When talking about words being spoken by both prophet of God and false prophet, their words must be tested to make sure whose words are of God. Just because someone says hear the word of the Lord or this is what the Sovereign Lord says, doesn’t mean that it is. Jeremiah 29:19 “For they have not listened to my words,” declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets.” The people preferred the words of the false prophets, but those words led to death and destruction. 1 John 4:1 “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.” This should not be a surprise because Jesus said, Matthew 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Paul said, Acts 20:29 “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” Moses said, Deuteronomy 31:27 “For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!”

    Jesus and these men were not talking about something that was going to happen way off in the future, it was already happening, thus the warnings. Yesterday we talked about the true prophets being outnumbered but not overpowered. Sadly even today, false prophets are everywhere in the church. Ezekiel 22:28 “Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken. 30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.” As we saw, the false prophets were all saying, and still are, the same thing and as Jeremiah said, Jeremiah 5:30 “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” People still love it because the false prophet will tell you what you want to hear, while the true prophet will tell you what you need to hear but those words are not readily received. Ezekiel 2:5 “And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them.” The false prophet leads he and his listeners to death, but the true prophet leads to life. This also includes prophetesses.

    We must test the spirits to make sure who is speaking the word of the Lord. As we saw yesterday, only a few were speaking the word of the Lord, and many were killed for speaking God’s word. There is a huge deception and delusion taking place in the church. Many people think that if someone is preaching or teaching or prophesying, this is the word of God because it is at a church or they were told that it is. It is always interesting how one group will say the other is false and vice versa. For example, John Mac Arthur speaks out against the charismatic movement and the charismatic movement doesn’t agree with him, but they are both false. We know this by hearing what they are saying, looking at what they are doing and then comparing it with scripture. I have a video of John Mac Arthur describing cessationism which mean he believes there has not been power available to the church since the time of Paul. He states this is the agreed upon view of the church. The problem with that is that teaching is nowhere to be found in scripture and is a doctrine of demons. Is there the same power that was at the beginning, no, but not because it is no longer available to the church. It hasn’t been available because the church rebelled, listened to these false prophets / teachers, so God turned His face from the church and it was decimated by the abomination that causes desolation and remains powerless. Again, you test by looking at scripture and nowhere does it say that the power that was given to the church at Pentecost is no longer available. Paul said Ephesians 1:8 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.” Jesus said, Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well. 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.”

    I will admit that most of these false teachers / prophets appear to know their bible really well, but at the same time they distort what the bible is saying. This makes it hard to stand up to them, but you must know the difference between the word of the Lord and the word of satan and man. Jeremiah said Jeremiah 23:36 “But you must not mention ‘a message from the Lord’ again, because each one’s word becomes their own message. So you distort the words of the living God, the Lord Almighty, our God.” When talking about Paul, Peter said 2 Peter 3:16 “He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” Jeremiah also said Jeremiah 23:16 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17 They keep saying to those who despise me, ‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’ And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, ‘No harm will come to you.’ 18 But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word? 21 I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people and would have turned them from their evil ways and from their evil deeds.” Because of these false teachers / prophets, millions have been deceived.   

    Testing the spirits is so important because your eternal destination depends on it, but most do not test the spirits, nor do they think they even have to. They accept the lies as truth because usually the false prophet tells you what you want to hear and they are very convincing. If you are looking for someone to do that, there will always be someone to tell you exactly what you want to hear, but it is to your demise. False teachers spend a lot of time between the lines and telling you what the scripture means based on the in-between but not actually what scripture is saying.  They do not focus on what God is really saying. Years ago, a teacher in college said the bible could be made to say anything with scissors and paste (now it is cut and paste). It may sound good like a glass of water looks good enough to drink, but it only takes a little poison, that you cannot see, to kill you.

    Yesterday we talked about the prophet Micaiah. King Ahab and king Jehoshaphat were going to war. 1 Kings 22:5 “But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.” 6 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain? “Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.” But king Jehoshaphat knew better and said, 7 “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?” The false prophets told king Ahaz what he wanted to hear but Jehoshaphat wanted to hear the word of the Lord. So, they sent for Micaiah. This passage shows just how dangerous listening to false prophets can be and why it is so important to test the spirits. First of all, Micaiah did not tell Ahab anything different. He said 15 “Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand. 16 The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” Even Ahab new better, which shows he knew what the false prophets were saying was wrong, but listened to them anyway. Then Micaiah spoke the word of the Lord and he told Ahab what was going on. 19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. 20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that. 21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ 22 “‘By what means?’ the Lord asked. “‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’ 23 “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.” Then Micaiah made this very important statement. 1 Kings 22:28 “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!” King Ahab would die in battle. The church is filled with deceiving spirits.

    Peter also warned us when he said 2 Peter 2:1 “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.” This has been happening since Jesus and Paul said watch out for the wolves.  But there is good news. Isaiah 44:24 “This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself, 25 who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, 26 who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers.” Jesus warned us, Matthew 24:11 “Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Test the spirits by standing firm on the word of God.