Category: Trinity 8

A Good Tree Bears Good Fruit

8/9/2022

Trinity 8
Matthew 7:15-23
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
August 7, 2022

Jesus warns us to beware of false prophets, who come to us in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. A false prophet is a false teacher, someone who teaches errors and falsehoods about God and his Gospel. Now most people these days don’t think we should be worried about false doctrine and errors in the church, just so long as everyone loves Jesus, that’s all that matters. This is called Gospel-reductionism. Yet, Jesus warns us that many will call upon him claiming to have done many great things in his name, but he will deny ever knowing them. And Jesus describes false teachers as ravenous wolves. You know what happens when a ravenous wolf gets into a sheep pen, right?

So, we must not assume that false doctrine is nothing to worry about. False doctrine scatters the sheep. That’s why we have so many different denominations and sects teaching contrary messages, while all claiming to be Christian. Satan has scattered the sheep with his false teaching. And false doctrine kills. Many have lost their faith in Christ, because they were taught to rely on their own works instead of the merits of Christ, or they were taught that they did not need to repent of their sins. Denying that Baptism forgives sins and grants new birth, even to infants, robs Christians of the comfort of their Baptism and drives them to search in themselves for rebirth instead of trusting in the words of Jesus. Denying that the Lord’s Supper is Jesus’ true body and blood robs Christians of the certainty of the forgiveness of sins given in the Sacrament and places doubt that Jesus our Redeemer can be with us at all in this world. The denial that the Bible is the true Word of God takes away any confidence in Jesus’ words, that they are Jesus’ words at all. There are many different false teachings, but they all separate us from Christ and the salvation he has won for us.

Jesus tells us that false prophets come to us in sheep’s clothing, meaning that we will not recognize them by their outward appearance. They will look like good guys. But remember what God told Samuel when he anointed David to be king, “For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) So then, how can we recognize these false prophets? Jesus tells us, “You will recognize them by their fruits.” The fruits of false prophets are their teachings. If they teach contrary to the words of Jesus, then they are false prophets and you should mark and avoid them.

But how can you recognize good fruit from bad fruit? There are so many different teachers saying so many different things, isn’t it like drawing a straw and hoping you picked the right one? Besides, God says that the LORD does not see as man sees. How can we possibly see correctly?

The answer is that you must be born again. That means that God must create faith in your heart, so that you believe in Christ Jesus as your Savior in order for you to recognize good fruit from bad fruit, pure doctrine from false teaching. St. Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica, “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” (1 Thess. 2:13) How did the Thessalonians recognize that Paul’s words were the word of God? Because they were believers. God had created faith in their hearts through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so they recognized that the words of St. Paul were none other that the words of Jesus, God’s Word.

This is why Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:27) Jesus’ sheep recognize Jesus’ voice, because they have been born again by the Spirit of God and have faith in the Gospel. It is the word of Jesus which caused them to be born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the word of Jesus which revealed to them the salvation Jesus won for them on the cross. And so, they recognize the true teaching of Jesus like a sheep recognizes its shepherd’s voice and a child its mother’s voice.

It is impossible for an unbeliever to distinguish between false teaching and true teaching. This is why Christians should never look to the unbelieving world for guidance in determining what is pure doctrine and what is false doctrine. The unbelieving world can mock us and ridicule us and it does not matter at all. They cannot recognize the truth until they have been born again by the Spirit of Christ. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself judged by no one. ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” (vss. 14-16) So, only Christians can pass judgment on the teaching and preaching of a pastor. Only those who have been given the mind of Christ can judge between true and false doctrine.

Now, this does not mean that if you are a Christian, then you can simply follow your heart and you’ll always know what is true. Quite the opposite. As a Christian, you don’t follow your heart, you follow Jesus. Jesus says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) And Jesus concludes his Sermon on the Mount, which is where our Gospel Lesson is taken from, by saying, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24) Christians can recognize false teaching, because they listen to and believe Jesus’ true teaching. This is what King David teaches us in Psalm 1, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither…”

This is why it is important for Christians to regularly go to church, listen to and learn from the sermon, attend Bible study, and do devotions at home with their Bible and Catechism. If you are familiar with the teachings of Jesus, you will mark and avoid those teachers, who would lead you into sin, self-righteousness, denying the benefits of your Baptism, and other horrible things.

Jesus declares, “A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.” Now, when speaking of false prophets and true ministers of the word, fruit refers to their teaching. Yet, fruit has a broader meaning as well, referring to the works of unbelievers and the works of believers. Scripture says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” While the works of the flesh, which are bad fruit, are “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” (Galatians 5:22-23 and 19-21) A Christian is made a good tree through faith in Christ and then produces good fruit. An unbeliever is by nature a bad tree and produces evil fruit. Jesus warns, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” That is a warning of hell for all who continue in unbelief producing bad fruit.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit. But don’t I bear bad fruit? Doesn’t that mean that I am not a good tree? Also, Scripture says, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9) But don’t I sin? Does this mean that I am not born of God?

Now false teachers will answer this in one of two ways. Either they will say that the evil you think you do is not a sin and God is not bothered by it, as they have done with fornication and homosexuality, which have burdened the consciences of sinners for millennia. This is clearly wrong, because Scripture tells us what are the works of the flesh, which if a person does them, he will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 6:10). Or, they will say that you are not a Christian until you have removed every sin from your life and that Christians no longer sin. This also is clearly wrong. Scripture says “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9) The teaching that Christians no longer sin leads people either into self-righteousness and legalism or into despair and always away from faith in Christ’s atoning death.

The correct answer is that the new man born after the image of Christ does not sin. You have been made a good tree. Good trees cannot produce bad fruit. They can only produce good fruit. That means that God is pleased with the works of his Christians, whether it is as simple as going to church, saying prayers, going to school or work, or going to sleep at night. But Christians still sin! God certainly is not pleased with my sin, is he? Certainly not! Yet, God passes over our sins for Christ’s sake, forgiving our trespasses. And, Christians do not continue in sin without repenting.

St. Paul says on the one hand, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”, (Galatians 2:19) and on the other hand he says, “Now if I do what I do not want it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” (Romans 7:20) In other words, we serve Christ in our reborn state, and we fight against the sin of our old Adam. This is why St. Paul writes in our Epistle lesson, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13) According to your Baptism into Christ, you are a good tree, born of good seed. Yet, your old Adam still hangs around until you shed this mortal body. And so, you still sin. But that sin is not you. It must not be you. And to keep it from becoming you, you must kill it frequently. You must repent of your sins daily. So that God does not cut you down, because of your rotten fruit, you must cut down your old Adam every time you sin. To live the Christian life means to prune yourself of evil branches frequently by repenting of your sins.

You are not a good tree because you produce good fruit. You produce good fruit, because you are a good tree. And you become a good tree in no other way than through faith in Christ Jesus. It is Christ who died for your sins. It is Christ who forgives you and has given you his Holy Spirit, so that you are born again into a new person. And as a new person, you put to death the deeds of the old sinful flesh. When sexual immorality, greed, anger, pride, arrogance, hatred, and every other rotten fruit of the flesh rises up from you, that is simply a branch of the old Adam that needs to be lopped off. Repent. Ask God for forgiveness for the sake of Christ’s shed blood. And continue to live as a child of God. And living under that promise of Christ’s forgiveness and salvation, you can be confident that God will never cast you away. Amen.

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The Necessity of Pure Doctrine

7/25/2021

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The Sermon on the Mount, James Tissot, 1986-96, Public Domain.

Trinity 8
Matthew 7:15-23

Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
July 25, 2021

Is pure doctrine important? Our Lord Jesus sure thinks it is. He tells us to beware of false prophets. What is a false prophet? A prophet is someone who speaks for God. A false prophet is someone who claims to speak for God, but rather tells lies. The Lord spoke through the prophet Jeremiah saying that the prophets have prophesied lies in his name (Jeremiah 23). This is why Jesus says that they come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. That is to say, they come to you with the appearance of someone you can trust, but that is only a disguise. Rather, their intent is to destroy you. They come to you looking like a trusted pastor, calling themselves Christian, and minister. They prophesy in Jesus’ name, cast out demons and do many mighty works in Jesus’ name, but they do not do the will of God. They are liars, which means they do the will of the devil, who is the father of lies.

The word doctrine means teaching. Pure means unpolluted. Pure water does not have any dirt or harmful chemicals in it. Pure gold does not have dross. It shouldn’t be difficult to understand that you should desire to learn pure doctrine and to mark and avoid false doctrine. Pure doctrine comes from Jesus Christ, who is the only way to heaven. False doctrine comes from Satan, who lies to you in order to murder your soul and send you to hell. You would be horrified if you paid a contractor to build your house, and when he laid its foundation, he mixed dirt with the concrete to save money. That would weaken the foundation of your house! That would be dangerous. It would be evil to mix sawdust into your child’s food. We want healthy food, stable materials, pure medicine. How much more should we desire the pure word of God?!

Before our Gospel lesson begins, Jesus warns us, “Enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” The way to destruction is wide, because it is the way of the lies of Satan. Satan’s lies are more numerous than the sand of the seashore. And you’re sure to find one that will fit your fancy. But the way to life is narrow, because there is only one way. And that is Jesus Christ. He alone is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him. So, if you want to be certain that you are on the way to eternal life, you should pay careful attention to the pure doctrine. You don’t want to mix the lies of Satan into the teaching of Jesus. If you discovered a cyanide capsule in your bottle of vitamins, you would certainly take it out. How much more should we remove the false teachings that try to pollute our hearts? Jesus describes the way of false teaching as the way of destruction, that is, the way to hell. He describes false teachers as ravenous wolves dressed like sheep. What do ravenous wolves do when they get into a sheep fold? How do the sheep fare? Are we not sheep? Should we not take heed of this warning from our Good Shepherd?

People get uncomfortable with this lesson from Jesus, because he warns us against those within the Christian Church, who teach falsely. He’s not warning us here against the militant atheist, who will teach your teenager that we evolved from random chance. He’s not warning us here against the pornographer, who seeks to steel the soul of your children and spouse. He’s not warning against the Muslim cleric or the Buddhist monk. It should be obvious to every Christian that you should avoid these influencers at all costs. He’s here warning against those who bear the name Christian, who may say things you like, who make you feel comfortable.

Many say, “Why make a big deal about pure doctrine? Isn’t all that matters is that you’re a Christians and believe in Jesus? Won’t people in other Christians churches also go to heaven?” It is most certainly true that all who believe in Jesus with their hearts and confess him as Lord with their mouths will be saved.” (Romans 10:10) And there are many within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Reformed, Baptist, and many other Christian denominations, who trust in the Lord Jesus for forgiveness and salvation and they truly will be saved just as we will be. It is possible to believe some false doctrine and still be saved. But it is also possible to live with only one lung or one kidney. It’s possible to survive with your legs, arms, and eyes amputated. But it certainly isn’t desirable. In fact, it can be quite harmful!

There are Christian ministers that say that it is okay to believe that the creation account as recorded in Genesis is a myth and that God did not really create Adam out of the dust of the ground. But if you are unwilling to believe that God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground, how can you believe that God will raise your mortal body from the dust of the earth? How can God give new life to all those who have perished and whose bodies have rotted away and turned to dust? How could God have raised Christ? And it is no surprise that those who accept the theory of macro-evolution and who dismiss Genesis as a myth soon dismiss other or all miracles of the Bible and many reject the chief article of the Christian faith.

Christians are under increased pressure to accept homosexual and transgender ideologies, so many Christian ministers are now saying that homosexuality and transgenderism are not sins. Yet, the acceptance of these ideologies makes it impossible to understand what God intends for how men and women should behave, for marriage, for children, for chastity, for the relationship between Christ and his Church. Indeed, if sociologists spent a thousand lifetimes observing men, women, and children, and the affect marriage has on them, they would still not understand a fraction of what God knew when he created them male and female. And if we cannot fully grasp with our intellect the profound good in the distinction between men and women, and marriage between one man and one woman, we certainly cannot grasp the evil done by destroying these things instituted by God.

Many Christians reject Baptism. Some Lutherans will dismiss this as just a minor error, but it is very serious. People reject Baptism, because they think that they must choose God instead of God choosing them. And because they refuse to simply take Jesus at his word, they deprive children of the saving washing. Many deny that Jesus can be present bodily in the Lord’s Supper, because a man cannot be present in more than one place at one time. But if Christ cannot be present in the Supper, then he cannot be true God and man. And if he were only present here as God, then he would not be with us as the one who was crucified for our sins, that is, as the one who saved us. So, you see that all of these false teachings lead to even worse errors. Pure doctrine is one united body. No amount of false doctrine is safe.

It is true that some who believe some false doctrine will nevertheless be saved. Yet, there is false doctrine that makes one not a Christian, and therefore, outside of salvation. Those who deny that Jesus is God and man cannot be saved. Those who deny that God is the Holy Trinity cannot be saved. Those who deny that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world and rose again from the dead, so that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life, cannot be saved. Those who refuse to repent of their sins, but rather persist in them without repenting, cannot be saved.

The most damaging false teaching, which takes many forms, is that we can be saved by our own good works. But if we can be saved by our own works, by being good people, then we are not saved by the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. The teaching that good works save replaces Christ Jesus as our true Savior. This false teaching must be rejected at all costs. It blasphemes Christ by saying that his precious blood is not enough to pay for the sins of the world. This is to deny that Jesus is God and Lord. The teaching that good works save robs us of our salvation and confidence. This is why we must avoid all false teaching. All false teaching comes from Satan. So, the goal of all false teaching is to rob you of Christ Jesus as your true treasure.

Perhaps the most terrifying passage in all of Scripture is where Jesus says that there will be many who will claim to prophesy, exorcise demons, and do mighty works in Jesus’ name, who will cry out to Jesus, “Lord, Lord!”, yet to whom Jesus will say, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Will Jesus say that to me? I cry out to Jesus today. I call him Lord. Will I call him my Lord on the Last Day only to hear him respond, “I never knew you.”, before casting me into hell? How can I be certain that Jesus will not say those horrid words, but will instead say, “Enter into the joy of your Master.”?

Only the pure doctrine of Christ can give you that confidence. Jesus says at the end of his Sermon on the Mount that he who hears his words and does them will be like a man who builds his house on the rock, and that house will survive the rain, and the wind, and the floods. Jesus here is saying the same as St. Paul in Romans chapter eight where he says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Pure doctrine gives you confidence that you have built your faith on solid rock, because it teaches that Jesus Christ has fully paid for your sins by his innocent suffering and death. Pure doctrine teaches that Jesus is true man, so he could take your place. Pure doctrine teaches that Jesus is true God, so that his death on the cross fully pays for the sins of the whole world. Pure doctrine teaches that Jesus is risen from the dead and truly intercedes for you in heaven, even as he showers you with his grace on earth through his holy Word and Sacraments. Pure doctrine assures you that since Jesus has done everything necessary to save you, that only faith can receive this salvation as a gift. Your good works cannot save you, just as your sins cannot damn you. Pure doctrine gives you confidence in your salvation, because pure doctrine comes straight from Jesus.

But can you truly know pure doctrine? Indeed, you can. God’s word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). Learn your Catechism by heart. It clearly articulates the teaching of the Bible. Come to church and listen to the sermon and judge it according to Holy Scripture. Read the Bible. Come to Bible class and ask questions. Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Holy Scriptures. Be a student of the Holy Spirit, a disciple of Christ. Lean not on your own understanding, but believe God’s Word, all of it, even if it seems impossible. This is what it means to have Christ as your true teacher. And if you store up Christ’s words in your heart, you will never be put to shame. Amen.

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A Case for Pure Doctrine

8/13/2019

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Christ Denouncing False Prophets and Pharisees: Illustration to Matthew 7: 15-21, 1530s, Daniel Hopfer, German, metmuseum.org, Public Domain

Matthew 7:15-23
August 11, 2019

Should we care about pure doctrine? Should we pursue it? Well, first, what is pure doctrine. You know what it means to be pure. Your water purifier purifies your water by taking out all the stuff, the chemicals and microbes that you don’t want to consume, out of your water. Silver is purified when all the dross is removed from it. Doctrine means teaching. So, pure doctrine refers to teaching that is true; teaching that doesn’t have any foreign stuff in it; teaching that agrees fully with our Lord Jesus Christ.
We’re concerned about purity when we shop for our food. Everywhere in the grocery store you find ads on boxes promising “No artificial ingredients,” “All natural,” and so forth. So, should we be concerned with the purity of our doctrine? It seems obvious, but most think that devotion to pure doctrine is too extreme. What’s really important is that we all love Jesus. That’s where the true unity is. But when you start focusing too much on doctrine and ask too many questions, like “Who is Jesus?”, and “What did he do?” and “What exactly does he teach?” well, then we start to get divided. People are concerned that when you focus too much on pure doctrine then instead of Jesus being this great source of unity, he becomes a sword that divides households and sets sons against fathers, daughters against mothers, and daughters-in-law against mothers-in-law.
But of course, we should be concerned with pure doctrine! Jesus tells us to. Christ commands us to beware of false prophets, who come in sheep’s clothing. And he tells us we will recognize them by their fruits. Their fruits are their teaching; their doctrine. If a preacher’s doctrine is not pure, Jesus tells you to mark and avoid him. Even in your Small Catechism you are taught that when you pray, “Hallowed be thy name.” you are praying that the word of God be taught in its truth and purity and that we as the children of God also lead holy lives according to it.
Well, is that even possible? I mean, is it possible to have pure doctrine? Or are we setting ourselves up for a pipe dream to obtain the unobtainable? Well, of course it’s possible. Pure doctrine is not something you must obtain through your own great intelligence or hard work. Pure doctrine is a gift from God. God gave us pure doctrine when he gave us his holy Scriptures, which were caused to be written by the Holy Spirit himself, which are profitable for teaching, for reproof, and for training in righteousness. Pure doctrine was given to us as a gift, when the Word of God became flesh, fulfilled all Scriptures by dying and rising again for our salvation, and taught his Church that all Scripture teaches of him. Yes, pure doctrine is possible, because the God by whom all things are possible, who cannot lie and is the source of all truth has given us pure doctrine through the Holy Scriptures.
Yet, you might object, “But lots of churches have the Holy Scriptures, yet they don’t all have the same teaching!” And this here is the source of great doubt, which causes many to say, “There are so many different churches, how can you possibly know which one, if any, teaches the truth? Can we Lutherans possibly make such a claim without being completely arrogant?” Well, yes, we can.
Yes, there are innumerable churches that teach lots of different things. And even if you discount those church bodies that reject that the Bible is without errors, there are still many different churches, that all claim loyalty to the Scriptures. So, how do we know that we have the pure doctrine?
First, you must understand that Scripture not only is the pure doctrine given by God, but it is the purifier of all doctrine. We heard God speak through Jeremiah, “Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” God’s word is like the fire that melts the silver, so that the dross can be removed. God’s word is a hammer. Miners must crush rock to separate the valuable minerals from the waste. This is what God’s word does. When Scripture rules and is the source of all your teaching, your teaching is pure. Yet, when Scripture is ruled over, then your teaching is not pure.
The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church both claim that the holy Scriptures are part of the tradition which the Church has handed down to us. This means that they deny that the holy Scriptures are the only source of pure doctrine. That is how they are able to deny that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone apart from our works, even though Scripture clearly teaches this in Romans chapters 3 and 4, Ephesians 2, and other places. They give the Church the authority to interpret the Scriptures. Whatever the Church says the Scriptures mean, that is what they mean, even if the Church says the opposite of Scripture. In other words, they do not let the Scriptures act like a fire that removes all dross or a hammer that separates the waste. They place the Church and human traditions above the authority of the holy Scriptures.
Although the protestant churches differ in many ways, they are all the same in one regard: they place human reason above the holy Scriptures. One example of this is the teaching, “The finite cannot contain the infinite.” This is a very simple statement. Finite means limited. A 20 oz bottle is finite. It can only contain 20 oz. If you try to pour 30 oz into it, it will over flow. The finite 20 oz bottle cannot contain an infinite amount of liquid. Human beings are also finite. A human can only be so big and can only be in one place at one time. This is true. So, protestant churches use this argument to prove that Jesus’ body and blood are not present in the Lord’s Supper. Jesus is a human being. True. A human being cannot be in more than one place at a time. Also, true. Therefore, they conclude that Jesus Christ cannot be present at numerous altars with his body and blood while also ruling at the right hand of God the Father.
The problem is that this teaching is nowhere taught in Scripture. It is a logical syllogism, which contradicts the clear teaching of Jesus in holy Scripture. Holy Scripture teaches us that Jesus’ body and blood are given to Christians to eat and drink in the Sacrament. Human reason disputes this clear teaching. But if God’s word is a fire and hammer, then human reason must give way to the pure teaching of Scripture.
You can be confident in what you have been taught in your Small Catechism, because the Small Catechism is not some additional teaching to the pure teaching of Scripture. Rather, the Small Catechism is the pure teaching of Christ, which has been purified by the fire and hammer of Scripture. It teaches what God’s word teaches without the dross of human reason or tradition.
This is why we must always learn our Catechism. It is the job of every one of you to judge what I preach to you. Not to judge it based on your own personal preference or feelings, or thoughts, but to judge my preaching based on the pure word of God, which is clearly laid out for you in your Small Catechism. In order to recognize whether the fruit I dish out to you is good or bad, you must know what good fruit looks like. Your Catechism teaches you what good fruit is.
Now, this is not to say that only those who belong to Lutheran congregations will go to heaven. You are saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone. There are many who belong to churches that do not have entirely pure doctrine, who still trust in Jesus Christ their Savior for forgiveness and salvation. Yet, just because you can be saved while attending a church that teaches falsely, does not mean that it doesn’t matter where you attend church and what teaching you listen to. Jesus warns against false teaching, because it is harmful.
God speaks in Jeremiah concerning the false prophets, “So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD.” False teaching does not profit you. It hurts you. The false prophets in Jeremiah’s day told the people that it would be well with them when they stubbornly followed their own hearts. I’m sure that made them feel good for a moment, but it did them no good. God remained displeased with their idolatry and sexual immorality and he punished them for it. The false prophets harmed the people they lied to by not warning them to repent!
Would you go to a doctor, who would only give you a clean bill of health, even if you were sick? Do you want your dentist to lie to you and say you have no cavities while your teeth rot away? Would you be pleased with your lawyer if he told you, you had a winning case, even though he knew you would lose when you got to court? Of course, not! Then why would you want a preacher to lie to you in order to make you feel good?
It is a sin to skip church. That is to despise God’s preaching and word. It is breaking the Third Commandment. But saying that upsets people. So, should we stop saying it? It would still be a sin. It is a sin to have sex outside of marriage. Couples should get married before they move in together. Scripture is abundantly clear on this. But saying that upsets people. So, should we stop saying it? Should we stop preaching the Ten Commandments, because we might offend someone? Many churches do. They have stopped condemning sin as sin, so as not to offend. Are they helping anyone? No. God tells us that refusing to preach the law does not profit anyone. Rather, it hurts sinners worse by not warning them to repent, so that they can receive forgiveness.
Pure doctrine is important, because it gives true comfort. False teaching does not comfort you. Rather, it robs you of comfort. Why is it important that we teach that we are only saved through faith in Jesus Christ alone and not by our own works? Because if we trusted in our works, we would lose the comfort that Christ gives by dying for our sins. Does it matter whether we baptize babies or not? Or is it just a tradition we have? Yes, it does matter. Baptizing babies gives great comfort. It tells us that Baptism is God’s work, not ours. It assures us that God has washed away our sins and the sins of our little children. It assures us that God has given them faith even before they can speak. Denying baptism to babies denies them God’s grace and forgiveness. Yet, baptizing them gives them and their parents confidence in Christ.
Does it matter whether Jesus’ true body and blood are present in the Lord’s Supper or not? Yes, it matters. If Jesus’ body and blood are not present in the Lord’s Supper, then we are just eating a remembrance meal out of obedience. It means the meal does not give us the forgiveness of sins. It means that we must judge Jesus’ teaching against our own reason. It means that Christ is as far away from us as the heavens are from the earth. But, if Jesus’ words are true and we can trust them even against our own eyes and reason, then we have confidence that Jesus is with us with his peace even today.
Although, every one of us should continue to be a student of the Catechism and faithfully hear the word of God taught and preached regularly, you do not need to be a scholar for pure doctrine to benefit you. Pure doctrine benefits the newborn baby when he’s baptized just as it benefits the elderly grandmother in the hospital bed when she hears that Jesus died for her and that her sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. Pure doctrine benefits all who have faith in Christ, because pure doctrine gives Christ, his forgiveness, righteousness, and salvation.
The other week I said that no one has died with greater certainty that he’ll go to heaven than the thief on the cross to whom Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Despite the fact that Jesus was nailed to the cross next to him as a condemned criminal, the man was confident enough to acknowledge that Jesus was the king of heaven and to ask him to remember him. And the pure words of Jesus gave this repentant criminal confidence to die upon his cross.
Now, I don’t know if that man knew anything about Baptism. I doubt he knew that Jesus had just hours earlier fed his disciples his very body and blood under the forms of bread and wine for the first time. Yet, I have no doubt that had he survived the cross, he would have devoted himself to the apostles teaching, the fellowship, and the breaking of bread, and prayers, been baptized and learned all these things. Yet, even with that one sentence the man benefited from Jesus’ pure teaching. And with those words he gained eternal life.
Pure doctrine saves, because Jesus saves. When we speak of pure doctrine, we are not speaking of a science formulated by men. We’re speaking about the words of our Savior, which are the words of eternal life. We want to hear pure doctrine, because we only want to hear Jesus. Jesus teaches us to watch out for false prophets, because he loves us. He is our Good Shepherd, who speaks to us. And we, his sheep, want to hear only his voice, because only he gives us eternal life. Amen.

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Trinity 8: Beware of False Prophets

8/13/2017

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Matthew 7:15-23
August 6, 2017

"Beware of false prophets," Jesus warns. Well, what is a false prophet? First you have to know that a false prophet isn't going to come out and tell you that he's a false prophet. He looks good. He looks like he's sent by God and that he's going to tell you the truth of what God says. They're dressed in sheep's clothing, Jesus says. False prophets are in pulpits and in seminaries, they wear crosses around their necks and carry Bibles. So, you can't tell a false prophet simply by looking at him. "By their fruits you will know them." What are their fruits? Their prophecies, that is, their words. You will know that they are false prophets by the words they preach and teach.

False prophets teach contrary to God's Word while leading you to believe that they teach God's Word in truth. They lie and tell you they are telling the truth. This is the worst offense against the Second Commandment, "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie or deceive by his name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks." False prophets say that God said something he didn't say. They place God's name on a lie. This is clearly forbidden by God.

Protection from false prophets is the first thing we pray for in the Lord's Prayer. "Hallowed be Thy name. How is God's name kept holy? God's name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it. Help us to do this dear Father in heaven! But anyone who teaches or lives contrary to God's Word profanes the name of God among us. Protect us from this, heavenly Father!" (From Luther's Small Catechism, First Petition of the Lord's Prayer)
Every time you pray the Lord's Prayer you pray that God would protect you from false prophets, who teach lies in God's name. False prophets teach many different lies. They are not united as Christ is. Their teachings don't come from Christ, but from Satan. And Satan will lead you away in whatever way he can.

A very popular false teaching today that is taught by many who claim to be Christian ministers is that the Bible is not entirely reliable. Now they normally won't outright tell you that they think the Bible has errors. They'll try to sound academic and say, "Well, not all of the Bible is meant to be taken literally." But they don't simply mean that the Bible has sections of poetry, visions, and parables, which need to be treated as such. They use this language to disregard historical records in Scripture that they think seem farfetched or make them uncomfortable. So, they deny that God created the world and human beings the way he said he did and they depend on theories promoted by atheists. They will deny the miracles of Jesus and they will try to convince you that all this doesn't really affect your faith anyway.

They will deny that Paul wrote his Epistles or claim that we don't have to accept everything that St. Paul or other apostles write, (ignoring the fact that Christ Jesus himself made these men his apostles and gave them their words to speak). And they'll even say things that sound really Christian, like the Gospel is the most important thing in the Bible and the Gospel is the real authority of Scripture. Meanwhile they chip away at every other teaching of Scripture until you don't realize that they have assaulted the very Gospel of the forgiveness of sins won by Christ.

These false prophets are very successful, because they are very appealing. They don't tell you what God tells you (or only half of what God tells you). Instead, they will tell you what you want to hear. St. Paul warns, "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

So, people follow false teachers, because they tell them what they want to hear. This is quite natural for sinners. When you seek advice from friends do you take the advice that is the most sound or the advice that makes you look good or is the easiest to follow? And so, people follow after false prophets, who say that God doesn't have a problem with fornication or homosexuality or abortion or divorce or greed. It's a lot nicer to hear that you don't need to repent of your sins or that your family and loved ones don't need to repent from their sins than to hear that you are a poor miserable sinner in need of redemption. These false prophets seem friendly and loving. The Jesus of those traditionalists sounds unloving, archaic, and bigoted.

But you have to remember the source of these teachings. Teachings that promote sexual immorality, murder, and covetousness do not come from God, but from Satan. Satan does not love you. He wants to murder your soul. God loves you. Jesus died for you out of love for you. Yes, God will lay down the law. He will tell you that you are a sinner. He will tell you to repent. But everything he does is out of love. If you continue in your sins you will go to hell. You cannot have saving faith while you continue in impenitent sin. Jesus calls you out of your sin to eternal life. Satan wants to keep you in your sin so that you go to hell.

Who is more loving? A father who disciplines his disobedient child or a stranger who speaks sweetly and offers candy to the child if he gets into his van? It is far better for a child to endure a spanking and a scolding from his father, who loves him than to accept sweet candy from a stranger, who wishes to do him harm. And so, we should flee the sweet talk of false prophets and listen to God's word, both the Law, which rebukes us, and the Gospel, which comforts us.

Those who deny that the Bible is without errors are not the only false prophets. Many so-called conservative churches still teach falsely. They will deny the saving power of Baptism, even though Scripture clearly states that God saves us through Baptism. They'll deny the pastor's authority to forgive and retain sins and that the Lord's Supper is Christ's true body and blood for us Christians to eat and to drink for the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. They deny these teachings, because they place their own sinful reason over the clear words of God. You should avoid such churches. Do not attend them. Do not worship there. Instead go where all of Christ's means of grace are given to his people.

The worst kind of false teaching is the teaching that claims that you must earn your own salvation. This teaching robs Christ of his glory. And it sets you up as your own false god. If you must earn your own salvation by your good works you must trust in yourself, how good you can be instead of trusting in Christ's sacrifice on the cross for your sins. Beware of false prophets, who will twist scripture and torture your conscience to convince you that Christ's death is not enough to win your salvation. Trust in Christ alone and trust in him unceasing!
But does this all really matter? Isn't it just important that we're all "Christians?" Why get so bent out of shape with the details? Indeed, this is the way most people think. People are more discerning of what brand of pop they drink than the purity of God's Word they listen to. And so, it is important for us to listen to our Lord's words once again. "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." They aren't sheep. They're wolves. What do wolves do? Wolves kill. They murder. That is Satan's goal with false teaching. His goal is to destroy your faith, to separate you from Jesus. He is not loving. He does not bring you closer to Jesus. His goal is for you to trust in yourself, despair of God's gifts, forsake God's word, to die without hope or with false hope.

So, while it is true that there are Christians, who will go to heaven, who attend churches run by false prophets, this does not mean that marking and avoiding false prophets is unimportant.
This is a matter of life and death. It is very important for you to beware of false prophets; to guard against them. Now, how do you do that? Immediately after our Gospel lesson Jesus says, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock." (Matthew 7:24-25)

You are founded on the rock if you believe in Jesus' words. The best way to be founded on the rock is to learn your Catechism. We call it Luther's Small Catechism, because Martin Luther wrote the explanations in our Catechism. But Martin Luther didn't give us the Small Catechism. God did. The Catechism is simply the basics of what a Christian needs to know to be a Christian. All the teachings of the Catechism come from the Bible. The Catechism is made up of six chief parts: The Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, The Lord's Prayer, Baptism, The Office of The Keys, and The Lord's Supper. The Ten Commandments were given by God to Moses and are listed in Exodus chapter 20. The Apostles' Creed, while it does not exist in the Bible in that exact form is a summary of the Apostles' teaching about God as found in Scripture. Jesus taught us to pray the Lord's Prayer. Jesus gave us Baptism, the Office of the Keys, and the Lord's Supper. The Catechism clearly and simply explains what Scripture teaches about these three means of grace!

Every one of you should have your Small Catechism memorized. Not just the youths, who are preparing for Confirmation. Everyone from the little children just learning to pray to the elderly should be learning their Small Catechism by heart. And every one of us should use the Catechism in our daily prayers. And fathers should lead their families to pray it and teach it to their children.

You are much less likely to fall for the devil's lie that sexual immorality is not a big deal if you know your Ten Commandments by heart. You will be able to answer the Jehovah's Witness or Mormon at your door if you know the Apostles Creed and what it means. I believe that Jesus Christ, true God begotten of the Father from eternity and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord. Tell that to the Jehovah's Witness when he tries to deny that Jesus is true God.

You pray the Lord's Prayer every day. But do you know what the words mean? Your Small Catechism gives a simple explanation to each petition, to help you pray!

Do you have your Small Catechism memorized? Do you pray from it each day? Are you prepared to guard yourself against false prophets?

You must be able to judge your pastor. You must be able to judge me to determine whether I am teaching you God's Word in truth or whether I am a false prophet. You can't simply judge me based on your own thoughts and opinions. To recognize the fruit of a false teacher and the fruit of a true teacher sent by God, you must be built on the Rock. You need to know your Catechism. That is how you know your Savior, Jesus.

The truth matters. Because the truth reveals to you your Savior Jesus. Satan does not love you. The lies he spreads through false prophets do not help you. But the truth sets you free from sin, death, and hell. The truth is, God loves you. He loves you so that he sent his Son to redeem you with his own precious blood and innocent suffering and death. He loves you so that he washes you clean in Jesus blood through Baptism. He loves you so that he convicts you of your sin so that he can forgive you. He loves you so that he feeds you Christ's own body and blood, so that you can say, "Yes, I have received Jesus' forgiveness. God says so!" God loves you. And he shows you his love through his pure teaching. So, guard and cherish his teaching. Amen.

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"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

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Trinity 8: Beware of False Prophets

Rev. James Preus

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