7 characteristics of false prophets

Jesus said in Mat 7:15 "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” And in this statement He paints a picture of people who look like sheep, but are not. Jude says that these people are hidden right in the church, and that they crept in unnoticed. God said through Jeremiah in chapter 14:14 Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.”

And so in Jesus’ last sermon before He was crucified, in Matthew 23, He gives 7 characteristics of false teachers, which was an indictment to the religious leaders of His day and is certainly applicable today as well.

1. They have a false authority; Vs. 1: The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. They may be self appointed, seminary appointed, or denominationally appointed, but not God appointed.

2. They have a false message. Vs. 2: therefore, all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds, for they say things, and do not do them. A prophet of God should proclaim the Word of God, like Isaiah did, “line upon line, precept upon precept… Is. 28.

3. They impose a false obligation. Vs. 4 And they tie up heavy loads, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. The more twisted the message, the more burdens they impose.

4. They have a false righteousness. Vs. 5: But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries, and lengthen the tassels of their garments. Jesus later calls them hypocrites; literally meaning actors on a stage. Is that ever true today. Our pulpits have just been reduced to “Christian” entertainment.

5. They wear a false humility. Vs. 6 They love the place of honor at banquets, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

6. They claim a false title. Vs. 7 And respectful greetings in the market places, and being called by men Rabbi, But do not be called Rabbi, for One is your Teacher and you are all brothers,Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called leaders, for One is your leader, that is Christ.

7. They have a false mission. Vs. 11,12. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. Matt. 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." The acid test of a prophet is whether or not they are being served, or serving the body of Christ. Philippians tells us to have the same attitude as Christ, taking the form of a bondservant.

the Word became flesh

It’s pretty much an accepted historical fact that Jesus lived and walked on the earth during the time depicted in the gospels. There is very little dispute even among secular scholars. There is undoubtedly more evidence of Christ living than any other historical figure who ever lived before the age of Columbus. So when someone says that they don’t believe that Jesus lived, they show their ignorance. But on the other hand, if someone simply believes in the existence of Jesus they aren’t exactly making a leap of faith.

The real question is whether or not you believe that Jesus is God. That’s the question that Jesus forced the Pharisees to consider in Matthew 22:42 by asking, “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” And they said to Him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said to My Lord, sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet. If David then calls Him Lord, how is He His son?”

The Pharisees were familiar with the prophecies about the Messiah like 2 Samuel 7:12 and others like it; "When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” And as a result, the Jews believed that the Messiah would come from the seed of David. But unfortunately, their belief that the Messiah that would come from the lineage of David led them to the conclusion that He would be a man, just as his father David was.

So Jesus uses the quote from Psalm 110 to prove that though He would come from the line of David, David himself recognized Him as Lord. Furthermore, He shows that David said that by divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Messiah would be both his descendent as well as divinity.

So the Jews had it straight that the Messiah would come from the lineage of David. And that is why Matthew goes to great lengths to present Jesus Christ's genealogy in chapter 1. Luke in chapter 3 follows the same thing. Luke traces the Davidic line through Mary, Matthew follows it through Joseph and it comes together to indicate that this is indeed a son of David, both his father and mother were in the Davidic family.

But that is only half the answer. The ten million dollar question was did they recognize Him as God. And that is still the question today. Many so called faiths profess to the existence of Jesus. But was He God in the flesh? In Genesis 1, the first three verses testify to the presence of the Father, Spirit and Son. Verse one says, “In the beginning God created…” and we see the Creator, the Father God. In verse 2 we see, “the Spirit of God was moving over the waters…” and then in verse 3 it says, “And God said….” We see the word of God. Flip over to John 1 and you see what that means. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

And then drop down to verse 14 of John and you read, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” He would come into the world by the birth of a virgin, because His Father was God, yet He existed in eternity past as God. And so He was fully God, and fully human. He was the uniquely qualified person capable of taking away the sins of the world. And He was the only one that could be a substitute for the world, because He had made the world.

Believing on Jesus Christ is more than accepting that He lived. It’s believing that Jesus is God. And if you don’t believe that Jesus is God, then it’s not possible to be saved.