A Field Guide to False Prophets
Matthew 7:15-23
July 26, 2026 Anno Domini
Jesus gives you daunting task. You are to judge your pastor. You are to judge what he tells you and where he leads you. There are two reasons for this. First, wherever the truth of Christ’s death and resurrection are proclaimed the Devil will be at work with his lies – that your sins are not forgiven, that you have no hope because you have no future. Can the Devil do any greater harm to God’s people than when he turns a pastor into a liar? The second reason to judge your pastor is because the consequences of his preaching are eternal. Today’s Gospel does not end on a very gospely note – Jesus declares to some who claim to be His own, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Your life depends on the Word of God and if your pastor is not faithfully preaching that Word you are in eternal danger – so beware.
“Judge my pastor?” you might respond, “That’s way above my theological paygrade. How can I do that?”
Jesus tells you, “You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” Jesus says you can recognize a false prophet by his fruit. There are outward visible signs that like a diseased trees they are bearing bad fruit. A false prophet produces death instead of life.
So what should you look for? This morning I’m going to give you a field guide for false prophets. Some of you might have a field guide for birds or flowers. So if a bright red bird shows up in your feeder with an orange bill you can identify it as a cardinal. Or if you see a yellow daisy like wildflower with a dark center you can identify it is a black-eyed Susan.
The field guide for false prophets is Luther’s Small Catechism. That’s something all of you should have been taught and all of you should have in your homes. You can even get it free on your phone from Concordia Publishing House so there’s no excuse.
There are six chief parts to the catechism and each of them describes good fruit, so you can identify bad fruit.
The catechism starts with the Ten Commandments. Is there a commandment you don’t like? One that hits too close to home. A false prophet won’t bring it up. He will preach like the guys back in Jeremiah’s day – “It shall be well with you” “No disaster will come upon you.” “Let’s not talk about your sin. You’re okay.”
There is an old illustration comparing preachers to hunters. A bad preacher will use a shotgun filled with bird shot to deliver the Law. For those of you that do not hunt bird shot is not meant to kill, but to sting. A faithful preacher uses a rifle and aims at your heart.
This is the great challenge for a preacher – to shoot to kill, to preach pointedly to you about your sins – so pray for your pastor. It would be easier for me never to say anything about divorce, because some of you are divorced, or never bring up tithing because some of you have not changed the amount you give to the Lord in 10 years, or church attendance because some of you are not faithful. But how will you repent and turn from your sins and live if my preaching never hits your particular sins.
The second chief part is the Creed – I believe in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three persons in the Holy Trinity and three things to look for.
When it comes to God the Father a false prophet is going to deny six-day creation, and once you deny that you deny that humans are made in the image of God. To deny God’s creation of humanity is death – and it spreads death – all the deadly sins of our times flow from a denial of God’s creation – abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, assisted suicide, despising marriage and children.
When it comes to the Son of God listen for this to be preached and nothing less – this is good fruit that will give you life – that Jesus of Nazareth is both true God and true man, fully human and fully divine. You need Him to be a man – born of the Virgin Mary, to take your place – to be the man, the human you are not – to keep the Law and do His Father’s will. He needs to be a man to take your place, both in keeping the Law and in taking your punishment for sin – death and hell. And you need Him to be God, because nothing less than the blood of God can atone for all your sins and the sin of the world.
When it comes to the Spirit – a false prophet will say you can be spiritual without being religious. This is the false and deadly fruit that many have eaten – to believe that I can be a Christian and not go to church. Church is where the Spirit has promised to work – through the Word preached, and the Sacraments given. If you can be a Christian without the Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, then God is a liar. A spiritual person is religious –religiously hearing God’s Word and receiving Christ’s body and blood, because that is where the Spirit creates and strengthens faith. To be apart from the Spirit is deadly.
The third chief part of the catechism is the Lord’s Prayer. There are two visible signs that separate a wolf from a true shepherd when it comes to teaching prayer. Prayer must be directed to the true God – pray to the Father through the Son by the Spirit. There is one true God. He is the only one who will hear you and answer you because He loves you – He is after all your Father. And He is only your Father because of Jesus His Son. And you can only know that by the work of His Spriit.
The second sign of a good prayer is that it prays for things contrary to your flesh and your heart. Jesus commands us to pray for our enemies, for our rulers – that includes the neighbors you don’t like, Governor Walz and President Trump. He teaches us to pray not for what we desire, but what He desires for us. We don’t pray for an easy life, but a good life where we honor His name with our lives and our lips.
After teaching us to pray the catechism gives us the Sacraments – Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper.
Look for this good fruit when it comes to Baptism. Look for infants being baptized. This shows you that your pastor believes what God’s Word teaches – that you are born sinful, in need of forgiveness and baptism forgives. Infant baptism proclaims that baptism is God’s work to give you new life – that you might be born again as His child. Also look for one baptism and only one baptism – getting baptized again and again makes it a human work and not God’s work.
Look for this fruit when it comes to absolution. This may sound strange, but look for the church to be a messy place. Don’t be surprised to find sinners in your local congregation. Remember who came to John the Baptist? Tax collectors who cheated people, soldiers who abused their power. Who sat with Jesus? Prostitutes. Who did He help? Demon possessed people. You might be upset at some of the people whom God forgives, but don’t be – instead look in the mirror of God’s Law and know that His forgiveness is so great in Christ that even your sins are covered. We’re all pretty messed up when it comes to sin, that’s why we’re here – in Christ there is forgiveness.
Finally, ook for this good fruit when it comes to the Sacrament of the Altar. Look for bread and wine to be used. Look for frequent celebrations. Look for closed communion. You should be glad when a pastor wants to speak with you before communing. He is doing good – first he is confessing that under the bread and wine the true body and blood of Christ are present for all who commune. Second, he is telling you that he loves you and wants no harm to come to you but only what is good for your faith and life. He is heeding Scripture’s warning that those who commune unworthily do so to their judgment.
In today’s second reading, Saint Paul spoke these words to the elders, the pastors from Ephesus, “for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” False prophets shrink for their task. And they shrink the Word of God – not declaring the whole counsel of God. They neuter God’s law, make Jesus less than God and man, and make prayer and the Sacraments weak. So keep your catechism in your hand and in your heart. Use the field guide Luther gave you to beware of false prophets. Look and listen for good fruit – the fruit of life. In the name of Jesus. Amen.