Jeremiah 23:16-29; Acts 20:27-38; St Matthew 7:15-23
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Beloved in the Lord, you are the flock of our Lord Jesus Christ, the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand, purchased and won by the shedding of His own precious Blood and His innocent suffering and death. You are His and He is yours forever. For you, dear Christian, are His little lamb, ever glad at heart, for your Shepherd gently guides you, knows your need and well provides you. Loves you every day the same. Even calls you by your name.
Thus does your Good Shepherd warn you today of the imminent and continuous coming of false prophets; who are wolves in sheep’s clothing, prowling around, seeking to devour you. He’s not speaking of those who blatantly and conspicuously deny the Blessed Holy Trinity, such as universalists or all other monotheistic religions. They are indeed false prophets and teachers, but those who deny the triune nature of God are merely heretics who are seeking to overthrown the Christian Church.
Likewise those who openly deny Jesus, His persona and work, are not the false prophets of whom our Lord warns. Those who reject what is plainly taught in God’s Word and confessed in the Creeds - that Jesus is true God and true Man, that is He is One and Only Mediator between God and man and the Atoning Sacrifice for sin - they are indeed false prophets and teachers. Yet again, such are merely heretics who seek to undermine the Christian faith. To deny that Jesus is God is to deny His Word and thus to call Him a liar. Of such, Christ Himself says elsewhere: I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He you will die in your sins (Jn 8:24).
Sadly, those who profess to be Christians, such as Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Scientists, Unitarian Universalists, even so-called Christian fraternities and organizations, yet believe teach, and confess contrary to God’s Word, denying the Holy Trinity and the true deity of Christ Jesus, while we can and do call such groups false prophets and teachers, they are not the ravenous wolves of which Jesus warns here. They are heretics. Wolves in wolves’ clothing.
No, the false prophets of whom our Lord Christ warns are far more dangerous. For they appear to be harmless. False prophets don’t advertise themselves as false prophets. They don’t appear as wolves. They appear as sheep. In lambs skins. In the clothing of the little lambs of Jesus. They dress and act like sheep because, as St Paul warns, they once were. From among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.
Therefore do you pray, “Preserve Your Word, O Savior, to us this latter day and let your kingdom flourish; enlarge Your Church we pray.” Preserve your Word. Jesus warns of false prophets because false prophets bring false doctrine. And false doctrine corrupts the soul and abuses the conscience and leads to false belief. Your weapon of choice for this battle against the wolf in sheep’s skin, the thing which you most desperately need in all the earth, is the Word of God in Christ Jesus. The Word they still shall let remain. The little Word that fells Satan. The strong Word that did cleave the darkness at the dawn of creation. The Word which slices and dices, piercing between joint and sinew, bone and marrow in each of us. The Word that cuts you to the quick and slays not only the ravenous wolves on the outside, but that hungry wolf on the inside. That wolf the Old Adam who hungers for false doctrine, for do-it-yourself theology, for the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. The Word of His grace which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
For it is by this self-same Word that the kingdom of God comes, by itself, without our prayer. But we pray that it may come to us also. We petition the Father that He give us His Holy Spirit so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity. For this Word, rightly taught and purely proclaimed, is your strong tower and fortress. You don’t need slick media or flashy screens; sweet guitar solos or smooth vocals. You need the Word alone.
For this reason, dear saints, does our Lord Christ send you Pastors; preachers of His Word. He, your Good Shepherd, sends them as His under shepherds, captive only to His Word alone. They come as Christ’s servants for your good. Giving you His Word. Feeding you His Word. Breaking open His Scripture as wholesome loaves of divine Bread.
But as rightly and purely as a Pastor may teach and preach the Word of the Lord, he cannot believe for another. He cannot enter your mind and turn your thoughts from lies to the truth. He can only rely upon the Word. And this is preciously the same thing on which you, dear Christian, are to rely. For it is to you, dear Christian, and not just to Pastors, but to His flock, His Church, that Jesus says, Beware of false prophets.
But how shall you distinguish them? By their fruits, Jesus says. Their fruits are not their works, for they look like sheep. They behave like sheep. Their fruits are their preaching and teaching. The fruits of false doctrine, which look appealing and enticing, but are really rotten to the core. Much like the fruit which lured our first parents into temptation and sin: nice looking and good for wisdom, but poisonous and deadly. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles. You will recognize them by their fruits. Beware of them.
You needn’t study every world religion and get an advanced degree in theology in order to be prepared against the wolves in sheepskins and the rotten orchards. Regarding this text Luther said, “When a Christian is attentive and has no more than the catechism, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Word of the Lord, Baptism and the Sacraments of the Lord’s Supper, he can well defend and maintain himself against all heresies. For the Lord Christ here commands, and gives power to all Christians, to be judges over all doctrines, and enables them to understand what is right and wrong.”
For in truth you have but one true Prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not a wolf, but comes to you in sheep’s clothing, but it is fitting, for He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He has come, snatched you from the jaws of the Devil, rescuing you safe and sound in the good orchard of His Church.
Those chilling words, I never knew you, depart from Me, do not apply to you, for you are clothed in the lamb’s skin of Christ’s own righteousness and life. He has driven out your demons by His Name, by Water and the Word in Holy Baptism and Holy Absolution. You do His will. That is, by His Spirit, through His Word, you believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And He plants you as fruitful trees by the streams of His living Word, flowing to you from His font and pulpit and altar, speaking Words of mercy and peace and forgiveness and life.
Come then, dear Christians, receive of the fruit of that Tree which appears so rotten and evil, but is in fact the Tree of Life, the Cross, upon which hangs the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here you are blessed in receiving as He loves to give and bestow upon you His gifts. He preserves His Word. He shall preserve you who hear and believe His Word. At the last your Good Shepherd shall welcome you, His dear lamb, into His arms and the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Beloved in the Lord, you are the flock of our Lord Jesus Christ, the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand, purchased and won by the shedding of His own precious Blood and His innocent suffering and death. You are His and He is yours forever. For you, dear Christian, are His little lamb, ever glad at heart, for your Shepherd gently guides you, knows your need and well provides you. Loves you every day the same. Even calls you by your name.
Thus does your Good Shepherd warn you today of the imminent and continuous coming of false prophets; who are wolves in sheep’s clothing, prowling around, seeking to devour you. He’s not speaking of those who blatantly and conspicuously deny the Blessed Holy Trinity, such as universalists or all other monotheistic religions. They are indeed false prophets and teachers, but those who deny the triune nature of God are merely heretics who are seeking to overthrown the Christian Church.
Likewise those who openly deny Jesus, His persona and work, are not the false prophets of whom our Lord warns. Those who reject what is plainly taught in God’s Word and confessed in the Creeds - that Jesus is true God and true Man, that is He is One and Only Mediator between God and man and the Atoning Sacrifice for sin - they are indeed false prophets and teachers. Yet again, such are merely heretics who seek to undermine the Christian faith. To deny that Jesus is God is to deny His Word and thus to call Him a liar. Of such, Christ Himself says elsewhere: I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He you will die in your sins (Jn 8:24).
Sadly, those who profess to be Christians, such as Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Scientists, Unitarian Universalists, even so-called Christian fraternities and organizations, yet believe teach, and confess contrary to God’s Word, denying the Holy Trinity and the true deity of Christ Jesus, while we can and do call such groups false prophets and teachers, they are not the ravenous wolves of which Jesus warns here. They are heretics. Wolves in wolves’ clothing.
No, the false prophets of whom our Lord Christ warns are far more dangerous. For they appear to be harmless. False prophets don’t advertise themselves as false prophets. They don’t appear as wolves. They appear as sheep. In lambs skins. In the clothing of the little lambs of Jesus. They dress and act like sheep because, as St Paul warns, they once were. From among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.
Therefore do you pray, “Preserve Your Word, O Savior, to us this latter day and let your kingdom flourish; enlarge Your Church we pray.” Preserve your Word. Jesus warns of false prophets because false prophets bring false doctrine. And false doctrine corrupts the soul and abuses the conscience and leads to false belief. Your weapon of choice for this battle against the wolf in sheep’s skin, the thing which you most desperately need in all the earth, is the Word of God in Christ Jesus. The Word they still shall let remain. The little Word that fells Satan. The strong Word that did cleave the darkness at the dawn of creation. The Word which slices and dices, piercing between joint and sinew, bone and marrow in each of us. The Word that cuts you to the quick and slays not only the ravenous wolves on the outside, but that hungry wolf on the inside. That wolf the Old Adam who hungers for false doctrine, for do-it-yourself theology, for the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. The Word of His grace which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
For it is by this self-same Word that the kingdom of God comes, by itself, without our prayer. But we pray that it may come to us also. We petition the Father that He give us His Holy Spirit so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity. For this Word, rightly taught and purely proclaimed, is your strong tower and fortress. You don’t need slick media or flashy screens; sweet guitar solos or smooth vocals. You need the Word alone.
For this reason, dear saints, does our Lord Christ send you Pastors; preachers of His Word. He, your Good Shepherd, sends them as His under shepherds, captive only to His Word alone. They come as Christ’s servants for your good. Giving you His Word. Feeding you His Word. Breaking open His Scripture as wholesome loaves of divine Bread.
But as rightly and purely as a Pastor may teach and preach the Word of the Lord, he cannot believe for another. He cannot enter your mind and turn your thoughts from lies to the truth. He can only rely upon the Word. And this is preciously the same thing on which you, dear Christian, are to rely. For it is to you, dear Christian, and not just to Pastors, but to His flock, His Church, that Jesus says, Beware of false prophets.
But how shall you distinguish them? By their fruits, Jesus says. Their fruits are not their works, for they look like sheep. They behave like sheep. Their fruits are their preaching and teaching. The fruits of false doctrine, which look appealing and enticing, but are really rotten to the core. Much like the fruit which lured our first parents into temptation and sin: nice looking and good for wisdom, but poisonous and deadly. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles. You will recognize them by their fruits. Beware of them.
You needn’t study every world religion and get an advanced degree in theology in order to be prepared against the wolves in sheepskins and the rotten orchards. Regarding this text Luther said, “When a Christian is attentive and has no more than the catechism, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Word of the Lord, Baptism and the Sacraments of the Lord’s Supper, he can well defend and maintain himself against all heresies. For the Lord Christ here commands, and gives power to all Christians, to be judges over all doctrines, and enables them to understand what is right and wrong.”
For in truth you have but one true Prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not a wolf, but comes to you in sheep’s clothing, but it is fitting, for He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He has come, snatched you from the jaws of the Devil, rescuing you safe and sound in the good orchard of His Church.
Those chilling words, I never knew you, depart from Me, do not apply to you, for you are clothed in the lamb’s skin of Christ’s own righteousness and life. He has driven out your demons by His Name, by Water and the Word in Holy Baptism and Holy Absolution. You do His will. That is, by His Spirit, through His Word, you believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And He plants you as fruitful trees by the streams of His living Word, flowing to you from His font and pulpit and altar, speaking Words of mercy and peace and forgiveness and life.
Come then, dear Christians, receive of the fruit of that Tree which appears so rotten and evil, but is in fact the Tree of Life, the Cross, upon which hangs the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here you are blessed in receiving as He loves to give and bestow upon you His gifts. He preserves His Word. He shall preserve you who hear and believe His Word. At the last your Good Shepherd shall welcome you, His dear lamb, into His arms and the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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