A sermon on Matthew 7:15-23 for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz.

A couple weeks ago, on the Fourth Sunday after Trinity, we looked at Jesus’ instruction, “Judge not” (Lk 6:37) and distinguished between the kind of judging He wants us to do and the kind of judging He doesn’t want us to do. Well today, even though Jesus doesn’t use the j-word, He is telling us more about one kind of judging He does want Christians to make. He tells His followers, “Beware of false prophets” and instructs them to test their fruits, giving every Christian the authority and the responsibility to judge their teachers and ensure that what they are teaching is true. Now we don’t have prophets today, or at least we don’t use that term anymore, so to put it more concretely, God wants you to judge your pastor. This might sound weird coming from me, but, in effect, that’s what Jesus is telling you to do. Men can be false but only God’s Word is true.

I. Men Can Be False

This account comes at the end of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. He’s taught His disciples and then leaves them with this warning. And this is certainly a warning that still applies to us today, “Beware false prophets.”

Now one angle you could work with this text would be to expose all the false teaching around us for what it is. There’s certainly no lack of heresy in the world, we would be here a while. But I’m sure you know better than to listen to preachers from outside of our circles and that you have a pretty healthy sense of when something seems off.

Even if you don’t have any theological training, you can tell when someone’s not being genuine or honest, when they’re trying to pressure you into something or just get your money. Some false prophets are obvious. But that’s not quite what Jesus is talking about here.

These wolves are in sheep’s clothing. These thornbushes and thistles flower beautifully and appear to be bearing fruit when they are, in fact, bad trees. The false prophets that Jesus are warning against, the ones that we need to be on guard against, are those that seem legit, seem like they’re teaching the right stuff, seem to be good… but how can you tell?

So rather than focusing on the false prophets that you’re not listening to anyway, what about the pastor that you hear from every week? How do you know that I’m legit? That I’m not a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

Now, I know every one of you. I’ve been in most of your homes. I like you and I’m under the impression that you like me. But that really shouldn’t count for anything. You’ve seen me act as a husband and as a father as I interact with my wife and kids in public, hopefully you don’t have the impression that I’m some kind of jerk, but… is that any guarantee?

I know that you all have a healthy respect for the office of pastor. I love that and I really appreciate it. Our people know to put the best construction on everything and give their pastor the benefit of the doubt and pray for their pastor and believe that he’s trustworthy—that’s all good stuff. But sometimes, like any good thing, it can be taken too far.

Do you judge your pastor? Jesus wants you to. I have the office of a prophet, of one who proclaims God’s Word to you, how do you know I’m not a false prophet? Do you believe something just because the pastor says it or because your pastor can show you where that is in God’s Word? Do you trust your pastor just because he’s a great guy and you like him or because you’ve tested what he says against Scripture and know that the two align? Have you judged your pastor, tested the fruits of his teaching, or do you just assume, at your own peril, that everything must be fine?

While this lack of testing can be the result of a pious view of the office taken too far, I think often its inspiration is less noble. Because it’s easy to just show up to church and listen to whatever pastor says. Is that all that Jesus is asking you to do? Is church just pastor up there doing whatever he’s doing and I’m just here? Jesus calls you to be more discerning. It’s easy to have someone else be the expert and tell you what the Bible says instead of putting in that work and study yourself.

Now, to clear the air, by the grace of God I’m not a false prophet. But how do you know? Have you put the work in to make sure? Because this is serious stuff. Life or death. False doctrine damns. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit”—every teacher that teaches falsely—“is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And that goes for the hearers, too. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven.” There’s no excuses. No, I-didn’t-know-betters. If you have to stake your salvation on the trustworthiness of your pastor, are you really just going to take my word for it? Do you see this as serious as it is or are you willing to take it all for granted?

II. God’s Word is True

I’m not trying to make this all about me or your relationship with me. The whole point is that I’m not the point. This warning against false doctrine is really about the trustworthiness and the sufficiency of God’s Word.

God’s Word is clear. That’s why Jesus can give this task of judging teachers to you, to every Christian. You don’t need to be an expert to read the Bible and see what it says. Salvation isn’t some mystery that needs to be decoded, it’s plain and straightforward. God cares about doctrine so much because the Word of God saves.

I have the best job in the world because even though I have every chance to mess it up, God’s Word is powerful and God’s Word works. It convicts us of our sin and then shows us our Savior. It reveals the darkness of our hearts and shines the light of Christ. It afflicts us with what we have done or left undone and relieves us with forgiveness.

Because we have a Shepherd who took on sheep’s clothing, who became a man to take our place. Where we have been lazy, Jesus was filled with zeal. He laid down His life for His sheep, suffered the fires of hell on the wood of the cross so that we who by the power of the Spirit call upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom 10:13).

We have a Prophet who never spoke falsely. Our Shepherd rose from the dead, took up His life again, to guide and protect His flock. He still speaks to us today. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (Jn 10:27). I pray that you hear the voice of your Shepherd in my voice as I proclaim God’s Word to you.

Being tasked with judging your pastor is intimidating. I get it. This is my job. I went to school for this. You maybe think, “Who am I to correct my pastor?” I pray you never have to. And even if you don’t, putting in the work will get you more familiar with Scripture, which is a good thing. But beyond more rigorous study, the laity have always had two key tools to help you establish the boundaries and reinforce the Gospel.

The first tool is the Small Catechism. Many of you have memorized it years ago, if it’s a little rusty, it’s good to brush it up, because these simple texts cover the fundamentals of the Bible and having them embedded in you is an easy way to detect if something is out of bounds.

Again, not going to use myself as an example of false teaching, but if someone emphasizes that you need to make your choice to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your mind should jump to, “I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” If someone is talking about baptism as a way to show your commitment to God, you can jump to, “Baptism works the forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this as the words and promises of God declare.” You’re not always going to have chapter and verse against every false doctrine you encounter, but you probably already have embedded in you somewhere an easy thing to rely on to tell you whether something is out of bounds.

The second tool is the liturgy. The liturgy is, in some ways, a safeguard against your pastor. It means that I can’t just do whatever I want or whatever I like, I’m constrained to do it in this way. And by preserving the liturgy, we ensure that the Gospel is always proclaimed, even if the pastor really messes up. I have the comfort, you have the comfort of knowing that if I bomb a sermon, if I somehow forget to proclaim the Gospel, Sunday morning wasn’t a complete waste. The Gospel is in the liturgy. Sins are absolved. God’s powerful Word is read aloud and allowed to stand on its own. Christ’s body and blood are given for the forgiveness of sins. The liturgy gives God’s Word to you, apart from the pastor. It forces me to do things in a certain way so that I can’t mess it up too bad. You have these powerful tools to assist you in judging your pastor and to ensure that the Gospel is always proclaimed, no matter what.

I hope that in telling you to judge me and to make sure that I’m not a false prophet that you don’t view that as a challenge. Rather, I wish to instill in you the noble character of the Berean Jews, who “received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11, NIV). Double checking my work isn’t a challenge of my authority or a slight against the office. The opposite is the case. I should be telling you things that are too good to be true, so good that you have to go and check that it really is the case. If I do err, I pray for forgiveness and grace—and please let me know. And if you have feedback on anything that doesn’t reach the level of “that might have been false doctrine,” please let me know that, too. I know that I’m just a man and to err is human. But as your pastor, I have been given the responsibility to be a steward of the mysteries of God (1 Cor 4:1). The power isn’t mine, the authority isn’t mine, the words aren’t mine. It all comes from the truth of God’s Word and the Gospel of Christ, which “is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16). Amen.