False prohets

Kid’s church

This morning we are all going to be in the same passages both the kids and the adults.

So if you have your Bibles please turn to Matthew 7:15-23

Matthew 7:15–23 (NIV)

“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 thornbushes, 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 the one 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 in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

If we can have the kids come up front. So this morning we are going to talk about how we know what is true especially about Jesus. Because the greatest truth in this world is the truth about who Jesus is.

So to do this we are going to look at some money. Use fake money, does anyone know what kind of money this?

Yes correct this isn’t real money but how do you know it isn’t real money? How do you know that for sure?

Now let us take a look at this dollar bill. Does anyone think that this one is real?

How do you know that this one is real? Well because this one has been issued to us from the United States Government

What do you think would happen to me if I tried to use this fake money at a store? I would probably be laughed at or at worst they might call the police right?

So how do we know what the real story of Jesus is? Where can we learn about Jesus, what book is written about Jesus?

Yes we learn about Jesus from the Bible. We can study all about Jesus in the Bible. Even when our teachers or pastors teaches us about Jesus, we can always go to the Bible.

The Bible is the word of God. We know that the Bible is true because God gave us the Bible and He is the standard of truth in our lives.

The kids can be dismissed

So this Morning we are going to look at 3 lessons from these verses

Wolves in sheep’s clothing

Did we not prophesy in your name?

Wolves in sheep’s clothing

Matthew 7:15 (NIV)

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

These are the words of Jesus. He warned the people that there would be false prophets in this world. Now there were false prophets before Jesus and there have been many false prophets after Jesus.

Most of the time the term false prophets conjures up images of fanatical cult leaders like Jim Jones or David Keresh. While both of them were false prophets and as a result many lives were lost due to their false teachings.

However the majority of the time these wolves in sheep’s clothing are much more subtle in their ways. It is small moves away from the Bible, it is small moves away from the cross. It is a watering down of the Gospel over time.

Let us look at a charge given to Timothy from Paul

1 Timothy 1:3–6 (NIV)

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk.

Look at the warning here from Paul, “such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work” and also Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk

This is a set of scriptures that the church really needs to pay attention to. Almost every denomination in the US is having major issues with doctrine. What are all of these divisions doing? They are causing the church to lose sight of the very purpose of the church. Why is this building here? Why is any church built? It is for doing the work of God. What is the work of God? The spreading of the Gospel.

Again the word’s of Jesus

Luke 4:42–44 (NIV)

At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Jesus came to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God. He went town from town, and everyone was welcome to hear his teachings. Because Jesus knew that His teachings came from God and His teachings were what changes people’s hearts. So that is God’s work and that is furthered by the great comission

Matthew 28:18–20 (NIV)

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This is the charge that has been given to us from Jesus. This mission isn’t just for certain people it is for everyone. Let us look what it says, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you and I am with you always to the very end of the age.

This is God’s work. This is what the church is supposed to be doing. Instead what is happening in many places is that we are aruging about what has been laid out in the Bible. God’s work that is why we are here, do not let false idealiougs distract you from that.

Matthew 7:21–23 (NIV)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one 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 in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

I will be honest with you all. This is one of the toughest teachings in the Bible and it comes from Jesus. Only the one that does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Throughout history there have been wars in the name of Jesus, there has been slavery and all kinds of heinous acts done in the name of Jesus.

This isn’t unique to Christianity. We all know the violence that is happening right now and that is in the name of Allah.

In the America church , what has happened is the afirmation of sin. Which is kind of mind blowing when you think about it because who did Jesus come to save? Why did Jesus go to the cross? All of that was because of His love for us and because we needed a savior. A savior because we are sinners. So what happens when we water down the teachings about sin? We water down the very reason Jesus came at all. We water down the miracle that is Jesus and we water down the very power that Jesus has to change hearts. The ability Jesus has to take you from the place of an unrepent sinner to a place in the kingdom of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:19–22 (NIV)

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.

We must test all teachings. I am not always going to be right, no human is ever always going to be right. We must test everything and how do we do that?

We go to the Bible, there is no greater authority on this earth that the Word of God. We need to use it as often as possible to ensure that we are on the correct path.

Now here is the tough part of Paul’s teaching here. Not treating anything false with contempt. I must confess that I have a tough time with this.

When Saul was converted by Jesus and then became Paul, it put Paul in a tough spot. The early Christians did not trust him because he had just been putting them in jail. The Phariees no longer trusted him because he was a traitor.

Only God knows peopel’s hearts and only God knows the purpose of people’s lives.

Someone of believes or even teaches a false Gospel today, could very well give their lives over to Jesus tomorow.

So where does that leave us then? How are we to respond? I want to leave with a could of suggestions and these come from my own life

We must take the Bible as the ultimate authority

We must remember why we are here, we are about doing Kingdom work

When confronted with false teachings, we need to point the person to the true Gospel and do this with love.

The changing of one’s hearts is only done through the power of Jesus.

Let us pray.