False Prophets
Matthew 7v15-20
16th May 2025
As we saw last time, in verses 13-14 Jesus said:
Matthew 7v13-14
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads
to destruction, and many enter through it.
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find
it."
He was urging us to make good choices about which gate we enter and which road we follow, because the choices we make will determine where we end up for all eternity. Now he says:
Matthew 7v15
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly
they are ferocious wolves."
We can apply this teaching to false teachers as well as false prophets. Both claim to be speaking the word of God when they're not. False prophets and teachers make it more difficult for people to enter through the narrow gate and to follow the narrow road.
This saying of Jesus has become a well-known metaphor, "a wolf in sheep's clothing". A wolf is not evil, but it's a wolf, not a sheep. It does what wolves do. And it's a very dangerous and foolhardy thing to mistake a wolf for a sheep, even if it looks like one. Wolves destroy sheep and scatter the flock.
Some false prophets and teachers are not knowingly doing Satan's work for him, and may take great offence if you suggest they are, but they do great damage to the flock of God's people. A false prophet or teacher is inspired (if that's the right word) either by demonic forces or by his own flesh, or both, not by God. False prophets and teachers can be motivated by intellectual pride, or financial greed or insecurity, or by a desire to be popular, or a desire to conform to worldly thinking. True prophets and teachers are motivated by love for God and the Bible.
False prophets and teachers come to you in sheep’s clothing They appear at first to be harmless, even lovable. But this is a facade. Underneath their disguise, they are ferocious wolves. This does not mean that they intend to do us harm. Their intention is to teach what they believe to be true rather than to teach what the Bible says. They think they know better than the Bible. They ignore parts of the Bible - effectively tearing it into pieces. They misinterpret the Bible by making it seem to agree with what they think, rather than allowing the Bible to change what they think (that is, repenting). Thus they reduce the Bible to the role of reinforcing what they already believe. And they teach others to do the same.
A false prophet or teacher will make it harder for you to find the small gate. If, despite the falsehoods he speaks, you do find it and are born again, his falsehoods will make it harder for you to stay on the narrow road, living like a Christian. His falsehoods will take away your joy, your peace, and your assurance that you are truly saved. So watch out!
This is a serious matter. If we welcome a false prophet or teacher into our church or into our lives, we will probably think we're being loving and welcoming. In truth, we're being foolish. In verse 6, Jesus told us "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces." Do not welcome a false prophet or teacher. As we saw in our studies of verses 1-6, we are to judge people in terms of discernment, or assessment, not in terms of condemning anybody. Nevertheless, it is godly and right to exclude some people from the church because of the damage they would do if we didn't.
Church leaders are called by God to protect the churches they serve. When Paul took his leave of the elders of the church at Ephesus, he told them to:
Acts 20v28
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made
you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own
blood.
He then explained:
Acts 20v29-30a
I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not
spare the flock.
Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to
draw away disciples after them.
So be on your guard!
Just as our leaders are called to protect the church from false prophets and teachers, surely we are also responsible before God for protecting ourselves and our families from them.
Jesus gives us a very common-sense test for which people are false prophets and teachers:
Matthew 7v16-20
"By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn
bushes, 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."
I think we would all agree that the test of a good apple tree is: does it bear good apples? If an apple tree continued over time to produce inedible apples, the owner would cut it down and replace it with another. Jesus says we can judge people by their fruit. The fruit of a person's life consists of both his actions and his words. If a person's life shows little sign of repentance and godliness, or if there is clear, major sin in his life - especially the sin of financial greed - don't listen to him. If his words don't accord with what the Bible teaches, don't listen to him.
2 John 7-11
For many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the
flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the
antichrist.
Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be
rewarded fully.
Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does
not have God. Whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the
Son.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him
into your house or welcome him.
Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
If his words don't savour of Christ, if they not loving, edifying and healthy, don't listen to him:
2 Corinthians 14v3
... the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening,
encouraging and comfort.
If he predicts a future even that does not happen, or that does not happen in the way he predicts, don't listen to him. We need not apply the Old Testament sanction to a false prophet, but we must protect ourselves from him:
Deuteronomy 18v20-22
... a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not
commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be
put to death.
You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not
been spoken by the Lord?"
If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place
or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet
has spoken presumptuously...
Finally, we must not ignore this painful part of Jesus's message:
Matthew 7v19
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the
fire.
Every Christian has been given the Holy Spirit, who works in us to sanctify us. That is, to make us holy. Thus every true Christian will bear good fruit. We get things wrong sometimes. We rebel sometimes, we sin sometimes but - increasingly - a true Christian will become less sinful, more righteous. Each of us is becoming, as it were, a good tree. Anybody who claims to be a Christian but whose life and speech don't become holier over time is deceiving us, and probably himself. If he doesn't truly repent, he will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
How can we help such false prophets while protecting the flock of God? perhaps the answer lies in:
Titus 3v10
Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After
that, have nothing to do with him.