Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

Happy Sunday. A few years back, a friend came to see me. He was a very successful businessman and was enjoying his retirement. One Wednesday night, he pulled me aside and told me that his financial adviser had stolen most of his life savings. My friend lost a couple of million dollars, and he was devastated.

He didn't even know if he could keep his house. His life was upside down. Sadly, his financial adviser was a con man, a Crook. Today there are conmen everywhere.

They may look good, they may look real good. Perhaps they have a fancy office or a wall of degrees from higher education, but their rotten Hearts cause them to wreak havoc on those that they encounter. Unfortunately, the church is subject to conmen too. Jesus talks about that in Matthew 7:15 to20. Let me just share verse 15 with you as we begin.

Jesus said, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." Is't that sad? Spiritual conmen, wolves and sheep's clothing. They look good, but in on the inside there is a rotten heart. This is not a new problem.

In both the Old and the New Testament we find such individuals there, alive and well in our day and age. Last week we saw that there are two paths that we can take: the straight and the narrow that leads to eternal life, or the broad and easy that leads to destruction. Jesus wants us to know that when we subject ourselves to the teaching and preaching of others, we're really choosing a tour guide, a spiritual Sherpa, if you will.

In the days that Jesus was talking about false teachers, there were a couple of big false teachings that I can think of. One was called gnosticism. Simply put, they taught that it really didn't matter what you did, it mattered what you thought. So as long as you thought good thoughts, you could just live any way you wanted to. It was very popular, still is.

Another false teaching that abounded long ago was those who taught to be a Christian you had to adhere to all the Jewish laws, all of the Dogma. There idea was that salvation was not a free gift but something to be earned. And today there's a lot of false teaching. One idea that is banded about is universalism.

Today some believe that all people go to heaven and that there is no hell. Now, that sounds good. It's also dead wrong, and it's against what the Bible teaches. The Prosperity Gospel comes to mind. Today there are preachers that are getting rich telling their congregations that God wants his people to be rich and prosperous and healthy and without any problems whatsoever.

Now, that sounds real good, but it's not biblical. There are many more false teachings. The question comes: how can I protect myself? How can I tell if the teaching I'm receiving is true or false? Well, one way is to make sure that you know what the Bible says.

You must know scripture. If you don't know what the Bible says, you can fall for just about anything. Right after Jesus told us to beware, he gave us a good way to judge our teachers. This is Matthew 7 16 to 20, there in the sermon of the mountain.

Jesus said, "You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from Thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree Bears good fruit, but the bad tree Bears Bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits."

Jesus encourages us to look at the lives of our teachers. You will know them by their fruits, by the way that they live. In Galatians 5:22 we're given a checklist known as the fruit of the spirit. It's a list of characteristics and qualities that Believers will exhibit because the holy spirit is running our lives.

Here's the list: "the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control," control. Unfortunately, I have seen wolves and sheep's clothing not bearing that type of good fruit. My antenna goes up when I see unkindness. False prophets are prone to temper tantrums, and they often desire total control and show no visible sign of the fruit of the spirit.

Throughout history there have been some horrible wolves that have tried to clothe themselves as sheep. Religion can be a dangerous thing. In our lifetime we've seen people kill others in the name of religion. Do you remember the name Jim Jones? He was a pastor that was very charismatic.

People loved him. He did a lot of great things. He helped a lot of people. He looked good. In the early 50s he was a Methodist Pastor in Indianapolis.

Through the years he honed his craft and developed quite a following. In the 60s he moved to California, and in the 70s he moved to British gu with over a thousand followers. In 1978 he led his followers to drink cyanide as part of a mass suicide. 99 people died that day. It's sad that sheep will follow a wolf. It happens.

I don't want to end on that note. Week in and week out, churches across this world are led by Godly Shepherds that bear the best of fruit. I pray your part of such a church. Make sure to thank your pastor and your teachers for remaining faithful.

Pray with me. God, thank you for those that teach us the truth, and help us to run from those that don't. Give us a thankful spirit for being led in the right direction, and help us to be careful. In Jesus name, amen. God bless. Have a great week.