Toward the end of His Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 7, Jesus tells us to enter the narrow gate via the narrow path. This path is in contrast to the wide and easy path toward the gate of destruction. We each walk a path, and we each will enter a gate. Death is unavoidable, and we will each discover which gate we have been walking toward all our life. Sandwiched in between two very similar lessons on final judgment and the two paths is a section on false prophets. Jesus is asserting an important lesson for His hearers, a lesson that demands a response from all who read this.
A grand mistake in hearing Jesus talk about the wide path toward destruction can be made when we make-believe that Jesus is talking about atheists and egregious sinners. Read carefully and understand that Jesus is talking to a crowd that believes in the coming judgment. Both paths Jesus' describes here promise that the gate at the end is heaven. Both paths have teachers. These teachers both appear to be sheep just like any other believer. Yet one path leads toward hell, and this path has teachers that appear attractive and say attractive things yet are inwardly ravenous wolves. These ravenous wolves might quote Scripture, claiming to preach the Bible and the good news. Jesus extends His teaching telling us that at judgment many will come to Him rightly calling Him Lord, and profess to have preached, healed, and cast out demons in His Name. And yet, Jesus tells them He never knew them. These false prophets point toward a future hope down an easy road toward a gate they assure us is the gate of heaven. They show remarkable signs, are effective public speakers, appear gentle and warm on the outside, and quote Scripture with confidence. How then can we be sure that we are listening to prophets of the truth?
The word prophet here I take as one who speaks the revealed Word of God and is pointing toward an event in the future. True prophets know God has completed His revealed Word in the Bible, and point only toward that future hope that is in Christ Jesus according to the Scriptures. The true prophets of old never dared to venture away from stating what God had told them, and only pointed to a future God had revealed to them. We are no different today. This might require a different post at a different time, knowing that this is a point of controversy for many. This is not to take away from the point of this passage in Matthew; namely, discerning true prophets and false prophets.
Jesus tells us we will be able to judge our leaders based on their results. Unregenerate false prophets cannot restrain sin; the power of sin is only restrained by the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer. This has everything to do with the path and gate illustration Jesus introduced this passage with. False prophets place their adherents down an easy and wide path filled with lots of people. They speak empty words of comfort during trials rather than biblical truths. They preach and write books regarding personal happiness (with an exorbitant focus on personal wealth), all with a catchy phraseology and a knack for good illustrations and stories to bolster their sermons which are always human-centered. This path is easy, but the burden is too great to bare.
Which books do you read? What do your friends have to say about things? What does your preacher and Sunday School teacher tell you? What daytime talk show host sounds most wise? What advice do they give? Does what they say glorify God and compliment His Word? Beware of false prophets, and question the information and advice you receive. The choicest wisdom in all the universe is the wisdom of folly (I Corinthians 1:18) that baffles the most wise of humans (I Corinthians 1:25). Listen to the Word of God, and to teachers and advice-givers that are immersed in the Bible.
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