FALSE PROPHETS
How Can We Recognize Them?
We live in a
world in which it isn’t easy to know who is telling the Truth and who to trust.
It makes it even more challenging when that person professes to be a Christian
and uses scriptures to support their claims. In Biblical history, there have
always been men and women who claimed they had the word of the Lord or the gift
of seeing and knowing the future.
On the other
hand, several men and women were sent by God with a specific message about
current and future events. The Bible calls them Prophets or Seers.
The challenge here is how a believer can identify who is a real and a false
prophet. Does this office or prophet’s function still exist in the Church today?
Is this gift of prophecy for all people or only for some? What is the purpose
of this prophetic ministry gift of grace? Matt 7:15-20 & Eph 4:11
Last
week, we started the Ministry Gifts Of Grace series. We are studying the
fivefold Ministry Gifts or the Offices in Ephesians 4:11. We looked intently at
the Office of an Apostle to find out whether it still exists in the body of
Christ, as some claim. We also saw how that function differs from the gift of
an Apostle, which we still see in operation today.
Today, we will examine
the second Ministry Gift of Grace: The Prophets! You may wonder why study these
two ministry gifts. They were mentioned in the scriptures, but even more so, the
Church of Jesus Christ was founded upon the teachings of the Apostles and
Prophets. Therefore, these two offices have been attacked and abused since
their inception. Before exploring the Ministry Gift of a prophet, here are a
few definitions.
What is a
prophecy of God, and who is a prophet? Prophecy is an inspired message from God
to people. A prophet delivers that message to people, calling them to repent
and obey. Prophecy, at its most basic definition, is “a message from God.” A
prophet proclaims that message from God boldly. In other words, a prophet is
God’s spokesperson.
I. The prominent role of true prophets and their prophecies in the
Bible
In the
Old Testament, some prophets spoke divine messages to a king or the people
(e.g., Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, and Elisha). Later, there came a
series of “writing prophets” whose messages are preserved in Scripture (e.g.,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, and Malachi), and the book of
Revelation contains the end-time prophecy.
Quite often, the prophets would
preface their utterances with words such as “thus saith the Lord” (KJV) or
“this is what the Lord says” (NIV). According to the Apostle Paul, God spoke to
our ancestors through the prophets and in the last days through His Son Jesus
Christ. (Hebrews 1:9). Jesus paid close attention to what was written about Him
by the OT prophets.
He often quoted from them. Jesus, after His
resurrection on the road to Emmaus, appeared to two of his disciples and
rebuked them for their unbelief. Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he
explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Luke
24:27. He warns us against false prophets because they attack His Church, which
was built on the foundations of the Apostles and Prophets, and Him being the
Chief Cornerstone.
II.
Warnings against false prophets and their false teachings.
In the Old Testament, we see many
God-fearing prophets prophesying God-inspired prophecies. On the other hand, several
prophets worshipped false gods and, through their prophecies, turned people
away from worshipping God. He is always against false prophets. “My hand will
be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They
will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of
Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am
the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 13:9.
God raised some bold prophets like
Elijah to confront false prophets. Elijah, on Mount Carmel, single-handedly challenged and killed
450 false prophets of Baal. (I Kings 18:40).
From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus
deemed it essential to warn his followers against false prophets and their
teachings. Matthew 7:15, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in
sheep’s clothing, but inwardly, they are ferocious wolves.” Towards the end of
his ministry, He warned his disciples, saying, For false messiahs and
false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive,
if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:24.
The apostle Paul showed his concern for God’s
flock, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and
will not spare the flock. Even from your own number, men will arise and distort
the Truth in order to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:29-30.
A young pastor, Timothy, warned his Church
about how people will turn away from the Truth in the end times. II Timothy 4:3-4,
For the time will
come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit
their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to
say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the
Truth and turn aside to myths.” We are living in the end times.
We will see an increase in false
messiahs and prophets. Can you think of any false prophets in recent times? I
could think of three of them. David Koresh, the head of the Branch Davidians, claimed
to be its final prophet—Jim Jones of Jonestown Guyana, and Warren Jeffs’ the incarcerated
prophet of the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints.
What do they all have in common? They
looked handsome, charismatic, and persuasive. They deceived many unsuspecting
and innocent people through their false teachings. As a result, many lives were
lost. In recent years, this gift of prophecy has been abused. Many false
prophets in the USA, particularly in Kansa city, are deceiving many. There has
been so much emphasis on miracles, healings, and supernatural power rather than
humility and holy living. Unfortunately, many pastors believe their false
teachings and lead their congregations astray.
III.
How can we recognize false prophets?
Discovering fake or false prophets
is challenging. They don’t come to us wearing a sign on their forehead that
says, “I am a False Prophet.” Jesus said, “They come to you
in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Have you noticed
the words “they come to you”? They come to you pretending
to be your brothers and sisters in the Lord. They infiltrate churches, say the
right things, and pray the right prayers. But they backstab believers.
How can we recognize false prophets?
Jesus said, “By their fruit, you will recognize them.” When looking for
“fruit,” here are three specific truth tests to apply to any false prophet and the
accuracy of his or her teaching: 1. What do they say about Jesus? Do
they say Jesus is the savior, Lord, and the Messiah, or reduce him to a miracle
worker? Paul called Galatian Christians foolish because they quickly deserted
Jesus and turned away to a different gospel, which is no gospel at all.
Evidently, some people threw them into confusion by trying to pervert the
gospel of Christ. He pronounced a curse on those who preached a different
gospel. Gal 1:6-8.
2. Does this teacher
preach the gospel? According to the Scriptures, the gospel is the good
news concerning Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
As lovely as they sound, statements like “God loves you,” “God wants us to feed
the hungry,” and “God wants you to be wealthy” are not the complete Truth of
the gospel.
3.) Does this teacher exhibit
the fruit of the Holy Spirit? Gal 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23
gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.” Does their
character match their preaching?
One reason why we have more false
prophets and teachers these days? We Christians are lazy and don’t read our
Bibles. We wait for secondhand revelation. The danger is you might be led
astray. Read your Bibles and learn the Truth, and that Truth will set you free.
