In May 1959 and October 1960, the Inter-Varsity Press published two volumes entitled Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. These contained 60 sermons of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached in Westminster Chapel, London. They were a brilliant exposition of Matthew 5–7 and served as a pattern of expository preaching second to none in its day.
In volume two there is a sermon based on Matthew 7:15-16a entitled ‘False Prophets’. It is a penetrating exposé of those who ‘come to you in sheep’s clothing’ but who are nothing less than ‘ravenous wolves’. The warning is against false prophets.
Lloyd-Jones preached these sermons some 65 years ago. He said he would never have chosen this text had he not committed himself to preaching through the whole Sermon on the Mount. He realised that what he was preaching might not be liked, but ‘our business is not to choose what we like. It is the Son of God who said this, and He puts it in the context of judgment and destruction.’
He was not seeking to be a heresy hunter. His aim was to honestly explain the Scriptures. His final plea was for his hearers and readers to consider the Sermon on the Mount prayerfully in God’s presence ‘as you value your own immortal soul and its eternal destiny’.
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