Sermon #1288 Miscellaneous
Sermons
Title: Nine Marks Of A
False Prophet
Text: Matthew 7:15
Subject: Indictments
Against False Prophets
Date: Sunday Morning -
Tape # T-92
Ezekiel 13:1 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man,
prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them
that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD; 3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish
prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4 O Israel, thy
prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. 5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps,
neither made up the hedge for the house of
Ezekiel
Introduction:
It is my deep and ever increasing conviction that faithfulness
to the glory of God and to the souls of eternity bound men and women place a
threefold demand upon the shoulders of every man who stands to speak to men in
the name of God. I carry upon my heart this morning what the old prophets used
to call “The burden of the Word of the
Lord,” an awesome threefold burden…
1.
We must proclaim to men and
women the necessity of, and press upon their hearts the urgency of repentance
toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul writes, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord,
we persuade men.” How can I plead with your hearts.
“Except ye repent, ye shall in no wise
enter into the
2.
Therefore we must proclaim
to this generation the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ.
Our Lord said, “Ye shall know the truth; and the truth shall
make you free.” Sinners are saved by the knowledge of the truth; and
Christ is the Truth. You cannot be
saved if you believe the devil’s lie. I do not suggest and the Word of
God does not teach that a person must be a learned, educated, well-read student
of the Bible to be saved. I do not suggest and the Word of God does not teach
that a person must believe a specific creed, be a part of a specific church,
perform specific deeds, or experience specific emotions in order to be saved. However, the Word of God does teach and I
am declaring that salvation is the result of a specific, God given knowledge,
knowledge which comes by the power of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of
the gospel.
John 17:3 And this is life
eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent.
Romans
SAVING FAITH IS A HEART KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IN HIS TRUE
CHARACTER, AS HE IS REVEALED IN THE GOSPEL. Faith is more than knowledge; but faith is
not a leap in the dark. Faith is walking in the light! Some things are
essential to a saving knowledge of Christ. If you would b saved…
A. You must know God in his true character.
·
Sovereignty
·
Holiness
·
Justice
B. You must know yourself in your true character.
·
Lost
·
Depraved
·
Dead
·
Helpless
C. You must know the Lord Jesus Christ in his true
character.
·
As Both God and Man
·
As The Sinners’ Substitute
·
As The Almighty Savior
·
Sovereign Dominion and Intercession
D. You must know what happened at the cross.
There is no salvation apart from the
knowledge of “HOW that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”
·
Sovereignty
·
Substitution
·
Satisfaction
·
Success
E. You must b reconciled to God in your
heart.
There is no salvation to be had apart from
the reconciliation of your heart to God as God. In the light of these things,
the third burden upon my heart ought to be obvious to anyone with spiritual
discernment who is aware of the antichrist, free will, works religion which
permeates and engulfs the world in which we live.
3.
We must lift up
our voices and proclaim to this generation our Savior’s solemn warning - “Beware of false
prophets!”
Matthew 7:15 ¶ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
It is my intention today to do what I can to echo that warning
to you and to all who may hear this message. I know that some people will say,
“You must not judge or condemn another person’s religion. Only a bigot refuses
to go along with and respect the religion of another man. We ought to treat all
men as our brethren. We must never get the idea that we are right and others
are wrong.”
There are just a couple of
problems with that pretentious, sugarcoated, straddle-the-fence, effeminate
mentality. We are not all brethren; and
we are not all right! The fact is, if I am preaching free grace and the man
down the road is preaching free will, we are not both right, we are not
brethren, and we are not both the servants of God! Therefore…
Proposition: Our Lord demands that, if I would be faithful to
him, faithful to his Word, and faithful to your souls, I must prophesy against
those prophets of deceit who would destroy your souls by their doctrine. - “Beware of false prophets!”
We read Ezekiel 13 earlier. In that book alone, the Lord God
demanded on thirteen separate occasions that Ezekiel prophesy against the
prophets of his day. Nothing in all the world is more dangerous and deadly than a false
prophet. More warnings are given in the Word of God about false prophets
and false religion than about any other thing. We will be wise to hear and heed
those warnings. - “Beware of false prophets!”
Proverbs
Isaiah 5:20
"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put
darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and
sweet for bitter!"
Isaiah 8:19-20 "And when they shall say unto
you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and
that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for
the living to the dead? (20) To the
law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 "If there arise among you a prophet, or
a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, (2) And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto
thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us
serve them; (3) Thou shalt not
hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know
whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (4) Ye shall walk after the LORD your
God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall
serve him, and cleave unto him. (5) And
that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath
spoken to turn you away from the LORD
your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of
the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God
commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee."
Let me speak frankly. I fear that the vast majority of people
have for a refuge a refuge of lies. Their
religion is a false religion, based upon a false faith and a false gospel. They
have a false peace and a false assurance which has been given to them by a
false prophet. That which they think, hope, and presume is their salvation
will prove in the end to be their damnation. Is that not exactly what our Lord
tells us?
Matthew 7:21-23 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven. (22) Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and
in thy name done many wonderful works?
(23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me,
ye that work iniquity."
“Beware of false prophets!” A
false prophet is not necessarily an outwardly wicked man. In fact, that is
rarely the case. The false prophet does not wear a sign saying, “Beware of me.
I am a false prophet.” Oh, no. They come as wolves in sheep’s clothing. They
appear to be very nice, sweet fellows. They are so sincere, so concerned, so
anxious to see men saved, so intense. That makes them all the more dangerous. Please hear me now. It does not matter
how sweet, likable, well dressed, and zealous a preacher is. If he does not
preach the gospel of Christ, the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace
flowing to sinners through the blood of the crucified Son of God, he is a false
prophet; and all who follow him will follow him to hell. - “Beware
of false prophets!”
In this day of religious darkness, deceit, and delusion, you
will be wise to hear the warning I give you as God’s messenger to your soul,
and take it seriously. How I wish I could say or do something to jar you in
your very soul! May God the Holy Spirit shake your soul, awaken you, and cause
you to hear the Word he has written to show sinners the way of life in Christ.
“Beware of false prophets!” We simply must not ignore our Lord’s warning. Men and
women enter the wide gate and get on the broad road that leads to everlasting
destruction in hell by listening to and following the teachings of men who do
not preach the truth, men who peach another gospel. These false prophets usually
preach half truths; and that is worse than an out and out denial of truth,
because people who would never believe a man who openly denies the Bible will
believe the half truths of men who hold a Bible in their hand and claim to
believe it. Therefore, as I bring this message to a close, I want to show you
from the Word of God Nine Marks Of A False Prophet. I want you to give me your
undivided attention for just a few minutes and carefully follow me through the
Scriptures. I want you to check everything I say with the Word of God. If what
I say is not clearly revealed in this Book, then do not hear me today and do
not hear me ever again. But if what I have to say comes directly out of this
Book, you must either hear me now or wish you had heard me when judgment day
comes. Here are nine marks by which false prophets are identified.
I. False prophets are men who preach for covetousness (Jer.6:13).
Because they preach for gain, they handle the Word of God
deceitfully. They can be bought, intimidated, and persuaded to trim their
message.
Jeremiah
Any man who can be pressured by other men not to openly preach
the gospel with boldness, clarity, and distinctiveness is a false prophet. Any preacher who is motivated, governed, or constrained in his
preaching by what he imagines is the will of the people to whom he preaches is
a false prophet. God’s servants do not take into consideration the reaction of
men to their message.
II. False prophets give men and women peace and
assurance when God has not given it (Jer.
Jeremiah
Churches today are filled with people going to hell, people
whose only hope is a decision which as made for them by a slick soul-winner (soul-destroyer), to which
they simply nodded their heads or signed their names. How many of you still
rest your hopes upon a decision someone else made, a prayer someone else wrote,
and an experience someone else had? How many of you accepted a proposition,
instead of surrendering to the sovereign Lord?
Illustration: “She’s even lost assurance
of her salvation. I just had to stay and help her.”
Rolfe Barnard used to
say, “The only person who will give assurance to a lost man is another lost
man.” Barnard was exactly right.
III. False prophets make it far
easier for people to get saved than our Lord did (Luke
Today sinners are invited to take a walk down the Romans Road to
salvation, lift their hands, sashay down an isle, kneel at an altar, say the
sinner’s prayer, and say “I believe in Jesus” in order to get saved. Getting a sinner to say “I accept Jesus as my personal
Savior” is as foreign to the New Testament as getting a sinner to say “I accept
Mary as the mother of God!” You saying
it will not make either lie true! There is something more to this business of
believing on the Lord Jesus Christ than most people think. You listen to me,
now. No one ever got saved by…
·
walking down an aisle.
·
kneeling at an altar.
·
saying the sinners’ prayer.
·
getting baptized.
·
signing a decision card.
·
or joining a church!
Salvation comes only to those who by the grace of God enter into
a living, vital union of life and faith with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 13:23-24 "Then said one unto him,
Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, (24) Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto
you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
IV. False prophets make the way of salvation and life much broader
than our Lord made it (Matt.
According to most of the Baptists and others of our day, Judas,
Demas, and Diotrophes are all in heaven today, because they all made a decision
to follow Jesus at one point in their lives. But the Scriptures speak
otherwise.
Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for
wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction,
and many there be which go in thereat:
(14) Because strait is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth
unto life, and few there be that find it."
Matthew 7:21-23 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven. (22) Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and
in thy name done many wonderful works?
(23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me,
ye that work iniquity."
V. False prophets also make salvation much cheaper than
our Lord does (Luke
If you asked me, “Don, What does it cost to be a Christian?” My
answer would be - Nothing from you, but all of you! That is exactly what our
Lord told those who came to him, wanting to be numbered among his disciples.
Luke 18:18-27 "And a certain ruler asked
him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? (19) And Jesus said unto him, Why
callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. (20) Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not
bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. (21) And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. (22) Now when Jesus heard these things,
he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one
thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou
shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. (23) And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was
very rich. (24) And when Jesus saw
that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall
they that have riches enter into the
Luke 14:25-33
"And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said
unto them, (26) If any man come to me, and hate not his father,
and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own
life also, he cannot be my disciple.
(27) And whosoever doth not bear his
cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. (28) For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not
down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? (29) Lest haply, after he hath laid
the foundation, and is not able to finish it,
all that behold it begin to mock
him, (30) Saying, This man began to
build, and was not able to finish. (31) Or
what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and
consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to
meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? (32) Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth
an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. (33) So likewise, whosoever
he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he
cannot be my disciple."
Faith in Christ involves surrender to Christ as your Lord. Until
you have surrendered to him, you have not believed on him. To believe him is to
trust him as your Lord…
·
to save you.
·
to possess you, yours, and all that you have for his
own glory.
·
to rule you.
·
to dispose of all things as he sees fit.
Illustration:
Lee’s Surrender at
VI. False prophets make sin an
outward act rather than an inward principle (1 Tim. 4:1-3).
If sin is something I do, then all I have to do to get better is
quit doing certain things. That is exactly the principle upon which all false
religion operates. That is why legalism is found and appears to work everywhere
in the religious world outside the
1 Timothy 4:1-3 "Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; (2) Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared
with a hot iron; (3) Forbidding to
marry, and commanding to abstain from
meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which
believe and know the truth."
Sin is not something I do.
It is what am.
It is not my behavior, but my being that is abhorrently evil. Because my
problem is inward more than outward, I need regeneration not reformation.
VII. False prophets also make
godliness an outward act, form, and religious performance rather than an inward
principle of the heart (2 Tim. 3:1-5; Luke
2 Timothy 3:1-5 "This know also, that in the
last days perilous times shall come. (2) For
men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, (3) Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers,
incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, (4) Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than
lovers of God; (5) Having a form of
godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."
Luke
Our Lord says, “Rend your
heart, not your garments!”
VIII. False prophets give men and
women a proposition to consider, a program to join, or a performance to do,
rather than pointing them to a Person to trust for the saving of their souls (Isa. 45:20-25).
Isaiah 45:20-25 "Assemble yourselves and
come; draw near together, ye that are escaped
of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven
image, and pray unto a god that cannot
save. (21) Tell ye,
and bring them near; yea, let them
take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and
there is no God else beside me; a
just God and a Saviour; there is none
beside me. (22) Look unto me, and be
ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am
God, and there is none else. (23) I have sworn by myself, the word
is gone out of my mouth in righteousness,
and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall
bow, every tongue shall swear. (24) Surely,
shall one say, in the LORD have I
righteousness and strength: even to
him shall men come; and all that are
incensed against him shall be ashamed.
(25) In the LORD shall all the seed of
IX. False prophets will never
preach that salvation is by the pure, free, sovereign grace of God in Jesus
Christ the Lord alone (Eph. 2:8-9; 2 Tim. 1:9-10).
They may use the words “grace” or even “free and sovereign
grace,” but before they get done talking, you will understand that they mean to
say, Sinners are saved by God’s free and
sovereign grace in Christ, as long as they do this duty, perform these works,
keep those laws, feel this feeling, or go through that experience. Such
workmongers are drunk with the wine of
·
In Christ alone!
·
By grace alone!
·
Through faith alone!
Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God: (9) Not of
works, lest any man should boast."
2 Timothy 1:9-10 "Who hath saved us, and
called us with an holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, (10) But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel:"
Any sinner, anywhere who meets God’s terms of salvation will be
saved. God’s terms of salvation are repentance toward God and faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Bless God, if you meet those terms you are saved. But those terms
will not be lowered. Repentance is
neither more nor less than the dethronement of yourself and the enthronement of
the Son of God in your heart. Faith
is neither more nor less than utter confidence in the obedience and blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ for acceptance with God.
I have some bad news for you. You simply cannot and will not meet God’s terms. You cannot and
will not repent. You cannot and will not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But
I have good news, too. God
Almighty gives repentance and faith to chosen, redeemed sinners by the
almighty, irresistible operations of his saving grace. Salvation is a miracle of grace. “Salvation is of the LORD!” Unless God
saves you, and saves you without any contribution of any kind from you, you
will not be saved.
Is there a sinner under the sound of my voice who is asking “Pastor, how will I know if God saves me?”
·
He will, by his Holy Spirit, convict you of sin, of righteousness, and
of judgment.
·
He will cause you to know your need of righteousness, redemption, and
mercy.
·
He will cause you to see that righteousness, redemption, and mercy are
in his Son.
·
He will graciously force you and make you surrender to his dear Son as
your Lord, crying out to him from the depths of your soul for mercy - “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!”
·
He will cause you to look to Christ alone for everything your soul
needs.
If God has done for you what you could not and would not do for
yourself, if he has given you life and faith in Christ, confess him as your
Lord and Savior by believers’ baptism. It is written, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned.” “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved!”
Indeed, if you believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ God has saved you and you shall be saved forever! God
help you now, for Christ’s sake, to believe.
AMEN.