8th Sunday after Trinity + Matthew 7:15-23

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

When Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, the first petition He gives them is “Hallowed be Thy name.” Dr. Luther explains this in the Small Catechism like this: “God's name is indeed holy in itself; but we pray in this petition that it may become holy among us also.” Then he asks how is God’s name kept holy among us? He answers, “When the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we as the children of God also lead holy lives in accordance with it. To this end help us, dear Father in heaven. But he that teaches and lives otherwise than God's Word teaches profanes the name of God among us. From this preserve us, Heavenly Father.” These two parts of hallowing God’s name, that the Word of God is taught in truth and purity, and that we lead holy lives according to that Word purely taught, is the subject of the appointed gospel lesson for today.

Jesus commands us, “Beware false prophets.” It should be self-evident as to why. False prophets teach false doctrine and false doctrine is the opposite of the doctrine Jesus gives us. If Jesus’ doctrine is truth and gives live to those who believe it, then other doctrine is false and brings death to those who believe it. We live in an age when truth has become relativized. Truth is whatever you want to believe. Truth can be multiple things, even contradictory things, believed at the same time. Everyone can have their own truth peculiar to them, which, since its truth, others can’t deny. This “post-truth” atmosphere has polluted much of visible Christianity, too, so people approach church teachings, if they’re interested in doctrine at all, as a cafeteria where they can pick and choose the doctrines that sound good to them while rejecting those which aren’t as palatable to their personal tastes. In this atmosphere, Jesus’ command to beware false prophets seems almost absurd. If there is no truth, or if truth is personalized and individualized, then Jesus’ words make no sense at all. The very idea that a prophet, or preacher, could be a false prophet, doesn’t compute.

But Jesus doesn’t cater to the fishbowl we live in with its post-modern worldview. There is truth and there is error. There is right doctrine and there is wrong doctrine, and the difference is life and death. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” If false doctrine doesn’t kill then Jesus wouldn’t have compared its preachers to a wolf. What does a wolf do to a sheep if it gets the chance? It devours it for dinner. This is what the false doctrine of the false prophets will do. What makes these ravenous wolves so difficult to spot, though, is the fact that they don’t look like ravenous wolves at all. They “come to you in sheep’s clothing.” The sheepskin of the false prophet, the means by which he conceals himself, is his use of God’s Word. The wolf doesn’t blatantly teach falsehoods. That would easily detectable. No, the false prophet teaches his false doctrine with a Bible in his hand, saying “Thus saith the Lord” when the Lord hath said no such thing. The false prophet uses the Bible just as Satan did when he tempted Christ our Lord. “It is written,” he said. He used the Scriptures. But he used them wrongly, taking a promise of protection and turning into a way to tempt God, which is sin. So it is with the false prophets. They use the Scriptures but use them wrongly and in doing so point people away from God’s Word in its truth and purity, toward God’s Word combined with a little leaven of error. And you know how leaven works. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump,” says St. Paul (Galatians 5:9). A little may not be noticeable at first, but it’ll grow and grow until it has filled your mind with error and led you away from God’s Word in its truth and purity.

How do you know such error? How do you spot the false prophet hiding under its sheepskin camouflage? “You will know them by their fruits.” The fruit of a prophet is twofold. The first is the life of the prophet. If the preacher isn’t living what He’s preaching, then he’s outed himself as a false. But the second fruit is the more important. The fruit of a preacher is His preaching. And just as you don’t gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, so you can tell the tree by its fruit. How do you tell whether a preacher’s fruit is the good, true fruit by which God wishes to nourish your soul? By testing it. St. John tells you in his first epistle, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (4:1). And how do you test the spirits? By the Word of God. Is the preaching and teaching say what Scripture says? If so, then it’s good fruit. If not, then beware and avoid. This goes not just for preachers though, but for anyone speaking in the name of God. It applies to preaching from the pulpit, the music on the radio, and what’s posted on the internet. You’ll know its good fruit if it says what Scripture says and points to Christ for your salvation. And even though the false teachers use Scripture as well, the very Scriptures they employ for their falsehoods refute their falsehoods. Hallowing God’s name by fighting for God’s Word taught in its truth and purity, is of utmost importance, since Christ’s Words are the words of eternal life.

The other way God’s name is hallowed among us is when “we as the children of God also lead holy lives in accordance with” the Word taught in its truth and purity. In the second half of the gospel lesson Jesus is still speaking about false prophets but His words apply to all of us. Christianity is much more than mere words. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven.” Not everyone who does great miracles and good works in Jesus’ name is saved, for there are many hypocrites who fool everyone including themselves with their words and deeds. Who will enter the kingdom of heaven? “He who does the will of my Father in heaven,” He says. And what is the Father’s will? First and foremost that you believe in Christ. He says in John 6:40, “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life. God’s will is also that, as you believe in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, you work to put your sins away and strive after holiness. St. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, “This is the will of God, your sanctification,” your good works which flow from faith in Christ. Many, too many in fact, imagine that they can simply confess Christ with their mouth while there’s no faith in the heart. Others imagine they can confess Christ for forgiveness and willfully remain in their sins. To all these He’ll say “I never knew you.”

We live in a world where the idea of truth is under attack and error is given equal footing with the truth. We live in world where wolves dressed as sheep proclaim falsehood and error in the name of the Lord. So beware and look for their fruits, their teaching, and compare it always to the Word.  The wolf seeks to devour and take from you your chief treasure: the Word of God purely taught, which is the word of eternal life. Cling to that Word, for it teaches you of God’s infinite mercy toward you in Christ. Cling to His Word that freely forgives the sins of all who repent of sin and believe in Him. Hallow God’s name by abiding in His Word purely taught and by living holy lives according it. For this is God’s will for the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.

May the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding guard your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.