False Prophets

 Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves (Matthew 7:15).

A prophet is simply one who speaks God's word. A prophet today would be a priest, pastor, minister, evangelist, and missionary. What is the message of the false prophet? Jeremiah tells us - Thus, says the Lord of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, It shall be well with you; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you. But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds. (Jeremiah 22:16-17, 22).

The mark here of these false teachers is promising peace and prosperity to those who blindly toss God's will and word behind their backs and go on in their own twisted ways. The mark of these false prophets was they did not rebuke sin but blessed it! They did not use God's word to turn people from disobedience to faithful walking with Yahweh. They dress their lives up in Scripture, and they try to make it sound like they're in the fold of Christ.

"You will know them by their fruit..." (Matthew 7:16). People tend to miss hearing this verse. We are used to associating fruit with Galatians 5, the fruit of Spirit versus the works of the flesh. Certainly, evil living is not a good sign of a godly teacher but in the context here in St. Matthew, Jesus is actually warning against what happens in your life if you listen to the false teacher and believe what they say. Their fruit then should be understood as the fruit of their teaching being believed. This goes right back to what was cited in Jeremiah, where the result of the message being believed is people do not repent of their sins but instead are confirmed in their rebellion and despising of God's Word.

-Pr. Will Weedon