The command to beware of false prophets

Sermon for Trinity 8

Romans 8:12-17  +  Matthew 7:15-23

You know the Ten Commandments. Hopefully you’re very familiar with them as part of your regular review of the Small Catechism. But the Ten Commandments are not exhaustive; Jesus gave many commands to His disciples, many of which are included in His Sermon on the Mount. The command He gives in today’s Gospel is the final command in that famous sermon. After teaching His disciples what is good and right, Jesus is well aware that there would come along many, many teachers of what is evil and false. And so He gives this command to those who would be His disciples: Beware of false prophets. Now, to us Lutherans, especially traditional and confessional Lutherans, this command is rather well known, and we have judged the confessions of the Lutheran Church to be true and in line with God’s Word, and you have (so far) determined that your pastor is not a false prophet. But to many, I daresay to most Christians, this command to beware of false prophets isn’t even on the radar. And yet, it’s a command like any other, a command from your Lord to whom you owe obedience, and the more urgent, because if you fail to keep this commandment, you put your eternal soul in jeopardy, because the commandment is for your own good. So think carefully on what Jesus commands you today in the Gospel, and don’t neglect it: Beware of false prophets!

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You know, I think for a lot of people, when they’re going around looking for a church to call their own, it’s not false prophets they’re watching out for, just as it’s not true doctrine they’re desperately searching for. It’s usually other things, earthly things—a preacher’s style, an atmosphere, a kind of music, or a “right fit” that makes them feel either good or bad. But that’s not keeping Jesus’ command at all. It’s actually just another way of living according to the flesh.

But Jesus commands: Beware of false prophets. Why? What makes them so dangerous? It’s that they dress like sheep—like innocent, reliable Christian preachers—but end up tearing people’s souls apart like wolves with their false teaching.

What is false teaching? It’s any teaching that doesn’t agree with the whole Word of God. When preachers tell you things about God that aren’t true, or things about His commandments that aren’t true; when they don’t tell the truth about sin, or about God’s plan of salvation, or about the Sacraments God has instituted, or about the Church and its ministry, or about the Christian life—how Christians are to do as St. Paul said in today’s Epistle, putting to death the deeds of the sinful flesh and living according to the Spirit. The preacher may be very nice. His sermons may be very engaging. And the church itself may be fun and dynamic and welcoming. But Jesus commands His disciples to look past all that and compare the teaching of the teacher with the Word of God. If you’re not willing to do that, to take the time and put in the effort necessary, then you are disobeying the voice of the One whom you call Lord. And that will go very badly for you.

“But it all comes down to a matter of interpretation, doesn’t it? Who’s to say who is right or wrong in all those denominations out there? We can’t actually know who’s a false prophet and who isn’t, can we?” Oh, but Jesus says that you can. By their fruits you will know them. You will know them, He says. You don’t think He’s lying to you, do you? Sure, it will take effort. It will take actually examining the preacher’s fruit. But with the Holy Spirit’s help, with earnest prayer and study of God’s Word, you can do it. And when you do, Jesus says, you will know the false prophet. Do people 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. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

What are the fruits a prophet bears? First of all, it’s his doctrine (his teaching). A prophet is someone who claims to speak for God, who claims to be teaching you the truth, the right way, God’s way, the way of salvation. You have to look at his teaching as a whole, not just this or that thing he says. Every preacher who claims to be Christian will teach you that Jesus is Lord. That’s certainly true. But what does he mean by it, and what else does he teach? Does he teach in line with the ancient Christian Creeds or has he gone off on his own? Does he teach a six-day creation according to Scripture or does he teach millions-of-years-molecules-to-man evolution? Does he teach that all people are sinners and are justified solely by faith in Christ crucified (as he should), or does he minimize sin or tolerate sin or teach justification by works or by faith plus works or not by faith at all? Does he teach Baptism as the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit or as the sign of a person’s own decision to follow Christ? Does he teach the real presence of the Lord’s body and blood in the Sacrament or does he teach that Christ’s body and blood are not truly received by communicants? Etc., etc., etc. The list goes on. And the only way to fulfill Christ’s command is to know His Word well and to evaluate the teachings of a pastor and of the church that he shepherds and of the church body to which he willingly belongs.

But a preacher’s doctrine isn’t the only fruit he bears. His life, his behavior is also part of his fruit, and that you have to evaluate, too. Not expecting him to be sinless—as St. John writes, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” But you should expect him to be “blameless,” as Paul writes to Timothy concerning bishops (that is, pastors). Blameless means that he can’t be accused of grave public sin or vice. He can’t justly be accused of having a shady or dishonest character. A pastor who regularly sets a bad example for believers is showing you that his fruit is rotten. A pastor who preaches the truth but then backs away from it when challenged or who won’t stand up for it is showing you that his fruit is bad. Now, personality flaws can be overlooked in love, or corrected with love, if necessary. That’s not necessarily “bad fruit.” Actual sins against God’s commandments must be addressed, though, and where there is no repentance, again, he’s showing you his fruit, that it’s rotten and bad.

Now, there is such a thing as being too critical, overly critical of every word a pastor says, every decision, every action, every interaction, and we Lutherans may be especially susceptible to that extreme. “Beware” isn’t the only thing Jesus said to do. He also said to love, honor, and submit to our spiritual overseers, and all the more once we’ve determined that they are good trees bearing good fruit. But along with that is this constant command to beware. It’s the Christian’s duty to evaluate the preacher’s fruit, his doctrine and life, and to beware of the one whose fruit is bad, because that preacher is not leading you closer to Christ, but farther away from Him. That preacher whose fruit is bad is a bad tree that will be cut down in the end and cast into the first, and you don’t want to be cut down with him.

The last part of today’s Gospel makes the necessity of this “bewaring” all the more urgent. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, in your name did we not prophesy? And in your name did we not cast out demons? And in your name did we not perform many miracles?’ And then I will confess to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness! Calling oneself a Christian preacher—calling oneself a Christian!—is not a guarantee of being allowed into Christ’s kingdom in the end. Even prophesying, even casting out demons, even performing miracles is no guarantee that a person was a genuine preacher sent by Christ, or that a person was a genuine Christian at all.

What is the guarantee, then, that one will not hear those terrible words from the Lord Jesus on the Last Day, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness! It’s as Paul said in today’s Epistle: If you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if, through the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God. Being led by the Spirit of God begins with repentance and faith in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, not because you’ve earned it, but because Christ earned it for you by His righteous life lived in your place and by His innocent death suffered in your place. But being led by the Spirit continues with daily contrition and repentance, putting to death the deeds of the body, being determined not to live in sin any longer but to live for God, to live a life of love. That’s where the Spirit always leads. The Spirit leads you to prayer, too. And, of course, the Spirit leads you always to God’s Word, which He Himself inspired and by which He continues to guide the people of God through all the murkiness and darkness of all the false prophets and false teachers of this world to see the light of Christ, our Redeemer. The Word of God is not called the “sword of the Spirit” for nothing. Know it! Treasure it! And use it to carry out Christ’s warning and command to beware of false prophets, and to recognize those who are true. Amen.