With so many voices out there how can we tell truth from error? Simply by judging according to the word of God. Lets take a look at what the bible says in identifying the false prophet from the true. Remember that the false is a counterfeit and mimics the true so test carefully!
Signs of a false prophet.
Mark 13:22
For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
Signs follow the true and the false the scriptures say, so what now ?
What are the signs...healings, miracles that give glory to God or HYPE. DOES THE SIGNS DRAW ATTENTION TO MEN OR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST ?
2 Peter 2:1
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
False teachers preach a false gospel. They change Gods word into a lie. Very subtle. You have to add works to grace,no hell to shun, it is ok to fornicate,Buddhists and Muslims are saved too,so are idol worshipers, tolerance and love instead of truth and righteousness,God wants us to be rich and prosperous,who has to suffer? Faith will get you your hearts desire just confess positively, you need to be like the world to win the world to Jesus Christ,ect.ect.
Luke 6:26
Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
False prophets are always popular and have a great following. True prophets are hated and thrown in prison and have their heads cut off!
Matthew 24:11
And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
The agenda of the false prophet is to deceive. Sometimes because they themselves are deceived but not always. Sometimes because they want to make disciples unto themselves. They are hungry for power and control.
Jeremiah 14:14,15
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 naught, and the deceit of their heart. 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.
False prophets prophecies lies. They have hit and miss prophecies but a true prophets words will always come to pass for Gods word is in their mouth. They will not be rash to speak presumptuously for they spend time in Gods presence to hear the word of the Lord and speak only what they are told to in his name. For they know that God has said that a prophet who speaks presumptuously will be cursed by God and put to death. (very dangerous to be a false prophet)
I kings 18:4
For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.
True prophets are always persecuted by the false prophets . These false prophets operate under the Jezebel spirit. They are jealous of the true anointing and seek to destroy or discredit the anointed of God but God takes care of his own and Jezebel is thrown in a bed of sickness (Book of Revelation)
How can you tell if Jezebel is in your midst ....sickness...they always have an ailment and if a church operates in that spirit you will find sickness will be there in abundance.
Jeremiah 23:15-18
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
False prophets speak out of their own heart and not Gods heart. They say peace,peace,unity,unity.
God says no.....judgment is coming...division... as he is sifting the chaff from the wheat...the sword will devour the land because of iniquity.
Jeremiah 23:20-22
The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
Signs of a false prophet.
Mark 13:22
For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
Signs follow the true and the false the scriptures say, so what now ?
What are the signs...healings, miracles that give glory to God or HYPE. DOES THE SIGNS DRAW ATTENTION TO MEN OR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST ?
2 Peter 2:1
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
False teachers preach a false gospel. They change Gods word into a lie. Very subtle. You have to add works to grace,no hell to shun, it is ok to fornicate,Buddhists and Muslims are saved too,so are idol worshipers, tolerance and love instead of truth and righteousness,God wants us to be rich and prosperous,who has to suffer? Faith will get you your hearts desire just confess positively, you need to be like the world to win the world to Jesus Christ,ect.ect.
Luke 6:26
Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
False prophets are always popular and have a great following. True prophets are hated and thrown in prison and have their heads cut off!
Matthew 24:11
And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
The agenda of the false prophet is to deceive. Sometimes because they themselves are deceived but not always. Sometimes because they want to make disciples unto themselves. They are hungry for power and control.
Jeremiah 14:14,15
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 naught, and the deceit of their heart. 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.
False prophets prophecies lies. They have hit and miss prophecies but a true prophets words will always come to pass for Gods word is in their mouth. They will not be rash to speak presumptuously for they spend time in Gods presence to hear the word of the Lord and speak only what they are told to in his name. For they know that God has said that a prophet who speaks presumptuously will be cursed by God and put to death. (very dangerous to be a false prophet)
I kings 18:4
For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.
True prophets are always persecuted by the false prophets . These false prophets operate under the Jezebel spirit. They are jealous of the true anointing and seek to destroy or discredit the anointed of God but God takes care of his own and Jezebel is thrown in a bed of sickness (Book of Revelation)
How can you tell if Jezebel is in your midst ....sickness...they always have an ailment and if a church operates in that spirit you will find sickness will be there in abundance.
Jeremiah 23:15-18
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
False prophets speak out of their own heart and not Gods heart. They say peace,peace,unity,unity.
God says no.....judgment is coming...division... as he is sifting the chaff from the wheat...the sword will devour the land because of iniquity.
Jeremiah 23:20-22
The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
False prophets are not sent by God but they are self appointed. How can you tell?
They exalt themselves. They want the praises of men,they want to be called master,teacher,wise man. True prophets preach repentance towards God and point people to relationship with Jesus christ the King of Kings and Lord of lords. The false prophets wants all the attention and to have men in their admiration. They always have groupies!
Jeremiah 29:15-20
Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;
Know that thus saith the LORD of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity; Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:
Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD. Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.
False prophets are from Babylon. They are Gnostic's who operate by the spirit of the power of the air working disobedience in those who follow them. Judgment comes on those who listen to and follow the false prophets.
1 John 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.
We are called to test the prophets. Judge them!
This is scriptural!
Zephaniah 3:4
Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
The false prophets deal treacherously ...they lie, deceive,manipulate and profane Gods word.
Jeremiah 23:10-13
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
False prophets have secret sin in their lives and God will expose them in his time.
Matthew 7:15-18
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit
False prophets look like sheep, they pass off as christians but inwardly they want to devour the sheep,to kill,steal and destroy.
Ezekiel 33: 1-20
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?
Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.
When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.
They exalt themselves. They want the praises of men,they want to be called master,teacher,wise man. True prophets preach repentance towards God and point people to relationship with Jesus christ the King of Kings and Lord of lords. The false prophets wants all the attention and to have men in their admiration. They always have groupies!
Jeremiah 29:15-20
Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;
Know that thus saith the LORD of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity; Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:
Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD. Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.
False prophets are from Babylon. They are Gnostic's who operate by the spirit of the power of the air working disobedience in those who follow them. Judgment comes on those who listen to and follow the false prophets.
1 John 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.
We are called to test the prophets. Judge them!
This is scriptural!
Zephaniah 3:4
Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
The false prophets deal treacherously ...they lie, deceive,manipulate and profane Gods word.
Jeremiah 23:10-13
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
False prophets have secret sin in their lives and God will expose them in his time.
Matthew 7:15-18
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit
False prophets look like sheep, they pass off as christians but inwardly they want to devour the sheep,to kill,steal and destroy.
Ezekiel 33: 1-20
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?
Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.
When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.
The true prophet speaks the word of the lord, he is a watchman that sees the sword comming,he warns of danger and judgment to come. He calls the sinner to repentance and stands accountable to God himself to obey and fulfill his calling.
