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Sermon on the Mount: "The Warning of False Teachers" Matthew7:15-20 · Clifford Baptist

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  Speaker A: Welcome to Truth for the Journey from Clifford Baptist Church, 635 Fletcher's Level Road in Amherst. Please join us today as Pastor Jeffrey Campbell leads us in an in depth study of the Sermon on the Mount. Today's scripture is Matthew, chapter 7, verses 15 through 20. And the sermon is entitled the warning of false teachers.
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  Speaker B: Matthew, chapter number seven in your Bibles tonight as we continue marching on in this study as we think about the Sermon on the Mount. And we are closing down now. You're gonna have a leg up on Sunday morning. I'm working right now in Luke chapter six. And so as we as my sermon for the week that I'm writing out is when Jesus is calling his disciples. But shortly after that, the next passage is Luke's account of the Sermon on the Mount. So I want you to know you're gonna have a leg up on that Sunday morning crowd because you sat through months and months and months and, and I'm going to confess to you, it will not be in depth, as in depth as we have been. It will probably just hit the highlights of it and move along. I've been praying that'll be next week when I start working on Lord, you got to guide me how to put that together. And I might just say, see Matthew chapter 7. I'm grateful for an opportunity to preach through this. And Kenneth asked me tonight how many more sermons are left and I told him at least two, maybe three. After tonight we'll figure it out. But we are coming to the end of it and I'm grateful for this study. I pray that this study has helped you. It has changed you. It has opened your eyes. And tonight we are called to open our eyes a little bit wider to those that share that teach, that preach the word of God. And so tonight I want you to know it's not uncomfortable for me to preach this, but I'm preaching about myself. I'm preaching about those who handle to preach and teach the word of God. And sometimes that can get a little unnerving. A small town church had said goodbye to its long term pastor. This isn't about Mike Fitzgerald. I want to interject there, okay? He moved out of town and they needed a new shepherd. They called a young man. They made him his pastor, Made them their pastor. And things started off well. But soon trouble would begin to brew as the pastor would teach and he would begin to say things and twist scripture, bring questions to the minds of the faithful. Many of those who had been faithful to that small church for years. Here was their solution. We're not going to go anymore. We just quit going to church. The root of the problem was a pastor that was misleading the sheep. And by the time that the church voted the pastor out, the damage was done. It splintered the church. Sides were taken. Ministry in this little town and in this little church had all but stopped. How many times have we heard that story? Yeah, over and over and over. Churches that are desperate for somebody to lead, anybody to lead, they will pull from the ranks. And friends, even in our own county, right close to us, churches have been splintered in this manner. So tonight, I want you to know that we're not talking about a warning about different theology, but we're talking about untruths. Your Bible is full of warnings. Some of them found in Acts, chapter 20 and 2nd Peter 2, 1 John 4, 2 Corinthians 11. All of these warning, there are many others about false teachers that creep into the church. So whether it was Peter or John or Paul, who would write Luke, who would write about beware of the false teachers that creep into the church, tonight we are coming off the heels of talking about the narrow way and the broad way that was the warning the last time we met and directly following that warning, and even some people put it together that it is the wolf in sheep's clothing that leads people down the Broadway. That is a possibility. And so the warning tonight is about false teachers. Everybody that you listen to, everybody that you watch on TV is, is not a true preacher, Gospel preacher. So you've got to be warned there, and you've got to recognize that. And so here's the message of the night. Jesus is calling the believers, his followers, to be ready and to identify those who are misleading Christians. As we think about the warning of false teachers, these six verses tonight give a stern warning to the church and to the believers. There will be those who try to come into the body for the wrong reasons. And you must be prepared, you must watch out, you must identify, and you must get rid of those who try to mislead believers. That's the stern warning of the night. And so if, as we begin, Matthew chapter 7, verse number 15, Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Point number one tonight, beware of the suit. Jesus gives those listening to this sermon something that they need to discern about. Now, without looking real quick, nobody look. Don't look back. How did Matthew chapter number seven begin? Judge not right. And in just 14 verses, we just read verse number 15. That calls the church that calls believers to judge, to discern, to be aware, to mark those who are twisting the word of God. And so this chapter, chapter number seven, as we understand it, he's calling believers to judge or discern those who lead and teach the word of God. Not just lead, but teach and preach the word of God. And those leaders are called to be under judgment. And that warning to the early believers is there will be people that try to get in. Here's the warning. People are going to try to get in that don't belong here. And you've got to identify those people, and you've got to identify those teachers. And ultimately their lone mission, their lone goal is, is to lead people not to the Lord, but away from the Lord. This warning comes with what we must discern as things that are happening on the inside that we may not necessarily be able to see. Jesus says on the outside they have sheep's clothing. They look the part, they sound the part, they act the part, they talk the part. They may be a good communicator, they may dress right, they may say the right things. They come in looking the part, but inside they are ravening wolves. And this is the picture of the false teacher. Outwardly, they look fine. Inwardly they have a whole different mission. You maybe you have seen the picture. A wolf creeping around and over his back drapes the skin of a sheep or the fleece of a sheep. That's the picture here. As the wolf is just scouring, who can we devour? And so they focus on those who are spiritually immature and their goal is to divide. If you've ever been in a church that's been through division, you may understand this and you may even relate to this. But a false teacher's goal is to divide and to split and to get those that are new believers separated and maybe even under their watch or under their care. Now, I want you to know that we may differ on some theological things. That's okay. But when it comes to people who will not talk about Jesus, that will not talk about his life lived as sacrifice for sin, they will not mention his death or his resurrection. They will not mention that he is the only one that can save a soul from hell, they will not mention sin. These people are false teachers. There are certain leaders and preachers and teachers that are hyper focused on monetary gain or power or personal gain. And so inwardly, that is their reason for ministry. It is not to lead others to Jesus. It is not to lead the redeemed, to follow Jesus even closer to their Lone goal, their hunger. And they devour in order to get that self gain. So beware of the suit. Beware of the outward appearance that doesn't match an inward hunger for Jesus. They look the part, but they're far from it. The first warning in verse number 15 is beware of the suit. But there's another warning. Look at verses 16 through 18. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes and thorns, of figs, of thistles, even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit. But a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Point number two tonight is behold the fruit. Behold the fruit. Jesus calls us to look at the fruit of those that teach you. Fruit tells the motive. Both of my boys today went to a forestry judging competition up at Dadney, and they've been there all day looking at trees and by the bark and by the leaves. I know Ed McCann can probably teach us all a little lesson there, but their lone goal today was identify numerous trees by just looking at bark and leaves. I'm grateful that my boys are in the state competition doing that, but their dad stands here tonight. People are looking at his fruit. People are looking for fruit. What's the easiest way to tell if an apple tree's an apple tree in the middle of the summer? It's got apples. You don't have to worry about the leaves or the bark. Then you look at the fruit. And so we understand that there are times when we identify and we can look at trees and we can know what they are by their fruit. Now, we've got to be careful in churches. And here's. I want you to listen closely. We can't look at the number of people that are sitting in the pews. That doesn't tell you about the pastor. We can't look at the people in the church. But what we are called to do is we are to look at the life of the teacher, of the preacher, of the leader of the flock. Does faith and humility mark his life? Maybe you've got a Sunday school teacher, or maybe you've got a small group leader. You should look at their life as well. They are leading you. Do they have faith and humility that mark their life? You have to listen to what they say. And even Jesus says this in their message, as we talked about a little bit earlier. Is Christ exalted? Is sin confronted? Is the gospel shared? There's a lot of stuff to listen for as you are listening when somebody Preaches. So in order to be a fruit inspector number one, you've got to look at the life of the person. You have to listen to what they say, but you've got to know what the truth is for yourself. You've got to know it for yourself. Because where false teachers feast is off of people that do not know, they know nothing else, nothing better. And so at 2 o' clock in the morning, they turn on the TV and there's a preacher on there telling them something that is way off course. And so in order to know what you're looking for, or excuse me, in order to identify the fruit, you've got to know what you're looking for. You have to know the truth for yourself. You must, at a very minimum, know the Lord, but you must know his word and you must listen for it and you must look for it, and you must learn it yourself. Jesus says this. The fruit tells the story of a teacher's life as you are discerning. And I'm telling you to do this to me tonight. Okay? That's why it's a little awkward, right? But I've heard teachers before say, hey, look it up. Question me if you have anything, come to me. That's my motto as well. But as you are looking for fruit, you are also looking to see if that fruit is good or bad. Because Jesus says this. The good tree, the good teacher, brings forth good fruit. This good fruit will be able to be identified and it will point that this tree or this teacher, this person, this leader, belongs to Jesus. The fruit tells the story. What does the fruit of a godly preacher, a godly teacher, look like? Now, we can throw ideas out there and you may have some suggestions, but a great place to start. Galatians, chapter 5, verses 22 and 23. Your pastor, your teachers should exhibit some of those fruits of the spirit. I'm not saying they're going to exhibit all of them in a perfect way, but that's a good place to start. And these are good fruits, but not the only fruit. Good fruit comes from good trees. But on the contrary, good trees cannot bear evil fruit or bad fruit, and evil trees cannot produce good fruit. The tree will produce like kind fruit. An apple tree will produce an apple. A cherry tree will produce a cherry. A good preacher will produce good fruit. A good teacher will produce good fruit. And I want to say this. When it comes to your teachers, you are 100% judging them. I like using the word discern better. You are discerning their fruit, who they are. You are Looking and listening at that teacher. So I'm asking you tonight that you should be doing that for me and for Nathan. For any Sunday school or small group leader that you are under. If you don't see good fruit, you need to say something. And I say it like this, you need to say something real quick. How many of you have been to pick your own apples before? Strawberries? Yes. How do you. How do you. When you're judging that yourself? Like we're not going to Food lion and picking what's already there or already been picked. We're picking things for ourselves and. And I'm going to tell on myself here. If I'm picking it for myself, I want the best. So number one, when I grab that fruit, I'm not picking any bad fruit and paying for it. So appearance matters the same way when you are looking and listening at your teachers. I'm not talking about necessarily this appearance, but there is a sense of pride and self gain and arrogance that some people carry very well. And false teachers carry it really well if they are not humble. You better be very careful. What about distorted? If something. If a piece of fruit doesn't look right, you know that strawberry is distorted. I'm not taking that thing home in the same way any pastor, any teacher that twists distorts the word of God, you better get up and get out very quickly. What about fruit that has nicks and cuts on it, deep bruises in them? Have you ever bought a pack of strawberries and on the bottom there was a little fuzzy one and it ruined the whole thing. I just messed up some of yalls dinner. I'm sorry. One little piece of bad fruit ruins the whole bunch. And so when you are picking out those people that lead you in a spiritual way, those people that have division or quarrels or dissension, that always follow them, you better beware of that. If a preacher has been four or five places in four or five years, you better be careful. I'm going to say this in a loving way. People that church hop are the same way. From the pastor standpoint. If nobody can ever. If you can't satisfy them, nobody can satisfy them. Something's wrong there. Point number two, you have to look at the fruit. Be a fruit inspector of those that lead you in learning and teaching the word of God. There's one more warning. It's found in verses 19. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Warning number three is these False teachers will be brought down at the root. Brought down at the root. Notice that every tree is judged. Look at your Bibles again, verse number 19. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down every tree. No one gets a pass in this judgment. This tree must produce good fruit in order to survive. If it produces bad fruit, it does not survive. But there are two kinds of trees. The one that produces evil fruit or bad fruit or not producing good fruit. The Bible says Jesus says it must be cut down. And so if the messenger is not teaching the godly things according to his word, it's gone. And that may not happen immediately. But also the one that bears no fruit, that tree must go as well. It is a given. A tree, a teacher, a pastor must produce good fruit or it will be cut down. I want to tell you real quick about two instances in the past two weeks that I've learned about pastors. One funeral I got invited to be a part of because the pastor never visited the person while they were sick. Now that's not a false teacher, but that breaks my heart. The second one I called to do a funeral with him. I never met the guy before and I was asking him kind of like, we've got a system for those of you that seen funerals, what part do you want? I've got this part, here's what we're thinking kind of thing. And he's like, I'm not looking for any more work than I have to. That strikes me to the heart. It challenges me to be an even, try to be an even better pastor. To think there are shepherds that won't go or won't do breaks my heart. But when it boils down to looking at the fruit today, tonight, the question is a tree that doesn't produce at all, produces bad fruit, will be cut down. And in the words of one famous pastor, they make good firewood. That's a scary thought tonight. Where I stand, that's very, very intimidating and humbling that we must guard against false teaching. But I want to say this tonight. This message is for false teachers. But I want to ask the question, even in our own lives, are we fruit bearing trees or not? The warning is very clear from Jesus. The evil tree and the non producing tree are gone in the fire. And that fire is an eternal fire punishment for sidestepping the truth of God. They may get away with it while they're holding a position, but before a holy God. You cannot sidestep the truth of God and get away with it. Verse number 20 is the verse we take home tonight. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Tonight, in a certain way, we are called to be fruit inspectors. Those that are pouring into us. I don't care if it's who you're listening to in a podcast or on the radio. I don't care if it's somebody on the Internet or on tv. You be careful of who pours into you. My prayer tonight, that you may leave here as a fruit inspector. But remember, you are not judge. You don't have the final say. So. And so I want to use this as a moment of encouragement for our church. Number one, that you will pray for your pastors, your teachers in our church, that you will pray that we stay true to the word of God, that we will not lean one way or another from it, that we will give the whole counsel of God. Number two, that we, as we teach and as we preach that the word of God is our focus and at the forefront of our mind, pray that we will be filled and enjoy the goodness of God's word by being taught at Clifford Baptist Church. Who? Who knows? Tonight, these are hard warnings, but I may be sitting here talking to somebody that's going to be a teacher one day or a preacher one day. This is something you need to know. Don't just volunteer to jump up and lead a group or lead a class without knowing this. This is a stern warning. The third thing, pray for protection. Not only that we stay true to the word, not only that the word of God remains in the forefront, but pray for protection over our church. Because here is the warning. The initial warning is that they will come in sheep's clothing. The false teachers will come. In nearly four years of being your pastor, God has weeded out some situations and I praise him for it. I praise him for it. We've had some close calls tonight. Every one of us needs to be vigilant as we listen, as we learn, as we understand. And we are being led by the man of God or the woman of God in a Sunday school class, but ultimately, by his word, pray for the ministry of this church that we can identify and weed out those that do not belong. That's hard to say. It's a stern warning tonight. Maybe you have sat in church and you've played the part. Maybe we need to just get to the root of the problem. Examine your life of some of the same, of a false sense of security that you have just by sitting here, sitting in church doesn't make you saved the blood of Jesus, does And tonight, if he's not your Lord, and you look to a risen Lord that rose on the third day to lead your life, you may be in trouble as well. So tonight, as we think about, we wrap up this study. My call is for us not only to look at the people that lead us, but look within to make sure that we know the truth. And the truth is Jesus Christ and him alone. Let's pray. Father God, tonight, thank you just for this study, Lord. It is hard in some ways, but in other ways it is very simple because it is simply teaching your word. God, tonight, Lord. I pray, Lord, that you hold me to a high standard, Lord, that as people look into my life and at my life, God, I pray they see the fruit. Lord, I know in this room there are teachers and leaders of small groups and Sunday school classes and women's groups and men's groups. Oh, God, will you just humble us tonight? Give us a hunger for the truth of your word, Lord. Let us love it and know it and study it in such a way that we can identify the wolf if it were to come through the door in sheep's clothing. Lord, tonight lead us, we pray. Protect us as only you can. God, we give you the glory for all you do. In Jesus name, Amen.
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  Speaker A: You've been listening to Truth for the Journey from Clifford Baptist Church. You're always welcome to visit Clifford Baptist Church for Sunday School at 9:45 worship at 11am and Wednesday evening worship at 7pm for Truth for the Journey.