Good morning everyone and Welcome home church family! I’m excited to see you as we join together for a time of worship, reflection, and community. Kids, you're in for a treat—our fantastic kids' church is ready to take you away on an exciting adventure of faith, while for those joining us online, your virtual presence enriches our gathering. Let's continue this spiritual journey together this morning as we look into God’s Word to guide us for the days to come...

Hey, last week we finished a pretty good series on the Church doctrine of LRBC. Now, I know we aren’t talking about the church doctrine anymore, but Im wondering if you remember what Doctrine means? Doctrine is a set of guiding truths to help us navigate the twists and turns of life…Yeah, thats fantastic! You see, this is actually important, becuase, I don’t know if you know this or not, but everything we talk about is Doctrine. Yeah, everything we are learning about here at LRBC whether it is during our Bible Studies or during our worship times…all of it is doctrine. Even in our songs we are actually learning doctrine…that’s why all of that is so important to us as a church.

Well we spent some time talking about what we believe and I feel like it’s important to also learn a little bit of what not to believe, or potentially, who not to believe. But before we get to far into that topic, I want to share with you about a video I watched earlier this week about something that happened up in the Yukon. You see, there was a wolf that was slowing coming into the yard where there was a dog. The wolf came in all friendly and playful and then when he had gained the trust of the dog, which didn’t take long, he turned and attacked and killed the dog. Later the wolf carried the dog away into the woods to feed on him with the rest of the pack. Thats crazy ya’ll! These wolves up there know what they are doing! Then I read about how there are certain seasons in an area of the Yukon where they will warn you about how to protect your dogs to make sure that wolves do not take them away. I don’t know if you know this or not, but wolves are huge, and wolves are smart! They know what they are doing and they know why they are doing it. There was actually a place back in Indiana called the Wolf Park that was a wolf rescue, sanctuary for those that have been injured or maybe they got caught in town or something like that. Well, Beth and I have been there, Ill be honest, this wasn’t my favoite place to go, but it was at least a little interesting to see how smart wolves really are…these are not dumb animals. Maybe that’s why Jesus used them as an example in Scripture.

Today we are starting a new series called, Watch out for Wolves, and in this series we are going to look at various passages that warn us to be prepared and know what we believe because there are false teachers all over the place. We will see this isn’t anything new necessarily, and that actually there have been false teachers going all the way back to Satan in the garden...

This morning we are going to look at a passage together that will hopefully encourage us all to be on the lookout and begin to practice some discernment in our theology and doctrine. In other words, we will be encouraged to not just take someone’s word for it…but to actually search Scripture ourselves and ensure that we actually know what is being preached or taught is Biblical. So, you will remember that a couple of weeks ago I told you that I was no longer going to have the main Scriptures on the screen for you, that is because I want to make sure that everyone is looking at their own Bible. In order to help you with that, if you do not have your own Bible with you, then feel free to use one of the Bibles that is below the chair in front of you, and if you do not have a Bible of your own, then please feel free to take one of the Bibles off the table in the back…those are for you to keep.

Ok, so listen if we are going to head into a season on not wanting to be fooled by these false teachers then we need to start off with having an attitude that enables us to

Beware of False Teachers

You see, in Matthew we are told to beware of false prophets, but here I am saying to beware of false teachers. Well…we don’t really have the same level of prophets today that were in Jesus’ time, and so for our context we need to beware of those that are teaching things that are contrary to God’s Word. Now, I need to let you know that throughout this series I will be calling out some specific names that are false teachers. Some of these false teachers are actually pretty famous and actually say some pretty good stuff…but if they teach false doctrine, then they are false teachers, and must be called out as such, right?

So, this morning we are going to be looking at a passage in Matthew chapter 7, that will be page # in our chair bottom Bibles. Now, we are not going to have the main passage on the screen, so let’s go ahead and get into it by reading

Matthew 7:15–20 (ESV)

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Let’s pray...

So in order for us to really be prepared for what Jesus is telling us here, we need to know what is really going on here I think. So our first point this morning is...

Understanding the Context:

Yeah, its actually important. I’ve talked about this before, but it’s been a while…However, context is one of the most important things about Scripture if you want to make sure you will not fall from some false teaching. You see when we are going through a hard time we all have those friends who will say something like, “God’s working all things together for good”, or “God will never give you more than you can handle”, or my personal favorite, “come on, ‘you can do all things through Christ’”. Now, listen those are all very good sentiments, but they are very much taken out of context and should not be relied on as some inspirational quote without understanding what is really going on in Scripture. So, with that said, let’s understand what is going on in this passage, and from that learn what Jesus is trying to communicate to both the disciples as well as the large crowd of people that are gathered around him.

So what has happened is that Jesus has been going around and teaching in small groups and healing as well as preforming other miracles. Well, Jesus noticed a very large crown following him so he went up to a mountain so that he could speak clearly. Basically, Jesus was stepping onto the stage so that people could see and hear. This passage is right in the middle of the most known sermon of all time, The Sermon on the Mount. So Jesus is teaching about all kinds of thinks like talking about being the salt and the light of the world. Jesus taught about murder, adultery, money, how to pray, and so many more topics, but that gives you kind of a snippet of what is going on here. Well, as part of this teaching, Jesus knew that there would be some that would rise up and try to twist things that he had said in order to get their own way. I mean after all, it already happened in the garden. Jesus has already seen the effects of these false teachers. Remember Jesus is God and has been watching since the beginning of time. That means that he has seen all of the Baal worship and the Molech worship and the Aschera worship and every other false god that was introduced to mankind in order to trick and deceive man from the beginning of time. You see, we are seeing more and more false teachers, but this isn’t anything new…this has been happening all along…but it its been happening all along and people have been deceived all along, how can we prepared for these false teachers that Jesus is warning us about?

Well, the only way is to know...

The Characteristics of False Teachers:

Yeah, in order to be ready for a false teacher, we have to know what they look like, or at least what most would look like. You see, the only way you can be 100% sure that you have not been deceived is to read Scripture daily and actually seek to learn and understand the real thing. I’ve said this before, but treasury agents don’t learn what a counterfeit bill looks like, they would never stop learning because counterfeit is constantly changing…No, they study the real thing so well that they can spot a fake across the room…that is the best way to prevent from ever being deceived. However, we can still learn a little about what a false teacher might look like, that puts us into a better position to be able to stay away from most false teacher.

Now some of this we actually learn from this passage that we read earlier. Let me point out a couple of things here.

Outward Appearance vs. Inward Nature. Remember that Jesus said that these people will be dressed like nice little sheep, but inside they are ravenous wolves. In other words they pretend to be good Christian men and women, maybe they even play around to gain the trust of the sheep like we heard in the story about the dog.

Actually, I will share a real world example of someone that we met years ago. There was an individual that came into the church almost 15 years ago. This guy came in, and I was not the pastor, I was not even on staff at the church, I was simply an attender at that time. Anyway, this guy came in and he talked so good, he was a good looking guy and really jumped right in to gain the trust of the lead pastor. He even said he wanted to be the lead pastors right hand man. But, there was something off about him, so I asked the lead pastor what was up. He told me this guy had just gotten out of prison and was really trying to turn his life around. He shared his story about how he had been in a relationship with a young lady that was under 18. He had made a big mistake, he was a youth leader at his church and had simply fallen in love with a young lady that was 17. He repented and he was really trying to live his life for the Lord and share with others how sin can crouch at your door. Well, he was really working hard to get into the good graces of the lead pastor finding himself always around him and making sure everyone knew he was around.

Well…that didn’t sit right with me, so I did a little digging. I found this young mans case from Michigan and I read into what was really going on. Here is what I found. This man had been found guilty of luring young women into his van out of an alleyway. Inside his van was a mattress and other items that would be used to abuse these young ladies. You see, this man was pretending to be really good so that everyone would see how safe he was so that he would be able to pray on the young women and children at that church. When I shared that with the lead pastor, and he shared with this person that we knew…it was less than two weeks later that this individual’s job had moved him out of state, at least thats what he said. He tried to come back 5 years later and I immediately introduced him to our head of security and I never saw him again...

You see, false teachers will give you an appearance that is good and pretty, but inside they are waiting to tear you apart…That’s not all we see from this passage though. We also see that a false teacher will have

Bad Fruit. Yeah, it’s that easy…a false teacher is not producing good quality fruit are they? I love the example that is given. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes…See, Im pretty sure if grapes were gathered from thornbushes we would have never discovered that amazing fruit. That fruit is used for so many things, but I just love to sit and eat a grape…especially seedless, although most seedless still have seeds around here, so thats a little annoying…or maybe they are false and misleading , kind of like a false teacher… :) You see a false teacher is likely to live a life that is not exactly marked by Biblical values when you look a little closer.

Our passage today tells us that they will not produce good fruit, yet a false teacher will sound like the people that Jude, Jesus’ half brother tells us about in his letter

Jude 8 (ESV)

Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.

In other words, these people, as in the false teachers, live their lives for themselves and selfish gain and not for the Lord…That is what a false teacher looks like.

Think of someone like Joel Osteen, who has actually done some great things for Houston, however, he has also allowed his wife to teach and she shared that everyone should, just do good for your own’s self. Do good because God wants you to be happy.” That was right after she shared that God’s greatest pleasure is your happiness…Well, friends that is teaching that is from the mouth of a Satan himself! God’s greatest pleasure is not your happiness, but your holiness…God would rather an eternity with you than your temporary happiness…Or maybe we could look at Joel himself that says, “it’s not for me to decide” when asked if homosexual behavior is a sin. He’s right, it’s not for him to decide, but it is very clear in Scripture that it is a sin. You see, a false teacher will say alot of things that sound great, especially when they are said with a winsome charm…but they are pulling people away from the Holiness of God. Listen, if you like Osteen, let me encourage you that he may say some great things from time to time…but does that make it worth listening to all the false theology that he speaks as well. Let me put it this way…If there is only a small amount of human feces in your peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Are you still gonna eat it?

Do you know what another false teacher would be right now? Entertainment. When you have Disney and Nickelodeon producing content that is very clearly sexualized and when you have Youtube kids that have pornography and suicidal violence on that platform, your children are being led into a degeneracy when you allow them to do what they want when they want to do it. I know, some of you may really like your “you time” and so you pop your kids down with their tablet or your phone just so you can get a few minutes of peace. I know how tempting that must be…But while you are being selfish, your kids are learning to harm themselves and they are learning that maybe they aren’t the gender that God created them and so you need to take them to a doctor that will chemically castrate them or surgically mutilate them. That is a wolf in sheep's clothing. You see, Satan uses culture to invade your mind to tell you things really aren’t that big of a deal and your kids really will be fine…after all, you turned out ok didn’t you? Meanwhile your kids are being turned against you, and worse yet…they are being turned against God.

So where do we go from here? how do we

Cultivate Discernment:

Well folks, Im glad you asked that question… :) You see, there really area a few things we can do as a body of believers as well as personally in order to cultivate discernment. I’ll try to just hit a few things together that will be of benefit to you as a believer as well as to us as a Body.

Read the Bible daily…Now we have been on a journey this year to read the Bible on a regular basis. Actually we are on a journey this year to read the whole Bible within a 1 year span. This is something we are going to do on a regular basis. However, I gotta say, we started the year with a large number of people that were actively reading every single day…and now I think we have lost most of those that are, or were, reading earlier this year. Listen, if you are one of those that made the commitment to read the Bible every day and read through the Bible this year, let this be your reminder and your point of jumping back in and finishing strong. If you haven’t read in a while, don’t let that discourage you…pick up your Bible this afternoon and read something…That is the only way for you to know what God actually has to say about your situation…

Now, all you need to do is read the Bible with a heart to learn the truth of Scripture. That said, I know from personal experience that sometimes that can be a bit daunting, right? So…What I’d like to do is help you along the way. You see, you can come here on Sundays and you can go back and listen to stuff I have talked about in the past, and that is great, and I think you should, We are even working on some tools to help us as a body join together a little better…However that can’t be all you do. So

Use available resources…Don’t think you are on your own to simply figure out how to avoid false teachers and how to grow in your spiritual walk. I did things largely on my own…and it took me a long time to figure out how little I actually knew. You see, you have to admit how little you actually know so that you are willing to learn from others who are a little further along in their spiritual walk than you are. Then you need to look at those things that are available to you to help you grow as a believer. For instance, if you are a new believer did you know that we have something called Our Daily Bread , that is a magazine that is available right out here in the lobby, it maybe perfect for you. It is just a little small book that gives you a daily thought and Scripture to help you on your walk. Now, if you are a mature believer and you are still using Our Daily Bread as your main source of Spiritual growth then you are like an adult that is rely on a baby bottle to feed you. Then of course there are some phone tools like the YouVersion Bible app (photo) or the BibleThinker app (photo). YouVersion is is the most widely used app that has the most translations and it actually tracks where you are in your reading. Then you can get on Youtube and you can follow people like Mike Winger, Sean McDowell, Alisa Childers, Got Questions, Bible Project (photo), or go to any of their websites. Now, at this time these folks I think are doing things well, however, there may come a day when they start to say something that is unbiblical, it’s happened before to good Bible Teachers, if that happens you need to be prepared to eliminate them from your Spiritual diet. You can also go online to Blue Letter Bible, or Got Questions.org and search your questions through any of these mediums, or the literally 100’s of amazing podcasts that are out there. Lastly…ask a friend or spiritual mentor for advice and help as you continue to grow closer to the Lord. Whatever you do, whether it is me, or any of these other resources I just pointed you to pay attention to the fruit of the person you are listening to. Pay attention to see if what they claim is what they live…Doing this is the beginning of using discernment and not being lured into a false sense of safety while be fooled by a wolf.

These are all things that you can, and should be doing on a regular basis in order to avoid any false teacher. You do not want to be like that puppy in the Yukon that is just playing and having a good time with your new friend, only to have that friend bite your throat with bad theology that drives you away from the Gospel. You want to be constantly walking towards good theology with a doctrine that will help guide you through the twists and turns of life by keeping you relying on the Lord and not on yourself.

Let’s Pray

Now, its that time when we get to acknowledge the good theology of Jesus death burial and resurrection. Remember what the Apostle Paul said,

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Now, remember the story when Jesus was spending time with the apostles and they were gathered around the table that last night. Jesus spent time washing their feet and Jesus taught them what that meant. Then Jesus took the bread from the meal together and blessed it and he passed it all out to all of them. Here is what he said.

1 Corinthians 11:25–26 ESV

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

You see, Jesus was giving a picture of his body which would be broken, and his blood which would be spilt, and inviting all of them, and all of us into that moment to remember what the King of Kings and the Lord of Lord’s experienced for you and me.

Everything God says and does, Satan counterfeits...There will be false teachers that will tell you this was no big deal and that we should continue to move forward to progress and the future…Well friend, as soon as we forget the sacrifice made for you and I, I don’t want to be a part of that future, and I promise neither do you.

Now at this time we will ask the Elders to come up and we will participate in the Lord’s final supper with his apostles and remember his sacrifice as you and I focus our lives onto a future with the Lord.

Bread:pray Elder

Drink:pray Elder

Pray to close me.