Beware along the path!

If you have a bible open it up to Matthew 7. I have titled the message to Beware along the path. Pray with me.

If you were with us last week I highlighted the fact that you could put this message in with last weeks message because the theme overall the rest of chapter 7 is choosing to follow God or your own path, and how you do that very thing. and Jesus in the text we are in today is warning us that you are going to have to false teachers along the way that will appear to be godly but in fact they are wolves, who bear no good fruit, and for us we have to know one there will be false teachers, but also how do we know what they are teaching to be true or false and what evidence can we use to determine that very thing.

Now what I want you to get for our main idea is this..

Christians must beware that they choose the good teaching that produces fruit over bad teaching that produces no fruit.

Matthew 7:15–20 ESV

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Few points to drive home our main idea the first is this..

Beware of false teachers.

Now we as Christian’s need to beware that along our path we are going to encounter false teachers. False teachers according to the word will often look the part but they are really wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Now I would even argue with the ability to access so much information and there being so many churches there may not be a greater time in history for false teachers to impact your life one way or another. And being on guard always will be beneficial to your walk with Christ. Especially when there is so many wolves out there.

And you must beware of these people.. Now D.A. Caron says.. The false prophet can only be someone who does not advocate the narrow way presented by Jesus. They do not tell the whole truth, and their total message is false.

If you remember I told you an illustration when I first got here I remember Megan, Eva, and Ella laughing at it, because its kinda childish, but it drives home the truth. but I made the reference to false teachers making brownies, and they took all the ingredients of the gospel, and added just a little bit of poop to it. And they took this pan and presented as a message from God, but in the end all the message is and all the messages from false teachers are nothing more than poop brownies, and I use that because if you listen to alot of false teachers man they are slick, they have a way with words, but the message is not fully true.. like Carson so stated does not lead to the narrow gate. ( Which was such an emphasis that we looked at last week. False teachers lead you to the wide gate, they lead you away from the finished work of Jesus Christ.

I take as a pastor the responsibilities to handle God’s word seriously. I hope you see that I see it as one of the most important tasks I have. Paul says this in the book of acts 20:28-30

Acts 20:28–30 ESV

28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

For me this means I need to watch out for myself and make sure I am sitting under the authority of God and his word, while also teaching under that authority by the power of the Holy Spirit. all while understanding Jesus died for you and for me and he has a specific message through his word that we all need to pay careful too attention that word leads us through the narrow gate, But make no mistake there will be false teachers that lead us away from that path.

In fact I felt the reality of this text before I was even called to ministry. I was at a larger church that many different false teachers would use groups to promote their own platforms, their own agendas, drawing away people from the gospel message, and by the grace of God that did not fully happen to me, In fact it led me to want to be a pastor to want to be a teacher of God’s word because there is no other path that leads to life other than the path we see in the bible. Through faith in Jesus Christ And Jesus says.

Matthew 7:15 ESV

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Because he knows that false teachers operate as in such a way where they tell just enough true to disguise themselves to being God’s sheep.

One of the commentator's I was reading said if false preachers came into most evangelical churches as blatant heretics, they would be hanged over the heads with bibles and sent packing. But they come with the right language, credentials, and culture, the deceive the unwary elect.

2 Corinthians 11:13–15 ESV

13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

So we must be aware of these false prophets, and teachers, but it would be an injustice if I just said look out for false teachers, and just end the sermon right now, we have to know how they can be detected, because according to Jesus our way down the path is on the line here. We want to enter that narrow gate.

Second point I will call your attention to today is this..

False teachers always fail the doctrine test and the practical test.

this point has been given to me by many preachers, seminary professors, and commentators, and I feel like Its my job to pass this along to you.

We have this information that there will be false teachers, but this is how do we know they are false.

If you miss any of what I said along the way Ill get you my notes later if you want I may right a little article about this as well because this information is good..

but when it comes to the doctrine test all Christian’s are required to believe in certain things and all teachers must not go away from them. I mentioned these things before but they can’t leave our minds.

All teachers must teach the Trinity. Why you might ask? Well because God is triune. Within the one being of God there are three co-equal, co eternal persons, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.

Many throughout history have argued for it, and against it, in fact there are cults today to say that God is not triune, and the reality is the scripture teaches us that God is triune. And it has been that way for all of eternity.

All teachers must teach that Jesus Christ is 100 percent God, and 100 percent man. Jesus Christ is fully God, and fully man, and without being that you and I could not be saved, we needed to have someone Holy step in our place, and we needed that to be a person who was Holy to be our substitute, and without Jesus Christ being both God, and Man living the perfect life, dying on the cross, being buried for three days and rising again we would not have life, and any teacher that denies that truth is a false teacher.

All Christians must teach the doctrine of justification by faith alone right that is the narrow path, that one can only be saved through having a realationship with the Lord Jesus Christ by faith there is no other way… Repent believe the gospel be saved.. That is the path.

All teachers need to teach that the Bible is true, every bit of it, there are no errors in this book. It is true, its reveals to us who God is , who is Christ is, and how we are saved if we don’t believe this in all of this.. then we are selves fail to be Christians, and any teacher who says well the bible says this, but I say this does not pass the test.

But it goes beyond that..

One commentator said this for the doctrine test I am going to comment several times along the way.. First, the false prophet avoids preaching on such things as the holiness, righteousness, justice. and wrath of God.

He never says he does not believe these truths. He just does not mention them, except in passing or to give his prayers a more ecclesiastical ring.

Any exposition of these truths would be disconcerting. especially to the nonbelievers in his congregation. So he avoids them, and his people are ignorant of these essential doctrines.

The main emphasis of his preaching is God's love, which he fails to keep in balance with God's justice or wrath.

I say to you..The attributes of God are what makes God, God, and us man and women, we have to preach the full council of God because if we don’t we don’t honor God. He is Holy, we are now he is righteous we are not he is just we are not and the wrath of God comes to all men..

Second this commentator says.. he avoids preaching on the doctrine of the final judgment. In this regard, two of America's most flourishing cults— the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses— reject the Biblical doctrine of Hell in favor of a less stringent and less offensive approach.

I personally had a conversation with a professing believer in my other field of work just a few weeks ago talking about how I did not need to focus on the fact there is hell or even think about that, she didn’t believe it, because she said it takes away from the love of God, and believing stuff like that just pushes people through the wide gate friends. I talk about all the time the Christian life is more than being saved, but you need to be saved, and you are you saved through Jesus Christ.

Third thing this commentator said, false prophets fail to emphasize the fallenness and depravity of mankind.

The truths that man is sinful to the very core of his being and that he cannot save himself are consciously avoided. This commentator said.. I once heard a prominent clergyman say he never preached on sin because people already know they are sinners (a very questionable premise!).

What they need, he said, is to be built up, to be made to see their potential. He said he never used the word sin in his preaching. Prophets like this do not actually believe the Biblical assessment of man's predicament. We preach what we believe. If we do not preach it, it is because we do not believe it.

Sin is a real problem my friends, and it manifests in a variety of different ways..

You could have watched the debate the other night looked on the internet talked to anyone and clearly see we have a massive and I mean massive sin problem. For us to even argue the fact of killing babies just shows us how fallen we really are.

Sin It not a minor problem in fact all our issues stem from the fact we are sinful people.. If someone does not talk about sin then they are not teaching about who we truly are.

We are sinful and we need something to change that about us.

Fourth thing the commentator says, false prophets de-emphasize the substitutionary death and atonement of Christ. They may talk about Christ's death on the cross, but they do not have a substitutionary atonement in view.

They may talk about it, they even might sing about it, but they do not believe it.

One man the prime example of this is Sir John Bowing, author of the magnificent hymn "In the Cross of Christ I Glory." He was an English Unitarian . He was hardly a believer in the atonement.

If you remember I preached a message on easter about the cross, and if you remember i said The word of the cross is foolish to those who do not believe, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. True biblical teachers do not mimimize what happened on the cross and why Jesus hung on the cross, and died on the cross, and what can happen for you when you give your life to man who hung on the cross. We cannot be Christians without Jesus Christ dying on the cross and rising from the dead. That was God’s plan.

This commentator said.. False prophets talk about God. They wax eloquent on Jesus and even talk about his death on the cross. Many do not see them as heretics. They are likable nice people pleasant to be around.

Sometimes churches grow under their ministries, but the following years are tragic, bringing a sea of unbelieving children and empty pews.

I see so many people who have listening to false teachers and they lack a since of true hope that the gospel itself can only bring.

It matters what I teach, it matters whom you listen to, and it matters because your life is on the line.

So much for the test of what they teach.

There is also the test of how they live-

the practical test.

The commentator I have been using says.. Here we really get to the heart of the matter. He says..

The controlling realization here is that being a true Christian means there has been a radical change in the depth of the person through the grace of God.

There is an awesomely deep connection between what comes out of us. and what we are.

The essence of the trees determines the fruit they produce.

Thats why Jesus says… Matthew 7:16-18

Matthew 7:16–18 ESV

16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

one commentator said.. False prophets encourage us to try to make ourselves Christians by adding something to our lives instead of becoming something new, and their work never quite rings true.

A wolf can wear sheep's clothing, but it cannot grow a sheep's coat. It is possible to put grapes on thorns, and figs on thistles, but they cannot grow there.

He would go on to say.. It is possible to subscribe to the qualities of the Beatitudes, and yet never truly own them from within. But appearances can only be kept up for so long. Time will reveal the true nature of the fruit. Sooner or later we will know where a man stands. Believers are not to involve themselves in the final judgment, but they must recognize the verdict of God when it comes, and they must be discerning, obeying Jesus' command to "beware of false prophets."

Jesus says you will recognizing people by their fruit.

This can be tough because none of us look as though we ought, but there should be some sort of biblical change.

Now a good test for us to examine others who are in the place of being teachers is looking at Gal 5.

In Gal 5 starting in verse 16. It says this..

Galatians 5:16–26 (ESV)

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Now listen to this in addition to false teachers perverting doctrine they also live perverse lives, Listen the works of the flesh are often the highlights of false teachers, you hear about cults and their teachers compromise biblical sexually between one man and one women in marriage all that how they do ungodly things in the name of God. And those things listed in verse 19-21 are things that should not be the fruit of a Godly teacher.

A Godly teacher may struggle with those things, but his life is not producing fruit that identifies with the flesh but he is pursing Christ and not those things.

God wants all believers including teachers to have the fruit of the Spirit. To have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. This should be things that increase in teachers of the word and believers.

v24 is not only good for the teacher but it is good for the student. Those who belong to Christ have Crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Notice what it says… Have Crucified. Meaning what well in the same way Jesus was crucified for our sin we must crucify the flesh, and those desires. Have sinful desires. Take it to the cross, remember one of those points the cross is enough to even crucify the very desires from which you were saved from.

And good teacher will always tell you Jesus is the one who will take not only the burden of hell away from your soul, but the burdens of your very own sin.

Now we can’t finish this sermon without dealing more with verse 19-20…

Matthew 7:19–20 ESV

19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

False teachers lead you down the path of hell, they do not lead you through the narrow gate, not only do they not produce good fruit in the end they are worthless thrown into the eternal fire.

There are so many people who want to proclaim Christ yet twist his word, the world is clear if a tree does not bear good fruit then it will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Remember Matthew 3:10…

Matthew 3:10 ESV

10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Now the warning for us is the same warning we recieved last week don’t go down the wide path that leads to hell.

Listen to what one man said that will cause you to really think..

Today whole groups of people are being served things they would never consciously eat, for the silver trays and attractive garnishes have them completely fooled. Here at the end of his great sermon, Jesus is warning his followers not to be superficial in evaluating prophets and preachers. Does what these prophets and preachers say measure up? What are they leaving out? Does how they live measure up? These are important tests, because false preachers are coming and are already here.

Our Lord's words warn us not to be superficial regarding our own lives.

Sheep, is the fleece you are wearing really yours? Did you really grow it, or is it just a uniform? Trees, what kind of fruit are you bearing? Is the fruit really yours? Does it really come from the life within, or is it just so many ornaments?

lets turn that last point back to us for a second False teachers always fail the doctrine test and the practical test. we can leave here today and name 10 people who prostitute the gospel who use it for their own gain, and never really ask ourselves have we passed the doctrine test, and the practical test. You don’t have to spend over 100 credit hours of seminary/Biblical college to know who God is, you don’t have to read this 50 times. I want you to read this more than 50 times, but the reality is do you believe the basics of the gospel of the Christian life, and is your life different than before you were saved. Fruit comes from living a Christian life by the Holy Spirit. Its not an ornament that you would put in your tree its a natural response from living for the Lord, now you might not have as much fruit because you have not cut out the bad in your life. you notice what Paul said in Galatians 5 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

This is what false teachers do not do, they teach what they want to teach and live how they want to live, I as your pastor have a standard its this… but you believe you have the same standard, and it’s calling you and I to examine ourselves and to examine what we listen to, and how we live. See the false teachers of our day are not just those in the pulpits its the politicians , its the media, it’s the media its the music we listen to the stuff we read, its even our co-workers, friends, and family who say there is a different gate.

Our Job as believers is to beware of false teachers, and look at the doctrine they preach and the lives the live, all while growing ourselves. The biggest problem that I have is my head knowledge is outpacing my walk you may have that problem today as well, but let us respond to be people who crucify the flesh because Jesus was crucified for us.

If you are in this room or listening online and you say today I have not been saved.. you can be, the bible is clear all who call upon the name of Jesus Christ and repent of their sin and trust in him and him alone can be saved and friends its that simple you can have eternal life today, and begin walking with Jesus.

..Now for those who are believers you need to be careful of what you expose yourself to, and you need to examine it through the lens of the scriptures. beware that you choose the good teaching that produces fruit over bad teaching that produces no fruit. and all the bad fruit in your life you need to cut it off and throw it into the fire, because it will never lead you to live the life God has called. Lots to think about respond how the Lord leads let us pray.