Holy Boldness

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Known for his unique ability to simplify profound truth so that it can be applied to everyday life, Adrian Rogers was one of the most effective preachers, respected Bible teachers, and Christian leaders of our time. Thanks for joining us for this message. Here's Adrian Rogers.

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Take your Bibles and be finding Matthew chapter 7 and verse 15. It begins with a warning. Jesus says, Beware... of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so, Jesus says, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit. But a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. But he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven, many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Have you ever passed a house or been walking up to a house wanting to knock on the door and you see a sign that says, beware the dog? Have you ever seen that? What do you do? Well, you beware the dog, don't you? When there's a sign there that says, just beware the dog, you stop right away and you look around and wonder, should I go in there? But whatever, it sensitizes you. I want you to imagine walking up to a house and seeing a sign that says, beware the wolf. I just suppose rather than having a dog in the yard, there is a wolf in the yard. I think you would do a double take. The title of our message today, Beware the Wolves. That's what Jesus is saying. And these wolves who have disguised themselves in sheep's clothing. I found out that wolves are known for their boldness. They're known for the fierceness of their attack. They were the most dreaded and hated enemy of the shepherd, not the lion, not the bear, but the wolf. As a matter of fact, a wolf will kill for food. But once he gets a taste of blood, he goes into a frenzy and will kill far more than he can possibly eat. And Jesus said that false prophets... ARE LIKE WOLVES. AND JESUS SAID, BEWARE. NOW WHEN JESUS SAYS, BEWARE, THEN WE OUGHT TO BEWARE. AND JESUS SAYS, NOT ONLY ARE THESE WOLVES SO DANGEROUS, THEY'RE SO DECEPTIVE. THEY COME TO YOU IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING. NOW YOU CANNOT BE WISE AND NOT BEWARE. You see, the Lord has warned us. Many times warnings have gone unheeded. Captain Smith was the captain of the Titanic. He received a message, a radio message, when the Titanic was on its maiden voyage. And that radio message said that they were entering into iceberg-laden waters of According to the account that I read, Captain Smith took that message, written on a piece of paper, crumpled it, shoved it into his pocket, and the Titanic went sailing on. And when it sank, 1,490 people went to a watery grave in the icy North Atlantic. I read somewhere years ago about Sergeant Lockhart, Sergeant Joseph Lockhart. He was sitting at the radar in Pearl Harbor and he noticed a squadron of airplanes coming. The day was December the 7th, 1941. He reported to his commanding officer, I see some unidentified aircraft approaching. Do you know what the commanding officer said? Forget it. Forget it. And 3,000 of America's best perished in that day of infamy. Warnings. If there were ever a generation that needs to be warned about false prophets, it's this one. I mean, if ever, if ever, it's this one. And Jesus is saying, beware of false prophets. Remember this. that Satan is not opposed to religion. Satan is opposed to biblical Christianity. And religion is one of Satan's chief aims. Satan comes against the church in two basic ways. Satan comes against the church by persecution. And he's not above persecuting the church. He's not above persecuting this church or any true New Testament church. But many times for Satan, persecution will not work. Many times God's people, rather than folding up, stand up against persecution. I remember when we were in Romania, the pastor there of the great Second Baptist Church, the largest Baptist church in all Europe, told me as we went past the church, he said, you see all of these apartment buildings that are near our church? I said, yes. He said, let me tell you how they got built. He said, Ceausescu, that maniacal, diabolical, ungodly, anti-Christ dictator, when he passed by the Second Baptist Church of Oratio one time, he looked over there and he saw the church. He asked his aide, what is that? He said, that's a Baptist church. He said, destroy that nest of insects. They said, well... Mr. Ceausescu, if we just destroy them, why, the world will hear about it. It'll look bad for Romania. After all, we want most favored nation status. Well, he said, then hide it. And so you know what they did? They built apartments all around the church and brought the people right to them. Oh, people in that area. Coming to the Lord Jesus Christ and getting saved. Many times God cuts Goliath's head off with the sword that Goliath sharpened. Amen? Sometimes the devil comes against the church by persecution. But he has a better way to come against the church, and it is not persecution. It is infiltration. Put these verses in your margin. Here's the great danger to today's church. It's the infiltration of false prophets wearing sheep's clothing. Acts chapter 20, verses 28 and following. The apostle Paul said to the Ephesian elders, to that wonderful church at Ephesus, "'Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves and to all the flock.'" God's sheep, to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Then the apostle Paul said to those folks at Corinth in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, beginning in verse 13, for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. That is, they are wearing sheep's clothing. And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Satan is the captain of camouflage. He is the master of deceit. And so... Again and again and again, the Bible warns us of false prophets. Our Lord Jesus said in this same book of Matthew that we're studying, in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 24, for there shall arise false Christs. There shall arise false Christs and false prophets. and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they should deceive the very elect. You know, every now and then somebody will say, Oh, the Bible is not true. The Bible is a bundle of blunders. The Bible is a book of lies. And I'll tell you why it is, they say. They say that the Bible is not true because of all these false religions, all of these false prophets, all of these fruit loops. Friend, let me tell you something. Those people don't prove the Bible not to be true. Those people authenticate the Bible. If there were no false prophets, the Bible would not be true because the Bible says they're coming. It is Jesus Christ who said they're coming. Beware, He says. These things confirm and authenticate the our faith. So there are three basic things I want you to learn this morning as we look at this message under the title, Beware the Wolves. The very first thing I want you to see is the fleece they wear. The fleece they wear. The second thing I want you to see is the fruit they bear. The third thing I want you to see is the fate they share. Now here's what our Lord Jesus is telling us about these false prophets. First of all, the fleece they wear. He says, they come wearing sheep's clothing. That is, they appear like part of the flock. Now this is the disguise that they wear. Now what I want to do today is just simply rip away the disguise. What I want to do is to pull back the sheepskin and let you see the wolf beneath. Now, false prophets come in three categories. There are three kinds of false prophets. And if you just look for one kind, you're apt to miss the other two. Wonderfully, God has given us a description of all three in one verse. So I don't want you to miss that verse. Turn next to the last book in the Bible. It's really, we call it an epistle. It's more like a postcard. It's so small. It's the little book of Jude. And look, if you will, in verse 11. Now, let me say this, that all of the book of Jude is about false apostles, false prophets and apostates. That's what it's about. The book of Jude is a warning about false prophets. But happily and wonderfully, he describes all three kinds in one verse. Woe unto them, verse 11, woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain. That's one kind of false prophet. And ran greedily, underscore the word greedily, after the error of Balaam for reward. That's another kind of false prophet. And perished in the gainsaying of Korah. That's another kind of false prophet. Three kinds, right there. All of them will be wearing sheepskin, but I want us to look at them. What do they represent? Cain, the first one, represents those who pervert the gospel. Now, pay attention. Who is Cain? Well, you remember that God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. And then God gave them sons, Cain and Abel. You remember that story. And the Bible says that Abel was a keeper of flocks. But Cain was a farmer. He was a tiller of the ground. And there in Genesis chapter 4, verses 1 through 8, you have the story of two brothers. Two brothers went out to make two offerings. One brother offered to the Lord the firstlings of the flock. A perfect lamb was killed. And the blood of that lamb was offered to the Lord as an atonement for sin. The other brother Cain, you will remember the story, offered to God the fruit of his hands, of his work, the sweat of his face. This is what he offered to the Lord. And what you have here are two brothers, two offerings, Two religions and two destinies. Now Abel, as you will remember, offered the very best, the firstling of the flock to the Lord. Why? Because there in the dawn of civilization, God was teaching the lesson that we see affirmed in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 22, which is what? Without shedding of blood is no remission. Isn't that right? Without shedding of blood is no remission. And Hebrews 11, 4 says, By faith... Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice. Abel had faith in the blood. Never forget it. He had faith in the blood. For the Bible says in 1 John 1, 7, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Now, on the other hand, Cain offered the fruit of the ground. His offering was not based on blood, but the fruits and the flowers of His own effort. It may have been impressive. It may have been beautiful. It may have been costly. It may have looked like a county fair. There may have been beautiful flowers and fragrant herbs and the ripest fruits. But God was not impressed. Why? You can't get blood out of a turnip. My friend, without the shedding of blood is no remission. What did Cain's offering represent? Culture, not Calvary. Works, not grace. Now, there are only two kinds of religion. Pay attention. The true and the false. Now, we like to divide the world into Christianity and Buddhism and Islam and Mohammedanism, Rheumatism, whatever. We like to say there are all these different kinds of religions. We even take Christianity and we subdivide Christianity, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and Catholic, and others. But I want to say there are really only two kinds of religion, the way of Cain and the way of the cross. That's all. The way of Cain, the way of the cross. The way of the cross leads to heaven. The way of Cain leads to hell. Now, there are many people today who are trudging to churches, sitting down and worshiping all over America, but you know they will not hear salvation by the blood preached. And many people will not say that that man preaching is a false prophet. But friend, he's gone the way of Cain. The way of Cain. I don't care how many fruits and flowers there are there. I don't care how beautiful it is. I care not how grand the choir is. I care not how many good works they do in the neighborhood. I don't care if they're offering to God the works of their hands rather than the blood of the Lamb. That man is a false prophet. A false prophet. That's the way of Cain. Those who pervert the gospel. Now what about the other man? Balaam. That's the second one that's mentioned there. Balaam represents not those who pervert the gospel, but those who prostitute the gospel. You see, Balaam was orthodox. Many of the things that Balaam said were incredible. Who was Balaam? Well, Balaam was an apostate prophet. He lived in the Old Testament. You could read his story in Numbers 25. The king of Moab was afraid of the Israelites. He couldn't figure out a way to overcome them, and then he got this diabolical scheme. He thought to himself, well, maybe I can get their God to put a curse on them. And so he said, well, who's a prophet that might put a curse on them? Somebody said, well, Balaam, he knows all about that prophecy business and curses and cursings and blessings. And so Balak, the king of Moab, went to Balaam and said, listen, I want you to put a curse on Balaam said, are you crazy? You think I'm going to curse what God says? Those that curse, I'll curse. And those that bless, I'll bless. You think I'm going to put a curse on them? You're crazy. Balak said, I'll pay you. He said, you couldn't pay me enough to do that. No, thank you. And Balak comes back and ups the ante and throws in some fringe benefits. After a while, oh, oh, Balaam gets to thinking. He said, how can I do this? How can I serve God and rake off a few prophets on the side? How can I do this? And then he said, I'll tell you what. I can't curse them, but I'll tell you what. I'll tell you how you can get them to curse themselves. AND ONE OF THE MOST INCREDIBLY WICKED THINGS THAT EVER HAPPENED, HE SAID TO THE KING OF MOAB, IF YOU GET THEM TO SIN, YOU WON'T HAVE TO CURSE THEM. I WON'T HAVE TO CURSE THEM. GOD WILL CURSE THEM. AND THE DAUGHTERS OF MOAB WENT IN AND BEGAN TO FLIRT WITH THE BOYS OF ISRAEL. AND THERE WAS ADULTERY AND FORNICATION AND WICKEDNESS, THE SAME THING THAT'S GOING TO CAUSE GOD TO CURSE AMERICA. And, my friend, the man of God would not stand up for purity and righteousness. And so there was a sensual feast with the daughters of Moab. And God slew 24,000 Israelites. Now, what did Balaam do? He didn't pervert the gospel. No, his problem was he was orthodox but greedy, right? And there are many false prophets today who will not preach and teach what the Bible says about righteousness. And the reason that many preachers today and many teachers today are trimming the message is for personal gain. And that gain does not have to be financial. Sometimes it's for prestige. Sometimes it's for popularity. Sometimes it's for power. Put this verse in your margin. 2 Peter chapter 2, verse 1. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you. who privately or privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. But now notice verse 3. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you. Covetousness. That's what happened to Balaam. Now there are many false prophets. But you spell the word prophet, P-R-O-F-I-T. They're in it for what they can get. They may be orthodox. They may stand up and they may preach the blood. They don't pervert the gospel. They prostitute the gospel. They sell the gospel the same way that Madison Avenue sells cars and soap. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2, verse 17, they peddle the Word of God. That was the third kind of false prophet. You have to see all kinds. They're all out there, friend. They're in the woodwork. There are those who pervert the gospel. That's the way of Cain. There are those who prostitute the gospel. That's Balaam. But there are also those who protest the gospel. That's Korah. Well, you read about him in Numbers chapter 16. Korah was a gifted man and a man of privilege. He was a cousin of Moses. He was a Levite. He was a prince in Israel. But somehow he got the idea that he did not like the leadership of Moses and he did not like the leadership of Aaron. Now remember that Moses and Aaron were a prophet and a priest. As a matter of fact, the Bible says the coming of Jesus is this, that Jesus is going to be a prophet like Moses. Moses is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so is Aaron, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, because Christ is our high priest. Christ is prophet and priest to the church. But here's this man named Korah, and he rebels against Moses, and he rebels against Aaron. And he said... you guys think you're just hot stuff. You're taking too much upon you. We don't like your leadership. We don't like what you say. We don't like what you do. And he organized a rebellion against Moses and against Aaron. And the Bible says that Moses fell on his face before God and told God about it. And there came a judgment where the earth opened up and swallowed Korah. He went down to hell. And all who followed him. What was Korah's problem? He didn't pervert the gospel. He didn't prostitute the gospel. He just fought the gospel. He hated the gospel. These who represent God's prophet and God's priest, picturing the Lord Jesus Christ, he rose up in rebellion against them. And I'm telling you, my dear friend, there are those in America who absolutely hate the message that we preach in this church. I mean, they hate it. They hate the blood. It's not that they deny it. They hate it. They hate the Word of God. Oh, friend, listen. We have today those who despise the blood-bought way. We have those who prostitute the blood-bought way. We have those who pervert the blood-bought way. They're all false prophets. Those who pervert the gospel, those who prostitute the gospel, those who protest the gospel, they're all wolves in sheep's clothing. Well, let's move on a little bit and think not only about the fleece they wear, but let's talk about the fruit they bear. Go back again and see what our Lord says. Are we helpless? Do we have no way to know? Well, our Lord changes the metaphor. And He says in verse 16, "'You shall know them,' who? "'These wolves by their fruits.' Now He no longer speaks of them as animals, but as trees. "'You shall know them by their fruits.' Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Now, God is saying that the devil cannot continue to cover by deception. Because the fruit is there. Let me tell you three things about fruit. First of all, it is the root that determines the fruit. Isn't that right? That's why Jesus is saying you don't get figs from thistles. It is the root that determines the fruit. Now, if you had a fruit tree that wasn't bearing the right kind of fruit, what could you do to get the right kind of fruit on it? Well, you could prune it. And if you prune it, all you do is just Strengthen the root. There are a lot of people who think, well, you know, if I just get rid of this thing or that thing, I'll be a better tree. Well, not only could you prune it, you could transplant it. You could take a bad fruit tree and put it in another place. That's what some folks do when they move their membership. They just transplant a bad tree. It's like moving a corpse from one mausoleum to another. I mean, you can transplant it. What else could you do? Well, you could cultivate it. Hey, it's a bad tree, so you cultivate it. Lots of folks are going off to church growth conferences today. And I read some of that material, friend, they're telling them how to fertilize weeds. I mean, growth is not everything. Growth is not everything. So you could cultivate the tree. Or maybe you could just rename the tree. It's a bad tree, so you just give it another name. That's not going to change the fruit. It's the root that determines the fruit. What could you do? My friend, you could decorate it. You pull off the bad fruit and tie on some figs, some pomegranates. No. No matter what you do, whether you transplant it, you fertilize it, you prune it, you rename it, you decorate it, it is the root, the root, That determines the fruit. That's what Jesus is saying. But wait a minute. Turn that around. It is the root that determines the fruit. But it's the fruit that reveals the root. Sometimes you can't tell what kind of a fruit tree it is until you see the fruit. You can look at the root and you can't tell. Lots of roots look the same. It's the fruit that tells you what the root is, but it's the root that produces the fruit. Now, that's what Jesus is saying. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out. That's one thing about the Lord Jesus Christ. He was such an incredible teacher. You see, listen. How do you judge a preacher? Not merely by what he preaches, but by what he produces. Jesus said... You will know them how? By their fruit. Now you may not be able to tell at first because you've got to wait until the fruit comes out. He may be a good looking tree. But Jesus said in John 15 verse 16, You've not chosen me, but I've chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain. What's the mark of a man of God? There'll be plenty of people out there who know Jesus because of Him. They'll be loving Jesus. There will be fruit, and that fruit will remain. 2 Peter 1, verse 8, our Lord says that we should not be unfruitful. Galatians 5, verse 22, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. That's the fruit of the Spirit. I can't produce that fruit and you can't produce that fruit. If we'll abide in Him, we'll bear that fruit. So the fruit of the Spirit is not your fruit. It's not mine. You see, how can you know them? Well, there's the fleece they wear, but there's the fruit they bear. Now I said that the root determines the fruit. But the fruit reveals the root. Now wait a minute, stay with me. It's the seed that determines the root and the fruit. Isn't that right? It's the seed that determines the root and the fruit. I mean, you're not going to have the right kind of root or fruit if you don't have the right kind of seed. And the seed, Jesus says, is the Word of God. You read Matthew chapter 13 about a sower who went forth to sow. The seed is the Word of God. It's the seed, the seed, the seed that determines both the root and the fruit. What a teacher Jesus is. Now, here's the third thing. But look in verse 21. I want you to see the fate that they bear. The fate that they share, I meant to say. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, he's now talking about the judgment day. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. And here's the fate they share. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Now, my friend, pay attention now. Listen carefully. Spiritual activity without scriptural authority... is satanic iniquity. Spiritual activity without scriptural authority is satanic iniquity. Jesus is going to say to these, depart from me in spite of their false profession. They say, Lord, Lord. He's going to say, depart from me in spite of their false preaching. We prophesied in your name. He's going to say, depart from me in spite of their false power. In thy name we cast out devils. He's going to say, depart from me in spite of their false performance. In thy name done many wonderful works. And in spite of their profession, in spite of their preaching, in spite of their power, in spite of their performance. They never knew the Lord Jesus Christ, and He never knew them. This is not a picture of someone who lost salvation. They never had it. They may have sung in the choir, but they weren't saved. They may have taken the offering, but they were not saved. They may have preached, but they were not saved. They may have had healing campaigns where they cast out devils, but they were not saved. And what they did, they did through the power of the great deceiver, Satan himself. You say, well, pastor, how can I know whether I'm saved or not? Well, friend, you get God's Word and you stand on it. And if what I preach to you and tell you does not square with the Word of God, then I'm a false prophet. You get the Word of God and don't you put your faith in anybody else and let the Holy Spirit of God speak to you. Let me give you about five things. I'm just going to name them. Number one, you need to study the faith. If you're not... If you don't study the faith, many can be drawn away into a false cult. Study the faith. Number two, show the faith. Do you know the best argument for Christianity and against Christianity is the life of a Christian? Number three, stand for the faith. Stand for the faith. Get a bulldog grip on the Word of God. Holy Bible, book divine, precious treasure, thou art mine. Next, support the faith. Do you know what the tragedy today is? That many good people are in bad churches. People say, well, you know, I know that our church is an apostate church, but it didn't used to be, and Grandma's buried in the backyard. Well, friend, Grandma would get up and leave if she could. I'll guarantee you. Because Grandma... Believe the old time religion. Support the faith. Share the faith. Share it. People are waiting to know. We know the truth. Not because of us. But by the grace of God, share the faith. We hear people saying, well, keep the faith. Don't keep it. Give it away. If you don't want to give it away, maybe you ought to give it up. Maybe you don't have the real thing. If there were ever a message... Needed today is this message where Jesus Christ, the Son of God, says, Beware of wolves. It is Jesus who's giving that warning. And if you're a mom or a dad here today and you've not yet given your heart to Jesus Christ, you'd better come and give your heart to Jesus Christ and get your family in the Word of God or your children are going to be food and fodder for ravenous wolves whose jaws are will drip red with the blood of your children. I'm not talking about physical blood. I'm talking about the enemy who deceives to destroy to devour. That's the nature of the enemy. And God has given children, moms and dads, to guide them. But even if you don't have children, you need Jesus. You need to receive Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. Father, I'm praying today that many will come to Jesus. In his dear name, amen.

SPEAKER 01 : 35:04

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