10-02-2022 – “Part Five: Exposing False Teachers…”
Above is the
Sunday AM live stream video and audio recordings
Links from Our Website:
Bulletin (pdf)
Sermon Notes (pdf)
October Calendar (pdf)
YouTube Video Sermons
Upcoming Events
FBCW Website Calendar
October 2, 2022
“Part Five: Exposing False Teachers…”
Luke 6:27-49
Read Luke 6:41-42…
41 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
42 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
Is this really about a "speck of sawdust" [small twig, splinter], or any other kind of foreign object in someone’s eye?
Last week we studied how Jesus repeatedly confronted the Pharisees and Scribes about their hypocrisy, e.g.,
Matthew 23:15
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte [convert, recruit, student]; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”
Matthew 23:33,
“You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?”
The religious leaders of Israel were self-righteous and prideful, they held themselves in high esteem while looking down on others, judging them by a standard of their own choosing; pointing out the ineptitudes and failures of others, while remaining unwilling to admit to or do anything about their own sins.
As God’s child, a Christian, you are free of sin’s condemnation
(cf. Romans 10:9-10;
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Romans 6:23;
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:1).
1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Jesus commands His followers
(Luke 6:36),
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Jesus also commands us concerning how we should not behave
(Luke 6:37),
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.
we are not to judge or condemn wrongly, as if we were sovereign and without sin ourselves; instead we are to seek forgiveness
(Luke 6:38),
“For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
The speck spoken of in
Luke 6:41-42,
41 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
42 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
seems to represent sin in someone else's life that we may be quick to point out; while being unwilling to acknowledge our sin, in this case, our own pious self-righteousness.
The truth is, only God is Holy, Righteous, Perfect, and Sovereign; He is the standard of judgement, not us; in fact, the self-righteous critic in Luke’s narrative who points out the splinter [lesser sin] in his brother's eye, has a log [large beam] in his own eye [unconfessed self-righteousness], making him blind, useless to help or guide anyone else.
The religious leaders considered themselves righteous because they had the Law of Moses, and so they don’t believe they need Jesus. Paul writes concerning them, that they see themselves to be
(Romans 2:19-20),
“a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth.”
To them Jesus says
(Luke 6:42),
“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye,” i.e., repent and confess your own self-righteousness so that you will be able to see clearly to help others.
Self-righteousness [the pride and arrogance self exaltation] is the worst of sins because it trusts in self rather than in God and assumes the position of determining what is right or wrong, and who it is that does right or wrong, with ourselves being the standard of judgement; but God’s Word is the only standard and God is the only judge.
Proverbs 16:18,
“Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.”
We must take the log out of our own eye [confess our own sin] asking for God’s cleansing.
Only then will we be able to see clearly in order to humbly help our brother in grace and truth, not arrogance and pride.
Read Luke 6:43-45…
43 For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.
44 For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.
45 The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
The fruit of a tree gives evidence of the condition of the tree itself. Good tree, good fruit; bad tree, bad fruit. Jesus is saying that trees [here a metaphor for people] produce fruit that exemplifies their heart condition.
The bad trees producing bad fruit, are the false teachers of Israel, and of course the false teachers of today. Like who? You ask: Joel Osteen, Beth Moore, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, Paula White, Kenneth Hagin, Christine Caine, Frederick Price, Sarah Young, Rob Bell, and many more.
Read Matthew 7:16-20…
16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.
Jesus warned His disciples just before He returned to heaven
(Matthew 24:4-5
“Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,' and will deceive many."
Matthew 24:24),
"False Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible."
John warns us
(2John 7)
that "many deceivers have gone out into the world,"
and Paul urges us
(Romans 16:17-18),
"to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people."
To avoid being fooled, we must know and apply the Word of God, the Word of Truth
(cf. Romans 12:2;
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
2Timothy 3:16-17).
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Colossians 2:8,
"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."
False teachers claim to speak for God
(Jeremiah 5:30-31)
“A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way,"
(Jeremiah 5:14:14)
they “are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds."
When Paul was departing for Jerusalem, not knowing what would happen there, he warned the elders from Ephesus
(Acts 20:29-31a),
"I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!"
(cf. 2Timothy 2:17,
17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
Hymenaus and Philetus;
2Timothy 4:14,
14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
Alexander: be on guard against them.)
From prison, Paul warned the believers
(2Timothy 4:3-4)
"the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
False prophets disguise themselves as shepherds among the flock,
(Matthew 7:15)
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
"coming to you in sheep's clothing," but they are “ravenous wolves,” i.e., deceitful, merciless, dangerous, murderers,
(2Corinthians 11:13-15),
“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, 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, whose end will be according to their deeds.”
The greatest enemy to sheep in Palestine was wolves; the shepherds kept watch, protecting their sheep, but what if a wolf dressed like a sheep?
False prophets don't necessarily look or speak like demons, in fact, they might give the appearance of being a nice guy, friendly, nonjudgmental, all smiles and pleasantries.
False prophets may even speak kindly about Jesus, the Cross, the Church, and may even associate with genuine Christians and appear knowledgeable of God's Word. Jesus declares
(Matthew 7:16-20)
16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.
that we will know who the false teachers are by the fruit they bear [by their works].
Although a false prophet's teaching may appear good, sound good, closer examination, exposure to the light of God, will reveal the truth,
Ephesians 5:8-14,
“for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, ‘Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’”
If you listen to or read popular false teachers of today, you will find that there is not an absence of godless chatter, popular culture, self-esteem building, and preoccupation with prosperity and happiness.
This should not surprise us, for most people are very content to listen to and be entertained by social platitudes, axioms, contemporary catch phrases, and colloquialisms that feed the human ego, elevating in us a sense of entitlement, expectation, and excitement.
You won't hear false prophets exhort their followers to obey God's Word, live sacrificially, persevere under trial, or be content in all situations.
What they do not speak about, affirm, or promote should cause us concern and our guard ought to be up: They talk about God's love, but they will avoid talking about His holiness -- They might say, ”come on, God understands, He doesn't want you to be unhappy, after all, it is all relative and what really matters is that you just love God and enjoy this life, so be happy!"
They encourage their followers to help the poor and deprived, but they do not instruct them to confront the depraved – They might say, ”come on, I'm not my brother's keeper, and it isn't really any of my business what someone else does, who am I to judge them!"
They talk about the Fatherhood of God and the Oneness of the Humanity, but they do not comment on the destiny awaiting everyone who rejects Jesus Christ – They might say, ”we're all God's children, right? One world, one people?”
They would never teach that only those who come to God the Father through Christ the Son are God's children and will enter into heaven for eternity with Him, while everyone else will be condemned to an eternal hell!
False teachers are condemned to the fires of hell unless they repent and follow Christ as Savior & Lord. These motivational manipulators are not ministers of the Gospel, and you will know that when you inspect their fruit
(Luke 6:45),
“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”
Matthew 12:34-35,
“For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.”
Matthew 12:37,
“For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Jesus rebukes the Pharisees,
In Matthew 23:33,
“You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?”
John the Baptizer said the same thing
(Matthew 3:7-9),
“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.” 10, “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”.
Both Jesus and John called it what it was: false teaching, false religion, heresy, damnable godlessness.
False teachers hide their heresies and falsehoods within religious practices and rituals; so when a person comes along searching for the truth, they instead are given some deadly doctrine of demons that are meant to subvert the Word of God.
The words we speak while on earth will testify, giving witness to either our own condemnation or our own justification, on the day of judgement.
Salvation is based on Jesus Christ alone, but all those who trust in Him are new creations
(2Corinthians 5:17),
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
for the purpose of doing good works
(Ephesians 2:10),
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them,”
(Romans 15:18),
18 For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed,
by “word and deed,”
(James 2:26),
“just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
True Christians, God’s children, believers and followers of God’s Son, are not only to live in submission to the Word of God, while proclaiming the Message of Salvation; but we are also to expose false teachings, false religions, and false teachers, anything and anyone opposing Jesus Christ: crucified, resurrected, and coming again.
Amen?
Amen!
Pastor Mike
>’(((><