Steering Clear of Savage Sheep: Identifying the Fruits of Falsehood
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There’s a Word of Caution — (Vs. 15-16a)
There’s a Word of Caution — (Vs. 15-16a)
Jesus begins here with a Word of Caution about false prophets and then He proceeds to tell us how we can determine who they are.
I want to start by simply defining what a false prophet is.
False Prophet comes from the Greek word — (pseudoprophētēs) — It’s a compound word deriving from “prophetes” meaning prophet and “pseudo” meaning false.
It designates a person whose prophetic role is illegitimate or used for deception.
And the best way I know how to explain to you what a false prophet is, is to show you a couple in the New Testament.
I want to begin by looking in the Book of Acts Chapter 8 and Verses 5-25.
Here we see a man by the name of Simon. And the Bible tells us that ole Simon, before Philip had come to Samaria, used sorcery to bewitch (amaze, astound) the people and claimed that he was some great one.
He had the people fooled into thinking even that he was some great one of God the Bible says here.
Does that ring a bell?
Many cults begin this way. Their leader, whomever it may be, claims that they have received some great revelation by God and that they are being used by God to do some great and wonderful thing.
And the Bible says here that for the longest time he had the fooled.
But then, Philip steps on the stage, a real man of God, and begins to do miracles in the name of God and the people began to turn to the true disciple of God and from Simon.
And the Bible even goes as far as to tell us that Simon even believed and was baptized.
And I found it very interesting here that the Bible says that Simon continued with Philip and wondered beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
It’s almost as if he was curious as to how Philip was performing the signs and miracles that he was and from the outside looking in, I see a man who was curious not for curiosities sake but for a deeper personal reason.
And we see that in the verses that follow. The Bible goes on to tell us that when the Apostles at Jerusalem had heard that the people of Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to check things out.
Peter and John come on the scene and prayed that they might receive the Holy Ghost and they laid their hands upon them and they received the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Then, the Bible says here that when Simon saw this…his true colors came out!
He tells Peter that he will pay him to have this same power that whoever he laid hands on might receive the Holy Ghost.
You can just see the old Simon coming out can’t you?
That same person, who before believing, used black magic to perform astonishing feats.
You can just see that deep down, that feeling of greed still lies within and that the only reason he wants this gift that the apostles have is so that he too can travel around and perform these wonderful miracles but…for personal gain!
The funny part is that Peter had Simon pegged as soon as he asked though.
Peter says to him...
20 But Peter replied, “May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought!
21 You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right with God.
22 Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts,
23 for I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin.”
Peter seen right through Simons charade. He could tell that he only wanted this power for personal gain!
Peter says, “For your heart is not right with God!”
Can I tell you this morning that a false prophet’s heart will not be right with God. It will focused on personal gain and not Kingdom gain.
Their not worried about what they can do for the Kingdom of God but rather what the Kingdom of God can do for them!
And Peter tells Simon this in a around about way and says, “friend you need to repent and ask God to forgive you of your evil thoughts for I can see you are full of bitter jealousy and held captive by sin!”
What I see here in Simon is someone who had religion but no relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Simon was still lost!
You say preacher but he believed and was baptized the Bible says?
Yes, but the Bible also says in the Book of James that even the devils believe in God and tremble!
Here was a man who had went through the motions. He had gotten his name on the role. He might have even thrown some money in the offering plate at church for the Saints at Jerusalem but inwardly he was lost as last years Easter egg!
He was in it for his own glory and not the glory of God and that my friend is one of the easiest tell tale signs of a false prophet.
They’re in it for me, myself and not the Father, Son and Holy Ghost!
And you can even see it here that he asks Peter to pray for him. He wouldn’t even pray for himself, he asks Peter to!
Simon still needed Jesus.
And I pray that everyone here this morning has a personal relationship with Jesus but if you don’t, if you’ve went through the motions but did it for the wrong reasons and never got what you really need, by all means get things right today!
Repent as Peter said and ask God to save you because I assure you that your name on a roll and money in the offering plate won’t be good enough to get you through those pearly gates one day!
So, we’ve seen a few false prophet traits right here with ole Simon the sorcerer.
Now, flip a few pages on over with me to Acts Chapter 13 and look Verses 6-11 if you will.
Here, we find a man by the name of Bar-jesus which means “Son of Joshua” and I want to read to you what the Bible says about that man.
Barnabas and Saul had just been chosen by the Holy Ghost to go and share the gospel of Jesus wherever He sent them and the Bible says they had set out and began preaching in all these different places and then it picks up in Verse 6 and says...
Acts 13:6–11 (KJV 1900)
6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus: [sorcerer — practicer of black magic and witchcraft]
7 Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. [Now, Sergius Paulus was the Roman proconsul of Cyprus and he had became a Christian because of Paul and Barnabas’ teaching and the Bible says he was a prudent man which means he was intelligent & learned]
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. [the word withstood means to be hostile towards, to resist or oppose]
9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,
10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief [subtilty & mischief — full of trickery and deceit], thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? [pervert — mislead, cause to turn away]
11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
Now, I want you to look at this man, this false prophet and see some of the characteristics it points out here.
First, it tells us he was a sorcerer just like our last subject, Simon; someone who practiced black magic or witchcraft.
Now, I want to say that not every false prophet does this.
These two we are reading about today did but there are false prophets out there nowadays and they preach something awful close to what we believe and it will sound very near the same but if you listen closely and I mean very closely, you will be able to decipher the difference.
Jesus said in...
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Then it tells us that this man, Sergius Paulus, desired to hear the Word of God but this false prophet withstood Paul and Barnabas seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith!
Listen to me, a false prophet only tells a half truth!
And when the whole truth stands to come to light they will try to shy away from it and turn those following them from it as well!
They will even get hostile if you tread on their turf and question their teachings!
Beware of false prophets!
Beware of those teaching what they want you to hear and not what God wants you to hear!
Beware of those who put their own “spin” on the Word of God!
Beware of those who don’t like being questioned about their beliefs and get defensive instead of backing it up with the Word of God!
Beware of those who preach anything besides Christ Jesus and Him crucified for a lost and dying world!
Beware of those who preach anything besides salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ!
Beware of those who tell you that you are good enough, or that you can have anything and everything your heart desires if you buy into what they’re selling!
Riches, happiness, health and wealth…it can all be yours if you believe what I preach!
That is false doctrine at it’s finest and sadly, many buy into that way of thinking and are led astray every single day!
Joel Osteen
Bar-Jesus didn’t want Paul and Barnabas there speaking truth so he withstood them trying to turn away the good Sergius Paulus!
The main goal of a false prophet is turn your attention away from the truth to a half truth!
Adrian Rogers used to say, “when you take part of the truth and try to make part of the truth all of the truth, that part of the truth becomes an untruth” and “a half truth is a whole lie!”
Bar-Jesus withstood the truth and because he didn’t want the truth, he also didn’t want anyone he was affiliated with to know the truth either!
Think about all of these cults nowadays. They only want you to believe what they believe and if someone tries to say any different, then a withstanding as the Bible says here begins to take place!
They get hostile!
Democratic Party
And then Paul gives us some help in determining what a false prophet looks like.
He says to Bar-Jesus, “O full of all subtilty and mischief, you child of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?”
A false prophet is someone who is full of deceit and trickery.
Can I tell you that some of these false prophets nowadays you can just see the deceit and trickery in their eyes! It just oozes out of them their so full of it!
And the worst part of all is that people are so enamored by it and drawn away by it…when Paul says here, “will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” that word pervert if you will remember means to mislead or turn away.
These false prophets of today seek to turn people away from the truth of God’s Word.
They seek to twist and turn it to meet their agendas, which more often times than not, lead to monetary gains for themselves.
Paul told Titus in...
11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.
12 One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
False prophets are children of the devil and enemies of righteousness and Jesus says to beware of them!
He follows this up by giving us two determining factors when picking a false prophet out in the crowd.
First, He tells us that we can spy them out by the clothes they wear and then secondly, by the fruits they bare!
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
One writer said…(Barnes Notes — Albert Barnes)
Matthew & Mark Chapter 7
The sheep is an emblem of innocence, sincerity, and harmlessness. To come in sheep’s clothing is to assume the appearance of sanctity and innocence, when the heart is evil.
Ravening wolves. Rapacious; voraciously devouring; hungry even to rage. Applied to the false teachers, it means that they assumed the appearance of holiness in order that they might the more readily get the property of the people. They were full of extortion and excess. See Mat. 23:25.
Jesus said in...
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
False prophets appear one way outwardly but inwardly are something totally different.
I love what Chuck Swindoll said about this section...
Matthew 1–15 7:15–20
Though they look like soft, gentle sheep on the outside, their true nature is that of ravenous wolves. They appear with soothing smiles, sweet words, and caring attitudes. They’re approachable, thoughtful, interesting, charming, suave, and clever. Charismatic, attractive, and toting an impressive résumé of education and experience, these “sheep” have qualities that are merely fleece-deep! Peel back the fake veneer and you’ll find a vicious monster that wants to gobble you up! The apostle Paul similarly develops this theme in 2 Corinthians 11:13–15, where he writes, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”
The art of falsehood of course is to appear genuine! — Charles Price
And that’s exactly what false prophets do! They look the part, they speak the part, they play the part, but deep down inside their working so that their own hidden agendas might be accomplished.
Then Jesus says not only can you tell them apart by what they wear but also by the fruits they bear!
“Ye shall know them by their fruits!”
I don’t want to spend a lot of time here because we’ve spent the last little bit now looking at two different false prophets in the New Testament and talked about the fruits that they bore.
The main thing I want to point out is this…fruit doesn’t blossom on a tree overnight now does it?
Sometimes it takes some time for fruit to come to fruition!
So also does it sometimes take time to see the fruit of a false prophet come to light!
It may be a year, two years, three years but sooner or later that ravenous wolf buried down deep inside is going to want to get out and when it does, those fruits of falsehood will begin to flourish and you shall know of what sort they truly are!
There’s a Word of Caution from our Lord and then there’s also a Word of Comprehension which we’re going to move through pretty quickly.
There’s a Word of Comprehension — (Vs. 16b-18)
There’s a Word of Comprehension — (Vs. 16b-18)
Jesus uses an illustration here to help us see what exactly it is he’s wanting us to learn.
“Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”
Someone tell me, what do grapes grow on? A vine right?
And do any of you know what figs grow on? They grow on a tree.
A thorn bush produces thorns and a thistle bush produces thistles.
A grape vine produces grapes and a fig tree produces figs.
What Jesus is trying to get across here is that no matter how much that thorn bush would like to, it cannot produce grapes.
And no matter how bad that thistle bush would like to produce figs it is impossible!
To the flip side, a grape vine cannot produce thorns and a fig tree cannot produce thistles.
Matthew 7:17–18
17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.
18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.
A false prophet may be able to counterfeit a good fruit, he may be able to fake it for a while but eventually he’s going to bear the fruit of a false prophet because that’s what he is by nature!
You can only fake it until you make it for so long!
Eventually the truth is going to come out!
In the parallel passage to Matthew’s in the Book of Luke it says this...
Luke 6:43–45
43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Matthew 12:33–35
33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Someone has once said whatever’s down in the well will come up in the bucket and that’s a very good way to spy out a false prophet.
Eventually what’s in control on the inside will take control of the outside and by their fruits you will know them!
Which brings us to our final point here this morning.
There’s a Word of Caution, a Word of Comprehension and finally a Word in Conclusion.
There’s a Word in Conclusion — (Vs. 19-20)
There’s a Word in Conclusion — (Vs. 19-20)
Matthew 7:19–20
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Eventually, all that is hidden will be brought to light.
Those sheep skins will be torn away and the ravenous wolves will be seen for what they truly are and Jesus said every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit will be hewn down and cast into the fire!
The Bible says in...
5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
Beware of false prophets; by their fruits you shall know them.
The disciple whom Jesus loved, John, told us in...
18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
Now, I want to take just a second here and go back to a verse we skipped over a few weeks ago.
Jesus said back up in Verse 6...
Matthew 7:6
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
And we’re talking here about how to know what a false prophet is and the character traits they will exude.
What Jesus was saying here in this verse is this...
If there’s someone you know is lost and you try to share the gospel with them and they begin to get upset with you about it or don’t want anything to do with it, just stop and move on to something else.
Arguing will not fix anything but rather chances are it will only make things worse.
If by their fruits, their character, you have discerned that they are lost and they don’t want what you’re trying to share just let it go and pray for them.
There’s nothing more that you can do other than pray that God would soften their heart.
And if He does, chances are, they’ll come back to you and talk with you about it because you started that conversation with them in the beginning.
I wanted to go back and cover that because this lesson is all about discernment.
In the beginning of the Chapter Jesus warns us about superficial judging but here in the latter part of the chapter He tells us how to discern those who know God truly verses someone who doesn’t.
It’s deeper than the skin. It’s deeper than race or background. It’s deeper than status.
It’s all about what’s going on on the inside.
And as we come to a close, I do want to take a moment here before we finish and say false prophets aren’t the only ones who are known by their fruit.
This same principle can be applied to all of us.
What kind of tree are you? Are you a good tree or a corrupt tree?
Today’s lesson has not so much to do with the fruit as it does the tree for however goes the tree will also be how goes the fruit.
If the tree is good it will produce good fruit but if the tree is corrupt bad fruit is sure to follow.
You see, I can’t see your heart but God can and God knows whether the fruit you’re producing is genuine or not.
God knows whether or not you have a relationship with His Son or if you only have religion.
And one day those outside layers will be peeled back and all the world will know if you truly have accepted His Son as your own or if the fruit you were producing was just counterfeit…look alike fruit.
I pray this morning that every person sitting here has a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ but if you don’t, won’t you come today and make Him Lord of your life?
Lay your desires, your agendas, your life at the foot of the cross and makes His desires your desires, His wants your wants, His life your life.
Choose Jesus and choose Him today.