BECAUSE MANY FALSE PROPHETS WENT OUT INTO THE WORLD
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from the Afrikaans Version: Want baie valse profete het in die wêreld uitgegaan
Translator: Lynda Botha
Someone wrote to me and asked me a question which basically comes down to this:
How can one know which of today's prophets and seers are inspired by the Lord or which is inspired by satan?
Here is how I interpret this matter.
Firstly, what must be realised with a certainty is that there will be many, many false prophets / seers or whatever they wish to call themselves, before the day comes when our Lord will arrive.
Jesus tells us in this regard:
MAT 24:24 “For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.”
MAT 24:25 “See, I have warned you about this ahead of time.”
The very first thing I would advise people to do in order to recognize these false and evil prophets / seers is to live near our Lord and build a great deal of knowledge from the Word of God, by regularly, as in daily if it is possible, studying the Word of God. Because then you will have the right glasses on (awareness) when you look at them.
Jesus says in this regard:
Firstly, Jesus warns us how these false prophets will act and what they will look like:
MAT 7:15 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.”
Secondly Jesus tells us how we would be able to recognize them. Obviously, we would only be able to achieve this once we have learned the proper knowledge in the Word of God.
MATTHEW 7:16-18
16 “You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?”
17 “A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.”
18 “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.”
Thirdly, Jesus said that we should not be fooled by their religious and, as I see it, pretentious Christian-like act.
MAT 7:20 “Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”
MAT 7:21 “Not everyone who calls out to Me, “Lord! Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in Heaven will enter.”
I share with you an example that I came upon in order to demonstrate what I mean with the knowledge that you need to have from the Word of God, to help you to identify these false prophets, seers or wizards for what they truly are:
Someone once wrote to me about one of these false prophets / seers who can bring him into contact with the deceased.
"On his website he said that he is a Christian and his gift comes from God – and before and after each session he does a prayer and asks God for His guidance."
How do I know this so-called prophetic seer or in my view an obscure occult is false?
Because I know it is written:
LEV 19:31 “Do not defile yourselves by turning to mediums or to those who consult the spirits of the dead. I am the Lord your God.”
DEU 18:10-12
10 “For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft,”
11 “or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead.”
12 “Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord…”
LEV 20:27 “Men and women among you who act as mediums or who consult the spirits of the dead must be put to death by stoning. They are guilty of a capital offense.”
Then, there is yet another deception that happened at some or other church services where the person’s self-centredness are being enforced.
A lady wrote to me the following:
“Is this from our Lord? I attended a church service on Sunday and after the service, the man prayed for us. Some of the people he prayed for fell over when he prayed for them. When he prayed for me nothing happened and he discreetly tried to push me over but when I did not want to fall, he left me.”
Remember what Jesus said?
MAT 7:20 “Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”
MAT 7:21 “Not everyone who calls out to Me, “Lord! Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in Heaven will enter.”
While we're talking about these things, there is in my opinion also another deceitful ruse which I would like to mention.
Personally, I do not attend church services where the pastor or whatever he calls himself advertises in advance “the wonders that the Lord is going to do through him”.
For example:
"Come Sunday to the__ church and bring your sick and your__ and see the miracles God will perform."
Nowhere in the Word of God do I read where Jesus or His disciples advertised miracles in advance in order to draw crowds.
Jesus and His disciples preached the Gospel, in some cases there were miracles involved and sometimes not, but their main focus was to preach the Gospel.
Then to summarize what I'm trying to bring across:
Since it can be very, very difficult to identify these travesties of satan, it is of utmost importance as in eternally life important, that we ensure that our eyes remain on the pathway to Heaven always fixed on Jesus –
HEB 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
HEB 12:2 “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne.”
– Whilst we ensure that we familiarise ourselves as competently as possible with the sword, which is the Word of God that our Lord has given us:
EPH 6:17 “Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”
If I ensure that my part of the love relationship with Jesus deepens more and more each day and ensure that I have obtained thorough knowledge of the Word of God, then I can respond effortlessly to the following advice given in the Bible and benefit myself as well as many other people around me.
1 JOHN 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.”
Ask yourself the question:
Is the lifestyle of this pastor / prophet / believer and their message focused first purely on Jesus Christ as only Saviour? Or whether it is centred on people with his own agenda?
2 PETER 2:1-3
The danger of false teachers
1 “But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.”
2 “Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.”
3 “In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.”
Greetings,
Sakkie