False
Prophets
Deuteronomy 13:1.
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth
thee a sign or a wonder, and
2. And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee,
saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let
us serve them;
3. Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer
of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his
commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave
unto him.
5. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death;
because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which
brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house
of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded
thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
2Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day
shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man
of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
In Deuteronomy 13:1-5
We see God warning the children of Israel that false prophets will come
along and foretell things that will come to pass. He warns however that
if they try to pull them away from the Lord that they shouldn’t
follow the prophets. The ability to predict the future doesn’t
make someone right. More so we see in 2Thess. 2:3 in the beginning of
the verse Paul warned the Thessalonians to not be deceived by any means.
Surely if someone came along and predicted the future there would be
some who would rush off to follow them. This is the case today, many
who claim to be Christians rush after men and women who claim to be
prophets of God almighty. Many others are not and do not claim to be
but still they prophesy things and if they get one right a lot of people
jump to the conclusion that the person is blessed by some means. Many
churches even go as far as to teach even if the person doesn’t
claim to be sent of God that they actually are. All this is leading
up to one thing, the one world religion of the anti-christ.
Deuteronomy 18:22
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow
not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken,
but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid
of him.
Now this is a big
thing today that unfortunately most Christians don’t really take
the time to check out. A true prophet of God never misses when they
prophesy. However many who today claim to be a prophet or even go as
far as to call themselves super prophets are very seldom right when
they prophesy something. In Deut. 18:22 we see yet another warning from
God to watch out for these false prophets. Why is it then that so many
people just refuse to see the facts concerning these modern day so called
prophets?
Jeremiah 5:31 The
prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means;
and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
Once again we see
a warning from God that prophets will prophesy falsely in the name of
God. Why is it today that anyone who claims to be a prophet of God automatically
receives credibility? Prophesying in the name of God doesn’t garner
a person any sort of credibility until the thing comes to pass and if
it doesn’t come to pass we should put that person or person’s
away from our sight and have no dealings with them. Why then today do
so many people follow these prophets who are very seldom right when
the prophesy and when they are close its more out of pure luck than
anything else and a simple study of the bible will show them to be false,
why is it that so many who claim to be Christians simply refuse to heed
the warning of the Word of God???
The simple fact
is if someone is a prophet of God they will never miss when they prophesy
something, they will do so with dead on accuracy because if they are
speaking for the Lord they cannot miss because He knows everything.
Now I need to stop
and ask you right now if your following a man or a woman who claims
to be a prophet but all of there prophecies didn’t come true,
should you be following this person??? Honestly if you’re confused
about this pray and ask the Holy Ghost for guidance and He will guide
you in all truth as Christ said He would. Many, many people follow someone
because they do good deeds. That in of it’s self is good, but
it doesn’t make them a righteous person or a servant of God. The
devil is very subtil in his deceptions as the bible says he is in Genesis
3:1. For some reason people have been led to believe through various
forms of deception that the devil only works as a super evil being that
kills and destroys. The fact is that he does do these things but he
also uses big time religion to promote his cause aswell and many times
it goes under the guise of true Christianity in doing so as the bible
warns us:
2Corinthians 11:13
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves
into the apostles of Christ.
14. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of
light.
15. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed
as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their
works.
Why is it that so
many Christians cling to the belief that if someone claims to be of
God that they must be??? God’s Word warns us over and over again
that just because someone claims to be of God doesn’t mean they
are. As a matter of fact that Bible goes even further in telling us
to test the spirit to see if it is of God.
1John 4:1 Beloved,
believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:
because many false prophets are gone out into the world
John goes on to
tell us that the spirits that confess that Jesus is come in the flesh
is of God but also important to note is Jesus describing the Holy Spirit
to the disciples before He was received up into glory.
John 16:13 Howbeit
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:
for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that
shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
14. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew
it unto you.
15. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that
he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Now very important
and let me stress this it is off the utmost importance that you pay
close attention to what the Lord says here, the Spirit of truth will
NOT SPEAK OF HIMSELF. The Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus and Jesus alone.
The Spirit of truth does not draw attention to Himself but gives all
the glory to Jesus Christ. Also of importance is the part of verse 13
that says the Spirit will guide us in all truth. If someone has prophesied
something that didn’t come to pass, then obviously they weren’t
led of the Holy Spirit to prophesy on the matter, what spirit then led
them to do so? If some other spirit led them then why do Christians
continue to follow them?
Notice I haven’t
mentioned any names nor do I have to. If I had mentioned names many
people would have stopped reading as soon as they saw it, because they
have more respect for a person than they do for the Word of God. Sad
as it is it is the truth. Now as I said I haven’t mentioned one
name, but if you have a few bouncing around in your head, you certainly
can’t blame me for it can you. Maybe the Holy Spirit is trying
to tell you something.
Now let me be perfectly
clear I don’t claim to speak for God! I absolutely will not make
such a vain boast. I am simply trying to present this as clearly from
the Word as I can. The bible warns us over and over again that the end
times will be marked by great apostasy. Many men and women claim everyday
that they are God’s anointed and in so doing say that others must
listen to what they say. Now just because the person is a preacher doesn’t
make them God’s anointed. I know we must be very careful to not
stand against the man of God but we must also be careful to make sure
we are following a true man of God and not a false shepherd. Also if
the man is truly of God it is our duty to point out anything that isn’t
backed up by the Word of God. This must be done in love of course and
I would suggest done in private between you and the pastor, as always
pray and ask God for guidance on the matter. If the pastor is truly
a man of God and he has been in error against the Word more than likely
he will repent of his error. If they don’t you must prayerfully
consider what to do then. Something’s can be forgiven and overlooked
but for the most part if a man is against the bible then he is wrong
plain and simple.
The bible warns
us that some shall arise from among the Christian ranks and draw away
people with perverse things.
Acts 20:30 Also
of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw
away disciples after them.
Now we know that
these might not be Christian’s in truth but in speech only, as
many today are. But this doesn’t take away from our obligation
to stand for the truth and be watchful against such things. There is
nothing wrong with standing for the truth, more to the point your wrong
if you don’t stand for the truth. The trend today as some have
noticed is to compromise the gospel to make it more acceptable to the
world. I can assure you that this is not a movement of God. There is
only one way and that way is Jesus. There can be no compromise on this
matter. Yes all things must be done in love and charity but we absolutely
cannot compromise the gospel. It simply cannot be allowed. Yet today
you can turn on any TV or radio station and hear men and women compromising
the gospel and saying that it’s ok.
Honestly I feel
that if this doesn’t make you angry then something is wrong. There
is nothing wrong with biblical anger, the bible says to be angry and
sin not. (Eph 4:26) It should upset us that the church is compromising
the gospel, a watered down truth is not truth at all. The gospel must
be presented as God intended it to be, pure and true.
John 14:6 Jesus
saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh
unto the Father, but by me.
This verse is quite
possibly one of the most powerful in the whole bible. Jesus is the truth
and only the truth can save a lost soul. To present a false gospel to
someone is to almost assuredly condemn them to eternity in the Lake
of Fire. We simply cannot allow this and its not new by any stretch
of the imagination. There is nothing new under the sun, as Solomon said
in Ecclesiastes:
Ecclesiastes 1:9
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which
is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under
the sun.
Satan has sought
to water down the gospel since the very beginning. The devil knew by
doing so that he could take many souls to hell with him, since after
all this is all he can do. God has already spoken on the devils ending.
We know as born again Christians that we are saved from hell fire and
damnation, but many others are still lost and headed for hell today.
Its is our responsibility to present the gospel as it is and change
nothing about it. There are so many man made false hoods creeping into
the church today, its scary to behold that so many people are trusting
in there works to get them to heaven when the only way is through faith
in Jesus. (Eph 2:8-9)
What is really sad
is that these false teachings have been with us since the very beginning
and some people simply refuse to see them. False prophets and teachers
have been with us for ages now and many of them are now claiming that
they have new revelations from God. These types of people have been
and will continue to be with us until the Lord returns and sets the
world straight.
Jeremiah 14:13 Then
said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not
see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured
peace in this place.
14 Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name:
I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them:
they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of
nought, and the deceit of their heart.
15 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy
in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall
not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
In Jeremiah 14 we see that even in Old testament times people were faced
with the same problems that we face today. Many people who claim to
be working for God are actually helping the devil. Some of them are
genuine believers and are just simply allowing themselves to be deceived.
The bible warns us over and over again to not allow ourselves to be
deceived why is it all the sudden that people simply refuse to heed
these warnings?
Matthew 24:4 And
Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Ephesians 5:6 Let
no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh
the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
In Matthew 24 we
see a warning from the Lord Himself to not allow ourselves to be deceived.
In Ephesians 5 Paul goes a step further in cautioning us that the wrath
of God will be on those that disobey the Lord. Now there wasn’t
any great mystery about either of those two verses, we are not to allow
ourselves to be deceived, plain and simple. Someone might ask how do
we do that, well that’s another simple answer straight from the
bible.
2Timothy 2:15 Study
to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Study, study, study,
study and when your done study some more. The more you ground yourself
in the Word the more you will find yourself questioning many things
that go on today. I could expound for an hour on numerous extra-biblical
activities that Christians are blindly embracing today, without checking
them against the bible but it would be pointless if you didn’t
do so yourself. There is no gray area in the Word, if your pastor/preacher
can not give you a straight forward answer about what they are supporting
from the bible then don’t take part in it. I repeat if they can’t
give you a straight biblical answer DON’T TAKE PART IN IT!
Exactly what is
so complicated about this? Why is it that so many people simply refuse
to see it. If the spirit that you are following leads you to do things
that don’t line up with the bible then you aren’t following
the Holy Spirit, plain and simple.
1John 5:6 This is
he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only,
but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because
the Spirit is truth.
Psalm 119:160 Thy
word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments
endureth for ever.
We see in the two
previous verses that the Holy Spirit will always agree with the Word,
why? Because they are both true. So I say to you again, that if the
spirit you are following leads you to do something that doesn’t
agree with the Word of God then you aren’t following the Holy
Spirit of God.
Amazingly enough
many, many people claim that God is doing new things and some even go
as far as to claim that God is changing the way He does things. You
can bet this doesn’t line up with the bible.
Malachi 3:6 For
I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
There it is, straight
from the Word, the Lord doesn’t change. The truth is the truth
and it always will be the truth no matter how much some people would
like for it to change.
Remember that extremists
on the outer fringe are easy to spot and in all honestly pose a minimal
threat to true believers, since after all they are fairly easy to recognize.
The dangerous ones are those that come in the name of the Lord and claim
they are Bible believing Christians when in truth they are not. Jesus
warned us against such people.
Matthew 24:24 For
there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew
great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall
deceive the very elect.
Now notice the wording
of Matthew 24:24, the Lord said many false Christ’s would arise.
He did not say that false Jesus’s would come, even though we know
that later He did expound on the fact that many would come in His name
and deceive many. However here He says false Christ’s, we know
that Jesus was the Christ, God’s anointed and our Saviour, God
in the flesh and so forth. Jesus is our only Saviour and that is true.
However Christ also means anointed one, notice how many preacher and
so called prophets are running around proclaiming themselves to be anointed.
No they don’t call themselves Christ’s although some have
come very close to that, especially those in the faith healing movement,
they do say they are God’s anointed and are quick to quote Psalm
105:15, where God warns us not to harms His anointed and His prophets.
It seems fairly clear that the Lord was warning us against such people.
The fact is just because they can perform miracles and just because
they might happen to prophecy something that comes to pass from time
to time, that doesn’t make them God’s anointed.
It is our responsibility
to search the scripture and test these people against the Word. If they
don’t stand up to the Bible then they are not of God. Maybe they
are truly Christians and are doing much in the service of the Lord but
they have allowed many false doctrines to creep into there teachings
and preachings. If this is the case it is also our duty as I pointed
out earlier to show this error to them from the Word of God. If they
refuse to see the error then at least we have done our part to show
them what they were doing wrong. I would strongly suggest that if you
are associated with a person or group that takes part in extra-biblical
practices or perverts the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that
you get out and away from them immediately.
Jesus said in Matthew
7:21-22 that many would stand before Him and claim to have been in His
service that weren’t actually and that He would profess to them
that He never knew them. He said that they would say that they prophesied
and cast out devils and did many wonderful works in the name of Jesus.
This did not and will not get them into Heaven. I can not stress it
enough that you must test all things against the Word of God, if there
is any doubt run from it, fast. Pray about it seek the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, and check it against the Word of God. The Lord gave us
the Bible to use as a standard to check out everything and I do mean
everything. If something doesn’t stack up to the Word then it
is wrong and there can be no question about this.
Now I know that
this won’t be a popular message and I knew this when I set down
to write it. I have prayed and asked God for His blessing upon it. I
hope that it will help someone to see the truth of the Word. God respects
us for our zeal in searching the scripture, as He did the Berean’s
in Acts 17:11 as a matter of fact the Bible goes as far as to say that
they were more noble than the Thessalonians. There is nothing wrong
with searching the scripture’s more over God gave them to us so
we would do so. So we didn’t have to take a mans word for it,
as we see in 1John.
1John 2:26 These
things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you,
and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth
you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath
taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Warning after warning
was placed in the Bible about being deceived by false prophets and teachers
yet now more than ever the church is falling into errors because they
do not search the scripture and don’t do as 2Timothy 2:15 tells
us to do “Study”.
2Timothy 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving,
and being deceived.
Here we see once
again Paul writing under the direction of the Holy Spirit, warning us
that evil men and seducers shall get worse and worse. Things are not
going to get any better Christian and anyone that tells you such a thing
is lieing to you. Nothing will be straightened out until the Lord returns
riding on a white horse in front of the armies of heaven to smite the
nations with a rod of iron and make all His enemies His foot stool.
I know I will offend
someone with this and some will completely discredit what I am saying
and come up with all kinds of excuses why I don’t know what I
am talking about. Honestly I don’t care about the opinions of
men, what I desire most is that I please the Lord first and help my
fellow brothers and sister in Christ. If this has been helpful to one
person then it was worth the time I spent putting it together.
As I stated before
no where in this study did I mention any names of people, although I
could have provided a rather lengthy list of individuals, I chose not
to simply because many people refuse to look badly on some simply because
they claim to be of the Lord. The fact is that this isn’t true
as I tried to show, with love of course from the Word so there can be
no question that I didn’t give you my opinion. Please don’t
take my word for it I beg you! Search the scriptures yourself and see
if what I have presented here is true. If I ever say something that
doesn’t line up with the Word then I am wrong flat out no question
about it.
It is my humble
prayer that this will be helpful to someone and that it will bring glory
and honor to Jesus Christ only. By myself I am nothing and worthy of
no praise. I pray the Lord will use this to help someone see the truth.
Praise the Lord from whom we get all truth and our only Saviour Jesus
Christ who shed His blood that we may all be saved from eternal darkness
and separation from our Heavenly Father. In Jesus name, the only name
that saves I pray. Amen
God Bless,
Jason Alec Sanford
Jsanf6375@hotmail.com