Let's go to the Lord as we come to the preaching of God's Word. Lord God, we pray that you'd cause us to yearn to hear your law. And we ask now that you would speak to us, that you, by your voice, would instruct us and show us the way that we ought to go, that you would warn us and comfort us and care for us. And we ask these things in Christ's name, amen. Please turn with me to the Gospel of Matthew and chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7, and we pick up the reading in verse 15. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them." That ends the reading of God's Holy Word. As we've been going through this portion of Matthew's Gospel, we saw last week that there are two ways of living. They were represented by two gates, and the ways beyond those gates, which lead to two different destinations. There is the way of life, and then there is the way of destruction. And the way that we are on matters. Now there are many that are on the broad way, and it is obvious to them that they are on the broad way, and it is obvious to everyone else that they are on the broad way. They may not recognize that it is a way to destruction, but they want nothing to do with Christ. They want nothing to do with His narrow gate or difficult way. Jesus, in the passage that we saw last week, was warning them, warning them of everlasting destruction. And His call for them is to repent and enter by the narrow gate. However, Jesus' burden in the remainder of His sermon, and this is really the application of the Sermon on the Mount that we began last week and we're continuing in, His burden moving forward is primarily for others than the sorts of people I've just been talking about. It's for those who have entered in by the wide gate and are on the broad way, but think they have entered in the narrow gate and are on the difficult way. Those who think they are believers, God's people, but are really on the broad road to destruction. hypocrites, false believers, temporary believers, or whatever you want to call them. Jesus wants to alert these people that there are two great dangers that will face them. There is a danger that they might listen to and follow hypocrites. And there is a danger that they themselves might actually be hypocrites. Before you think that this sermon doesn't apply to you, after all, it's an evening service crowd, we're the faithful, as it were. Before you think that this sermon doesn't apply to you, remember that we are told elsewhere in Scripture, let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall. And in 2 Corinthians 13, Examine yourself as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. That doesn't need to be a negative thing. Actually, in the context where Paul is writing there, he anticipates the result of self-examination being a positive thing. Right after he says, test yourself, he says, do you not know yourself that Jesus Christ is in you? He's anticipating that as these Corinthians test themselves, and we know actually the Corinthians were quite a bit of a mess, but nonetheless, Paul is anticipating that as these Corinthians test themselves that they will see that Christ is in them. But nonetheless, there is a call to examine ourselves for all of us, all those who name the name of Christ. And so this burden to make sure that we are not hypocrites was the burden that Christ had for those who were gathered in front of him 2,000 years ago in Palestine. It is his concern for his church today. And tonight I want to focus you on the first of those questions I mentioned a moment ago. Am I listening to or following hypocrites? Am I listening to or following hypocrites? And I want to do that from verses 15 to 20. And then next week we will look at that second question, am I myself a hypocrite? And that will be from verses 21 to 29. In verses 15 to 20, Christ gives this command, beware of false prophets, beware of false prophets. And His particular emphasis is on false prophets that are not immediately obvious, and He gives us a crucial test. that we are to apply as we interact with those who would teach God's Word. So my title tonight is simply Beware of False Prophets, and my points are deceptive hypocrites, two, the key test, and three, why does it matter? So, deceptive hypocrites, the Ketas, and why does it matter? As we hear Jesus warning, beware of false prophets, there are two points to note. The first is that here we can equate prophets and teachers. And I say that because that's the way we see the New Testament, even itself, speaking about these things. In 2 Peter chapter 2 we read, but there were also false prophets among the people, that's talking about God's Old Testament people, even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies even denying the Lord who bought them and bring on themselves swift destruction. The canon of scripture is closed. God no longer brings and reveals his word through prophets who are given direct revelation to speak of things future and to, in an inspired way, apply the word of God written. But we can apply Jesus' teaching here in the same way that Peter compares Old Testament prophets to the teachers of his day. Secondly, Jesus' particular focus in speaking of false teachers is a warning against deceptive false teachers, a warning against deceptive false teachers. There are some men who are clearly false prophets. They preach clear heresy, and their lives are clearly inconsistent with a Christian profession. But this is not always the case. Paul, writing to Timothy, said, some men's sins are clearly evident preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later. And Jesus is particularly focused on those false teachers whose sins follow later, or not immediately obvious. And this is why I've entitled this point, Deceptive Hypocrites, Deceptive Hypocrites. The outstanding characteristic of the sorts of people that Jesus is talking about here is that they are in sheep's clothing, but are inwardly ravenous wolves. Sheep, of course, is a wonderful biblical picture all throughout scripture for God's people. These men appear to be true Christians. They appear to be true teachers. But that's just on the surface. It is an outward casing, just like clothes. You can put clothes off, you can take them off. They are an outward casing to your body. They're not essentially a part of you. And these teachers, they put on a look that makes them look like true Christians, look like true teachers, but that is not who they really are. They are really ravenous wolves. They eat sheep and they have a large appetite for sheep. That's what wolves do. They prey on sheep and ravenous wolves are ones that have a large appetite for that. What does it mean to eat in the context of false teachers? Well, it means to use for their own advantage. That's what we saw back in Ezekiel. That's what the leaders of God's people were doing. They were teaching and ruling in such a way that they enriched themselves. but the people were oppressed. And that can happen in our day in terms of money and finance. Teachers can teach in such a way that they literally enrich themselves while they take advantage of their congregations. But it can also happen in more subtle ways in terms of position and authority. A man uses his teaching position to build himself up, to build up his own empire, his influence and his control over a congregation or over people. It's all for him and it's at the expense of those whom he is teaching. And it is not only for their own advantage, but it leads away from Christ and truth, ultimately. It's like in Ezekiel chapter 22, her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain. And if you remember, the context of Christ's sermon here is the Pharisees and other religious leaders who were doing just that. In another place, Christ says that they tie up heavy burdens, that they do not bear themselves, but they place them on the people. They were taking advantage of those who were poor and vulnerable. And they were all about outwardly following all these standards, but they were doing so in a self-centered way. More broadly, The problem with these teachers is that there is a disconnect between how they present and who they really are. So they don't only take advantage and not only, in the final instance, lead away from Christ and truth, but there is a disconnect between how they present and what they really are. They need not intend to take advantage, though sometimes they may. They need not intend to hurt in some instances. But the reality is that there is this discontinuity between how they present and who they really are. are. They present as if they are true Christians or wise guides, but the internal reality is different. They lack integrity. And this manifests itself in various ways, various non-obvious ways. Consider some possible ways that this could manifest itself. It could manifest itself by teaching that has very little doctrine. It's just sort of amorphous. It never really presents God's Word in a strong, doctrinally formulated way. It could also be seen by teaching which is good as far as it goes, but It doesn't say crucial things. So perhaps the stereotypical example of this is a teaching that is very free with the grace and love of God, but never talks about His greatness, His authority, His wrath, and His judgment. It's good as far as it goes. It says true things, but it leaves out important realities. It could also present as wrong emphases, teachers who are all about their hobby horses, all about their particular doctrines or things, and not about the Word of God as a whole. could look like teaching that is reluctant to apply God's Word to the need of the hour. So, for instance, a teaching that might be rock-solid on the Trinity, rock-solid on justification by faith alone, but doesn't want to apply God's Word to the particular questions of our day, who we are as men and women, things like sexuality and these sorts of things. It is rock-solid on certain things, but it's reluctant to apply God's Word to where it's being particularly attacked in our context and time. It could also look like teachers who say, well, I agree with all these truths, of course I do, but I just don't want to publicly preach about these hard, controversial issues. So in their personal, private lives, they would sign up to truths that are controversial in our day and age according to God's word, but they would never teach about it. Or it could also look like teaching that takes biblical terminology and fills it with the meaning of the world. One example of this that we've seen a lot of in recent years is justice. The word, the terminology of justice is all over the scriptures. We as God's people should love justice, should be seeking justice, should care greatly about justice. God is a God of justice. But what many teachers have done in our day and age is they've taken that term, almost like an empty bucket, And then they've taken worldly ideas of justice that are not really about justice at all, but are about oppressor groups and victim groups. And they have taken that worldly definition of justice and they've poured it into the bucket called justice, and they say, this is what the Bible says about justice. So what they're doing is they're not actually teaching biblical truth, they're teaching what the world says, and they're presenting it as the Word of God. They're presenting it as if it has the force of the Word of God. These are various ways that false teaching can manifest itself. But at the bottom of this, It normally comes from those who have a disconnect between how they present and what they really are. Because a man, a life, a heart that is truly captured by God and His Word is a slave to that word and doesn't seek to do what he wants or what is most convenient with God's word, but submits himself to God and his word. And when that happens, most of these things iron themselves out. We are to test the spirits. We need to be examining teaching by the scriptures, like the Bereans. As Paul went out and preached, he went to Berea and he preached, and they went and they examined his preaching by the scriptures. We need to be like that. And Jesus here gives us a key criteria to use as we examine teaching and teachers, and that is what he says twice here in various forms, you will know them by their fruit. You will know them by their fruit. And that's my next point. So, We've seen deceptive hypocrites, but now let's look at this key criteria, this key test that Christ gives us. According to Jesus, the key test that shows if a teacher is genuine or a deceptive hypocrite, a genuine teacher or a wolf in sheep's clothing, is their fruit. That's the key test. What does their fruit look like? What is inside? Jesus' basic point is that ultimately what is inside will come out. Ultimately, what is inside will come out. Look with me at our passage. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. What he's saying is, is ultimately we act according to what we are inside. The inside flows out. And so the place to look is at the fruit. So what does bad fruit look like and what does good fruit look like? That's what I want to spend a few minutes with you thinking about. What does bad fruit look like, first of all? Well, concerning God, God is not the center where there is bad fruit. A cause might be the center, maybe it's a particular doctrine, maybe it's a personality, but ultimately God is not the center. Concerning man, Man is the center. There is, at the basis of false teaching, a fear of man, a prioritization of what man thinks. And that can look different in various circumstances, but ultimately there is a prioritization of what man thinks. It can be catering to more liberal ideas or even conservative ideas, but it's a prioritization of what man thinks. There's often a weak view of sin. In terms of integrity, as we look at teachers over time, there will be question marks about consistency. There will be different standards applied to the teacher and other people. He will apply one standard to himself and a different standard to others. In terms of relationship with the world, a false teacher will want to curry favour with the world, or He will be all about difference from the world, but it won't be out of a love for Christ. It won't be out of a love for Christ likeness, but it will be out of an us versus them sort of attitude, so creating two different camps. In terms of holiness, bad fruit looks like a focus on holiness that's primarily outward. Now, of course, we need to be concerned with outward things when it comes to holiness, but a focus that's primarily on the outward things, on rules and regulations, like the Pharisees in the context of what Jesus is preaching to. Fruit of Fulb's teaching in terms of effect on people is that it draws people to a teacher or a cause, but not to God in Christ. It crushes those who seem unimportant to the cause or the leader, and it leaves people spiritually needy. The bad fruit of a false teacher often shows itself in his use of strength. It is out of control. It often shows itself in how he handles critique. He takes critique as attack. And it often shows itself in terms of perspective. there is a heavy weight towards temporal things without considering that which is eternal. So if those are some indications of bad fruit, what are some indications of good fruit? In terms of God, there is a sense that God is at the centre in the teaching and the life of one who bears good fruit. He is taken up with God, he wants to talk about God being around A genuine teacher leads those around him to God. In terms of man, there is a recognition of the sinfulness of sin. There is an emphasis on the need for grace in Christ, the inability of us to save ourself in any way. There is a lack of fear of man. There is an integrity about a teacher with good fruit. You always get the same person. There's consistency. In terms of relationship with the world, there will be a recognition that there is a true difference between God's people and the world. There will be a promotion of quiet boldness and consistency in the face of the world's pressure, but not a sort of ostentatious difference, but rather a bold, quiet consistency. In terms of holiness, the primary focus will be on the heart and what is inside flowing out into outward things. So it's both together, but it's first the heart and then that which flows out. In terms of effects on people, it builds up, it strengthens good teaching and teachers draw unto Christ. their strength is strength under control according to God's Word. They are open to critique based on God's Word therefore, and their perspective is on the things of here and now, but things here and now in light of that which is everlasting. So again, it's both of those things together. They are marked by the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is a humility about them. And what I mean by humility is a God-centeredness, a desire to take all that they have and all that they are and lay it at God's feet and work for His glory. Humility isn't weakness, but it is a life submitted to the glory of God. The key test of a teacher is fruit. And we should be looking for these characteristics of bad fruit and good fruit as we receive teaching and interact with teachers. Well, why does all of this matter? Well, it matters because teaching has temporal and eternal consequences. teaching really matters. And that's something that needs to be said in our day and age. You know, I think sometimes we struggle, and maybe there's some legitimacy here, but we struggle sometimes to understand why some of our heroes, the reformers perhaps, would have supported the death penalty for false teaching. How does that possibly make sense? Well, think about this. If you understand the potency and the power of teaching, if you understand that teaching has real consequences in the here and now, and also could affect whether someone ends up with God communing with him through Christ by the power of the Spirit, or in hell forever and ever and ever, then there is nothing of greater significance than teaching And a false teacher is not only putting someone in danger in this life, but what is much greater, he is putting people in danger forever and ever and ever. There could be no possible greater crime than false teaching. So in that context, it begins to make a little bit more sense why some of these men would have supported something like the death penalty for false teaching. But wherever we land on that, it underlines the significance, the power, the importance of teaching. It has the most profound effects upon us. And that's why Christ says, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Those who teach falsely, those who are not consistent will face the wrath of God forever and ever because they have taken what is precious and powerful and misused it in a way that is extremely dangerous. They have led others to the unspeakably horrible fate of hell forever and ever and ever. They've also had temporal effects on people. False teaching will lead to Christians who are weak, who struggle to know their God, who struggle to know comfort in Him, who struggle to be those who conquer over sin. they will lead to people who have lives full of sorrow and heartache. Lives full of worry and joylessness. Whether that is because they don't know God through good doctrine or because they have only been fed dead orthodoxy. This matters because there are real, serious, terrible consequences in this life and in the next. It also matters because teaching is everywhere. in our day and age. Almost like no other age before us, there is teaching everywhere. You have books, many of you, all over your houses, and they're readily available, and you can buy more and more and more. But it's not only that, right? You have your phones, and your televisions, and your computers, and at your fingertips is literally loads and loads of teaching on the internet and other places. It's all around you and so it matters because teaching is so available and therefore we need to be able to discern, to beware of false teachers because we're bombarded by teaching all the time and it is available to us like never before. What we see here is Christ's focus on deceptive teachers, this key test of fruit, and we see that this is something that is incredibly important because of the consequences and because of our particular circumstances in this age which is so full of teaching. So what do we do with this? Well, the first thing I would exhort you to is to value doctrine, to know true doctrine, to know scriptural doctrine, to see that this really matters, truth really matters. To value the new birth. It's not enough to know many things, but we have to be made new by the Spirit of God. That involves us, that's true of us, but it's also true of teachers. It's not enough for someone simply to know a lot of stuff and to be able to communicate it even well, but a true teacher needs to be new by the Spirit of God. I would exhort you to pray for ministers, pray for me, pray for the ministers of our denomination, pray for our church planting ministers, that we would be those who are full of integrity, those who present as we really are, those who are not deceptive in any way. Pray for those training for the ministry, that they would be consistent men. Pray for these things, but also know God's Word. listen to preaching humbly and critically. I don't mean you go around, you know, being super critical about every little thing, that there's a right humility in which we seek to sit under God's Word, but be a Berean, be comparing what you hear against the Word of God, against the good doctrine that you know. be teaching your children good doctrine. This is why the catechism is so important, because even as we're instructing our little ones on the catechism, they're having good doctrinal placeholders put in their minds. They may not fully understand it all, but as they grow, they'll be able to sit in sermons and instinctively know whether something is right or wrong, because they've got this whole body of doctrine in their head that they've memorized. Be careful what you listen to or what you read. Again, there's so much available, but be thoughtful and careful. Why Because these things really matter. Because they have massive, massive consequences. So value good doctrine. Pray for those who teach. Be humble but critical. Be careful. Because these things really matter. Let's pray. Lord God, we pray that you would help us to beware of false teachers. I pray that you would enable me to bear good fruit as I teach this congregation. And Lord God, we pray that we would take this with the dreadful, earnest seriousness that you do. that we would not see it as a light thing like our culture does, but that we would see truth and good teaching and integrity of teachers as something of the utmost importance. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.