Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing Matthew 7:15 – 20

Good morning from the Panhandle and welcome. I am glad you were able to drop by.

Last week I wrote about the two gates and two roads. Now the passage in the Book of Matthew known as "The Sermon on the Mount" has come to an end. Our Lord is giving the invitation. He bids us enter the narrow gate of salvation and walk the narrow way of the Christian life.

Salvation Army founder William Booth said, “I am of the opinion that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, and heaven without hell!”

Booth’s prophecy is becoming a reality more every day. But why? The answer is simple: there are many false prophets preaching a false religion. Carlyle once asked, “Can there be a more horrible object in existence than an eloquent man not speaking the truth?”

Before the attack now known as “The Battle of The Buldge” started, English-speaking German soldiers dressed in American uniforms went behind Allied lines to cause confusion by changing road signs and cutting telephone lines, as well as spreading false information. This deception not only caused chaos, but made many American suspicious of each other and rumors were spread quickly.

A man changing a road sign may cause inconvenience to drivers. One who labels poison as cough syrup may be responsible for murder. But one who alters religious truth can lead others to eternal doom!

Matthew 7:15-20

15 "Beware of false teachers who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are wolves and will tear you apart. 16 You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You need never confuse grapevines with thorn bushes or figs with thistles. 17 Different kinds of fruit trees can quickly be identified by examining their fruit. 18 A variety that produces delicious fruit never produces an inedible kind. And a tree producing an inedible kind can't produce what is good. 19 So the trees having the inedible fruit are chopped down and thrown on the fire. 20 Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit produced.

I. A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing.

Our Lord describes the false prophets as those who wear sheep’s clothing — they are deceptive. Shepherds wore sheepskins with the skin on the outside and the fleece on the inside to keep warm. The sheep were accustomed to the presence of the shepherd and could spot him by his sheepskin coat. But what would happen if a wolf could wear sheepskin? What would happen if another shepherd wore a sheepskin? In April of 2010, near Dillon Montana, two male wolves killed, or mortally injured 200 head of domestic sheep!

Our Lord, Christ Jesus said that false prophets are like wolves — ​ they are destructive. Ezekiel speaks of false prophets as “wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls” (22:27). Zephaniah describes false prophets as “evening wolves” which “gnaw not the bones till the morrow” (3:3). The apostle Paul said that “grievous wolves [would] enter in among you, not sparing the flock” (Acts 20:29).

II. Christian Beware!

Beware of false prophets who preach an easy religion. John MacArthur writes in his New Testament Commentary, False prophets talk much about the love of God but nothing of His holiness, much about people who are deprived but nothing about those who are depraved, much about God’s universal fatherhood of every human being but nothing about His unique fatherhood only of those who are His children through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, much about what God will give to us but nothing about obedience to Him, much about health and happiness but nothing about holiness and sacrifice. Their message is a message of gaps, the greatest gap of which leaves out the truth that saves.

Jeremiah speaks of false prophets who speak of “Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14). The followers of false prophets are satisfied when: They feel that their church is fulfilling its purpose, acting as a social outlet or a cultural center or as a boost to its members’ businesses. The followers of a false prophet are comfortable when: The false prophet preaches about self-gain, prestige, and self-satisfaction. He finds out what will be popular and preaches it. 3 For there is going to come a time when people won't listen to the truth but will go around looking for teachers who will tell them just what they want to hear. 4 They won't listen to what the Bible says but will blithely follow their own misguided ideas. (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

The true prophet is never popular with everyone because his preaching may border on offensive to some. His preaching steps on toes and no one likes their toes stepped on.

Beware of false prophets who push Christ Jesus into the background. The false prophet preaches a social gospel. He is bent on saving society, but he is not too interested in saving souls. When liberal theologians deny that people are lost what is left for them to preach? They look about them and observe social needs. They cry, “Social structures must be changed!” Doing this they overlook the individual whom Christ Jesus came to save, and they spend their time trying to save society.

Now don't get me wrong, I believe we should help our neighbors when we can, but if we just meet a physical need then we are just another social service. If we help someone and don't take the opportunity to tell them about the love of Christ we do them a disservice. False prophets deplore evangelicals, saying, “You are not interested in the whole man; you are interested only in his soul.” They denounce evangelism and classify all professional evangelists as modern-day Elmer Gantrys. They forget that in Christ Jesus “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,” (Colossians 2:9). They are never caught proclaiming that “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19).

 

A Man carrying a large basket of bread on his head cried to the crowd, “Bread! Bread!”

 

“What kind of bread do you have?” a woman asked.

“I have bread that costs money and bread that is free,” said the Christian merchant. He took his Bible and read the words of Christ Jesus, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” John 6:35).

Those who preach a social gospel of bread for the body are false prophets if they do not also proclaim that Christ Jesus is the bread for the soul.

Beware of false prophets who cast doubts upon the Bible. Christians should beware of any false prophet who makes little reference to the Bible. Some have no text for what they say — just philosophical discourses. The Christian should beware of any false prophet who quotes Scripture out of context to make it say what he wants it to say. This is why I am constantly telling the youth who come to our Wednesday Night Youth and to the members of the church I pastor at to check me by looking at the Scriptures themselves. Use a Bible or a Bible app on your cell phone, just read the Scriptures for yourself when the preacher is preaching. If you do this you are less likely to be led astray.

The Christian should beware of any false prophet who accepts the Bible as only a piece of great literature or who accepts a part of the Bible and rejects other parts of it.

III. Beautiful But Deadly. Plum seeds contain cyanogenetic glycocides, a substance that can change into a killer in the body. The cherry seed, pip, can prove deadly, when even slightly cracked open it can release a toxin found in the cyanide family. Apples have tempted many throughout the ages, from Eve(maybe) to Snow White, but apple seeds contain cyanide. Eating huge amounts of apple seeds, especially if the seeds are pulverized, could prove fatal.

There are many fruits of false prophets that look good but are deadly. The most notable a “secondhand religion.” What is secondhand religion? It is thinking that being born into a Christian home makes one a Christian. It is leaving religion to the wife and kids. It is joining a church without being born again. It is letting the church mean less to you than a fishing trip, washing the car, a football game, or visiting relatives.

The fruits of false prophets are seen in the multitudes of church members who have just enough religion to make them feel comfortable. Somewhere down the line we have forgotten that one cannot be a practicing sinner and a practicing saint at the same time. The Scriptures say, “He who does what is sinful is of the devil. . . . No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:8 – 10).

Conclusion: Socrates said, “The surest way to live with honor in the world is to be, in reality, what we would appear to be.” What do others see when they look at you? Do your actions match up with how you present yourself?