I had planned on being finished with our discussion about “false prophets” with last week’s sermon, I guess we would all like to be done with false prophets sooner than later, but the more I read, and thought and prayed there was one final thought that I feel I need to express. There is a vast difference between being told to “beware” and allowing ourselves to become afraid. When Jesus said “Beware of false prophets” He was not telling us to turn our attention to them, to worry about them, to seek out and find them but rather, He was warning us that in our calling to choose the narrow way, to deny ourselves and follow Him that there would be people that our enemy would use to tempt us to retreat to the broader path. In His kindness Jesus always makes us aware of the obstacles that we will face but at the exact same time He directs our attention to the condition of our hearts, the reality of the Father’s love and the magnitude of His victory. Jesus said “In this world you will have trouble”; He was making the disciples aware that they would face difficulty, He does not ever want us to be taken unaware or surprised by the spiritual battle that we live in the midst of. In making them aware however, His point was not the trouble they would face, it was the provision He had granted: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” This verse must become our formula for dealing with difficulty: Jesus warns us of trouble, commands us to deal with our heart and then promises us that He is protecting us, fighting for us and defeating our enemy on our behalf. This morning as we look at the command “Beware of false prophets” one final time in this study I pray that we will allow Jesus to dispel our fear, that we will choose to concentrate our minds on love and that we will learn that both of these things are accomplished by a reverence for and obedience to God’s Word.