Beware of false prophets

하나님이여 내 마음을 정하였사오니 내가 노래하며 내 심령으로 찬양하리로다 ² 비파야, 수금아, 깰지어다 내가 새벽을 깨우리로다 ³ 여호와여 내가 만민 중에서 주께 감사하고 열방 중에서 주를 찬양하오리니 ⁴ 대저 주의 인자하심이 하늘 위에 광대하시며 주의 진실은 궁창에 미치나이다 ⁵ 하나님이여 주는 하늘 위에 높이 들리시며 주의 영광이 온 세계 위에 높으시기를 원하나이다. My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being! ² Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! ³ I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. ⁴ For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. ⁵ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! (Ps. 108:1-5)

¹⁵ 거짓 선지자들을 삼가라 양의 옷을 입고 너희에게 나아오나 속에는 노략질하는 이리라 ¹⁶ "그의 열매로 그들을 알찌니 가시나무에서 포도를, 또는 엉겅퀴에서 무화과를 따겠느냐" ¹⁷ 이와 같이 좋은 나무마다 아름다운 열매를 맺고 못된 나무가 나쁜 열매를 맺나니 ¹⁸ 좋은 나무가 나쁜 열매를 맺을 수 없고 못된 나무가 아름다운 열매를 맺을 수 없느니라 ¹⁹ 아름다운 열매를 맺지 아니하는 나무마다 찍혀 불에 던지우니라 ²⁰ 이러므로 그의 열매로 그들을 알리라. ¹⁵ "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. (Mat 7:15-20)

FCF: We may be tempted by false teachers and prophets about Christ and His Word.

주제: 열매는 어떤 사람이 누구인지를 보여주기에 우리는 열매를 보고 거짓 선지자들을 식별해야 합니다.

Theme: Because fruits reveal what one is, we must recognize false prophets by their fruits.

Introduction: I vividly remember my parents worrying how they could sell the apples they harvested in their apple farm. During my childhood, my parents had a small piece of land which they wanted to plant some fruit-bearing tree. They decided to plant apple trees. Before their attempt to convert the field into an apple farm, they had no experience of fruit-tree farming. So, they had to learn about apple farming. They had to choose which kind of apple they would plant. They were introduced a kind of apple tree, told that it was so sweet that it would bring a lot of cash in. So, my parent tilled the ground, planted apple trees, and gave fertilizers. They tended them as necessary. Then, they longingly waited for them to grow and produce apples. At first, they rejoiced in watching apples growing out the trees. But their initial joy turned into doubt and worry about the marketability of their apples. The skins of the apples were ugly, having brownish dots all over the skins. Some might even question whether they were apples or not. The first time I saw them, I thought they were something else other than apples. My parents were greatly disappointed, thinking about their hard labor they had put for apple farming. They were expecting of something beautiful, juicy, and sweet. They looked disgusting. But their taste was not so bad. Some were very sweet even though they looked ugly and had thick skins. At any rate, they were not good for selling. People wanted to buy something beautiful and delicious. No one wanted to buy our apples. My parents had to let people taste first and choose good ones at cheap prices if they wanted to buy. Unfortunately, they failed to make profits from their apple farming. I remember my parents regretted starting an apple farm. They realized they were cheated about the kind of apple. The seller told them it was a good kind of apple. When my parents complained the apple trees wouldn’t produce nice-looking, charming apples, the seller refuted their complaint, saying the problem was not the kind of the apple, but the soil of their ground. He said the ugly shape and color resulted from the soil, not from its sort. So, my parents gave good fertilizers to the apple trees according the seller’s instructions. But they still produced the same ugly-looking apples. So, my parents didn’t get any compensation for their financial losses from the seller.

              As I look back, I feel that my parents were misinformed and wronged by the seller. The seller didn’t tell everything about the kind of that apple. He sold a bad kind of apple seedling to our parents. If it had been a good kind, it would have produced good and delicious apple fruits. It is always true we reap whatever we plant. I remember the soil of the ground was fertile. Later, my parents removed all the apple trees and planted grape trees. They had best grapes from the same ground. It may be true the ground was good for grape farming. But one thing is undeniable: whatever we may sow, we will reap it. It is a universal truth. That which cannot produce good fruit does not produce good fruit. Fertilizers won’t produce good fruit if the tree is of a bad kind. Tilling and tending won’t generate good fruits, either. The kind of fruit determines the quality of its fruit. This implies what we are determines what we do. This is what the Lord says in vv. 15-20. He warns His disciples against false prophets. Falsehood, deception, and voraciousness in the heart characterizes what false prophets are. So, they can’t produce good-tasting, God-glorifying fruits. Rather, they produce rotten, sickening, wicked fruits. They are among believers. They deal with the word of God. So, they can make influence on God’s people. But instead of edifying them, they mislead them and eventually destroy them.  

Knowing the negative dangers and consequences of following them, the Lord Jesus strongly exhorts us to recognize false prophets by the fruits. Jesus the true Prophet of God contrasts Himself with false prophets. As we listen to His teachings on the kingdom lifestyle, we must discern truth from falsehood. Instead of believing or accepting uncritically every teacher and everything he teaches, we must test false teachers by their fruits. I can’t fully emphasize the importance of discerning false prophets because false prophets may lead our souls to falsehood and eternal condemnation. We have to be serious about what the Lord’s words against false prophets in vv. 15-20. Last Lord’s Day, we talked about the two-facedness of false prophets. They look good and innocent, but are in reality dangerous and deceptive. Today, we will discuss why they are so. My second exhortation concerning false prophets is…

I.         거짓 선지자들의 겉과 속이 다름을 주목하라.

Notice the two-facedness of false prophets.

II.         거짓 선지자들의 회심치 않은 상태를 주목하라.

Notice unconverted condition of false prophets.

The Lord first debunks the dangerous and deceptive nature of false prophets by likening them to ravenous wolves. Then, He compares false prophets to “thornbushes or thistles.” The trees in the Bible are often used metaphorically as a reference to humans. In the OT, the people of Israel is compared to the vine tree. They were rebuked for their failure to produce sweet grapes even after God poured out His covenantal care and love upon them. So, they were threatened to be uprooted according to the covenant with Yahweh. But, the remnants of Israel, unlike their unfruitful fellow Israelites, were faithful to the Lord by bearing sweet fruits for God’s glory. So, the Lord looks for good fruits. During Jesus’ day, the Pharisees bore the sinful fruits of the flesh such as hypocrisy, greed, selfishness, murder, jealousy, violence, adultery, and so on. Like their carnal ancestors, they were warned against their fruitlessness. They were to examine whether they were true covenant people of God. Many Jews rejected Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. They simply considered themselves as the descendants of Abraham according to their nationality. They assumed they were already saved by birth and works from sin and death. So, they didn’t pay heed to the message of repentance. They remained unconverted, unable to produce God-pleasing fruits.    

So, the Lord Jesus says in v. 16: ¹⁶ "그의 열매로 그들을 알찌니 가시나무에서 포도를, 또는 엉겅퀴에서 무화과를 따겠느냐." ¹⁶ You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? These plants are not fruit-bearing trees. They are neither grapes nor figs which bear fruits for the joy of people. Thornbushes or thistles represent God’s curse on earth because of Adam’s Fall. The earth would produce thorns or thistles, instead of God-glorifying fruits. According to the divine judgment against idolatry, Jerusalem would be filled with thornbushes and thistles after her fall by the Babylonians. In short, these plants convey the message of God’s wrath, curse, or judgment. They are worthless and dangerous. And they were harmful to the fruit-bearing trees, robbing nutrients from the ground for the fruit-bearing trees.

Why did false prophets produce rotten, poisonous fruits? In the parable of the sower, the Lord Jesus likens various kinds of human hearts to different kinds of soils. One of them is the field filled with thorns. He explains such a heart as follows: 가시떨기에 뿌리웠다는 것은 말씀을 들으나 세상의 염려와 재리의 유혹에 말씀이 막혀 결실치 못하는 자요. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful (Matt. 13:22). This suggest that false prophets are those whose hearts are saturated with the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches. They are unfruitful because their lives are driven by worldliness and materialism. As the Lord says, their hearts are driven by covetousness and violence, as seen in the phrase “ravenous wolves.” How could inwardly ravenous wolves produce sweet, God-honoring fruits? They are only concerned about their hungry stomachs. Paul indicts false teachers who boasted about their circumcision and preached salvation by law-keeping in the church as follows: ¹⁸ 내가 여러 번 너희에게 말하였거니와 이제도 눈물을 흘리며 말하노니 여러 사람들이 그리스도 십자가의 원수로 행하느니라 ¹⁹ 저희의 마침은 멸망이요 저희의 신은 배요 그 영광은 저희의 부끄러움에 있고 땅의 일을 생각하는 자라. ¹⁸ For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things (Phil. 3:18-19).

The apostle John also describes Jesus Christ-denying false teachers or anti-christs as follows: ¹⁸ 아이들아 이것이 마지막 때라 적그리스도가 이르겠다 함을 너희가 들은 것과 같이 지금도 많은 적그리스도가 일어났으니 이러므로 우리가 마지막 때인 줄 아노라 ¹⁹ 저희가 우리에게서 나갔으나 우리에게 속하지 아니하였나니 만일 우리에게 속하였더면 우리와 함께 거하였으려니와 저희가 나간 것은 다 우리에게 속하지 아니함을 나타내려 함이니라. ¹⁸ Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us (1 Jn. 2:18-19). Those who deny salvation by Christ alone, the humanity and deity of Jesus Christ, and teach salvation by works are false teachers, false prophets, or antichrists working in the church. They are unconverted, unsaved, working against Christ and bearing evil fruits of their unconverted hearts. According to Jesus Christ, they are thornbushes and thistles that will be cut down and thrown into the unquenching fire of hell.

If you look at Judges 9, you find the same word “thornbush” used by the last son of Gideon who survived the massacre of Abimelech his half-brother, who killed all the sons of Gideon except Jotham. Jotham uses an allegory to indict Abimelech of his usurpation and assassination, likening Abimelech to thornbush. Jotham mentions fig tree, grape tree, olive tree, which all refuse to be king over the people of Shechem. Here is what Jotham said about the pride, folly, and ignorance of the worthless man Abimelech: 가시나무가 나무들에게 이르되 너희가 참으로 내게 기름을 부어 너희 왕을 삼겠거든 와서 내 그늘에 피하라 그리하지 아니하면 불이 가시나무에서 나와서 레바논의 백향목을 사를 것이니라 하였느니라. And the bramble said to the trees, 'If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon' (Judg. 9:15). The thornbush here represents arrogance, audacity, and foolhardiness.

It seems that the Lord refers to the unconverted hearts of false prophets by using the imageries “thornbushes” and “thistles.” God’s curse is still upon such plants which produce nothing but worthlessness and harm. False prophets do not produce anything for God’s people to be edified and drawn closer to God. They pierce people and burden them with their false teachings. Though they may say nice-sounding words, they do not build up the people of God. Rather, they speak out of their unconverted hearts. Though they say they speak in God’s name, they speak out of their vain imaginations. They presumptuously believe they are speaking on God’s behalf. But God is not with them. They hurt the souls of people, misleading them into the broad, easy path to eternal destruction.

The Lord repeatedly emphasizes the reason that false teachers bear nothing but thorns is that their hearts are not truly converted. The Lord says in vv. 17-18: ¹⁷ 이와 같이 좋은 나무마다 아름다운 열매를 맺고 못된 나무가 나쁜 열매를 맺나니 ¹⁸ 좋은 나무가 나쁜 열매를 맺을 수 없고 못된 나무가 아름다운 열매를 맺을 수 없느니라. ¹⁷ So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Luke 6:45 explains the heart condition of unfruitfulness this way: . ⁴⁵ 선한 사람은 마음의 쌓은 선에서 선을 내고 악한 자는 그 쌓은 악에서 악을 내나니 이는 마음의 가득한 것을 입으로 말함이니라. "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.  

No matter how eloquently they may speak or no matter how greatly they may act, their hearts are unconverted. So, they can’t produce God-pleasing fruits. Nothing they speak and do can glorify God. One of the greatest problems today in the church is there are a lot of unconverted evangelicals. In fact, “unconverted evangelicals” is an oxymoron. It is like “hot icy.” These people professed Jesus as their Lord long ago. They attended the church for many years. They are involved in various ministries in the church. They donate to the church or some causes. They serve in the choir. They enjoy church music. They experience brief excitement about serving Jesus Christ. However, they no longer come to the Lord’s house. They merely bear the name “Christians.” They have studied some doctrines before. They can talk like Christians. But, there is no self-denial in their lives. There is no commitment to Christ and His church. There is no pursuit of holiness. There is no desire to follow the hard, narrow path of Christ to eternal life. Their hearts seek self-praise, self-glory, and self-worship. They may sound religious, but not truly spiritual. They don’t have the Holy Spirit. So, they walk according to their flesh. They argue they were saved by their past decision. But they have no Christianity at all.

They never truly repented of their sin and put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. On the spur of the moment or peer pressure, they made a profession of Jesus Christ in a revival meeting or church retreat. They may think their decision in the past made them Christians. They may have tried to make themselves God’s children through a variety of good works. They don’t realize being Christian takes the Lord’s sovereign work. Unless the Lord grants us His saving grace, we can’t be born again. We have to be born from above by God’s saving power. It takes God’s sovereign, saving grace and power for us to be converted. However, many today think that they can be Christians by their own efforts. They take the matter of being Christians lightly. All they care about is their selves and their prosperity, not Christ and His church.

Unconverted evangelicals never truly felt sorrows in their hearts for the sin of their independence from God. They never felt awful sorrows before a holy God. They never placed their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. They never received Jesus as their Savior and Lord in their lives. Their mere lip service wouldn’t make them God’s children. However, many in church today claim to be God’s people, simply because they said the sinner’s prayer without truly repenting. And they are promoted to leadership in the church. Indeed, they pursue recognition from people. They try to wield their power through teaching. They seek to put people under their control. They speak their own imaginations in the name of God. But they are unconverted to the core. So, their messages are false, misleading others to perdition.

Surely, false prophets are unconverted teachers. Their hearts never truly met with Jesus Christ even though they claim to be born again. They were never confronted with the dire reality of their sin. They are arrogant, seeking to earn recognition or station among God’s people. They were a blind guide of the blind. The Pharisees were false teachers who sought recognition from people. They were spiritually blind, without being truly converted by genuine repentance and true faith in Jesus Christ. The Lord indicted the Pharisees as follows: ⁴ 또 무거운 짐을 묶어 사람의 어깨에 지우되 자기는 이것을 한 손가락으로도 움직이려 하지 아니하며 ⁵ 저희 모든 행위를 사람에게 보이고자 하여 하나니 곧 그 차는 경문을 넓게 하며 옷술을 크게 하고 ⁶ 잔치의 상석과 회당의 상좌와  ⁷ 시장에서 문안 받는 것과 사람에게 랍비 라 칭함을 받는 것을 좋아하느니라 ⁴ They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. ⁵ They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, ⁶ and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues ⁷ and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others (Matt. 23:4-7).

The Lord condemns their hypocrisy and covetousness in the heart as follows: ²⁴ 소경된 인도자여 하루살이는 걸러 내고 약대는 삼키는도다 ²⁵ 화 있을찐저 외식하는 서기관들과 바리새인들이여 잔과 대접의 겉은 깨끗이 하되 그 안에는 탐욕과 방탕으로 가득하게 하는도다 ²⁶ 소경된 바리새인아 너는 먼저 안을 깨끗이 하라 그리하면 겉도 깨끗하리라 ²⁷ 화 있을찐저 외식하는 서기관들과 바리새인들이여 회칠한 무덤 같으니 겉으로는 아름답게 보이나 그 안에는 죽은 사람의 뼈와 모든 더러운 것이 가득하도다 ²⁸ 이와 같이 너희도 겉으로는 사람에게 옳게 보이되 안으로는 외식과 불법이 가득하도다.  ²⁴ You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! ²⁵ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. ²⁷ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (Matt. 23:24-28).

The Lord declared His judgment against them as follows: ³³ 뱀들아 독사의 새끼들아 너희가 어떻게 지옥의 판결을 피하겠느냐 ³⁴ 그러므로 내가 너희에게 선지자들과 지혜 있는 자들과 서기관들을 보내매 너희가 그 중에서 더러는 죽이고 십자가에 못 박고 그 중에 더러는 너희 회당에서 채찍질하고 이 동네에서 저 동네로 구박하리라 ³⁵ 그러므로 의인 아벨의 피로부터 성전과 제단 사이에서 너희가 죽인 바라갸의 아들 사가랴의 피까지 땅 위에서 흘린 의로운 피가 다 너희에게 돌아가리라. ³³ You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? ³⁴ Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, ³⁵ so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar (Matt. 23:33-35).

Surely, they will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Since they are not part of the true vine, they will be cut down and gathered for burning. This means they will fall into God’s eternal condemnation. What is more terrifying is that those who follow false teachers will end in the same destiny. Listen to the Lord’s saying: 화 있을찐저 외식하는 서기관들과 바리새인들이여 너희는 교인 하나를 얻기 위하여 바다와 육지를 두루 다니다가 생기면 너희보다 배나 더 지옥 자식이 되게 하는도다. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves (Matt. 23:15). That’s why we must exercise extreme care when we choose our spiritual leaders.

The reason that they can’t bear good fruit is their hearts are unconverted. They don’t have the new nature and heart that God grants to those who repent of their and believe. They have attempted to act like Christians. But they were not, because they didn’t receive the life of Christ into their beings. They didn’t receive the very nature which is being renewed after the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. To be a Christian means a change in a man’s very life and nature. The Lord says we should be born again: 진실로 진실로 네게 이르노니 사람이 거듭나지 아니하면 하나님 나라를 볼 수 없느니라. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (Jn. 3:3). Religious activities do not convert people. Only the Lord converts the unconverted. When we are given the new nature, we will have new purpose, aspiration, motive for God’s glory. Our hearts seek to be filled with the fullness of Christ, not the fullness of the world. Our renewed hearts seek to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. They seek to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit and holy saints. They share God’s love with one another and live according to God’s Word. As Paul says, we are new creatures in Christ: 그런즉 누구든지 그리스도 안에 있으면 새로운 피조물이라 이전 것은 지나갔으니 보라 새것이 되었도다. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17) We must make sure our hearts are renewed by God’s grace. If we try to lead the church and teach people without being truly converted, we will play false prophets who lead them to destruction.   

The early church had to confront false teachers vehemently in her midst. The early church leaders debunked the true condition of their unconverted hearts. Jude describes some characteristics and the fate false teachers as follows: ¹⁰ 이 사람들은 무엇이든지 그 알지 못하는 것을 훼방하는도다 또 저희는 이성 없는 짐승같이 본능으로 아는 그것으로 멸망하느니라 ¹¹ "화 있을찐저 이 사람들이여, 가인의 길에 행하였으며 삯을 위하여 발람의 어그러진 길로 몰려갔으며 고라의 패역을 좇아 멸망을 받았도다" ¹² 저희는 기탄없이 너희와 함께 먹으니 너희 애찬의 암초요 자기 몸만 기르는 목자요 바람에 불려가는 물없는 구름이요 죽고 또 죽어 뿌리까지 뽑힌 열매 없는 가을 나무요 ¹³ 자기의 수치의 거품을 뿜는 바다의 거친 물결이요 영원히 예비된 캄캄한 흑암에 돌아갈 유리하는 별들이라…이 사람들은 당을 짓는 자며 육에 속한 자며 성령은 없는 자니라. ¹⁰ But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion. ¹² These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever…. It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. (Jud 1:10-13, 19).

Since their unconverted hearts may be hidden from our sight, we can’t ultimately determine whether they are true or false prophets. Their fruits show the unconverted condition of their hearts. They can’t bear good fruits because they have evils in their hearts and the evils control their hearts. Because they are not sent by God, they can’t edify the church and rather they destroy it. We must discern what they are by examining what kinds of fruits they bear.

Conclusion: Believe it or not, false prophets have deeply crept into the churches of Christ all over the world. They may deceive innocent Christians with their counterfeit visions, dreams, or lying words. They are not born-again, unconverted unbelievers. That is what they actually are. So, the Lord condemns them in the Sermon on the Mount as follows: 그때에 내가 저희에게 밝히 말하되 내가 너희를 도무지 알지 못하니 불법을 행하는 자들아 내게서 떠나가라 하리라. And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness' (Matt. 7:23). No matter how convincingly they may argue for their salvation, they are unconverted on the way to eternal destruction. On the night He was celebrating the first Lord’s Supper, the Lord Jesus said to the Twelve, “One of you today will betray Me” (Jn. 13:21). All of His disciples were in shock, asking, “Is it I, Lord? Surely, not I, Lord? They wondered how they could betray the Lord? But Judas knew in his heart he would sell the Lord into the hands of religious leaders. He regretted believing and following Jesus because he believed Jesus would be killed and everything would be over. Judas followed Him as long as He was profitable to him. So, He sold Jesus for money. Like the other eleven apostles, we must take a pause and think whether we will be one of those who betray the Lord Jesus Christ. In a sense, we should be sorrowful that we are slow, hesitant to do the Lord’s will and follow the hard path of Christ. We know how incapable, sinful, and fragile we are. So, there is the only One to whom we must turn, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ.  

We must be so grateful that we have trusted Christ, not self, for salvation. Whoever believes in Christ shall be saved by God’s grace! We are so thankful for God’s saving grace granted to us in Christ. If we rely on Christ for eternal life, we know how incapable and inadequate our religious efforts, pieties, or charities are. The converted heart is proven by constant genuine repentance and faith in Christ, without which no one is truly saved. As we study the characteristics of false prophets, we are warned against their present dangers and deceptions. Not only are we to discern who and what they are, but also we are to fight them so that we can keep the teachings of the Bible as pure as possible. Furthermore, we must check on our spiritual condition, that is, whether we are truly converted or not, what kind of fruit we are bearing, to see we belong to the true church of Christ. There are those who attempt to bear good fruits without being born again and converted by God’s grace. There are those who believe they are truly saved without realizing they are still unconverted. All of us should turn to the Lord Jesus Christ who is our righteousness, holiness, and hope. He died in our place, bearing the curse and penalty of our sin on the cross. Not only so, but also He rose again from the dead, securing eternal life for us. We have a sure hope of resurrection.

Have you repented of your sins, relying on the merits work of Jesus Christ? Have you put your wholehearted faith in Him? Listen to this: 우리가 아직 죄인 되었을 때에 그리스도께서 우리를 위하여 죽으심으로 하나님께서 우리에게 대한 자기의 사랑을 확증하셨느니라. but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). Christ is a historical fact. God’s love is a objective truth. If we have experienced this truth, we can be assured of God’s eternal security reserved for all of His children: ³⁷ 그러나 이 모든 일에 우리를 사랑하시는 이로 말미암아 우리가 넉넉히 이기느니라 ³⁸ 내가 확신하노니 사망이나 생명이나 천사들이나 권세자들이나 현재 일이나 장래 일이나 능력이나 ³⁹ 높음이나 깊음이나 다른 아무 피조물이라도 우리를 우리 주 그리스도 예수 안에 있는 하나님의 사랑에서 끊을 수 없으리라. ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:37-39). The Lord Jesus Christ keeps us secure in God’s love through His almighty power. Let’s have no part with false prophets. Let’s make sure we abide in Christ: 너희가 믿음에 있는가 너희 자신을 시험하고 너희 자신을 확증하라. Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). Let’s trust God’s love that keeps us from stumbling and present us blameless before God!

Benediction: ²⁴ 능히 너희를 보호하사 거침이 없게 하시고 너희로 그 영광 앞에 흠이 없이 즐거움으로 서게 하실자 ²⁵ 곧 우리 구주 홀로 하나이신 하나님께 우리 주 예수 그리스도로 말미암아 영광과 위엄과 권력과 권세가 만고 전부터 이제와 세세에 있을지어다 아멘. ²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, ²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.  (Jud 1:24-25)