True or False
Christians
Matthew 7:13-27 Enter
ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that
leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait
is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that
find it. 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 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 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: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house
upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his
house upon the sand: And the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. And it came to pass when Jesus had ended
these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them
as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Those that say they
are Christians when they are not, those who think they are Christians when they
are not.. the false professing Christian
is a very common condition. Most of the
Puritan works deal with this subject.
This subject and how to identify the false professing Christian is a
common theme in scripture. This is not a
popular theme. Very few people even like
to define what a Christian is anymore, now it is vague and broad. Now they say that Jesus died for our
mistakes. He did not die for our
mistakes, he died for our sin.
Now it is "lets not define it too closely".. If preachers are becoming like that no wonder
there are so many false professing Christians.
"easy believism converts"
You recognize them in these areas:
they are hostile to a holy life, they are governed by self will. They are proud of their sin, they glory in
their shame, they are consumed with a worldly mind-set. Philippians 3:17-20
"Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye
have us for an example. (For many walk,
of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the
enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their
belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) For our conversation is in heaven; from
whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The true Christian is
truly converted. Conversion is entering into new life through a narrow gate. The true Christian life proceeds onto a
narrow path where you watch your step every where you go. False conversion is shown by Christ to be
characterized by a wide gate, "my conversion is so easy" (they
say) you don't have to leave much
behind, its effortless, it proceeds onto a wide path where you don't have to
watch how you walk and you can live as you please. The life of a hypocrite. The false Christian is characterized by a
conversion where sin was not left behind and an unholy life where care is not
taken to follow God's will. No
repentance from sin and an unholy life of disobedience to the bible.
1. They give out bad fruit - False teachers,
they come in sheep's clothing, the outward profession of Christ, a sheep. He looks like a sheep but really he is a wolf
that will destroy the church through the bad fruit of their lives.. They are to be identified by their
fruits. It's a certain thing. The false Christian is known by what they
produce, the fruits of their lives.
Their works, their acts, their deeds.
what they do. It's a visible
thing. A good tree produces good fruit, a bad tree produces bad fruit, the same
with true believers and false professors.
Matthew 12:34-37 "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil,
speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh. A good man out of the good
treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the
evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they
shall give account therof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and
by thy words thou shalt be condemned." .
Another fruit we produce is our words, the produce of our lives. .. this
is another symptom, the speech. A true
believer brings forth good things. A
false Christian brings forth wicked things.
Christ shows us a false Christian is recognized by bad fruit. They look like Christians but they are really
wolves. Jesus says by their fruits ye
shall know them. How do false Christians
destroy a church? They profess to be
believers yet by what they do, their unfaithfulness to the Lord, the things
they say, their disregard for the teachings of the bible, they destroy the
church by giving it a bad reputation or a bad witness.. better to have no witness than a bad
witness. A bad witness further fuels the
world's accusation that Christians are all hypocrites. The worst enemy of the church of Christ is
not a pagan, it is a false professing Christian. If you don't agree with this you don't agree
with Jesus. You need to read the passage
in Matthew 7 and pray. The false
Christian is characterized by hostility to holiness, self will, proud in their
sin, worldly mind, easy conversion, broad definition of what a Christian is,
unholy walk and bad fruit in action and in word.
2. False Christian is recognized by disobedience
to the Father's will. "not every one who says Lord, Lord shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven" A life of
disobedience, (not a slip for that happens to every believer) a persistence,
presently active disobedience. A willful
determination to disobey God. That is a
false Christian. A true believer does
the will of God, actively, presently doing God's will.
Jesus says that at
the judgment day many professed Christians who have preached, witnessed, who
call him Lord, Lord, will be refused entrance to the kingdom because of
disobedience to God the Father's will. It is professed evangelicals he is talking
about. It is not unbelievers because
they do not believe in preaching. its
not the cults because they do not call him Lord, Lord.
They will be barred because they did not do the Father's will. Only the person who is obedient to God's
revealed will in scripture will enter the kingdom.
The Lord further
illustrates what he has been saying with the wise man and foolish man and how
they built their houses. The wise man
upon the rock, the foolish upon the sand.
The wise man's house is not destroyed, the foolish man's is destroyed.
What is the difference? This is an illustration of what the Lord has been
saying from V14. Only one
difference. " Whosoever heareth these
sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built
his house upon a rock. Everyone that
heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man which built his house upon the sand" That is the only difference. That is how you can tell who is a real Christian
and who is not.. They both heard the
same sermons, they both heard the words of Jesus but the only difference is
that the fool is someone who hears but
disobeys what Jesus says. According to
Jesus, a persistent life of disobedience to the Father's will is a sign of a
false Christian.
What about you? Are you a Christian? A profession is necessary but a profession is
not a guarantee. Your life is the
guarantee according to the Lord. These
things are real. It's not just
words. What fruit are you bearing, what
does your life say about you. What do
your words say, what do your deeds say?
Does the fruit of your life point to a good tree or a bad tree. There are many who think they are going to
heaven when they are not. What controls
your life? is it God and his word? or is it other things. What is the
controlling factor. Are you molding your
life to God's will or your own will?
Many people hide under the excuse "well I just took Christ as my
Saviour but not my Lord." They say
they are saved but not sanctified.. “he
saved me but I don't obey him”.. the bible says if you say you know Christ but
don't obey Christ, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. 1 John 2:3-5 "And hereby we do know that
we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is
the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him." There is no
such thing as having Jesus as your Saviour but not your Lord. This deficient view of salvation, without
obedience to Jesus Christ and God the father, was common in Puritan times,
saved but not sanctified. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
If you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, if he is not your Lord,
you are not saved. We are to inspect our
conversion, was it real or false, through a narrow gate or through a broad
gate.. is the path our life is treading on narrow or expansive. examine our deeds and our actions.. true
Christian or false.
This is a very
convicting message by Rev. Paul Dowling of Whiteabbey Congregational (Reformed)
Link to the sermon at Sermon Audio:
Great thoughts! I read a book called "Christians in Hell" and it was on this topic.
ReplyDeletethank you for commenting on this post, I really appreciate it..
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