Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Matthew 7:15 KJV

This is another of Jesus’ statements from his famous Sermon on the Mount. It serves as a warning. Saying, “beware of false prophets,” Jesus follows a theme in his ministry of teaching his followers the importance of sincerity of belief and genuine obedience to God. The religious teachers of the day were overly concerned about outward appearance without genuine submission to God in their hearts. 

In recognition of the insincerity of some supposed religious teachers, Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of scribes and Pharisees in his ministry. The Lord says in Matthew 23:27-28, ‘“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. WEB”

Their Heart Is Far From Me

Even today, the church suffers from false teaching and false prophets. And so, it is just as important for us today to beware of false prophets. Encountering men who taught tradition over the word and will of God, once again, Jesus corrects their error. Christ quotes the prophet Isaiah in Matthew 15:8-9, “These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men. WEB”

And so, we must take care to discern the truthfulness of those who proclaim to teach the word of God. To avoid deception, we must beware of false prophets. We read in 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. WEB” We do this by referencing scripture to see if the word given is consistent with the word of God. 

Follow Sound Doctrine

As we follow Jesus’ command to beware of false prophets, it is important that we understand the second portion of Christ’s statement. Particularly in our time, a large number of people fall prey to the false teaching of wolves in sheep’s clothing. As we read in 2 Timothy 4:3, “For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts. WEB” There is a danger that presents itself to the church when people reject the truth of God’s word in favor of what our sinful nature would rather believe. 

The adversaries of God’s word sometimes disguise themselves as followers of Christ in order to deceive. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11:14, “And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light. WEB” If what we hear from the pulpit is inconsistent with the word of God, we rightly reject it. In order to beware of false prophets, we must judge what is said against sound doctrine stated clearly in God’s holy word. 

Yesterday’s Devotional: Submit to One Another