Sermon Title: Discerning Truth

Scripture: Jeremiah 23:16-29

Summary: In this message, we're reminded of the critical importance of discerning true from false teaching in the church. Jesus warns us to 'beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.' This vivid imagery emphasizes the danger false teachers pose to our spiritual well-being. We're encouraged to use God's Word as our standard for truth, testing all teachings against Scripture. The message draws parallels between Jesus' warning and Jeremiah's prophecies, showing how false teachers often speak from their own minds rather than God's mouth, confirming people in their sins instead of calling for repentance. As we navigate our faith, we're called to be vigilant, grounding ourselves in Scripture and speaking God's truth faithfully in all aspects of our lives.

Key Points:

  • False teaching is a serious issue that needs attention in today's church
  • Jesus warns believers to be on guard against false prophets
  • True teaching must be based on God's Word, not personal opinions or desires
  • False teachers often confirm people in their sin rather than calling for repentance
  • False teaching can strengthen evildoers and weaken the church's moral stance
  • Christians must be discerning and test all teachings against Scripture
  • Silence in the face of false doctrine allows lies to prevail

Transcript:

False teaching is something that doesn't get a lot of attention today. There's lots of reasons for that, I suppose. For one, churches are seen by a lot of people as competitors, and a lot of people think that if you speak against the teachings of another church or teacher, you're doing it from some kind of ulterior motive, trying to make yourself look better. Well, it's true that we've lost and unsaved people in trust in God the Father or believe in Jesus his Son. We shouldn't speak badly about other churches simply so that we can get more people to come to our church. And if that is our motivation for speaking out against false teaching, that's an idol that we need to repent of. A lot of people also don't like it when the church speaks about false doctrine because they want their church to identify with its own positive message. Talk about what you're for, not what you're against. And yes, it is good for us to be more focused on what we do believe than on what we don't believe. In fact, the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith have to be expressed in some way as positive assertions. It's not enough to simply say that we aren't saved by works. We have to say that we are saved by faith.

Still another reason that people don't want us to talk about false teachers, probably the main one, is I suppose that many Christians simply aren't very discerning between true and false teaching. They don't think about what's true or what's false because they aren't looking to the standard of truth and lies, God's word. Instead, they want to judge preachers and teachers based on how engaging or how exciting they are or interesting their message seems to be. Even though most people don't want the church to talk about false teaching, and false teachers, it's critical that we Christians talk about the issue of false teaching today. Why? Because God's word does, and Jesus tells us to. Jesus warns us in today's gospel, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. It's a powerful image, is it not? An image of great danger for Christians, a wolf in sheep's clothing can get very close to the sheep indeed. He might slip past the defenses of both the sheep and the shepherd, unsuspected. And if he does that, if he gets close to the sheep, well, we know what comes next. The flock will be devoured. So Jesus tells us to be on our guard against false teachers and false prophets. And even though they may try to disguise themselves as sheep, Jesus promises us to be on our guard against false teachers and false prophets. We will be able to recognize a true teacher from a false one. He says you will recognize them by their fruits. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruits.

Jesus doesn't say a lot beyond that, though, at least in this passage. He doesn't say what makes for good or bad fruit explicitly here. He's assuming rather that his hearers, his disciples, will listen to the rest of God's word. The rest of the counsel that he has given to us, that gives us a guide for discerning between truth and lies. A great chapter for this is our Old Testament reading from the prophet Jeremiah.

If there's ever anyone in the history of Israel that had to work at discerning true and false prophecy, it was the prophet Jeremiah. He was the true prophet. He had been sent by God with a word from God to proclaim to God's people the truth. He was the true prophet. He was the true prophet of the people of Israel. He was the true prophet of Israel. He was surrounded at all times by many false prophets, men who were far more popular and well-liked by the people than Jeremiah.

They were not sent from God. They did not have a word from the Lord. Instead, they spoke the lies and fantasies, sweet lies and fantasies that people wanted to hear, to be sure, but lies nonetheless of their own imaginations. So God sends Jeremiah to warn, the people against these lies these false teachers these wolves in sheep's clothing if you open your bibles to Jeremiah chapter there we will see some of the fruits that set a false prophet apart from a true prophet Jeremiah 23 verses 16 through 29 we'll begin especially with verse 16 there god says do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you filling you with vain hopes they speak visions of their own minds not from the mouth of the Lord well right there we have the first fruit that sets a false teacher apart from a true teacher a false teacher speaks the vision of their own mind god says instead of what comes from the mouth of the Lord so the first and main tool that we need to discern true and false teaching is to know what comes from the mouth of the Lord and god has seen to that he has given us the power to discern the truth and false teaching us his word recorded in holy scripture, to the words and to the testimony. That's to be our standard of truth and falsehood in God's church. Every teacher who teaches in the church is to teach according to what God has said in the Bible and not according to what he thinks God may have said in his heart. So we can immediately discount any teaching that does not have its foundation in God's word. Even if it makes sense to our reason, or it's fun to listen to, or something we wish were true, if God did not say it in the Bible, he did not say it. All teaching is to be judged by what came, what comes from the mouth of the Lord, as God said to Jeremiah. But it goes on as you look at verse 17. It says, they, that is the false prophets, say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, it shall be well with you. To everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, no disaster shall come upon you. So another bad fruit of false teaching is that the teaching always confirms people in their sin and their rejection of God and his word. If we consider that criteria, there's a lot of bad fruit in the Christian church today. Nearly every traditional mainline Protestant church has fully embraced a way of reading the Bible that doesn't forgive sinners, but simply eliminates them by excusing sin. By saying that nothing is really against God's will. No one is wrong. God's word shows us that we're all desperate sinners in need of Christ the Savior. But more and more churches today are saying, there's no need for saving. All those things that God said about sin have been misunderstood. All these years, all these years, all these years, they say, or they're no longer relevant in today's modern world, or they're trumped by the idea that God is just always loving. But if there's nothing to be saved from, there's no need for a savior. There's no need for Jesus. God is loving, but his love is shown to us in that in this, that he sent Christ Jesus, his son, to take our sins to the cross, to die for us, and to forgive us, not simply to brush our sin aside.

This understanding of God's love, does it not meet the criteria that Jeremiah spoke of? "They say to those who despise the word of the Lord, it shall be well with you. To everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, no disaster shall come upon you." There's no wrath of God in that system. No hell. But also no salvation through Christ Jesus.

We back up in our Bibles a little bit more, Jeremiah 23, back to verse 14, something that was actually before our reading for today. In verse 14, God says, "But in the prophets of Jerusalem, I have seen a horrible thing. They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers." Strengthen the hands of evildoers. It's another way to speak about this bad fruit, false teachers and false teaching. Their words, their teaching makes those who are committing evil in this world and in the church stronger and more bold. And indeed, as we look at false teachers and false teachings today, we see that that's exactly what has happened, that the weakness of the church in allowing false teaching to prevail has strengthened those who are encouraging evildoing, adultery, fornication, every kind of perversion. It's the false teaching of the church that has strengthened those who are encouraging evildoing. It's the false teaching of the church that has strengthened those who are pushing for radical abortion laws in every state, for example, including our own state, by the way, with Amendment G, which will be on the ballot this coming November. We'll talk more about that as we get closer to the time. It's false teaching in the church that allows that evil to be strengthened and to grow and to spread. Strengthening the hand of evildoers by speaking lies, by speaking vain thoughts and dreams, instead of what God has spoken to us. Instead of bringing that word that, yes, shows us our sin, but so that it can show us how God gives mercy and hope and forgiveness to all the world.

So we need to be on our guard against false teachers and false teaching. Remember what God has spoken through Jeremiah, how we can recognize these wolves in sheep's clothing. They speak visions of their own minds. They Not from the mouth of the Lord. Test everything that is spoken, both in the church and out by what God has said in sacred scripture. Receive no teaching unless it can be founded on God's word alone and demonstrated to you from God's word alone. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, it shall be well with you. Excuses and encourages rather than directs us to the wellspring of salvation, to Christ the Savior of sinners. They strengthen the hand of evildoers who protect and enact evil things in this world and in this church. Let us be zealous to speak the true word of God. Lies and false doctrine prevail when Christians are silent regarding the truth. Let him who has my word speak my word faithfully, God says in our reading from Jeremiah. And not just from the pulpit, not just in the church, but above all in your homes, in your workplaces, and yes, even in the public square. Speak the word of Christ. Speak what God has given us to speak in holy scripture. His truth is what finally silences the lies of the evil one. And in his truth there is hope.