart.

20:51 The false prophet is detected by his preaching and concepts of the character of God. It's a God who's...

21:01 all love and primarily love without the concepts of His holiness, of His justice, and His wrath. So people who listen to a message like that, they say, why, the way is not so narrow. Jesus died, He loves me. If I believe He loved me and died, I'm saved.

21:22 Wonderful. So the big wide gate of decisionism is open and they make their decision, vote for Jesus, and they slip through.

21:32 Jesus said the gate's narrow.

21:38 Narrow. Because you've got to turn your back on sin. And the basic disposition of loving darkness has got to be changed to a disposition of loving light. That's what makes it narrow.

Distortion of Man's Sinfulness: Vague Terms, Not Radical Depravity

21:52 I hurry on. The second area in which the doctrine of the false prophet, which is both comforting and popular, is discovered. Not only the character of God, but the sinfulness of man. Now even the psychologists in our day are talking about guilt.

22:09 And if you do any reading at all of modern psychology, they're talking about the guilt complexes that are plaguing our society. They talk about fears, the sense of estrangement from purpose. Sounds biblical.

22:26 But only the Bible tells you what you really are.

22:30 And you see, the false prophet will use the term sin. Oh yes, he'll talk about sin in vague, general terms. But the false prophet will never declare to you what you are in the light of God's analysis of you. He'll tell you something.

22:47 Something that you can agree with without having the real roots of your pride shattered. You'll admit that you've done some bad things. And the false prophet will come and say, will you admit you're a sinner? Well, you say, sure, I'll admit that.

23:00 But you know you could have 500 people all around you admit the same thing. Right? Sure. And go to your place of employment.

23:07 And if there are 50 people there, I bet we could get 45 of them to admit that they're sinners. I've only had one person, as far as I know, in all my years of ministry, 15, 14 years of ministry. Is it 14? Yes.

23:20 Yes, 14. Yes, 14. I want to be active. Who's ever told me, as far as I can remember, I'm not a sinner.

23:28 Didn't everybody admit they're sinners? Because they know, well, I'm not saying anything worse about myself than what the rest of this crowd say about themselves.

23:36 Ah, but the fine people who will not only admit with grief that they are what the Bible says they are, too and far between. Because what does the Bible say you are? What does the Bible say I am? It doesn't say I'm just a sinner in some kind of a vague way.

23:54 The great text of fundamentalism is Romans 3.23. Isn't that a nice general text? All that sin that comes short of the glory of God.

24:02 Now that's so general. You can put your own meaning on sin, glory of God. God's a lot more specific than that. You know what God says about you and me?

24:11 He says that any degree this side, let me use my Bible here as the narrow gate. There it is. Anything, this side, whether it's, if we can talk in spatial terms, whether it's one thousandth of an inch or ten billion miles, anything this side of the narrow gate of true conversion, the supernatural work of regeneration, the Holy Spirit making us new creatures. You know what God says you are?

24:39 God says you are a clenched fist rebel against Him.

24:47 Chapter and verse, alright, Romans 8 and verse. The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subjection, it is subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. Romans 5, 10, if when we were enemies, we were reconciled of God by the death of His Son, you're an enemy of God. You oppose Him at every single point of His precept and His will.

25:17 And even when you keep His laws in their external demands, you're breaking them by the motives which prompt you to that obedience.

25:29 God says we're rebels. Not rebels. Not just sinners, general all-round flops, but men and women who have a clenched fist before the God of heaven, who say with those people in Luke 19, 14, we will not have this man to reign over us. God made us and said in essence, you are not a little independent God.

25:53 You are a dependent creature. And you cannot function in accordance with my purpose for making you, unless you follow me. You cannot function as one who looks to me for life, for direction, for grace, for sustenance, for joy, for all that you need. When man sinned, it's as though he thumbed his nose to God and said, I'll get on by myself.

26:16 That's sin.

26:18 That's it.

26:22 I won't be subject to it. That's it.

26:27 The Bible not only says we're rebels against Him, but it says we are spiritually dead. We are utterly devoid of the life of God. Ephesians 2 and verse 1, and you, who hath He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. You see, the average person who says, oh yeah, I've done some bad things, I'm a sinner, I'll admit that.

26:46 He doesn't believe he's utterly devoid of the life of God. That he is spiritually as dead as a corpse is physically. He doesn't believe that. That's shocking to him.

26:57 He'll admit he's got a few faults and some areas that aren't all there should be. But dead? Oh no. That's what the Bible says.

27:07 The Bible says that he doesn't need just a little help from God. You know, sometimes you kids are in class and you're working on a problem and you've got it half done and you've understood it halfway through and you reach a snag and a teacher comes along and says, what's your problem, dear? And you say, well, I understand this much, but I can't quite get the last part. She says, oh, let me help you.

27:26 And so she helps you and you get the problem so you feel well. My understanding brought me this far and my teacher's understanding got me over the hurdle so I end up here. You know what God says? God says, you can't even pick up the pencil to start solving the problem until the Holy Spirit illuminates your mind.

27:43 Chapter and verse, all right? 1 Corinthians 2.14. What does it say?

27:47 The natural man, man unaided by the illumination of the Spirit, perceives not the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them.

28:03 You cannot rightly perceive one proof. This book,

28:10 apart from the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit,

28:15 holds a cut. What do you mean? I've got my B.N.

28:21 Yes, you do. I went to high school. Yes, you did.

28:29 God says we are spiritually ignorant until the Holy Spirit illuminates our understanding.

28:38 The Bible says we're devoid of anything that can please God. And I find that this is the thing that strikes men to the quick. You see, that person there and all those people, it's your job. Let's take those other 49 people.

28:50 You admit, oh yes, I'm a sinner. And they all admit it. And they listen to preachers who use the term sin. But you come up to them and ask them this question.

28:58 Are you absolutely convinced that every single thing you do, even your most virtuous deeds, are totally unacceptable to God until you've been supernaturally born of the Spirit? What do you mean, unacceptable to God? I even tithe. I go to church.

29:14 I sing hymns. I'm in earnest. I'm true to my wife. You know what God said?

29:19 Listen, listen. Romans 8.8. Listen.

29:21 They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Have you got it? Romans 8.8.

29:32 So then, they that are in the flesh, religious flesh, cultured flesh, educated flesh, moral flesh, community-minded flesh, philanthropic flesh, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. That's God's evaluation of me.

30:01 All those prayers that I mumbled for years. All those hymns I sang sitting in a church like this for years. All those talks in the young people's group stench in the nostrils of God. Cannot please.

30:23 Romans 5.5 takes four words about us. Don't have time to look at them in detail. You look at them up.

30:29 I'm in Romans chapter 5. It says, If when we were sinners Christ died, when we were without strength, Christ died, He died for the ungodly when we were enemies. Those four words are used in the space of ten verses in Romans 5. Without strength, that's helpless to do anything about my problem.

30:48 Sinners,

30:51 ungodly, and enemies.

30:55 Now you see, the false prophet is marked by his glaring omissions of this kind of biblical terminology. Sin is spoken of in a vague general way and if specific, specific sins are mentioned, it's only in terms of adultery and even that's not sin anymore. The list is getting narrower. Even the world will admit, but they'll still admit murder is sin in most instances and stealing, if you don't get caught.

31:22 Or if you do get caught, if you don't get caught, why then that's all right and it's just business ethics if it's otherwise. But at least the world will call a few things sin.

31:33 But God says that your very nature is polluted and that being a sinner in a state of fleshliness, nothing is pleasing to Him. Now the false prophet avoids these clear, sharp, devastating evaluations. And why? Listen carefully, I'll tell you why.

31:50 Because only these will cut a man's pride at its root. You can admit you're a sinner in vague general terms and still go on thinking that all is not really too bad.

32:04 But to realize that I'm a rebel, that I'm spiritually dead, that I'm ignorant, that I'm devoid of anything that pleases God, there's only one way I can come to Christ.

32:15 Empty.

32:17 Broken. Pleading for nothing but mercy.

32:22 And no man comes that way until the Holy Ghost shows him what he is. And oh beloved, I say it tenderly, if you value your soul and you've never seen yourself like that, you better pray God show you. For if God intends to give you mercy, He'll start by showing you how desperately you need mercy. For He never throws the pearls of His mercy before the swine trawler, before the beast of the beast, before the beast of the beast.

32:54 And He'll show you how to do it. This is the first of human pride that feels no need of it. Isn't that what the Bible says? God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

33:06 What's the first of the Beatitudes? Blessed are the poor. That's where God starts. And that's where you've got to start.

33:17 That's where I've got to start if I ever hope to know His mercy. So the false prophet, not being clear on the sinfulness of man, is stuck at its roots at the outset. They go in that big broad gate that all you've got to do is admit in some vague sort of a way, I haven't been all I should be, and I've got a few problems, and maybe Jesus can help me, and so I'll trust Him. You see, the false prophet, there's a connection between his wide gate and his defective doctrine.

Distortion of God's Remedy: The Cross Without Wrath Against Sin

33:44 His doctrine of the character of God. His doctrine of the sinfulness of man. Then his doctrine of God's remedy. This is the third thing where the false prophet is discovered.

33:54 When he begins to lay out the remedy, of God for sinners. Again, the false prophet will talk in general terms about the cross and about Christ. And I think I mentioned last week, whenever they do any on the street surveys about the favorite hymn of the American public, the old rugged cross still comes out number one all the time. The old rugged cross.

34:18 Imagine, the favorite hymn of a sex-soaked, God-denying, flesh-worshiping age. And yet they like to hear. About the old rugged cross. Why?

34:33 Because they don't have the first inkling about what that song's teaching. And they've heard talk about the cross. And they've heard about a man hanging on a cross. But you see, the false prophet, though the words cross and Christ are on his lips, he never delineates what that cross tells us.

34:51 Well, that cross is an expression of the wrath of a holy God against the sin of men. Galatians 3.13 says, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.

35:10 What does that cross tell me as I look at the writhing form of the Son of God? Oh, beloved, look with me, will you? Let your mind work this morning. Let your imagination be servant to your soul.

35:23 And as you see that scene of agony and blood, as you try to vision the shrouded heavens and the inky black darknesses, God, God blots out the sun. You hear the groan and the cry of the Son of God, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? What's God saying? God's saying, I am so holy, and sin is so vile in my sight, that when my Son is bearing the sins of men, I must bring down such a stroke of wrath upon him in my justice and my holiness, that even he shall quake before me.

36:01 I am so holy and my sin is so vile in my sight, that I am so vile in my heart, that even he shall quake before me, that I may pour it and cry out in agony, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And then I realize that he was bearing the sins of mankind. That's what my sin looks like before God. That's what my sin deserves.

36:20 As the little catechism says, what does every sin deserve? The answer, the wrath and the curse of God. How do I know that's true? I look at the Lord Jesus bearing the wrath and the curse of my Father.

36:32 Amen.

36:36 And sin, you see, no longer is something I talk about in gentle, vague terms and admit with a careless attitude, I see my sins, my sins, my Savior laid such a load on me.

36:54 I take my sin seriously because my Lord took it seriously.

36:59 It caused Him to groan, to bleed, and to die. The false prophet never spells out that the cross is a revelation of God's wrath against sin, that the cross is God's estimation of what fallen man deserves. He hath made Him to be sin for us, that we might be the righteousness of God in Him.

37:23 Any man who stands before the cross and has his eyes opened by the Spirit finds that all pride is stripped away. He says, nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling. All self-help is gone, for he realizes, I'm so bad that only this terrible scene could rescue me. Then I must be in terribly bad shape.

37:49 I'd better throw myself upon God's remedy. All self-help is gone, all pride,

37:58 and there's nothing that'll break your proud, stubborn heart and my proud, stubborn heart more than to gaze upon the crucified Lord of glory.

38:10 Where does God wean sinners from their basic love to sin when they are not saved? They stand before the cross and see what sin did to the Savior. That's why John Newton said, A bleeding Savior I have viewed, and now I hate.

38:31 Did you see the false prophet can talk about the cross and Jesus in such vague, distant terms that people who claim to be saved by that cross can still cling and love their sins that put Him on the cross.

38:45 See it?

38:47 Whereas the true mouthpiece of God, who's expressing the mind, scripture, will so delineate that cross and the implications of it that all who seek mercy by that cross will find in the process that they are severed from their basic love to sin through that cross.

39:10 And where sin's love is basically dealt with, or the love of sin, it is continually dealt with in the true Christian. That's why Paul could say, God forbid that I should glory in the cross,

39:25 forbid that I, after your glory is saved in the cross, by which the world is crucified to me and I to the world. When Paul would feel the tug of a hostile world beginning to suck him back into its orbit, he'd pause and gaze at the cross.

39:41 And when he realized what it cost his Lord to purchase his redemption, to deliver him according to Galatians 1, from this present evil world, suddenly all the allurements of the world became as a thing of naught. And he found that the place of initial severance from sin became the place of continual severance from sin as he gazed upon the cross.

Distortion of Conditions for Acceptance: Works-Based or Works-Neutral

40:07 The false prophet knows nothing of this. The character of God, the sinfulness of man, God's remedy, the conditions by which God accepts sinners, all the false prophet can be found here.

40:27 The false prophet says, all right, sure you're saved by Christ, but now what conditions?

40:33 Well, one great system, the system of Romanism, it wants to add to the merits of Jesus and it speaks of the merits of Christ plus,

40:45 and then there's the big long list of what you've got to do to earn that merit or to gain that merit.

40:52 It will take Jesus and say he's the Savior and then put a plus sign and put saints and vigils and Mary and everything else. I'm not attacking Roman Catholics if we have such today. I'm attacking a system that is the system of authority. The false prophet.

41:12 One of our men was witnessing to a friend of his at work. And the friend handed him this prayer. He said, this is a prayer I pray. What's wrong with this?

41:22 Oh, immaculate virgin, mother of God and my mother, from the sublime heights of thy dignity, turn thy merciful eyes upon me while I, full of confidence in thy bounty and fully conscious of thy power, beg of thee to come to my aid.

41:43 As I pursue my way of life so full of dangers to my soul that I may never become the slave of the devil and sin, but that I may live always humble of heart, I entrust myself entirely to thee. This is addressed to Mary. I consecrate my heart to thee forever. Desirous of only loving the divine Son, Jesus.

42:11 Oh, Holy Mother of God, pray for us. Pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death. Listen, listen. What is attributed to Mary?

42:20 Heights of dignity. From the height of thy dignity, who's the only high and lofty one? The living God. Turn thy merciful eyes upon me.

42:31 Who is the only one who shows mercy to sinners? The living God and His Son, Jesus.

42:37 Full of confidence in thy bounty, my Bible says, out of His bounty or fullness have we all received. Fully conscious of thy power, my Bible says, Jesus claims all power is given unto Him. And I can go on showing how almost every attribute of deity is ascribed to Mary,

42:59 making her an object of trust and of faith and of prayer. Beloved, I say without any rancor in my heart to dear people involved in that system, for there are some for whom I pray almost daily, some that I hope will reach during the coming series of meetings, some in this building enmeshed in that system who know that I've never been negative or nasty in seeking to instruct them of the truth of God. But beloved, don't be deceived by all this stuff that Rome has changed until she repudiates every prayer directed to Mary, every penance, every vigil as adding to the merits of Christ. It's a system of a false prophet.

43:41 And it stands under the indictment of the Word of God. Ah, but if that were the only danger, we might breathe easy. I might as a pastor breathe easy.

43:56 But just as there is the terrible, terrible heresy of that system that would add to the merits of Christ and make our works the basis of our hope for mercy when the Bible says that the hope of mercy is to be based upon Christ and Christ alone, there is the equally and more dangerous, I think, to us. Error of our evangelical teaching that nullifies works entirely and says they have no place in the salvation of God. Romanism takes the works and puts them this side of salvation and says you need these plus Jesus to be saved.

44:39 Evangelicalism says works don't even belong here or here. Chuck them out altogether. They're irrelevant. No, the Bible says they belong this side of salvation and the only proof you've got this is Jesus.

44:51 you've got this. And if there are no works, it's because there's no faith.

44:59 But the false prophet will always announce error, either putting works as the ground of our acceptance or negating works as the necessary fruit of our acceptance. One abuses and distorts the gospel. The other turns the gospel into a license for sin. And so the false prophet in our day tells us, if you want to be saved, all you need to do is accept the fact Christ died for sin.

45:32 No call to repentance. No call of subjection to Jesus Christ the Lord. And yet the scripture says with absolute clarity that there is no saving faith without repentance. There is no saving faith that does not involve the obedience of faith.

45:48 You've heard that again and again from this pulpit. I'll not elaborate on it this morning. But the false prophet will be discovered as he expounds the conditions upon which God accepts sinners. And then the false prophet's doctrine will be discovered when he talks about the basis of assurance.

Distortion of Assurance: Peace Without Fear or Obedience

46:06 How can you know you're a Christian? How can you know you're saved? Will you listen to the false prophets as they spoke in Jeremiah's day? Jeremiah chapter 23.

46:18 Jeremiah chapter 23.

46:32 Notice what the false prophet declared. 16. 23, 16. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not to the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you.

46:47 They make you vain. They speak a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me. And the word despise means to treat me lightly.

47:00 The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace. And they say unto everyone that walketh after the imagination or the American standard, and the American standard renders it after the stubbornness of his own heart, no evil shall come upon you. You see what they're saying? They're saying to people who have no fear of God and no foundational relationship of obedience to God, they say all is well.

47:26 You have the promise of God that He is merciful to sinners. So trust in the promises of His mercy that you don't fear Him and you don't obey Him. Don't let that trouble you. God's a God of mercy and grace.

47:39 Verse 18. For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord and hath perceived and heard His word? Who hath marked His word and heard it? Verse 22 gives the answer.

47:50 But if they had stood in my counsel and had caused my people to hear my words, what would have been the effect? Then they should have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings. You see what the false prophets did? They set out the mercy of God without delineating the basis upon which men had a right to believe they had received that mercy.

48:19 They said to men who had no fear of God and no obedience to God, all is well because of the promises of God. Does that sound familiar?

48:30 Does that sound familiar? Coming to people who have no fear of God expressed in a desire to walk before Him in holiness, no obedience to His word, saying all is well if you simply believe the promise of mercy. He that believeth hath life. He that hath the Son hath life.

48:47 Just trust the promise of mercy, beloved. This concept of assurance is a heretical, damning doctrine. If you value your soul,

49:00 don't buy it. I have one more vital point to cover, but my time is gone. It will make it a subject of an entire message. And it's on the necessity of persevering in the faith.

Two Kinds of False Prophets: Intentional and Unintentional Deception

49:18 But I'll use the few minutes to close. By trying to illustrate how vital this thing is and perhaps answering an objection that may be rising in the minds of some. Some of you may be saying, but pastor, are you saying that every man, woman, preacher, teacher, Sunday school leader that proclaims a defective concept of the character of God, of the sinfulness of man, of the remedy through the cross, of the conditions of repentance and faith, of Bible assurance, are you saying they are deliberately, seeking to deceive men? No, I haven't said that during the whole exposition, have I?

49:56 There are two kinds of false prophets. There are those who are conscious and deliberate in their deception. And there are those who are unconscious in their deception. But Jesus is not telling you in this passage to evaluate the motive of the false prophet.

50:18 He's simply saying, beware of it.

50:21 Let me illustrate. Two men are in a hospital bed, or two beds in a hospital. One of them has a bitter enemy who's sought devious ways to destroy him. And now he finds his time.

50:33 He comes in posing as a doctor, so disguised that this other man doesn't recognize him. Takes his pulse, his blood pressure, and says, I believe you're coming along fine, but there's a pill I'd like to give you that I believe will help speed the process of healing. So he puts the pill in his hand, gives him a glass of water, he swallows it down. Known to the man who's posed as a doctor, this pill was a deadly poison that inside, 20 minutes will kill the man.

51:01 While he's there, you happen to be standing near the bed of your friend. You love this guy. This other guy here is a good friend of yours. No bitterness, no animosity.

51:11 And he's got the same problem, apparently, as the other man. And you say, you've got a pill that's going to help him. I'd like one to help my friend. May I have one?

51:17 So he flips you one of his pills. And in perfect innocence, thinking you're going to help your friend, you give him the pill and he takes a glass of water. In 20 minutes, what'll happen? They'll both be equally dead.

51:30 One dead, one dead because of deliberate planned deception on the part of a man who hated him. The other one dead by an oversight of well-meaning ignorance. But they're both equally dead because they took the same pill. See it?

The Danger of False Doctrine and the Remedy of Scripture

51:49 And beloved, false doctrine, whether it comes from a person deliberately seeking to destroy me or from a man who is in earnest, it will damn you nonetheless.

52:03 I believe there are men in earnest preaching God is love and that's why I'm here. That's all. But if that's all you believe of God, you'll be damned as much as the man who deliberately tries to present a false concept of God. I believe there are earnest men, some men whose zeal and humility makes me feel unworthy to be in their presence, who are preaching, just believe, just believe, who never sound the note of repentance, who never expose the sham of this easy believism, as it's been called.

52:34 Earnest men! But beloved, they're giving poison pills to people who are not believing. Now you let God judge who's doing it purposely and who's doing it ignorantly. That's not your business, that's God's business.

52:51 But you check the pills before you take them. That's your business. Got it? Your business is to be a pill checker,

53:02 not an examiner of doctors. Leave that for the medical boards to do the examining, will you? You don't read the motive, but you better check the pill. And what is the greatest remedy against being subject to a false teaching?

53:15 I'll tell you what it is. It is the diligent, consistent, prayerful study of this book.

53:25 If you will diligently, consistently, and with prayer for the illumination of the Holy Ghost, read this book, you'll never be led astray very far.

53:37 It's not just reading this book, it's reading it consistently. And it's not just reading it consistently, it's reading it with a cry to God, the Holy Ghost, to illumination. I'm thrilled when I get notes like I got the other day from someone in this congregation saying, Pastor, I'm not going to believe anything because you tell me.

54:01 If I go to my Bible and the Holy Ghost doesn't tell me too, I'm not going to believe it. You say, that's an insult. No, that's the best thing that ever happened.

54:12 Because I know that such a person won't be led away very far, even by me.

54:21 You get the message? Beware of false prophets.