11 August 2019
Text: Matt 7:15-23 (Jer 23:16-29, Rom 8:12-17)
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
“Do
not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you,” says Jeremiah the
prophet, “filling you with vain hopes. They
speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.”
It’s
a remarkable thing for a prophet to say. Instead of encouraging people to trust the
prophets, this prophet encourages skepticism.
He encourages those who hear prophets and preachers to make sure that
they are not being led astray by con men.
For
those who distort God’s Word for their own personal gain have a long history,
going all the way back to the serpent in the Garden of Eden who filled Adam and
Eve with the vain hope, “You shall be like God,” whose false prophecy included,
“Did God actually say?”
Jeremiah
says that one of the marks of the false prophet is, “They say continually to
those who despise the Word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and… ‘no
disaster shall come upon you.’”
For
this is how a con man operates. He makes
his victim comfortable. He convinces you
that he’s your friend. He tells his mark
exactly what he wants to hear, whether that he is a Nigerian prince who needs
your bank account number to deposit a million dollars, or that God wants you to
be rich, and if you just send the TV preacher a thousand dollars, you will
indeed be on the path to fortune and riches.
There
are many other variations of this scam, but they all operate the same way.
This
scam was not what Jeremiah preached. He
warned the people of Judah, “Behold, the storm of the Lord! Wrath has gone forth, a whiling tempest; it
will burst upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until
He has executed and accomplished the intents of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it
clearly.”
These
are not the words of a con man. This is
not the preaching of a man looking to be popular. In fact, Jeremiah annoyed everyone with his
gloomy words. The people wanted their
preachers to leave them with a song in their heart, not call them to
repentance. They wanted worship to be
uplifting, not challenging. They wanted
a soothsayer, that is, someone who would sooth them with sweet words, and not
an honest preacher of God’s Word.
Jeremiah
complains of prophets who ran to the people unsent by God. They spoke words that were not given by
God. And how can you tell? Here is what God Himself says, “But if they [the
false prophets] had stood in My council, then they would have proclaimed My
words to My people, and they would have turned from their evil way and from the
evil of their deeds.”
For
can you hide from God? Do you think he
doesn’t see you and your sinful heart? Do
you think God is not almighty and all powerful?
So
if a preacher tells you just what you want to hear, if it is all Gospel and no
Law, if it is based on his own ideas and dreams instead of the Word of God,
if there is no call to repent, if these supposed godly words are all about
acceptance and inclusion instead of repentance and forgiveness – then don’t
listen.
Our
Lord builds on Jeremiah’s criticism of false prophets. As the New and Greater Jeremiah, as the
fulfillment of Jeremiah’s preaching, our Lord also warns: “Beware of false
prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
You will recognize them by their fruits.” Our Lord asks if thorns produce grapes, or if
thistles yield figs. And you can judge
the health of the tree by the fruit that the tree bears. If the fruit is rotten, so is the tree. And He says, “Every tree that does not bear
good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
Be
very careful, dear friends, about what you consider to be prophecy. Just because a preacher is on TV doesn’t mean
he is preaching the truth. Just because
something on the internet mentions God or Jesus and makes you feel good doesn’t
mean it is the Word of God. This is why
you need to read and study His Word. If
you already know the Bible extremely well, then I would encourage you to avoid
coming to Bible class – because those of us who meet every week to struggle
with the Lord’s Word might slow down the rest of you who know it so well.
You
need the Word of God to protect you from the devil. I’m constantly amazed at what Christians,
including Lutherans, consider to be prophetic, consider to be true, consider to
be the Christian faith. It is stunning
how generation after generation of TV preachers grow rich by telling people just
what they want to hear, or how much false doctrine otherwise solid Christians
are willing to believe – especially if it involves sinful behavior that they or
their families are involved in and wish to excuse.
Our
sinful flesh desires a preacher who will think more of our self-esteem than our
souls, one who will make us happy instead of challenging us. We much prefer the word of the serpent to the
Word of God – because sometimes God tells us “no” when the serpent always tells
us “yes.”
We
must disregard the hiss of the serpent and the lie of the false prophet. St. Paul also warns us: “If you live according
to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you will put to death the deeds
of the body, you will live. For all who
are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
St.
Paul explains that we are adopted sons of God.
Jesus is the biological Son, and we, by virtue of adoption, by virtue of
our baptism, we can call God our Father, our Abba, and we are “heirs of God and
fellow heirs with Christ.” And, dear
friends, this is what the false preachers will never tell you: to be a son of
God involves suffering, as the apostle says, “provided we suffer with Him in
order that we may also be glorified with Him.”
The
false prophet says, “No disaster shall come upon you.” You can have your best life now. You can be rich and have miracles if you just
have enough faith (faith that is usually demonstrated by sending money). You can continue in your sinful lifestyle
because God wants you to be happy. You
don’t need God’s Word because you already know all that stuff. You don’t need to go to church because the
church is filled with hypocrites. The
Bible is filled with errors and doesn’t speak to our modern times. We are so much smarter and better today than
all of those backward people. You can be
anything you want to be, identify in whatever way you wish, because you can be
like God. God would never condemn anyone
to hell. All religions teach the same
thing.
And
the list goes on.
But
Jeremiah snaps us back to reality: “What has straw in common with wheat?” Isn’t God’s Word “like fire…and like a hammer
that breaks the rock in pieces?” Our
Lord Jesus Christ even tells us not to be impressed by miracles: “On that day
many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast
out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?’ And I will declare to them, ‘I never knew
you; depart from Me you workers of lawlessness.”
God
does not tell you what you want to hear, but what you need to hear. He tells you that you need to repent. And He also tells you that He wants to redeem
you by His love. Otherwise, He would
have sent no Jeremiah to warn you, and no Jesus to save you by His blood.
Dear
brothers and sisters, don’t put your hope in vain words, in feelings, in things
that the world holds to be true. Rather
put your trust in the Word of God, all of it, the Law and the Gospel. Put your trust in Jesus, in the cross, in your
adoption, in your baptism, in the body and blood given and shed for you for the
forgiveness of sins.
“For,”
as St. Paul comforts us, “you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall
back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we
cry, “Abba! Father!”
Your
Father wants what is best for you. The
Son has come to redeem you. The Spirit
delivers that redemption to you. Hear
and believe the Word of God. Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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