Judge every prophet by his doctrine and life

Sermon for Trinity 8

Romans 8:12-17  +  Matthew 7:15-23

Jesus is beginning to wrap up His sermon on the mount in this morning’s Gospel. He has just warned the crowds, Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

The path to heaven, to God, to eternal life, is not nearly as broad as most people think. Most people don’t end up in Paradise. Most people enter by the wide gate and walk along the broad path that leads to hell. The gate is wide and the path is broad because there are many, many, many wrong answers and wrong beliefs about getting to where God is, whereas there’s only one right answer, one right way, and that is the way of Christianity, the way of faith in Christ Jesus and adherence to the Word of God.

But where is the narrow gate? Where is that difficult way which leads to life? Where is God’s Word being taught in its truth and purity? Well, you’ll find that there are many, many people who would gladly give you directions. They’re called “prophets,” that is, people who claim to represent God, who claim to speak for God, to know the way to salvation. But beware of false prophets, Jesus urges the crowds in today’s Gospel. There will be many of them, many people who will point you to the wrong gate and the wrong way.

Now, many of those false prophets are not even Christian prophets. They’re the prophets of Islam or Buddhism or any of the non-Christian religions of the world. They’re also the religious fanatics who preach evolution—that false, insidious religion that has taken hold of our world. Beware of such false prophets.

But beware even more of the ones who claim to speak for Jesus, because you’ve already come to know that the pagan religions of the world are false, but when you hear the name of Jesus, you think, Ah, this person must be telling the truth! He’s pointing me to Jesus! Not so fast, Jesus says. Not every prophet, not every preacher who calls Jesus “Lord” points to the narrow gate. After all, why are there so many who walk on the broad way that leads to destruction? It’s partly because there are so many false prophets pointing them in that direction.

So, Jesus warns, Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. That’s a simple enough picture, isn’t it? What is it to come, as a prophet or preacher, in sheep’s clothing? It means to present oneself and one’s doctrine as innocent, harmless, loving, true and correct. That’s what every preacher does, the true ones and the false ones! Every preacher comes looking like a sheep. The trick is telling which ones are the sheep and which ones are the wolves dressed up like sheep.

It’s important, because ultimately, they’re pointing in two different directions. The true prophet points to that narrow gate and that difficult way that leads to life, while the false prophet points to the wide gate and the broad way that leads to destruction. The true prophet upholds all of God’s word, from beginning to end, and teaches how all of Scripture points to Christ the Redeemer. He rebukes sin in those who are secure in their sin, and he points the penitent to Christ, who bore our sins on the cross and made satisfaction before God, who promises forgiveness of sins to all who believe. The false prophet, on the other hand, just like the devil himself, will freely use Scripture, but he’ll twist its meaning so that sin is no longer revealed as sin, and Christ as Savior is hidden. His Gospel is altered, slightly at first, and then a bit more, and then a bit more.

Now, how can you distinguish between the two, between the true prophet and the false one? By what do you judge them? By their hair style? By their friendliness? By how large of a crowd they can gather? By their ability to quote Scripture? By how many times they say the name of Jesus? By the miracles they do in His name? No. None of those things will reveal whether you’re dealing with a sheep or with a wolf in sheep’s clothing. In fact, as Jesus says at the end of the Gospel, Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

So how can you distinguish? How can you judge? (And judge you must!) Jesus says to the multitudes—to all His disciples: You will know them by their fruits. Now, the fruit of a prophet is twofold. It includes both his doctrine and his life. St. Paul commanded Pastor Timothy: Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. To yourself, that is, to your own faith and your own life. And to the doctrine, to the entirety of what you teach God’s people in God’s name.

Of course, judging a preacher’s doctrine and life means you have to have a standard to judge them by, and that standard is God’s Word. The Apostle John wrote in his first epistle, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. And then he gives them an example of Scriptural doctrine by which to test them. The Scriptures are the standard. But to use the standard, you have to know, you have to study the Scriptures yourself in order to be able to test the teacher, just as the Bereans did in the book of Acts when Paul came to them claiming to have been sent by God. They searched the Scriptures daily to see if the things he taught agreed with God’s Word. And with Scripture as the foundation, you can then branch out and also use the Confessions of the Church to see if your pastor is teaching new things—new interpretations of Scripture—or if he’s simply teaching things that have always been taught and believed in the Church. So I urge you to read and to study, not only the Bible, but also our Lutheran Confessions. Beware of false prophets by judging, by testing the doctrine of every preacher.

And by testing the preacher’s life. But with this understanding: every prophet sent by God, except for Jesus Himself, has been and always will be a sinner. Don’t judge a prophet by whether or not he sins or has weaknesses common to man. Judge him by whether or not he leads a penitent life, a godly life consistent with the Gospel. See if he lives as one who is a slave to sin and a slave to fear, or as a debtor to God and a trusting child of God, as Paul discussed in today’s Epistle. You’ll never be able to look into a prophet’s heart to judge his thoughts and attitudes, nor does Jesus call on you to do that. Look at his fruits, his doctrine and his life (as far as you can observe his life). (And, yes, that includes judging the church fellowship to which he belongs—his synod or church body, with their doctrine and practice.) If you do that, not according to your personal feelings, but according to His word, He assures you: you will know whether the prophet is true or false.

It’s a simple instruction from Jesus today: Beware of false prophets. It’s an ongoing command, because, by God’s own design, prophets will be around until the end of the world, and because even a true prophet can turn into a false prophet if he’s not careful, and if he’s around long enough. It’s a command and a responsibility that Jesus gives to His dear people, because He truly wants you to enter through the narrow gate. He doesn’t want you to be deceived with the many who walk the broad path to destruction. And so, although He permits false prophets to go out into the world, He will never stop sending true prophets along with them, to feed and to guide His people to the green pastures of His Word, and finally to the unending banquet in heaven. And along with the prophet, He will also guide you by His Spirit, through His word, to know which ones to trust and which ones to avoid. May He grant you wisdom and zeal to be good judges! Amen.