Yesterday we talked about the lying pen of the scribes who handle and continue to handle the word of God falsely. They change God’s word for their own purposes and profit, and they make the bible say what they prefer it to say according to their own desires, doctrines and theology. A Baptist will interpret the bible according to their own distinct doctrines and theology, A Catholic, Pentecostal, Methodist, Reformed and so on will do the same. They each say, hear the word of the Lord or this is what the Sovereign Lord says, even though what God has actually said has been changed. As we saw yesterday, if the Spirit of truth was present, all of these differing views and beliefs would not be seen as truth. The Protestant believes that their views are truth, as do the Catholics. Most see the Reformation as a return to truth, but it wasn’t as the Reformation did even more damage to the church than the Catholics had already done before. If you look at a diagram after the Reformation, it shows a broken and divided church of which satan is behind. Now you had even more views and beliefs than you did before, as the Reformation caused an explosion of different and very distinct beliefs. It was just a continuation of what Paul described. Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all.” 2 Corinthians 11:4 “For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” What we do know for certain is that God’s servants only speak the true words of the Lord. Yes, there will be all kinds of beliefs, but there is only one truth which makes all others false. I am not talking about other religions or cults here, but the church itself. Today the church is made up of many beliefs, but everyone says they believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Scripture and common sense tell you that is not possible if we had the Spirit of Truth among us. God’s servants do not change God’s words, nor do they add to them. If the Reformation truly was a time of reforming, it should have pointed the church back to the true gospel, not away from it. 

    Because the church has rebelled and refuses to repent and turn from wicked ways, God once again sends His servants the prophets. This poses a problem for most, as most believe there are no longer prophets because the bible is closed and nothing is to be added or taken away. Therefore, they think that God’s prophets no longer exist or are needed but that is not what scripture says. This is where it gets interesting as the person who does not believe there are prophets in our day does believe there are false prophets that exists. You can’t counterfeit something that doesn’t exist. That is why they are not going to counterfeit a twenty-one-dollar bill. By saying there are no true prophets, they are denying God’s word and giving power to satan and yes, satan does have tremendous power to deceive the church. Also, at the same time the ones who say prophets do not exist are adding to scripture and taking scripture away. Not only are they making themselves out to be prophets, but they are also claiming themselves to be gods as they have placed their own words above the word of God. During our Lenten Journey on Day 39, I talked about listening to the wrong John and gave the example of the false prophet John MacArthur. People around the world have been led astray by this man. I said, “For example, this is from John MacArthur’s church. “We teach that Jesus Christ will return to receive the church, which is His Body, unto Himself at the rapture, and, returning with His church in glory, will establish His millennial kingdom on earth.” (This next part is called cessationism.) “We teach that there were two kinds of gifts given to the early church: miraculous gifts of divine revelation and healing, given temporarily in the apostolic era for the purpose of confirming the authenticity of the apostles’ message Hebrews 2:3–4; 2 Corinthians 12:12; and ministering gifts, given to equip believers for edifying one another. (I will add here that Philip was not an apostle. Acts 8:5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.”) With the New Testament revelation now complete, Scripture becomes the sole test of the authenticity of a man’s message. (I will also add that is not what Jesus said Mark 16:20 “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” This means signs confirm the gospel message of truth plus Paul said Galatians 3:5 “So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?) Thus, confirming gifts of a miraculous nature are no longer necessary to validate a man or his message (1 Corinthians 13:8–12). Miraculous gifts can even be counterfeited by satan so as to deceive even believers (1 Corinthians 13:13–14:12; Revelation 13:13–14). The only gifts in operation today (the bible does not say that) are those non-revelatory equipping gifts given for edification (Romans 12:6–8). We teach that no one possesses the gift of healing today.” Though they have quoted certain scriptures, that is not what scripture states as I showed above. This is what is actually said and nowhere does the bible say otherwise, unless God’s people have rebelled and God has turned His face from us of which the church has. These gifts are listed. 2 Corinthians 12:9 “to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers.” They believe that satan can counterfeit, which is true, but they give more power to satan than to God. John MacArthur is a false teacher and has very powerful influence over millions of people who think he is a servant of God, and he is just one of many. These few statements show you how easily you can spot counterfeit and how easily people are deceived by them. Just like with money when you know what the real looks like, it is easier to spot the counterfeit. 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.”

    Just in this passage you see several doctrines of demons and distortion of scripture. You have the rapture, millennial kingdom, no more prophets or apostles, (cessationism) temporary power, no miracles, they give power to satan, no healing or casting out demons. They have completely taken the supernatural out of the picture, even though they say as, we talked about on Easter, that they believe that Jesus rose from the dead but deny the power that raised Him from the dead. As Paul said to Timothy and this is even worse now, 2 Timothy 3:5 “having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” What you see here is the abomination that causes desolation at work even though the church was supposed to continue the work of Jesus which was destroying the work of the devil. This teaching is filled with doctrines of demons and distorted scripture. Again, this is done to make the bible say what they what it to say and is a cover-up for their own powerlessness. The church is in the worst tribulation ever seen but false teachers like this are not warning people about it. Jesus said Matthew 24:22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive.” Instead, they are leading them to eternal damnation. Not only will the false teachers / prophets be in blackest darkness, so will those who follow their false teaching. Micah 3:5 “This is what the Lord says: “As for the prophets who lead my people astray, they proclaim ‘peace’ if they have something to eat, but prepare to wage war against anyone who refuses to feed them. 6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions, and darkness, without divination. The sun will set for the prophets, and the day will go dark for them.” 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?”

    A person like John MacArthur and there are many others like him, who do not believe in the supernatural, have made themselves out to be prophets even though they do not believe in them. You also have the other side of the coin like the charismatics who do believe in prophets but can’t tell the difference between a true prophet and a false one. They push many of the same lies. Over and over Ezekiel, a true prophet, said, “this is what the Sovereign Lord says,” but we also know the false prophets said this also. 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.” In Jeremiah we see the false prophet Hananiah say, Jeremiah 28:2 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. 16 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.”

    When I was part of a charismatic group, I was amazed at some of the statements that were being made. At one event there was a prophet who said he saw the healing power of the blood of Christ poured out along the front. I was really searching and still am for that power. So I figured all I had to today was stand at the front and be healed. Yes, I was still learning back then and feel a little foolish for saying so. I don’t know why but he went around me while praying for people but there was no healing. I sat down and there were two little girls who were very sick crying because the prophet did not pray for them, nor were they healed. Many things were said that people wanted to hear. One popular statement I heard so-called prophets say to people was you will speak to stadiums full of people. The person would be overjoyed and say amen. That was not going to happen, but the false prophet can tap into what people desire. What they should be saying is Psalm 139:23 “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” God said, Jeremiah 29:8 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.” 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. 20 In days to come you will understand it clearly. 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.” 2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

    False prophets state what people want to hear. The words people think they want to hear are not from God. satan is the master deceiver and millions have been deceived by words they think are from God. Ezekiel 13:1 “The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the Lord! 3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. 5 You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord. 6 Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, “The Lord declares,” and expect him to fulfill their words. 7 Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, “The Lord declares,” though I have not spoken? 8 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign Lord. 9 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. 10 “‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, 11 therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. 12 When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?”

    It is true that there are many false prophets in the church today, but it is also true that there are true servants of God. True prophets always speak the word of the Lord no matter what. They speak to a people who are not listening or obeying the word God has spoken to them. Jeremiah 7:22 “For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.’ 27 “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. 28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips. God’s people refused to listen. The prophet was sent to tell people what they needed to hear in order to live. Jeremiah 26:15 “for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

    Can you imagine Jeremiah, Ezekiel or Paul standing up in Rome and saying to the Catholic church who gathered for the Pope’s funeral, this is not the church that Jesus started, Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’” They would respond just how they responded to all the prophets and Jesus. Jeremiah 26:8 “But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the Lord had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, “You must die!” No, today’s prophet does not speak words in addition the scripture, they just say what the church does not want to hear, correct what has been distorted and point out what has been added to and taken away. Prophets are part of how the church was set-up and that was to continue. Ephesians 4:11 “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” We see in Acts several examples of this. Acts 11:26 “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. 27 During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.” Acts 13:1 “Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.” Acts 15:32 “Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them.” It is also important to note that prophets do not add to scripture, but they can also bring warning such as with the weather. Acts 11:27 “During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.” Here you must test the spirits, or you will fall for a false prophet like Kenneth Copeland shouting at covid or like the many false prophets who predict events.

    This one will really mess some people up. I am not going to talk about this now, but the church has really distorted Paul’s teaching on women. Peter said, 2 Peter 3:14 “So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 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.” There were also women who were prophets. Luke 2:36 “There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.” Acts 21:8 “Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.” When they found the book of the law, King Josiah sent them to see what God would say. 2 Kings 22:11 “When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 13 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.” 14 Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophet Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter. 15 She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:” Exodus 15:20 “Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. 21 Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.” And there were others. All the prophets, male and female are not written down.

    Yesterday we saw that Peter said 2 Peter 1:16 “For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The prophet speaks the word of the Lord, not words from their own minds as the false prophets do. When Jeremiah was called, God said Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant. 17 “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. 18 Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.” Ezekiel was told Ezekiel 2:3 “He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. 4 The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ 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. 6 And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. 7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.” Today’s church is still rebellious.

    Just as false prophets are present today and continue to try and deceive God’s people, Ture prophets are also present who will speak truth. Sadly, many will continue listening to the wrong voices and will continue to be deceived so be careful. 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.” Jesus warned us about the false prophets, but truth will once again be proclaimed. Matthew 24:10 “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and 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.”