For our Scripture reading, I invite you to turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, as we read together the first 15 verses. And then we will turn back to our text found in Matthew chapter 7. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, we'll read verses 1 through 15. Please bow with me in a moment of prayer. dear heavenly father now as we as your people come to your word and desire to be instructed by you we recognize we acknowledge the lord that of ourselves we cannot see of ourselves we are blind to the truth of your word of ourselves we are easily led astray and father we pray that you would illumine our hearts and minds by Your Holy Spirit that we might see the wonderful truths You have for Your people. Even the warning that our Lord gives to His people in order to keep us in Your way, to protect us, to guard us and guide us in Christ Jesus alone. So bless this reading and consideration of Your Word and may You be praised. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Hear now the Word of God. Verse 1 I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness, but you are already doing that. I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to Him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those super apostles. I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone. For the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way and will continue to do so. As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. Why? Because I do not love you. God knows I do. And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in things they boast about. For such men are false apostles, Deceitful workmen masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising then if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. Turning over to Matthew chapter 7. The text for this morning, verse 15, we'll read verses 15 through 23, a section that really stands together. In verse 15, Jesus issues a warning and in the following verses then he talks about the fruit that is evident in false teachers. And then he also goes on in the last few verses to talk about the danger that is in store for them. We consider this morning just verse 15, but we'll read through verse 23. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit, you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only He who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers. May God add His blessing to the consideration of His Word this morning. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, when I was a young boy, one of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons was The Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote. Maybe you enjoyed that one. And if you did, then you also know that there was a particular segment included on that Saturday morning show that involved two other characters. One who looked like the coyote. His name was Ralph the wolf. And then Sam the sheepdog. And you may remember the plot, of course. Sam the sheepdog is protecting. He's watching over the flock of sheep. And Ralph the wolf is trying to snatch the sheep. And he often did so by disguising himself. and often disguising himself as a sheep. And just as he would get a sheep in its grass, somehow Sam would get a hold of him and pummel him. And of course, by the end of the segment, we would see though that Ralph the wolf would try to steal the sheep not so much because he was a vicious predator, not so much because it was in his nature, but it was his job. He would just about have success and you would think, this is it. he's going to be successful. And all of a sudden the whistle would blow and he would stop right in midstream. And he and Sam would go punch their time clocks, their punch cards on the time clock, and they'd walk home for the day until they came back the next day. Now, we may be entertained by a cartoon like that, but it certainly does not leave us with a true picture of the true danger of enemies. Here, Jesus uses a similar picture, a picture that definitely made sense to the audience of His day, many of whom were involved with flocks as herdsmen or shepherds, and they understood the reality of His illustration, especially what would happen if a wolf was able to get in by the sheep. This was a picture to warn them and to warn you and I today of the real danger that exists against the church of Jesus Christ. As our Lord comes to the close of His Sermon on the Mount in which He has addressed kingdom citizens and talked about the character of kingdom citizens and talked about entering that kingdom and kingdom life, the Christian life. As we considered some weeks ago, He has taught of the narrow gate to get into that kingdom. There's only one gate, a narrow gate, that is Himself. And He has taught about the narrow way that that gate leads to, that Christian life that leads to life in Him. That way, that path outlined and directed and protected by the Word of God. That way of obedient living in a way that is pleasing to God. Yet, he teaches here that that narrow way, that Christian life, is not easy street on this side of glory where we may throw caution to the wind. It is a difficult path. It is certainly not a popular path in the midst of a world of sin and enemies. And its difficulty is multiplied by our enemy, the devil. Paul says in Ephesians 6 that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, it is against the spiritual forces of evil. Peter says, be self-controlled and alert. Why? Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. That's the nature of the wild predator. looking for someone to devour. Yet, the devil is subtle, as Paul says in the portion we read, that he masquerades as an angel of light, disguising himself that he might be able to get to the sheep. The devil seeks to harm and destroy the church and influence God's people in many ways. He is not a part-time enemy, but a non-stop enemy who hates Jesus Christ and hates His church. He seeks to harm and destroy the church in many ways whether by causing discord or contention among believers or through friendship with the world. You may remember the king of Moab, Balak, in the time when Israel was walking the wilderness. Balak became afraid because of all the victory that God had given to Israel and therefore he called Balaam to come and curse the Israelites. But Balaam could only say what the Lord allowed him, gave him to say. but we know from Scripture that at some point in time, Balaam was able to give Balak a piece of advice, and the advice essentially was this. Be nice to them. Make friends with them. Let your women marry their men. Infiltrate them in that way. You will wear them down. You will water them down. And that's exactly what happened. The devil seeks to harm and destroy the church in many ways, but especially and most dangerously as our Lord tells us here through the church's teaching. Infiltrating with false prophets and teachers, twisting the Word of God just as Satan did in the Garden of Eden. Did God really say, He didn't mean it that way. You're misunderstanding Him. Let me give you the correct interpretation. And therefore, here we find the Good Shepherd's command to watch out for false shepherds. To watch out for false prophets. You see, we need to understand, beloved, that the reality of them, the fact of false shepherds or prophets is not in question here. As if Jesus says, there might be some. They were already existing in the Old Testament. In Jeremiah 14, verse 14, Then the Lord said to me, the prophets are prophesying lies in My name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries, and the delusions of their own minds. And in the Old Testament, they are even described with the very same imagery that our Lord gives us here. In Ezekiel 22, verse 27, it says, Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey. They shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. Zephaniah 3, verse 3. Her officials are roaring lions. Her rulers are evening wolves who leave nothing for mourning. They devour completely. We also find false prophets mentioned in the New Testament. Along with here, Jesus says in Matthew 24, He warned of many false prophets that would arise and as it were, they would produce such convincing credentials that if possible, the Word of God says, to deceive even the elect. Paul in Acts 20 says to the Ephesian elders, beginning in verse 29, I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number, men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard. Even from among your own number. Those disguised, Peter and John in their epistles, warned of false prophets. The reality of them, you see, is not in question. And therefore, Jesus says, watch out, be alert, always be on your guard. Don't let your guard down. Don't be ignorant of what is going on around you. He's calling His believers, the church militant, to a constant, ongoing activity. This needs to be a way of life for God's people. I think of our military soldiers. Dan here who has served overseas. Those from our congregation and those of our loved ones serving right now in harm's way. They're not careless. They don't let their guard down. They're very much alert. They know that the enemy is real. They know that the enemy will be found in different shapes and different sizes, as it were. And therefore, this is a call from our Lord to be discerning, a call to His church to be discerning by being constant students of God's Word in order to test what one teaches and preaches. Of the only Christ, as Paul says. Not another Christ. Testing what one teaches and preaches. Recognizing its truth and error. This is necessary, beloved. First of all, because of their deceptive disguise. their deceptive disguise appearing as part of the flock. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing. Jesus is saying that the false prophet will seem like one of us. He fits in. He may be kind and compassionate and loving and caring and understanding and helpful. Many cult leaders started out that way as they gathered together their folds. The false prophet seems to embrace Christian practices and customs. He is pious and he prays. At first glance, he seems to have all of the marks of a Christian. There are no red flags that go up. And the false prophet sounds orthodox. He talks about God and Jesus and the cross and sin and Bible things using all of the right religious terms as many people do, we know. And all of the proper religious cliches. He sounds orthodox. And it is necessary for the false prophet to appear as part of the flock. That way, he doesn't appear dangerous and we don't expect him to be dangerous. Kind of, again, like the soldiers not expecting women and children to have hidden bombs strapped to them serving as suicide bombers. The false prophet must appear innocent because if the false prophet revealed what they really were, If the false prophet promoted raw hedonism or glaring forms of unbelief, for example, saying there is no God, well, true disciples would not be fooled. True disciples would flee from them. They would keep clear of false prophets. After all, who of us would willingly walk into a Muslim mosque and just worship or participate in a satanic ritual or embrace the teachings of Mormonism or Jehovah's Witnesses? We know that those things are blatantly false. When it comes to the false teachers Jesus is talking about here on the surface, there is nothing on the surface glaringly wrong with them and their teaching, yet Jesus calls them false prophets. They're false. Can you see, beloved, their subtlety may not be necessarily in what they say directly, but in what they don't say. Again, they speak of the Bible. They speak of God. They speak of Jesus Christ and the cross and all these things that we find in the Bible, but they do not speak the whole truth. And by not speaking the whole truth, they give a false teaching, giving one impression by their silence that they may believe a certain way when the reality is something else. And their deceptive disguise includes promoting deceitful teaching, really contradicting Christ's call to the narrow gate, to Himself, and to the narrow way to the Christian life governed by the Word of God. False teacher promotes deceitful teaching by watering down the truth, by watering down what is to be believed and what is to be lived, And that scene, for example, in that the false teacher talks about God's love, to be sure, God loves us so much, He wants us to have all good things. He wants everything to go well for us. They preach a prosperity gospel. Just believe. Doesn't matter what you believe. Just believe. And everything will go well for you. He talks about God's love, that God loves us so much that He would never punish anyone forever. And notice then in what he doesn't say, he doesn't talk. In essence, by what he doesn't say, he is saying that hell is not real except for maybe the hell that we experience in this life. He teaches that we serve a tolerant God. He waters down the final judgment and the eternal destiny of the lost because the false teacher does not talk about God's holiness or righteousness or justice or hatred for sin. He talks about sin, but only as a sickness. It's not really your fault or my fault. It's the fault of our culture. It's the fault of our environment. And all we need is a little polish. All we need is a little good counsel. All we need is to try a little bit harder and we'll be okay. The false teacher waters down the truth of sin because he does not talk about the utter sinfulness of sin. He does not talk about God's hatred for sin. He does not talk about the total inability of man to save himself or even man's real need to be saved. He doesn't talk about man's hopelessness because man is under the curse of sin and he is subject to the wrath of God for all eternity. But why talk about sin? You see, we need to be positive. The power of positive thinking. People don't want to be told how bad they are. They don't want to be told what's wrong with them. They want to be told what's right with them. They want to be told what's good about them. Let's pat them on the back. We gain their friendship. Besides, the false prophet talks about the cross and the crucifixion because you can't not talk about it. It's in the Bible. But more that we might take pity on this innocent Jesus who suffered even though He had done nothing wrong and therefore believe in Him for His sake. We do Him a favor by believing in Him. The false prophet waters down the cross because he does not point to the necessity of the cross as the only way to pay for my sin, as the only way to remove God's wrath against me. He does not point to Jesus Christ as my substitute, the one that I desperately need. He does not point to the truth that without the cross of Jesus and the work that Jesus accomplished, God could not forgive you and me because there would be no basis for forgiveness. The false prophet promotes deceitful teaching by watering down the truth and also by contradicting the truth, even in such subtle ways, teaching as we sometimes hear today. Well, it's not necessary to believe the virgin birth or to believe the resurrection or to believe the ascension because we know, we are rational people, we know that humanly these things are impossible. So they really could not have happened. You really don't have to believe in those things. Just believe in Jesus. He's a good example, a great teacher. But you see, if there was no virgin birth, if there was no resurrection or ascension, Jesus cannot be the Savior. Contradicting the truth, saying that there's no need to believe in Jesus as the only way of salvation. We need to be tolerant today. How can we be so judgmental and tell somebody else that Allah, for example, is not the true God or the way someone else believes simply can't be true? How dare we do that? The false teacher does not emphasize true repentance. Just claim Jesus. Just say you believe and you can still live like you want. There is no, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. There is no change of life. Simply live right, do your best, and you'll be okay. Contradicting the truth when it comes to the church, that while the church age is over, it's done. And twisting Scripture to make it appear that way. No need to gather together as we're doing this morning. No need to sit here and waste your time listening to some preacher preach. You see, beloved, Satan promotes the lie as well. For example, contradicting the truth that God accepts. We hear this today in some churches, that God accepts monogamous, committed homosexual relationships, that gay marriage is okay. The truth is being twisted so that it's not even recognizable anymore. And Satan's ultimate goal, beloved, is to shut off and silence the truth of the Gospel message. And he does so again today by instilling in the minds of people somehow that we only need to worship one time per Lord's Day. And we know that many churches today have canceled their second service. You see, it's not about need, first of all. We need to worship is true. But if it's about need, then we can't get enough of it. we can't get enough of it. But our worship is about what God has for us. We look forward to that every time we have the opportunity because of what God has prepared, what God has in store for us. But you see, Satan is being successful in shutting off, silencing the truth of the Gospel because it's not even being preached so often, because there is no worship service. Contradicting the truth, And this was taking place already in the Old Testament. In Jeremiah, again, we see in chapter 6, verse 14, he says, and then he repeats it word for word in chapter 8, verse 11, he says, They dress the wounds of my people, the Lord speaking through Jeremiah, they dress the wounds of my people as though it were not serious. Peace, peace, they say, when there is no peace. Not telling the truth to the people about their desperate condition. Everything is okay. You have nothing to worry about. In Jeremiah 23, Jeremiah preached the message of the judgment of God to come upon Israel because of her wickedness and apostasy. But the false prophets came right behind Jeremiah and said to the people, Jeremiah is lying. Don't listen to him. Instead, they said, God loves His people. He loves you so much that He will not let evil come upon you. I wonder what they thought about God's love that came upon them in the form of Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar. The false prophet promotes deceitful teaching by watering down the truth, by contradicting the truth, by silencing the truth, and really by satisfying man's ears, by teachers speaking what itching ears want to hear, as Paul says in 2 Timothy 4. And again, we find the same thing already in the Old Testament. But this is not new. In Jeremiah 5, verse 31, the prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. A Burger King Christianity. You can have it your way. That's the bottom line. The false teachers offer an easy believism, an easy salvation, an easy type of life. And really, they offer nothing but danger. They preach and teach what man likes to hear, what makes man comfortable. They preach and teach that which is not offensive like the cross of Jesus, that which is not threatening like the hell to come because of our sin, that which is not exclusive like Jesus Christ Himself. It is false, beloved, because it fails to preach the offense of and the necessity of the cross of Jesus and points in the second place to their deadly danger. but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Jesus teaches about the reality of the enemy and the deadly danger of the enemy seen through that well-known picture of the wolf. Not Wile E. Coyote or even Ralph Wolf. But any rancher, any farmer will tell you who's had livestock destroyed by wild animals will tell you that wolves, wild animals, don't hold back. They completely destroy. They devour mercilessly. They barely leave a trace of their prey left to find. And beloved, that is Satan's desire for all of mankind. That's his desire for you and his desire for me. That we be devoured, that we be destroyed forever in hell. That not one would stand in the judgment, as Psalm 1 says, the righteous will. Satan is busy using false prophets to lead to destruction. They lead to destruction because they neglect. They will not lay down their life for the sheep, but scatter the sheep. And the truth of the false prophets is that they lead to destruction because they neglect the truth of God, the truth of man, the truth of Jesus Christ, the truth of eternity, the whole purpose of redemptive history. They completely skate over it. The false prophet leads to destruction because he does not drive one to the cross and the blood of Jesus. Oh, he may sound legitimate, but again, by using the Bible to teach us to face our Goliaths or to dare to be a Daniel. Telling people what they want to hear, but neglecting to tell what they need to hear. The false prophet neglects the most fundamental, important need of mankind and that is our salvation and reconciliation. with God that comes only one way through that narrow gate, Jesus Christ. He neglects man's most desperate need. That man is heading straight to hell by himself. And there's only one rescue. He neglects what the Bible is all about. God's work for us in Jesus Christ. And instead makes about us what we do for God. Oh, we may be a little sick. We may be a little distorted. But you know, we can pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We do God a favor by believing. The false prophet keeps one from truly, wholly, and completely looking to Jesus who is our only hope for time and eternity. Beloved, the false prophets that Jesus speaks of may be attractive in speech with a nice, comfortable message that is pleasing to all while stepping on the toes of none. But it is nothing but poison because it does not drive souls to Jesus Christ. The message of the false prophet does not cause hearers to search their conscience. That message does not make one uneasy and mourn because of sin and therefore find true joy, everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. It does not call one to be salt and light in the world. There's nothing about that message that condemns religious hypocrisy or prompts a righteous conduct that will draw persecution from the world. It does not hold one to a strict and righteous standard of the law of God in response to that one and only great salvation. Instead, that message only puffs one up and makes one feel good about themselves temporarily, but robs that one of eternal comfort in Christ Jesus, causing blindness to the truth. Indeed, beloved, a difficult warning for us to hear as the church of Jesus Christ, but praise be to God that we know that those who enter the kingdom of God through that narrow gate of Jesus Christ by the grace of God, those who travel that narrow path enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit, they are secure forever. Don't ever forget it. Secure forever. Satan will never snatch us out of our Savior's hand. Yet Jesus warns us to watch out because the enemy will try to snatch us. The enemy will attack us. He will try to make our lives miserable on this side of glory. He will try to wear God's people down and cause us to compromise as Paul talked about in 2 Corinthians 11. And cause God's people to look like and become more and more like the world and to believe that it's okay. As Jesus teaches, He is subtle. But as He also teaches, as we will see, the Lord willing, He can be identified. And His end is sure. And He is not to be tolerated. And that's why, beloved, we are called as a church of Jesus Christ. We are called to stand firm on the truth received. to love that truth, to protect that truth, to guard the ministry of it and preparation for the ministry of it. And to do so for the sake of our souls, of our lives here on the side of the glory. To do so for the sake of our children and the future church. To do so for the sake of those still to be gathered in. For the sake of those who at this time are only hearing that false message. To expose the false Gospel by faithfully and diligently bringing the true Gospel to those who are being deceived. And beloved, may we too not be deceived. This also is a call for you and me as professing Christians to examine ourselves. To ask ourselves, have our beliefs, have our practices changed over the years? When it comes to entertainment. When it comes to hobbies. When it comes to Sunday observance? When it comes to commitment to worship? Have our beliefs and practices changed over the years? If so, why? Have they changed with changing technology? Have they changed with increased opportunities? Have they changed even with a wicked culture that seems to tolerate Christianity, just like Balaam and Balak? A world that becomes friendly with the church so we don't see the real danger. A world whose goal it is for believers that we decrease our fellowship with fellow kingdom citizens and increase our fellowship with the world which often causes believers to compromise. We are called to stand firm on the glorious truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to hold one another accountable because the truth of Jesus Christ and the Word of God alone, beloved, is the truth that sets one free forever. Apart from Jesus Christ and new life lived in Him, there is only eternal destruction. But for those who are in Him by the grace of God, for those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and give their life in every part in fellowship with Him, those who give their life to Him, we are safe from the enemy. We are secure in the hand of God the Father. Satan will never ever be able to snatch us out of our Savior's hand. And therefore, we will not be devoured. But praise be to God, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will dine with the Good Shepherd forever. Amen. Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, we must confess that sometimes it's hard to understand Your Word. For we know that we are safe in the palm of Your hand. For those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, You've given to us that assurance. And at the same time, You give us this warning. A warning that we desperately need. Because we know that the influences of the world are all around us in such subtle ways. Satan is busy and active. Even among those who claim to teach the truth. There is a watered down truth, a false gospel. The message of the goodness of man that is being preached. Instead of the need of man and the accomplishment of that need through Jesus Christ. Father, help us remain firm because you've given to us your word of truth. The truth alone which sets one free. And help us to keep from ever compromising that truth in any way. That as well, we too might be those used of you to bring that glorious truth to those who have never heard. We thank you for your word. Apply that word to our hearts and lives by your Holy Spirit. that indeed more and more our lives would be lives of living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to you. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake. Amen.