The Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 7:15-23/Lesson 12 Matthew 7:15"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves” “In telling people to beware of false prophets, Jesus obviously assumed that there were such. There is no sense in putting on your garden gate the notice ‘Beware of dog’ if all you have at home is a couple of cats” (Stott p. 197). “Beware of the false prophets”: Jesus not only said that such exist, but that they would increase and lead many, even many believers astray (2 Peter 2:1ff; Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22; 2 Corinthians 11:13; 2 Timothy 4:3-4). “In telling us to beware of false prophets Jesus made another assumption, namely that there is such a thing as an objective standard of truth from which the falsehood of the false prophets is to be distinguished, The very notion of ‘false’ prophet is meaningless otherwise. So in referring to certain teachers as ‘false prophets’ it is clear that Jesus was no syncretist, teaching that contradictory opinions were in reality complementary insights into the same truth. No. He held that truth and falsehood excluded one another” (Stott p. 198). As a result doctrine must matter, for false prophets teach things that are contrary to biblical teaching. In our time some have tried to argue that false prophets or false teachers are not people who teach error, but who have false motives. Yet the truth, taught from the wrong motive is still the truth (Philippians 1:15-18). Consider that Jeremiah spoke of false prophets as those who: “Speak a vision of their own imagination” (23:16), while true prophets speak the counsel of the Lord (23:18). They speak their own words, while true prophets speak the words of God (23:22). They failed to handle God’s word faithfully (23:28). Therefore, the danger from false 1