JESUS' SERMON ON THE MOUNT SERMON SERIES30. False Prophets
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Jesus spoke the golden rule in the Sermon on the Mount. Whatever you want others to do to you, you must do to them. Jesus said that this was the main message of the scripture. Then Jesus said we must enter into the kingdom of heaven through the narrow gate. The golden rule forbids all selfishness. Thus the way to eternal life is narrow. The last time I spoke to you I compared the way to heaven to climbing on a bus with too much baggage. The driver of the heaven-bound bus is Christ and He does not allow us to board the bus with our pride, self-seeking, worldliness, lies, immoral behavior, wrong doctrines and bad habits.
Jesus continues to preach saying:
Matthew 7:15-20 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 "Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
In the context of the Sermon on the Mount what is Jesus pointing to when He says, "Beware of false prophets"? If religious teachers or so called prophets arise teaching that you can go to heaven with your pride, self-seeking, worldliness, lies, immoral behavior, wrong doctrines and bad habits, then you know they are false prophets. Do not be deceived. Everyone that does not bear the good fruit of righteousness will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
But popular teachers today say that you do not need a change of character to go to heaven. They say, "Stay as you are! You only need to make some compensation for your sins. You only need to do some religious activities or show respect for prophets and holy books and this is enough." Do not be deceived by these lying prophets. The way to heaven is the narrow way.
The fruit of the teaching of false prophets is evil. That is how you identify a false prophet. Do they teach things contrary to the former prophets? Do they lessen the importance of the law of God? All true prophets will exalt the law of God as the law of the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 7:21-23 " Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "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?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Many false prophets exist in our day. They teach that the grace and mercy of God eclipse His justice. But that is not the teaching of the Old Testament and that is not the teaching of the New Testament.
Psalm 85:9-11 Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land. 10 Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed. 11 Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
God's mercy does not eclipse His righteousness. Unless there is a change of character, unless there is a spiritual new birth, you cannot go to heaven. The old ways are abandoned and God's law must be kept.
1 John 2:3-4 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Many people say that as long as you believe that Jesus died for your sins you can keep on sinning and Jesus will keep on forgiving it. Jesus did not die on a cross so that we can keep on sinning. Jesus died to give us the Holy Spirit so that we would have power over sin. Jesus saves us from our sins, not in our sins. The reason why the Christian world is powerless and ineffective against sin in the world is because the real power of the gospel is not lived in the lives who profess to be followers of Christ. They are liars and false prophets because they say, "I know Him and yet they do not keep His commandments."
Because there is no power over sin in the lives of the professed Christians they look for manifestations of God's Spirit to assure themselves that God accepts them. While they go on lying, living for self with immoral thoughts and bad habits they have great manifestations in their religious services. They prophecy and cast out demons and make all kinds of wonders. But are they real? Jesus says to them, " I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" They are false prophets.
These people say that when Jesus died the law of God was made invalid. This helps them to justify the sin in their lives. Did Jesus die so that you could lie and cheat in business and commit adultery and every filthy thing? No. Did Jesus die so that you could work and play on the Sabbath? No.
"Oh the fourth commandment was only for the Jews" they say. Really? Before there was a Jew or a Christian on the earth God blessed and sanctified the seventh day of the week Saturday as a holy day. They say, "You do not need to keep the Sabbath." Don't believe the false prophets. The ten commandments are the standard of righteousness for all people in all nations throughout all time.
Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
Psalm 40:8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart."
These passages are not talking about the law concerning sacrifices. Those did end at the cross because they pointed to Jesus. The purpose of the ceremonial law finished. But the ten commandments are God's code of living for mankind. It will never pass away.
But people will try to belittle the law of God and the Sabbath. They will put it down and finally they will make the law of God void by making their own law above the law of God. Then the scripture will be fulfilled which says,
Psalm 119:126 It is time for You to act, O LORD, For they have regarded Your law as void.
This will be the time spoken about in Revelation 13:
Revelation 13:16-17 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
The mark of the beast involves keeping man-made laws instead of God's laws. Do not be deceived on this point. The ten commandments are not ten suggestions. They are ten commandments. They are not ten good ideas if you feel like it. They are 10 commandments. Every human being will be judged by the ten commandments.
James 2:8-12 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. 14For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.
Matthew 7:24-27 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
Do not believe the false prophets. Listen to Jesus who committed no sin.
Jesus continues to preach saying:
Matthew 7:15-20 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 "Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
In the context of the Sermon on the Mount what is Jesus pointing to when He says, "Beware of false prophets"? If religious teachers or so called prophets arise teaching that you can go to heaven with your pride, self-seeking, worldliness, lies, immoral behavior, wrong doctrines and bad habits, then you know they are false prophets. Do not be deceived. Everyone that does not bear the good fruit of righteousness will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
But popular teachers today say that you do not need a change of character to go to heaven. They say, "Stay as you are! You only need to make some compensation for your sins. You only need to do some religious activities or show respect for prophets and holy books and this is enough." Do not be deceived by these lying prophets. The way to heaven is the narrow way.
The fruit of the teaching of false prophets is evil. That is how you identify a false prophet. Do they teach things contrary to the former prophets? Do they lessen the importance of the law of God? All true prophets will exalt the law of God as the law of the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 7:21-23 " Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "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?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Many false prophets exist in our day. They teach that the grace and mercy of God eclipse His justice. But that is not the teaching of the Old Testament and that is not the teaching of the New Testament.
Psalm 85:9-11 Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land. 10 Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed. 11 Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
God's mercy does not eclipse His righteousness. Unless there is a change of character, unless there is a spiritual new birth, you cannot go to heaven. The old ways are abandoned and God's law must be kept.
1 John 2:3-4 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Many people say that as long as you believe that Jesus died for your sins you can keep on sinning and Jesus will keep on forgiving it. Jesus did not die on a cross so that we can keep on sinning. Jesus died to give us the Holy Spirit so that we would have power over sin. Jesus saves us from our sins, not in our sins. The reason why the Christian world is powerless and ineffective against sin in the world is because the real power of the gospel is not lived in the lives who profess to be followers of Christ. They are liars and false prophets because they say, "I know Him and yet they do not keep His commandments."
Because there is no power over sin in the lives of the professed Christians they look for manifestations of God's Spirit to assure themselves that God accepts them. While they go on lying, living for self with immoral thoughts and bad habits they have great manifestations in their religious services. They prophecy and cast out demons and make all kinds of wonders. But are they real? Jesus says to them, " I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" They are false prophets.
These people say that when Jesus died the law of God was made invalid. This helps them to justify the sin in their lives. Did Jesus die so that you could lie and cheat in business and commit adultery and every filthy thing? No. Did Jesus die so that you could work and play on the Sabbath? No.
"Oh the fourth commandment was only for the Jews" they say. Really? Before there was a Jew or a Christian on the earth God blessed and sanctified the seventh day of the week Saturday as a holy day. They say, "You do not need to keep the Sabbath." Don't believe the false prophets. The ten commandments are the standard of righteousness for all people in all nations throughout all time.
Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
Psalm 40:8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart."
These passages are not talking about the law concerning sacrifices. Those did end at the cross because they pointed to Jesus. The purpose of the ceremonial law finished. But the ten commandments are God's code of living for mankind. It will never pass away.
But people will try to belittle the law of God and the Sabbath. They will put it down and finally they will make the law of God void by making their own law above the law of God. Then the scripture will be fulfilled which says,
Psalm 119:126 It is time for You to act, O LORD, For they have regarded Your law as void.
This will be the time spoken about in Revelation 13:
Revelation 13:16-17 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
The mark of the beast involves keeping man-made laws instead of God's laws. Do not be deceived on this point. The ten commandments are not ten suggestions. They are ten commandments. They are not ten good ideas if you feel like it. They are 10 commandments. Every human being will be judged by the ten commandments.
James 2:8-12 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. 14For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.
Matthew 7:24-27 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
Do not believe the false prophets. Listen to Jesus who committed no sin.