I was talking to someone once about the danger and detriment of the bad doctrine of false prophets. He tried to assure me that though the possibility of deception is there and many gain a carnal confidence in a false profession, yet “if one soul is saved it’s worth it.” Our Lord didn’t think so. No less than five times He warned of subjecting our souls to the ministry of false prophets. Many times He reproved the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees and warned His disciples of its danger. He warned with words like these, “If the blind lead the blind they shall both fall into the ditch.” This statement deserves far more attention than it generally receives. The amount of trouble which false religious teaching has brought on the Church in every age is innumerable. The loss of souls that it has brought is too grieving to contemplate. A teacher who does not know the way to heaven himself is not likely to lead his hearers there. The man who hears such a teacher runs a fearful risk himself of being eternally lost. In contrast God’s true prophet is a preacher of the Gospel. He is likened unto a sower. He does not produce his seed, his Master furnishes it. No man can create the smallest grain much less the spiritual seed of eternal life. The man of God goes to his master in secret and asks Him to teach him His Gospel, the TRUTH of His Word, and He fills his basket with the good seed of the Kingdom. He goes forth in his Masters’ name and scatters the precious seed of the TRUTH. If he knew where the best soil was to be found he might limit himself to that which had been prepared by the plough of conviction. But not knowing men’s hearts, it is his business to preach the TRUTH to every creature—to throw a handful on the hardened heart, and another handful on the mind which is overgrown with the cares and pleasures of the world. He has to leave the seed in the hand of the Lord, who gave it to him, for he is not responsible for the harvest, he is only responsible for the duty imposed upon his calling. If not a single ear should ever make happy the sower, the Master will reward him if he has planted the right seed with careful hands. If it were not for this fact, oh with what despairing agony would I utter the cry of Isaiah, “Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” My duty is not measured by the character of my hearers, but by the command of my God. I am bound to preach the TRUTH whether men will hear it or not. It is my duty to sow. Let men’s hearts be what they will, I must preach to them the TRUTH. I ask again, IS IT WORTH IT?
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