Appearances Can Be
Deceiving
Matthew 7:15-20
The Associated Press reports that Scotland Yard recently
conducted
a
private exhibition for art dealers. That’s
odd in and of itself, but
this exhibition was comprised of
forged paintings. The objective was
was to send a warning about the
sale of forgeries, which some
experts estimate make up 40
percent of the art market. The fakes
are
created with remarkable proficiency. Relying
on documentation
alone won't solve the problem
because even that is often forged!
Fiona Ford, of the Association
of Arts & Antiques Dealers, said the
level of skill displayed by the
forgers was "terrifying." She
added, "If
every dealer saw this
exhibition, it would further impress on them
how careful they have to
be."
To varying degrees we’re all guilty of doing something similar
-many women wear make-up
-many women and men color their hair
-some may wear clothes that are
a tad too “young” for them...or that
attempt to cover-up some
supposed physical imperfection
-some drive cars and live in
houses they can’t afford
-some carry big Bibles and say
all the right religious things, etc., etc.
We all have our masks...our way or ways
of passing ourselves off as
someone or something we’re really
not
-for many of us, it’s so
common, so natural that we often do it
without
even so much as a second thought
But guess what?
-Jesus isn’t addressing that in
this section of the Sermon on the
Mount—He’s not talking about
Christians who are hypocrites or
people
who pretend to be something they’re not...listen
Jesus isn’t discussing someone like Ted Haggard who has a very
public,
tragic moral failure...whose transgressions are described in
lurid detail on every TV, newspaper,
and internet blog...whose sins
bring disgrace upon himself, his
church, his witness, and God’s
Kingdom
-as sad as Ted Haggard’s case may
be, as detrimental it is to the
cause of Christ, that’s not
the subject of the warning Jesus sounds
Read Matthew 7:15-20
Jesus keys in on a specific threat to the health and safety of the flock
of believers
-using the image of a
relatively defenseless flock, Jesus describes
the
worst nightmare of the sheep and the Shepherd
--it’s not just that
wolves have infiltrated the flock, they have
done so masquerading
as sheep...so the threat is enhanced
because the deadly
enemy looks like a friendly flock-member
-Jesus isn’t interested in
creating paranoia or inciting another
inquisition, but He knows
the gravity of the situation
--that’s why v. 15 is so blunt...Jesus isn’t saying
these false
prophets are some hypothetical
possibility...He knows
they’re already poised
and ready for the kill
Only a few years later, Paul was telling the young church at
à I know
that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you
and will not spare the flock. Even from you own number men will
arise and distort the truth in order to draw
away disciples after them.
Again, what makes Jesus’ words so dire is that the danger will come
from within the church
-Jesus knows there will be
wolves disguised as sheep and that will
operate as agents of Satan
from within the church
--it’s not only that
these wolves will be church members, they
will be church
leaders, even pastors and teacher
--they will have the
right look, they will talk the right talk, they
will have the image
of the ideal sheep...and they will convince
the other sheep that
not only are they sheep, but also
that
they should have significant
power, influence...thus setting
the stage for a
bloody massacre of biblical proportions
Another AP story reported the unimaginable three summers ago
-after a week-long vacation in
Robert and Angela Barry of
return home to
young girl showed up at
their room and gave their son a teddy
bear as a gift. But as they went through security at
machine like the rest of their luggage, and
the Barrys learned that
appearances can be deceiving.
A TSA worker noticed the outline
of
a weapon inside the teddy bear. Opening
it up, they found a
loaded .22 caliber
handgun stuffed inside. Robert Johnson,
a
TSA spokesman in
the need to screen everyone
and everything no matter how
innocent the people or their
belongings may appear."
Am I or, more importantly, is Jesus saying that we need to be on a
wolf
hunt on the level of the McCarthy hearings or the MBLA?
-no, Jesus isn’t trying to be
a paranoid alarmist...Jesus is simply
being the Good Shepherd who
is realistically aware of the
bona fide threats to His
flock
--the
good news? Jesus prepares His
sheep, us, to survive
---in addition to
the warning, He gives us His written Word—
the truth to
which we can compare every teaching
---He gives us another
indicator—notice the next several
verses of our
text—we must steer well clear of those who
profess and
teach one thing, but whose lives are
consistently in direct contradiction of
God’s Word
----again,
we must not expect our preachers and
teachers be perfect, but
a clear, willful pattern of
unrighteous words, thoughts, and actions exposes
them for who they really are
---He gives us the
Holy Spirit—who gives us wisdom and
discernment...Read
1 Corinthians 2:10b-16
---John 16:13 à...the
Spirit...will guide you into all truth
---He also gives us
a mind—so that we’re not easily fooled
by
appearances...so that we don’t chase after the latest
preacher/teacher/author simply because she or he
seems to have it
all together...so that we don’t blindly
accept
everything just because it comes from
LifeWay, Blackaby, Moore, or
Morgan
Read 1 John 4:1-3
If my words don’t stand up in light of Scripture, then I am a false
prophet—that’s not to say that I
can’t and won’t make mistakes (and
subsequently should accept correction)
-what it is saying is that LifeWay and Moore and
Morgan are not
the determiners of truth
--and any sheep or any flock who naively surrenders
the
authority to determine
to anyone has just added themselves
to a buffet fit for a
pack of wolves
---hear me clearly,
church...I want you to trust me...in some
very real sense
I need you to trust me—but never, in
any case for
any reason should your trust be blind
---Paul couldn’t be more clear in 2
Corinthians 11 à For
such men are false apostles,
deceitful workmen,
masquerading as
apostles of Christ. And no wonder,
Satan himself masquerades as an angel of
light. It is
not surprising, then, if his
servants masquerade as
servants
of righteousness.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it this way à There
is someone standing
by my side, who
looks just like a member of the church.
He is a
prophet and a
preacher. He looks like a Christian, he
talks and acts
like one.
But dark powers are mysteriously at work; it was those
who sent him into our midst...He may even be
unconscious himself
of what he is
doing. The devil can give him every
encouragement
and at the same time keep him in the dark
about his own motives.
Let me suggest some indicators of what may expose a wolf in
sheep’s clothing—ironically,
it’s usually not what the wolf
preaches
that’s the problem—it’s often what
he doesn’t preach that reveals his
true identity
-everything he says may be right, but the issue is he doesn’t say
everything that is right...he tells the truth, but not
the whole truth
--the wolf says nothing
offensive, only what is comforting and
soothing...sin,
judgment, and hell are ignored...calls for holy
and righteous living
are never mentioned
---in the immediate
context of Matthew 7, these wolves
intentionally
overlook the narrow gate and the straight
road...they
talk freely about the wide gate and just
conveniently
fail to mention that it leads to destruction
----and
preachers like that will always
pack ‘em in
--it’s nothing new...there
have always been false prophets who
have claimed they speak for God
---it’s precisely
what Jeremiah warned the people about—
those who
prophesy “Peace and safety” when, in fact,
only judgment
and doom were looming on the horizon
As Kent Hughes rightly
observed à If
false preachers came into
most evangelical churches as blatant
heretics, they would be
banged over the head with Bibles and sent
packing. But when they
come with all the right language,
credentials, and culture, they
deceive the unwary.
Jesus moves on from the content of the wolves’ preaching and
teaching to the content of their
lives
Just as the true identity of a tree is revealed by the fruit it
produces,
so the
true identity of a sheep or a wolf will be exposed by
examining their moral and
spiritual life
-a wolf can wear sheep’s clothing,
but it cannot grow wool
-you can use duct tape to
attach an apple to an oak tree, but the
fact
that are acorns all over ground is probably a pretty good
indicator that this
tree sure wasn’t planted by Johnny Appleseed
--a wolf can impersonate a sheep, true—but only
for so long
---eventually the
true nature of the wolf will come
through
In Titus 1:16, Paul condemns
false teachers in no uncertain terms à
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They
are detestable,
disobedient, and unfit for doing anything good.
True followers of Jesus Christ have been radically changed and while
they
are not perfect, they are being
transformed by God...being
shaped by God into the image of His
Son and their Savior
-they are living, breathing
examples of the Beatitudes in action
--they are poor in spirit—they are
spiritually needy
--their hearts mourn over their own sin
--their spirits are gentle and humble
--they hunger and thirst
for God’s righteousness
--they demonstrate the
power of mercy
-a wolf in sheep’s clothing might be able to
fake some of that for a
little
while, but eventually they will be
exposed
Matthew 23:27-28 à Woe to you, teachers of the law and
Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like
whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on
the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to
people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
A true follower of Jesus Christ has been filled with the Holy Spirit
therefore the Spirit’s fruit
must be evident à love,
joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control
-again, a wolf in sheep’s clothing can
maintain appearances for a
short period, but long-term
consistency is impossible because
these false prophets must
depend upon their own strength and
ability...and that’s a
recipe for eventual, but certain failure
These difficult words of Jesus and a difficult message should cause
us not only to test the teaching
and preaching we hear, but to
examine our own lives carefully
-are my words and my actions
consistent with each other and
in
line
with Scripture?
-is God producing good fruit
in and through me?...or is my life
producing bad fruit, thus
revealing the true condition of my heart?
Read Luke 6:43-45