As I was studying our gospel lesson for this morning’s sermon, Kelly and Erin were in the other office going through old church photo albums. They were looking for pictures of Deb to share with the funeral home who wanted to make a slide show for Deb’s funeral last Friday. It was fun to listen to them go through the pictures. “Oh, look at Pam’s hair!”, I heard one of them giggle. “Is that Eldora wearing shorts!”, I heard the other gasp. “Oh, look at how cute the Jackovatz boys used to be”, one of them cooed. “Is that Sydney as a baby!”, the other cried. This went on for a considerable amount of time. Finally, I tried to remind them they were on a deadline with the funeral home, but the two of them were having too much fun to listen to me.
I could tell Kelly and Erin were enjoying their trip down memory lane. As they paged through the old church photo album it was like they were looking at pictures of their own families. I suppose, in a way, they were. Though our family trees are not (genetically speaking) directly connected, though we come from different parts of the country (or world), though we may speak different languages and have different levels of pigment in our skin, in a way, in the most important of ways, we are like a family. Like any family we have our goofy grandpas and grumpy grandmas, we have our obnoxious uncles and crazy aunts, we have our weird brothers and silly sisters, and we have our rebellious teenagers and rambunctious children, (I’ll let y’all determine which one of those descriptions fits you best). We have all the quirks and idiosyncrasies that make up the typical family, but that is not all that we have. We have something here at Messiah that unites us; something that creates a special bond between us; something that connects us.
We enjoy a unity, a bond, a connection here at Messiah that cannot be found in a social organization, or community group, or private club. Today, I want us to take just a moment to appreciate that; I want us to take a moment to appreciate that, as members of Messiah, we walk together.
We live in a world that is not exactly known for its unity. You know, when this Coronavirus caused us to isolate ourselves in our homes and social distance from one another, it was my hope that absence would make our hearts grow fonder; frankly I was praying that there would be a revival of people in our community who craved the fellowship that can only be found in the church. However, as I watch the evening news it is clear the devil had other plans. The devil has taken this opportunity to sow seeds of division among people, and while that saddens me, it also scares me. When I see what the devil can do in the streets of Atlanta, I can’t help but worry that he could do the same thing in the seats of Messiah. It would be foolish of us to think the devil couldn’t sow seeds of division among us, especially since he has been so successful, not only in the streets of Atlanta, but in organizations, groups, and clubs all around the world. Including, by the way, churches, even WELS churches. I have seen it. People who were as close to one another as we are have been torn apart by division. The devil has successfully torn apart more than one of our sister congregations and he would love nothing more to do the same to us.
If you think I am overreacting or simply being dramatic than I urge you to consider what Jesus says in verse 15 of our gospel lesson. There Jesus says, “15 Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Jesus tells us to “watch out”. With these words Jesus puts us on high alert. He is warning us that an attack on our unity is eminent and we are to be ready to respond appropriately. We are to be ready to respond because the “false prophets” are coming.
A prophet is one who speaks for God. We often think of them as those who speak of the things God has planned in the future, and the prophets of the Old and New Testaments did just that, but that is not all that a prophet speaks. A prophet speaks the words of God as they have been recorded in Scripture. So, in a way, if you have ever shared the Word of God as it is recorded in the pages of Scripture with anyone, you are a prophet. Conversely, a false prophet is anyone who speaks something that is contrary to the word of God as it is recorded in the pages of Scripture. Immediately images of popular preachers prattling on about how the bible isn’t the foundation for Christianity come to mind. But if anyone who speaks the word of God in its truth and purity is to be considered a prophet that means anyone who speaks an untrue and polluted version of God’s word is a false prophet. That means that false prophets are not just found in pulpits. They can be found standing before whiteboards in classrooms, they can be found sitting behind desks in office buildings, they can be found operating heavy machinery in factories, they can even be found sitting at the dinner table in your own house. Anyone can be a false prophet.
On a daily basis you may be surrounded by false prophets and never know it because, as Jesus warns us, they are dressed in “sheep’s clothing”. The most dangerous false prophets are the ones wearing the best disguises. The devil knows it would be relatively easy for us to avoid the guy with a swastika tattoo on his forehead cursing in front of a crack house. That’s why the devil disguises his false prophets. He dresses them up as well-meaning neighbors, concerned friends, and loving family members; sometimes he even goes so far as to dress them as clergy. False prophets are hard to recognize because false prophets look like you and they look like me. As if that were not bad enough, what is worse is they also sound like you and me. Take a look at verse 22. There Jesus warns us, “22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” The false prophets believe that they are speaking in the name of Jesus; they believe they are speaking what God meant to say or what He would say if He were writing His bible in our post-modern world of relative truth and unconditional acceptance. The false prophet speaks of kindness, compassion, and love… they speak of the same things we speak of.
I don’t know about you, but I am starting to get concerned. Since a false prophet looks like we look and sounds like we sound, how do we know we aren’t the false prophets that Jesus is warning people about? How do we know the devil isn’t using us to tear the flock apart and lead the sheep astray? That is what a false prophet does! Jesus warns that false prophets may look like sheep, “but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Whether the false prophets fully realize it or not, they work for the devil and are used by him to sow seeds of division among God’s people; they are used by the devil to tear churches apart so that the unity, bond, and connection they once enjoyed is destroyed. The devil attacks the people of God with false prophets because he knows when Christians no longer walk together it’s easier to lead them astray.
I don’t want to be a false prophet and trust me, neither do you. Take a look at what Jesus says will happen to the false prophets. In verses 16-18 Jesus compares the false prophet with a bad tree and then in verse 19 he says, “19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Then, when the false prophets protest their judgment, in verse 23 Jesus tells us “I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” The false prophets are going to burn in hell.
I don’t want to be used by the devil to sow seeds of division in the church, but more than that, I don’t want to burn in hell, and I am rather certain you don’t want to burn in hell either. So how do we make sure that we aren’t false prophets? In verse 16 and again in verse 20 Jesus tells us how we can recognize a false prophet (Jesus repeats Himself for emphasis). In both verses Jesus says, “by their fruit you will recognize them.” Here “fruit” is not a reference to deeds and actions because the deeds and actions of false prophets are outwardly indistinguishable from the deeds and actions of true prophets. It is not deeds that Jesus would have us examine, but doctrines. Doctrines are the beliefs and teachings that the prophets profess. In order to be able to tell whether a prophet speaks for God we must compare the words of the prophet with the Word of God. If a prophet says more than God’s Word says, then the prophet is false. If the prophet ignores what God’s word says, then the prophet is false. In contrast, when the prophet says only what God’s Word says and everything that God’s Word says then that prophet is a true prophet.
So, if you want to know whether or not you are a true or false prophet you can’t just have an opinion or feel strongly or be convinced in your heart that you know what is true. Rather, you have to compare the things you believe and the things that you say with the Word of God as it is found on the pages of Scripture. When you do that, if you find that there is anything that you believe or say that does not line up with what God’s Word says then you must have the humility to confess that your opinion, your feeling, your conviction is false. You must confess your falsehood so that the devil cannot use you to sow seeds of division in the church. You must confess your falsehood so that you will not share the fate of the false prophets.
Our gospel lesson for this morning is almost completely law, but it is not entirely law. Jesus warns us to watch out for false prophets because He loves us. Jesus wants us to walk together; He wants us to continue to enjoy the unity, bond, and connection that exists here at Messiah and the only way that can happen is if we are united, bonded, and connected by truth and purity of God’s Word. Take a look at verse 21. There Jesus says, “21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” What is the will of our Father in heaven? Let’s let Jesus Himself answer that question. In John 6:40 Jesus says, “my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” Doing the Father’s will is, first and foremost, repenting of any falsehood that exists in our hearts or has escaped from our lips. It is trusting that our Savior Jesus has forgiven us for our falsehood. It is praying for the strength to cling to the truth and purity of Scripture and confess those truths and that purity to all people. It is finally, expressing our gratitude for the Word of God that unites us, binds us, and connects us together. Jesus does not want false prophets around us our in us to tear our family apart, so He warns us, He warns us because He loves us.
We have something special here at Messiah; something I pray we never take for granted. We have something that unites us; something that creates a special bond between us; something that connects us. We have the Word of God and as long as we walk in line with the Word of God we will walk together. Amen.