5/7/06 The Clothing Does Not Make The Man
Matthew 7:15
Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
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, as Jesus used it in this context, is essentially a call to a mental awareness of a spiritual danger. 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)
After giving the invitation to "enter by the narrow gate," to come to God by the only way He has provided, Jesus warns that just because a person claims to stand for God and/or claims to speak for Him does not mean that he shares a relationship with God. It is easy to talk about having a life with God, it is another thing to live out in one’s daily life the power of Christ, unless that power of living is at the core of one’s spiritual being. In the present passage Jesus first gives a warning and then calls us to be watchful. Just as He described the true way (narrow way) and false way (broad way), He gives us a warning about those who seem to be in the narrow way, but, in fact, are “counterfeiters”.
False prophets are those who declare a perverted sense of the truth. The difficulties of the narrow way are enough and the trouble associated with each day are hard enough without adding a dimension of half truths and outward deception to them. The false prophets cannot hinder anyone from the kingdom. Remember, if no one comes to the Father without the Spirit’s calling him, it is also true that those that have been called by the Father cannot be hindered by a lesser power. Although the concept of the church was not functional at this time, I believe that Jesus was, Himself, prophesying as to the trouble these ones would be to the church as to how they would affect it and infect it.
False prophets have been around from the beginning. Remember the Garden of Eden? The “false one,” Satan, said, “You shall not surely die.” False prophets look like shepherds. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me; My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; (John 10:14,16,27). A person can “look like” a shepherd (Christian), but the only person who can express the heart of the Lord is one who has had his heart transformed by Christ. When I say that a person can “look like” a Christian, I mean that they can learn the vocabulary; they can learn the schedule of services and show up, even on time; they can talk of God as if they know Him; they can show compassion and sincerity. They can be members of Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist churches. They can own and even carry a Bible to church. Their movement toward the offering box with their offerings can be a very deceptive activity. This is what makes them so dangerous. This is why Jesus said, “beware.”
False prophets always have a self-agenda. Since they do not live to glorify God, we know that they live to glorify themselves. Self-glory is always destructive to the prophet and to those around him/her. Therefore, they are divisive. False prophets always find a hearing and often are encouraged by those who are displeased with God’s ways. 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). 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 greedy, self-seeking and self-serving. When Jesus completely unmasked their deceit and hypocrisy (see Matt. 23) it is no wonder they crucified Him.
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 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 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. There are those who cloak themselves with their own selfish desires trying to look like a Christian, and then there are others completely out of the scope of Christianity who try to convince Christians that there is nothing incompatible about the eastern religions and Christianity.
The word yoga itself has a meaning corresponding to "the mystical union with the universal spirit."
Yoga is atheistic in nature and has the idea of self-realization. Man must aim at attaining to his eternal self through the practice of many exercises in purification. This eternal self or real self is supposed to be a part of the universal or ultimate reality; yoga calls this process self-realization. It will always be impossible to harmonize yoga and Christianity. Following are a few concise statements of yoga's beliefs:
Every bodily organ is related to the soul.
Every person has a physical and spiritual nature which strive with one another for preeminence. A harmony
and union of these two natures is to be achieved through psychological exercises.
Man's eternal self is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient.
Man's eternal self is both transcendent and immanent; it is without beginning and without end, having
neither birth nor death.
Material things are on a lower level than the mind, the intelligence and the spirit.
Yoga includes all branches of physics and metaphysics. Yoga implies a synthesis of the physical and the
metaphysical universes.
Heaven and hell are the products of man's mind.
The system of yoga stands behind magic, mysticism and occultism.
—Kurt Koch
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).
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. 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", their prestige, acclaim, power, etc., (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).
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:
He [Jim Jones] knew how to inspire hope. He was committed to people in need; he counseled prisoners and juvenile delinquents. He started a job placement center; he opened rest homes and homes for the retarded; he had a health clinic; he organized a vocational training center; he provided free legal aid; he founded a community center; he preached about God. He even claimed to cast out demons, do miracles and heal.
But on the other hand we find all the marks of a false prophet. He promoted himself through the use of celebrities, a very common vehicle for false prophets to gain credibility. And he used the language and the forms of faith to gain his power.
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.
One of the tragedies of Jonestown was that the people 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 a perversion and deny the only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ" (Jude 4).