43  Beware of False  Prophets (7:15-20)

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. (7:15-20)

After giving the invitation to “enter by the narrow gate,” to come to God by the only way He has provided, Jesus warns that not everyone who claims to belong to God and to speak for Him actually does so. When we stand at the crossroads of decision, we should remember that the true way to God is narrow and that the false way is broad; the true way is difficult and demanding, and the false way is easy and permissive; the true way has relatively few following in it, and the false way has many.

Jesus now says, in effect, “As you strive to enter that narrow gate and walk that narrow way that leads to life, beware of those who would mislead you. Just as there is a misleading gate and a misleading way, there are also misleading preachers and teachers who point to that gate and promote that way.” Just like the false gate and way, they will claim to show the way to heaven and life, but they actually show the way to hell and destruction. The false gate has false prophets standing in front of it who seek to lead people into the false way and hinder them from entering the true.

In the present passage Jesus first gives a warning and then calls us to be watchful. Just as He described the true and false ways, He now describes the true and false teachers of those ways.

WARNING

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. (7:15)

False prophets were not new to Israel. As long as God has had true prophets, Satan has had false ones. They are seen from the earliest times of redemptive history. Moses warned,

False prophets always find a hearing and often are encouraged by those who are displeased with God’s ways. “For this is a rebellious people,” Isaiah said of Israel, “false sons, sons who refuse to listen to the instruction of the Lord; who say to the seers, ‘You must not see visions’; and to the prophets, ‘You must not prophesy to us what is right, speak to us pleasant words, prophesy illusions’“ (Isa. 30:9-10). From chapter 5 through chapter 23 of Jeremiah we see that man of God repeatedly against the false prophets by whom his people were being so terribly misled.

As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives shortly before the last Passover week, His disciples asked, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” He replied, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.… For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:3-5, 24). John warns against the same problem, pointing out that “many deceivers have gone out into the world” (2 John 7).

Paul warned the Roman believers, “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting” (Rom. 16:17-18). In other parts of the New Testament false prophets are spoken of as “deceitful spirits” who advocate “doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1) and as those “who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them” (2 Pet. 2:1).

They are called false brothers (2 Cor. 11:26), false apostles (2 Cor. 11:13), false teachers (2 Pet. 2:1), false speakers, that is, liars (1 Tim. 4:2), false witnesses (Matt. 26:60), and false Christs (Matt. 24:24). The apostle John tells us, therefore, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

Paul’s last words to the Ephesian elders, when he met with them for a farewell on the beach near Miletus, included a somber warning about inevitable false teachers. “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert” (Acts 20:29-31).

There has always been a large market for false prophets, because most people do not want to hear the truth. They prefer to hear what is pleasant and flattering, even if it is false and dangerous, over what is unpleasant and unflattering, even if it is true and helpful.

THE DEFINITION OF A FALSE PROPHET

From the beginning of God’s redemptive work on behalf of fallen mankind, His true representatives have been marked by two things: they are divinely commissioned, and they present a divine message. They are called by God, and they declare the message of God and only that message. A true prophet is God’s voice to men.

When Moses was called he said,” ‘Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say’“ (Ex. 4:10-12).

The most dangerous characteristic of false prophets, however, is that they, too, claim to be from God and to speak on His behalf. “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land,” God told Jeremiah. “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so!” (Jer. 5:30-31). Again He said, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds” (14:14). And still again He said,

In a promise of judgment the Lord told Zechariah, “For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs” (Zech. 11:16). Such a shepherd is a greater danger to the flock than wild animals, because he comes among them as their protector. Under the guise of the one who is supposed to feed and care for them, he instead slaughters and eats them himself. That is a picture of the antichrist, who is the prototype of all false prophets.

One of the most frightening discoveries about the People’s Temple Christian Church was that a large majority of its members had been raised in Christian homes of one sort or another. Most of those who joined that church did so in the belief that it offered a higher and more genuine experience of Christian fellowship and service. Yet the church dissolved overnight when its leader, Jim Jones, and nearly a thousand of his most loyal followers committed mass suicide at Jonestown, a remote church settlement in the jungles of Guyana, South America.

In his book Deceived, Mel White tries to determine why so many people could be so fatally misled. Among the reasons he suggests are:

Jim Jones created a warm, purportedly Christian community. But he replaced Jesus Christ as the authority and more and more garnered loyalty to himself. He began demanding money for every service he offered and was preoccupied with sex, in both its normal and deviant forms. He would lie convincingly about anything in order to gain an advantage or make a desired impression. Before his bizarre death he had managed to gain the admiration and praises of countless church leaders, governors, senators, congressmen, and even the president of the United States.

The greatest tragedy of Jonestown was not that nearly a thousand people died, but that they died believing they were serving God. In truth, of course, they were serving Satan, and were on their way to hell if they did not know Christ. Any believers who may have been among them incurred great loss of reward.

“For false Christs and false prophets will arise,” Jesus warned, “and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24). Jude declares that “Certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4).

The scribes and Pharisees were classic examples of false shepherds. In the name of leading and caring for God’s people they instead led them further and further from His ways. Posing as God’s spokesmen they used the people to feather their own ecclesiastical nests, and cared nothing for the people or for God. They were rapaciously self-seeking and self-serving. When Jesus completely unmasked their deceit and hypocrisy (see Matt. 23) it is no wonder they crucified Him.

The scribes and Pharisees, and those who followed their pernicious teachings, did not accept Jesus’ teaching because they were dedicated to falsehood rather than the truth. On one occasion Jesus said to them,

“Let no one deceive you with empty words,” Paul warns the Ephesians; “for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them” (Eph. 5:6). To the Colossians he says, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Col. 2:8).

THE DANGER OF FALSE PROPHETS

Beware always warns of danger. It is not a call simply to notice or sense something, but to be on guard against it because it is so harmful. The word conveys the idea of holding the mind away. False prophets are more than wrong; they are dangerous, and we should not expose our minds to them. They pervert thinking and poison the soul. They are more dangerous than a cobra or a tiger, because those animals can only harm the body. False prophets are spiritual beasts and are immeasurably more deadly than the physical ones. Both Peter and Jude call them “unreasoning animals.” Peter goes on to warn that they “deceive unstable souls, luring them into their jaws through the lust of flesh” (2 Pet. 2:12; cf. Jude 10).

In Palestine, wolves were the most common natural enemy of sheep. They roamed the hills and valleys, looking for a sheep that strayed away from the flock or lagged behind. When a wolf found such a sheep it quickly attacked and tore it to pieces. Even a grown, healthy sheep was utterly defenseless against a wolf.

Wolves are known for being merciless and ferocious (cf. Ezek. 22:27). Harpax (ravenous) is also translated “swindler” (Luke 18:11; 1 Cor. 5:10-11; 6:10), referring metaphorically to those who deceitfully and mercilessly ravage a person of his money and possessions. False prophets and wolves are clever and wily, and are always on the lookout for new victims.

Jude gives a strong warning against false prophets and tells how believers are to respond to them. He writes, “Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life” (v. 21). Our first need is to get ourselves right with the Lord, to make sure we are in the place of divine fellowship, blessing, and power. Then we will be prepared to “have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (vv. 22-23).

The first group Jude mentions is composed of believers who have been tempted to doubt their faith, and who need comfort and assurance. The second group is composed of unbelievers who are on their way to hell and who need to be grabbed, as it were, and held back. The third group, however, is composed of those who are confirmed in false religion and who are extremely dangerous, even to the most mature Christian. We must witness to such people with special care and in special dependence on the Lord for wisdom and protection, lest we ourselves become spiritually contaminated by their polluted views and ways.

False prophets and those who follow false prophets are as dangerous to God’s people as ravenous wolves are to sheep.

THE DECEPTION OF FALSE PROPHETS

The danger of false prophets is greatly increased because of their deception. When an enemy is seen for what he is, we are alerted and can be prepared to defend ourselves. But when an enemy poses as a friend, our defenses are down. The dogs and swine of verse 6 are much more easily recognized because of their open sinfulness and rejection of God.

In Old Testament times prophets were often recognizable by what they wore. Like Elijah, they often wore rough, hairy, uncomfortable clothing as a symbol of their foregoing the normal comforts of life for the cause of God. John the Baptist, as the last prophet of the Old Covenant, wore a camel’s hair coat and ate locusts and wild honey. There were exceptions, but prophets generally could be identified by their plain, coarse clothing. For that reason, a person who wanted to impersonate a prophet would sometimes wear such clothing. Zechariah speaks of such men who “put on a hairy robe in order to deceive” (Zech. 13:4).

Similarly, shepherds invariably wore woolen clothing, made from the wool of the sheep they tended. That is the sheep’s clothing of which Jesus here speaks. False prophets do not deceive the flock by impersonating sheep but by impersonating the shepherd, who wears sheep’s clothing in the form of his wool garments. Just as the ancient false prophets often wore the garments of the true prophet, so false shepherds often disguise themselves as true shepherds. Satan’s man goes under the guise of God’s man, claiming to teach the truth in order to deceive, mislead, and, if possible, destroy God’s people.

Scripture speaks of three basic kinds of false teachers: heretics, apostates, and deceivers. Heretics are those who openly reject the word of God and teach that which is contrary to divine truth. Apostate teachers are those who once followed the true faith but have turned away from it, rejected it, and are trying to lead others away. Those two kinds of false teachers at least have the virtue of a certain honesty. They do not claim to represent orthodox, biblical Christianity.

The false shepherd (the deceiver), on the other hand, gives the appearance of orthodoxy, frequently with great declarations and fanfare. He is not a liberal or a cultist but one who speaks favorably of Christ, the cross, the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and so on, and who associates with true believers. He may go out of his way to appear orthodox, fundamental, and evangelical. From his looks, vocabulary, and associations he gives considerable evidence of genuine belief. But he is not genuine; he is a fake and a deceiver. He has the speech of orthodoxy, but is a living lie.

“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder,” Paul goes on to explain, “for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:13-15). These false prophets are especially dangerous because they masquerade as true prophets and therefore are able to creep into Christian circles unnoticed (Jude 4; cf. Acts 20:28-32).

False prophets are almost always pleasant and positive. They like to be with Christians, to talk like Christians, and to be identified as Christians. They know and use biblical terminology and often appear highly knowledgeable about Scripture. The doctrines they affirm are seemingly biblical.

Many false prophets also appear to be sincere, and because of that sincerity they can more easily mislead others. Paul warns that “evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim. 3:13). Being themselves deceived by the ultimate deceiver, such people can be thoroughly convinced in their own minds that their perverted beliefs are true. They have become so deeply devoted to falsehood that darkness seems to be light, and black seems to be white.

If they are so deceptive, how then can they be identified? Most frequently they show their true colors by what they do not affirm. In other words, they are identified not so much by what they say as by what they do not say. They usually do not openly deny Jesus’ divinity, His substitutionary atonement, the depravity and lostness of man, the reality and penalty of sin, the destiny of hell for unbelievers, the need for repentance, humility, and submission to God, and other such “negative” and uncomfortable truths. They simply ignore them.

In order to carry out their deceit effectively, these spurious leaders live moral and upright lives on the surface. The great commentator John Broadus wrote that many of the false prophets have come from traditional religious training, and because of the ingraining of early traditional Christian moral values they find it difficult to overtly overcome the restrictions on their minds by their early training. (Matthew [Valley Forge, Pa.: Judson, 1886], p. 167). Outward morality helps give the impression of spiritual genuineness and therefore helps perpetuate the deceit. But the truth is they are energized by “deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” and have become “liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron” (1 Tim. 4:1-2). They are motivated by the desire for “sordid gain” (1 Pet. 5:2). Their false faith cannot restrain their unregenerate flesh, so the true sensuality of those “slaves of corruption” (2 Pet. 2:19) often becomes known, and it is evident that “in their greed” they exploit people “with false words” (2:3). They also have “eyes full of adultery” and “never cease from sin,” possessing a “heart trained in greed” (2:14).

In The Didache, one of the earliest Christian writings after New Testament times, we find a section devoted to dealing with false prophets. The term used to describe them is Christemporos, which means “Christ merchants.” False prophets use Jesus Christ and His gospel and church as means for serving their own ends. They use the things of God as mere merchandise to promote and dispense to their own advantage.

The Didache gives several means for distinguishing true prophets from false. One was that a true prophet would not remain as a house guest more than two days, because he would need to be up and about his work. A false prophet, however, would willingly stay indefinitely, since he had no real mission to accomplish except serving his own interests. The second test was in regard to asking for money. The true prophet, said The Didache, would ask for bread and water, but nothing more—that is, only for necessities to keep himself going. A false prophet, on the other hand, is not the least averse to asking for or even demanding money. A third test was in the area of life-style. A person who does not lead a life that corresponds to the standards he teaches is clearly not a man of God. Still another test was in regard to willingness to work. If a person wanted to live off others and would not work for his own keep, he was a Christ trafficker.

A false prophet is always in church work for himself, to pad his own pockets, to satisfy his own greed, ego, and prestige and to gain power, influence, and recognition for himself.

Our day has more than its share of Christ merchants. Through books, radio, television, recordings, in churches, conferences, seminars, crusades, and by various other means they package and sell the gospel in much the same way that Madison Avenue sells cars and soap. They are insincere peddlers of the Word of God who corrupt it for their own ends (2 Cor. 2:17).

THE DAMNATION OF FALSE PROPHETS

The destiny of false prophets is only implied in verse 19, but it is made explicit in both the preceding and following passages. Because they enter by the wide gate and travel the broad way, their end is destruction (v. 13). And when they come before Jesus in the day of judgment and say “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” He will respond, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (vv. 22-23).

Peter tells us that, along with the heretics and apostate false teachers, “their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep,” that they will be kept “under punishment for the day of judgment,” that like wild beasts they will “also be destroyed,” and that “the black darkness has been reserved” for them (2 Pet. 2:3, 9,12,17; cf. Jude 13).

WATCHING

You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. (7:16-20)

After warning about false prophets, Jesus tells us what to watch for in identifying them. Because they are so extremely deceptive and dangerous—ravenous spiritual and moral wolves in sheep’s clothing—the Lord would hardly have left us without means of determining who they are.

Jesus assures us that we will know them by their fruits. A fruit tree may be beautiful, decorative, and offer pleasant shade in the summer. But its primary purpose is to bear fruit, and it is therefore judged by what it produces and not by how it looks. (That understanding is the key to interpreting John 15 properly.)

Similarly a prophet—used in this passage in the broadest sense of one who speaks for God—is judged by his life, not simply by his appearance or his words. The kind of person he really is cannot help being revealed. Some false prophets are noticeably spurious and only the most gullible person would be taken in by them. Others conceal their true nature with remarkable skill, and only careful observation will expose them for what they are. But there is a true assurance in the statement you will know them. There is no need to be deceived if we look closely.

It is the cleverly deceptive false prophet that Jesus is speaking about here. No one needs help in deciding that a tree is bad if it bears shriveled, discolored, and obviously rotten fruit—or no fruit at all. It is the tree that appears to bear good fruit, but does not, that is deceptive.

It is possible for grapes to be stuck on thorn bushes and for figs to be stuck on thistles. From a distance they might appear to be growing on real fruit trees. Because the fruit is genuine, naive persons might conclude that the tree itself also has to be genuine.

It is possible for real Christians to be taken in by false prophets. When believers are careless about study of and obedience to the Word, lazy about prayer, and uncritical about the things of God, it is easy for them to be deceived by someone who pretends to be orthodox—especially if he is pleasant, positive, and permissive. When that happens, they are in danger of becoming grapes on thorn bushes and figs on thistles. Satan loves to use God’s own people to promote his evil work, seeking, if it were possible, even to snatch them from their heavenly Father (Matt. 24:24).

It is also possible for a tree itself to bear fruit that is colorful, well formed, and attractive, but which is bitter, distasteful, and even poisonous. That kind of bad tree with its bad fruit is much harder to judge than thorn bushes that have grapes on them or thistles that have figs on them. In the second case, both the tree and the fruit appear to be genuine. What it bears has to be examined carefully to determine if it is good fruit or bad fruit. A mature believer who has developed discernment can spot the bad tree and bad fruit (Heb. 5:14).

Judging the fruit of false prophets, of course, is not nearly so easy as judging fruit in an orchard. But from Scripture we discover at least three primary tests we can apply in order to know. They are in the areas of character, creed, and converts.

CHARACTER

A person’s basic character—his inner motives, standards, loyalties, attitudes, and ambitions—will eventually show through in what he does and how he acts. John the Baptist told the hypocritical Pharisees and Sadducees who came to be baptized to first “bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:8). Their manner of living belied their claim that they loved and served God. When the multitude then asked John what good fruit was, he replied, “Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise” (v. 11). To the tax-gatherers who asked what they should do, John said, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to” (v. 13). John was saying that the person who is genuinely repentant and who truly trusts and loves God will also love and help his fellow man (cf. James 2:15-17; l John 3:17; 4:20).

No person is saved by good works, but every believer is saved for good works. “For we are His workmanship,” Paul tells us, “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). In another place Paul admonishes us to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10). “By this is My Father glorified,” Jesus says, “that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.… If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love” (John 15:8,10).

As with everything that is godly and righteous, true fruit-bearing begins on the inside, in the heart. Paul speaks of our “having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:11) and informs us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23).

A person who belongs to Jesus Christ and who is called by God and given God’s message will give evidence of good fruit both in his attitudes and his actions. A person who does not belong to God, especially a false prophet who claims to be God’s messenger, will sooner or later manifest the bad fruit that the bad tree of his sensual life inevitably produces.

False prophets can disguise and hide their bad fruit for a while with ecclesiastical trappings, biblical knowledge, and evangelical vocabulary. They can cover it by belonging to Christian organizations, associating with Christian leaders, and by talking about divine things. But how they talk, act, and react when not in the view of Christians will eventually expose their true loyalty and convictions. What is in the heart will emerge, and corrupt theology will result in a corrupt life. False teaching and perverted living are inseparable, and eventually will become manifest.

Peter tells us that the true and mature believer will be growing in faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. “If these qualities are yours and are increasing,” he says, “they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:5-8). Those, on the other hand, who are false and deceiving prophets, in “speaking out arrogant words of vanity… entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption” (2:18-19). And their false believers may temporarily escape “the defilements of the world,” but they will eventually return to their “vomit” and “to wallowing in the mire” (2 Pet. 2:20-22).

Unless those who claim to be God’s spokesmen give evidence that their deepest motives and life patterns are to honor, glorify, and magnify God, and to grow in humility, holiness, and obedience, we can be sure that God has not called or sent them. If they are oriented to money, prestige, recognition, popularity, power, sexual looseness, and selfishness, they do not belong to Jesus Christ. If they are proud, arrogant, resentful, egotistical, and self-indulgent, they clearly are false prophets. The true test, a beatitude attitude of humility, can be summed up in Jesus’ words: “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the one who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (John 7:18).

Martyn Lloyd-Jones wisely comments,

It is nearly always the case that false prophets will attract avowed unbelievers as well as nominal and carnal believers. He appeals to the natural man and carefully avoids anything that is offensive to man’s proud, fallen nature. He makes a point of being attractive, likeable, and of giving no offense.

But no person, no matter how clever and deceitful, can indefinitely hide a character that is rotten and out of tune with God. John Calvin said, “Nothing is more difficult to counterfeit than virtue.” It demands too much. It demands more than any person has in himself, and when God’s divine provision and power are absent the charade cannot last long.

CREED

A second area in which a false prophet can be judged is that of doctrine. Superficially what he teaches may seem biblical and orthodox, but careful examination will always reveal ideas that are unscriptural and the absence of a strong, clear theology. False ideas will be taught, or at least important truths will be omitted. Frequently there will be a combination of both. Eventually the fruit will show a tree for what it is, because a good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

On a later occasion Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil” (Matt. 12:34-35).

When judging whether or not a teaching is from God, Isaiah counsels: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn,” that is, they have no light (Isa. 8:20). The teaching of a false prophet cannot withstand scrutiny under the divine light of Scripture.

All false prophets will have an incomplete, distorted, or perverted view of Christ. If Satan can confuse and mislead people about the person and work of Christ, he has confused and misled them at the very heart of the gospel.

Jesus has just shown that the way of salvation, the gate to God’s kingdom and life, is narrow and demanding, whereas the gate to hell and destruction is broad (Matt. 7:13-14). Immediately He begins the warning about false prophets and how to identify them. The false shepherd’s way to heaven will never be God’s way, and their way of living will never be according to God’s standards.

Arthur Pink says, “False prophets are to be found in the circles of the most orthodox, and they pretend to have a fervent love for souls, yet they fatally delude multitudes concerning the way of salvation. The pulpit, platform, and pamphlet hucksters have wantonly lowered the standard of divine holiness and so adulterated the Gospel in order to make it palatable to the carnal mind.”

The creed of false prophets never has a narrow gate or a narrow way. On the surface their message may sound difficult and demanding, but it will always rest on the foundation of man’s works and will therefore always be accomplishable by man’s own effort. They never reveal the depth or danger of sin and depravity, the need for repentance, forgiveness, and submission to the Lord, or the destiny of judgment, condemnation, and eternal destruction for those apart from God. There is no brokenness over sin and no longing after righteousness. They have easy answers for small problems. “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,” Jeremiah says, “saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace” (Jer. 6:14). There is no humility, no warning of judgment, and no call for repentance and a contrite heart of obedience.

They have a ready hearing among most people, because they say only what people like to hear. Just as did ancient Israel in Jeremiah’s time, people today like it that way (Jer. 5:31). They want to hear illusions, not truth. They are enamored with pleasure and fantasy and resent being confronted with anything disquieting and condemnatory. They want encouragement but not correction, positive words but not negative truth. They will accept grace as long as it is cheap grace and does not reflect against their own sinfulness, inadequacies, and lostness.

The creed of the false prophet, if he has any at all, will be vague, indefinite, and ethereal. No demanding truth will be absolute or clear-cut, and every principle will be easy and attractive.

Arthur Pink declares, “Any preacher who rejects God’s law, who denies repentance to be a condition of salvation, who assures the giddy and godless that they are loved by God, who declares that saving faith is nothing more than an act of the will which every person has the power to perform is a false prophet and should be shunned as a deadly plague” (An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, p. 362). 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.

CONVERTS

False prophets can also be identified by their converts and followers. They will attract to themselves people who have the same superficial, self-centered, and unscriptural orientation as they do. “Many will follow their sensuality,” Peter tells us, “and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned” (2 Pet. 2:2). They have many followers because they teach and promote what the majority of people want to hear and believe (cf. 2 Tim. 4:3).

Their followers will be like them—egotistical, proud, self-centered, self-indulgent, self-willed, and self-satisfied, while being religious. They will be both self-oriented and group-oriented, but never God-oriented or Scripture-oriented.

God has not ordained false prophets, but He has ordained that they exist. Paul explains to the Corinthian church, “There must also be factions among you, in order that those who are approved may have become evident among you” (1 Cor. 11:19). False factions will act as magnets to attract others who are false. In that indirect way they will help protect true believers by partly separating the chaff from the wheat.

But true believers who are carnal and worldly can also be attracted and corrupted, becoming grapes on thorn bushes and figs on thistles. Generally speaking, however, false prophets attract false believers, and in that way act as a sort of negative protection for the true church.

False prophets and their false followers do “not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness” (2 Thess. 2:10-12). Ultimately, God makes sure that every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (cf. John 15:2, 6). Peter says such shepherds are “bringing swift destruction upon themselves” (2 Pet. 2:1; cf. Jer. 23:30-40).

Our Lord closes this potent section with an affirming repetition of verse 16, so then, you will know them by their fruits. Thus we are once again called to be discerning when listening to preachers who call us to the broad way that leads to death and hell.