Matt. 7:15-23 False Prophets

Martin Luther declares that all Christians have been given the power, by Christ, to be judges of all doctrine, and he gives them power to judge what is right and what is not right. [1 - #4] This sure opens a can of worms, especially at a time when the ELCA is trying to decide as a body what is right and wrong. He says, “The sum total of all Christianity is Jesus’ conclusion to the sermon on them mount: Therefore all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do even so unto them (vs. 12)” [1 - #1]. Okay. There we have it. What else do we need? Everything else confuses the issue.

You and I will be accountable to Jesus when we stand before him on the last day for who and what we did and believed. It won’t do us any good to point to any one teacher and say, “It was his or her fault that I did or believed what I did!” We are responsible in whom or in what we place our trust, and if it isn’t Jesus Christ alone, then we put it in the wrong place. If we place our trust in Charles Stanley, Crevlo Dollar, Joel Osteen, the Holy Bible, the Book of Concord, you name it – it’s in the wrong place. Christ alone.

So who are the false prophets? Those who teach contrary to the Word. But Luther has a different understanding of the Word than most people today. [1 - #8] “Therefore God must speak to your heart: This is God’s Word; otherwise you are undecided…[#9]… What does it concern us whether St. Augustine or Jerome, St. Peter or St. Paul…yet it will profit me nothing, for I must have God’s Word, I will only hear what God says…[#10]…It is the Word that has spoken when it is effective in those who believe.” The false prophets point to the words on the pages of Scripture and the teachings of the church that ask more of you than trust in Jesus Christ.

The Word speaks to us through the writings of scripture, and when we hear God speaking to our heart, imprinting the truth on our heart, we cannot act against the truth – no matter if we have to stick our necks out a thousand times to get them chopped off. We always act according to what we believe/trust. We cannot act otherwise. Which is why many, many Christians do not project an image of the One they say they follow.

[1 - #26] True prophets possess the fruit of the Spirit – joy, peace, love, longsuffering, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance, self-control. It’s easy to tell a false prophet from a true prophet. Just watch their actions. If they don’t exhibit the aforementioned fruits, run. The works of the flesh (false prophets) are enmities, strife, jealousies, envy, wrath, factions, division, no love, no mercy, no friendship except for their own sect, they would just as soon destroy anyone who doesn’t agree with them [2 - #29]. Wow. One more quote: [3 - #12], The real nature of false prophets is that they force themselves upon us.

We know each other by our fruits. Keep up the good work! - PWM