Arming The Saints Blog

The best way to test a prophet or anyone speaking in a spiritually predictive manner regardless of what they call themselves is to look again at what we are told in 1 John 4.

• “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

First do some research by looking into their website, Facebook page or wherever you can find their statement of purpose or theology.  As 1 John 4 says, every spirit that does NOT acknowledge that (1) Jesus came in the flesh or (2) Jesus himself is NOT from God.  They might have a word that sounds good or matches up with some biblical messages but they are NOT from God and thus, they probably have a deceiving spirit and not the Holy Spirit. 

If they look good on paper, next, check for what their motive might be.  If they are a prophet charging for a prophetic word for you – NOT from God.  The profit motive (and ego) is really the most common motives behind the actions of a false prophet.  Run away! 

Finally, if these do not seem obvious, then write down some of their “prophecies” and track their accuracy.  If they are wrong and do not repent and make personal spiritual adjustments – run away!  Can a true prophet be wrong or have wrong timing – YES – but they should own it and repent openly and get back into alignment with God.  I have noticed so many false prophets over the last couple of years who clearly and obviously got it wrong and they make excuses or refine “what they meant” and fail to own it and repent.  These are SO obviously false prophets and we need to close our eyes and ears and pocket books to these people.

This is an important topic that has over thirty scriptures dealing with “false” as in false testimony, false prophets, and false witnesses.  It is also important to note that a false prophet is one of the players in the book of Revelation and the end of times.  Here are a few other important scriptures speaking about false prophets.

• “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” (Mark 13:22)

• “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)

• “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)

Be wary, be alert and be in close connection with God at all times!  Ask for wisdom and discernment!

• “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (James 1:5)”   

Just Ask!!

False teachers and false prophets have been involved in the Church since the earliest days and talked about in the old testament as well.  Unfortunately, there are always people desiring to harm the Church and one of the best ways to do that is to deceive the believers and get them away from the truth of the gospel and to get them repeating the lies and deception.  I see that happening a lot these days too and we must be on red alert to stay properly and correctly aligned so that we don’t mislead others and jeopardize our spiritual relationships. 

You may recall that we were warned about false teachers in 2 Peter 2.

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. ³ In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”

As you can see, Peter is warning the believers to beware of the false teacher and prophets and not to participate in their lies or follow them so that we don’t fall into their destruction.  These false teachers were teaching legalistic things contrary to the saving grace of Christ.  They were pulling believers away from the truth of the gospel with slick words and lies and creating divisions among the beleivers.  See 1 Corinthians for the record of the lies and deception in the early Church.  Paul wrote this letter to address many of the false teachings and gave instructions in how to act as a true follower of Jesus.  Notice how many of them are still alive and deceiving in our society today.

Stand firm, my brethren, and ask the Lord to check every person you follow, listen to and give money to so that you do not unknowingly follow any of these false teachers and false prophet.