False Prophets

Matthew 7:15-20

God of Truth,

False prophets abound.  They proclaim their way to be true.

Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zephaniah faced the problem of false prophets in their day.  Elijah must have popularized animal fur coats as the garb of a prophet, so that Your spokesman was easily recognized by his sheepskin coat.  You describe false prophets as ravenous wolves who deceptively clothe themselves in the garments representing holy oracles of truth.  The animal skin was as easily recognized as a symbol of Your prophet in the Old Testament period as a clerical collar around the neck of a priest today.  Early in the first century, John the Baptist was easily identified as Your prophet by the distinctive camel skin that he wore, and when he opened his mouth, the convicting truth of his prophecies confirmed his identity and authority.

Your infant Church faced problems with false prophets and even wrote guidelines on how to deal with them.  True prophets were honored.  False prophets were identified, avoided, and cast out.

False prophets continue to mislead Your sheep.  Little lambs in the faith are preyed upon by the ravenous exploiters seeking to consume their innocence, control them, and take advantage of their resources.  False prophets proclaim gospels of egoism, idolatry, and carnality.  They seek to reduce You from being Sovereign Lord to an idol whom they can manipulate to perform their own will.

"Teaching is false if it produces a religion which consists solely or mainly in the observance of externals... in prohibitions... produces an easy religion... divorces religion and life... produces a religion which is arrogant and separatist" (Barclay in The Gospel of Matthew, vol. 1, p. 290-292).

“Wolves in sheep’s clothing.”  What an apt description for a false prophet!  Your passion to live and proclaim truth consumes me.  I want to lead people to the light of Your Word.  I want to share a liberating message of faith and victory through Your Gospel.  All too often, people have been exposed to so many religious charlatans and shysters that they find my motives suspect.  They don’t know if I am trustworthy or not.  Help me not to get defensive.  Empower me to love people patiently, modeling a righteous and winsome trustworthiness.  May the Mind of Christ in me grant me the authority and opportunity to earn the right to be heard.

Preserve me from any work for You that is motivated by my desire for personal gain, prestige, power, or self-promotion.  Preserve me from being seduced by the pretense or cleverness of my own ideas. Protect me from novel packaging of truth, when I really need a clearer obedience to its demands!

In the Name of the Author and Preserver of Truth,
Amen.