Paths and Prophets

Intro

[Thank worship team]

Good morning Bethel Church, and good morning to our network of rural churches that are joining us live on YouTube. And if you are new here, I want to extend a special welcome to you. If you would, there are “Connect” cards in the seat in front of you. If you would fill that out there or at the Welcome Center outside of the sanctuary. We even have a free gift for you if you are new to Bethel. We would love to get in touch with you and discuss how to get connected to our church family.

Announcements:

Congregational Meeting Next Week

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NDBC

Debate (FREE, and no registration required), and Saturday Schedule

Worship

Kid’s Program

***TRANSITION TO SCRIPTURE READING***

Bruce and Trudy Dick

Today we will be continuing our study called Summer on the Mount. If you are reading out of the Bibles in front of you, our passage can be found on page 827. If you do not have a Bible, please stop by the Welcome Center and take one. It is our gift to you.

TRANS: Pray

Opening Hook

We live in a world where it is increasingly difficult to know if what we see and hear is actually true.

In 2024, an employee at the engineering company Arup (based in Hong Kong) participated in a video conference that appeared to include the company’s chief financial officer and several coworkers. The executives instructed the employee to transfer money. Over the course of 15 transactions, approximately $25 million was sent.

Every other participant in the meeting was a digitally generated impersonation. The faces looked right. The voices sounded right. The apparent agreement of the other executives made the request seem legitimate—but none of them were real. The Financial Times reported the confirmed case.

Source: https://www.ft.com/content/b977e8d4-664c-4ae4-8a8e-eb93bdf785ea?utm_source=chatgpt.com&syn-25a6b1a6=1

We have entered a world in which hearing a familiar voice and seeing a familiar face are no longer enough to prove who is speaking.

Jesus says the same principle applies spiritually. Religious vocabulary does not authenticate a teacher. Saying Jesus’ name does not prove that someone speaks for Jesus. There are paths and so called “prophets” who may appear to be right, but actually lead to destruction.

A Warning

Not every voice that sounds godly leads to God.

Jesus is near the end of His sermon, and He intends to clarify for His audience how big the stakes are.

TRANS: [text]

Matthew 7:13–14 ESV

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Paths and Prophets

There are two paths, and two destinations.

Matthew 7:13-14

As Jesus begins to wrap up his sermon on the mount, he clarifies the stakes for both obeying His word and disobeying His word. There are two paths and two destinations.

Notice how one is “wide” and leads to destruction, and the other is “narrow” and leads to life.

Wide: The easy way, the gentle way, the way you would go if you did not notice.

Narrow: Cramped, restricted. But there is a sense of urgency with this way. If the way is Narrow, one is urged to take it.

Imagine driving south on i29. Once you get going on that interstate, it is easy to hit cruise and just go. If you don’t pay attention, you’ll be in Omaha before you know it! Jesus is saying, “take the exit. It’s a quick exit, it may appear out of nowhere, but it’s the road that leads to life.” Yes I did inadvertently say that the road to Omaha is the road to destruction.

What is this about life and destruction? Jesus is putting all of life into perspective. There is a way that seems wise to mankind, but its end is eternal death. And there is a way that seems foolish to mankind, but its end is eternal life. How do I know this is not just talking about well-being and consequences of choices in this life? Because the greek word for “life” here is the root word for “soul.” Jesus is saying, “do you want your soul to be alive? Or dead?

This would have been shocking to Jesus’ audience. They, being Jews, assumed that they had it made!

Apparently most Jewish people believed that Israel as a whole would be saved and that the few who were lost would be exceptions to the general rule.1

1 Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2014), 63.

Jesus is warning of the unexamined life that leads to destruction. The one that assumes that “i’m ok” when no personal response to God has been made.

Although the metaphors here are spatial, they imply an easiness and comfort for those who go this way. There are no significant demands to be met, no discipline to acquire, in order to go through this gate and down this path. εἰς τὴν ἀπώλειαν, “to destruction,” refers, as elsewhere in the NT, to the final ruin brought by eschatological judgment. The counterpart in v 14 is ζωήν, “life.” Surprisingly, in Matthew this is the only occurrence of the word ἀπώλεια with this meaning, despite Matthew’s frequent reference to final, apocalyptic judgment.1

1 Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1–13, vol. 33A, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1993), 179.

Which path are you on?

TRANS: But Jesus continues. It is not just that there are two paths and two destinations, there are voices that call out to draw you toward the wide road.

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.

False prophets make the wrong path look right.

Matthew 7:15-20

False prophets would have been a common conception for Jesus’ audience. The Old Testament gave a few key markers to identify false prophets.

Prophets were known to be false if they led people away from the true God (Deut 13) or their words did not come to pass (Deut 18:21–22). The rabbis allowed that prophets might temporarily suspend a teaching of the law the way rabbis themselves would, but if they denied the law itself or advocated idolatry, they were false prophets. Jesus teaches that if they do not live right, they are false (Mt 7:21–23). Cf. Luke 6:43–45.1

1 Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2014), 63.

I want you to key in on what Jesus is saying. These false prophets do everything they can to *look innocent, Godly, wise, helpful, etc.* But what are they inwardly? Wolves. They mascarade as one who belongs to God, but inwardly have evil intentions.

Many of you know Dave Fix, who was on staff here for nearly 20 years before his retirement two years ago. He would always say, “it’s easy to spot a false prophet.” Really? How so? “Because they go after the sheep.”

Look at, as Jesus calls, the fruit of their lives. Do they guard the sheep, or attack them? Do they turn the sheep against each other? This is the “fruit” of their lives, because a tree can only grow the fruit of what it is. Jesus is saying “pay attention to the fruit,” because this is a clue as to what is going on inside of their heart.

10 Key Concepts

Heart

The heart is the inner control center of a person’s desires, thoughts, motives, and affections.

Matthew 5:21–22, 27–28; 6:21

False prophets will teach doctrines:

That “tickle your ears,”

The gospel requires no repentance

The scriptures cannot be trusted

The essentials of the faith are matters of interpretation

You can follow Jesus and do whatever you want (including sin)

These are meant to give you a false sense of security in order to stay on the wide road. Their words drip with deception, their hearts reveal the evil of the flesh, and their personal goal is to build their own Kingdom on earth (rather than to pray for God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven!).

Some Key Questions

Who are their mentors? (Who influenced them? Tim Witaker saying an atheist taught him more about Christianity then any of his pastors growing up)

How do they handle money? (Preachers ‘n sneakers)

Who celebrates their teachings? (Are non-Christians are celebrating their teachings, for example)

Do they just want a platform, or do they want to serve?

I want you to know that whether you are aware of it or not, I am alert for wolves. God is at work at Bethel Church, and when the Lord begins to bring in a harvest, the Enemy increases his activity as well.

TRANS: Be watchful, because these false prophets are clever. They come dressed as sheep. But Jesus gives a strict warning about their end:

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

False prophets use Jesus’ name, but do not belong to Him.

Matthew 7:21-23

There are two basic views of verses 21-23.

View 1: Jesus is making an application to all disciples. “Not everyone” refers to any person who claimed to follow the name of Christ and did mighty works is actually a disciple of the Kingdom. “I never knew you” refers to a relationship that was never had. People should not rely on their own works as evidence of a relationship with Jesus.

View 2: Jesus is making a final point about the wide road and false prophets. “Not everyone” refers to those who are wolves in sheep’s clothing, but claim to be prophets. You know they by their fruits, yet some of their fruits may literally be miracles! Jesus is claiming that even if someone is doing miracles in His name, that does not guarantee that they are from the Father.

I hold to view 2, as it most faithfully flows in the context. Jesus does not switch who he is addressing until verse 24: “everyone then who hears these words of mine…” referring to everyone presently hearing him preach, or reading centuries later.

Craig Evans affirms:

Matthew 7:21–23—Taken in context, those who say “Lord, Lord” are among the false prophets who hope to lead the church astray and even plunder it (cf. Matt. 7:15–20). They will have prophesied in Jesus’ name and will have cast out demons in his name; yet they never really were true members of the church (as their fruits gave evidence); in the day of judgment they will be cast out.1

1 Craig A. Evans, The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew–Luke, ed. Craig A. Evans and Craig A. Bubeck, First Edition (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2003), 144.

Apparently it was a common thing for people to cast out demons. We see it in several odd places in the New Testament:

During Jesus’ ministry his disciples complain: “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name” (Mark 9:38 = Luke 9:49). In the book of Acts we hear of a bizarre episode in which “some of the Jewish exorcists,” “seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest,” were attempting exorcisms in the name of Jesus: “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches” (Acts 19:13–14). The evil spirit recognized the name of Jesus, and the name of Paul as well, but he did not recognize the sons of Sceva (Acts 19:16).1

1 Craig A. Evans, The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew–Luke, ed. Craig A. Evans and Craig A. Bubeck, First Edition (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2003), 145.

Now why is the example given about demons? In our modern/materialistic mindset, we do not give much thought to the nonphysical. But to the ancient Jew, they had an expectation that the Messiah would come to wage war against the spiritual forces of evil: Satan and his demons. This was not something that was explicit in the Old Testament, but developed during the 400 year intertestamental period.

Here’s the point for us: even if people do things that we would expect that only people of God could do… that doesn’t necessarily mean they are of God. Remember our warning: Not every voice that sounds godly leads to God.

We need to be watchful and discerning.

Here’s two areas that you need to be watchful today:

High charisma, untrained, unvetted preachers/teachers.

These pastors may been incredibly talented and may see good fruit early in their ministry. But the cares of this world, the temptations of life, the allure of sin draws them away and you start to notice a change in them and their teaching. Jesus would call the soul of this person “thorny soil.” It’s difficult, because sometimes people have a positive affect on you spiritually, but you must admit when later on they drift from sound doctrine and a holy life.

This is not theory for me personally. There have been people in my life who have had a great impact on me only to fall away, or to be deceived into false teaching. But they also began spouting such false teaching themselves.

AI generated “pastors.”

Why bring this up? Because there is a person behind the content. At this point, roughly half of the internet is AI generated. I have personally come across AI content that was meant to deceive you into thinking it was:

a real pastor

a real church

real congregation

But what the “pastor” was teaching was happy-sounding false-doctrine. *Be Careful.* There is a person generating these clips in order to make money off of them.

In both of these areas, they use Jesus’ name but do not belong to Him.

How can you tell if someone is a false prophet? They go after the sheep.

TRANS: The stakes are high. There are two paths, and two destinations. False prophets make the wrong path look right, and they use Jesus’ name but do not belong to Him.

Application

Grow in authentic faith in order to spot a fake.

Last year at this time Pastor Zach taught through the book of Jude. That small letter is all about false teachers. In the aftermath of the explosive growth of the early church, false teachers began to crop up everywhere. How did Jude instruct his people to deal with this? Fight false teachers with good doctrine. Grow in authentic faith in order to spot a fake.

Like one who knows what an authentic $100 bill looks like, the fakes become obvious when you know the authentic. This means you must *know the authentic.*

Challenge people to become a reader.

In order to spot a fake, you have to equip yourself (or be equipped with our Sunday school ministry starting in a few weeks!) with what is authentic.

The local church can only do so much. You must take it on yourself to study scripture and read good books. Challenge the idea “i’m not a reader.” Yes you are. If you have to read something for your job, like a manual for repairing your combine, you will read it like your life depended on it.

Your theology is far more important than this year’s harvest, because Jesus is talking about eternity. The stakes could not be higher.

Read your Bible

Read classic books

Come to the Bible conference and purchase one of their recommended books

Read! There is no substitution for reading (or listening to audio books). When you read, you think… and when you think, you learn. If you don’t know where to start, I will have plenty of ideas for you.

TRANS: Grow in authentic faith in order to spot a fake… Why? —-

You bare responsibility for which path you take.

Although there are false prophets who seek to draw you way, you are ultimately responsible for which path you take.

(talk about the reality that there will be no one to blame if you ended up in Hell, not even the false prophets)

Who are you listening to? Who’s voice is are you following? What path are you on?

Conclusion : [text]

Pray

Talk About It/Think About It

Why do you think the wide path is more attractive to so many people?

What pressures can make the narrow path feel especially difficult in our culture or community?

What kinds of “fruit” should we examine when evaluating a teacher and that teacher’s influence?

Why are impressive spiritual works not sufficient proof that someone truly belongs to Jesus?

What habits can help you become more familiar with biblical truth and mature in discernment?

How can blaming a teacher, culture, church, or upbringing keep someone from responding personally to Jesus?

What path are you on? How do you know?