The false prophets

THE FALSE PROPHETS (ANTI-CHRISTS)

In my recent article (Are we in the last days), I made it clear that one sign the Bible frequently points out to show that we are in the last days is that there will be false prophets or pastors.

In this article, I am going to distinguish out real pastors and “fake” pastors. I will use the biblical method for this job. It will surprise you at the end that one of these fake pastors might head the church you are attending!

These days, there are so many churches, so many pastors, and so many doctrines, but which of these is the true one? It has become difficult to answer this question nowadays. Must the church become so divided like this? Now, let us go back to the main topic, Let us see what the bible has to say on the issue of false prophets.

What the Bible says:

• In Matthew 7:21 – 23, Jesus declares “Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my father in heaven wants them to do. When Judgement day comes many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God’s message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!’ Then I will say to them, ‘I never knew you, you doers of evil!’

Why did Jesus rebuke them? They had not said anything evil neither had they done anything bad. Jesus rebuked them because they did all what they did for their own sake. And not to glorify God but rather to look for fame, money and others.

• In second Timothy 3:13, Paul cautions Timothy to be on the lookout for impostors will deceive people.
• In second Peter 2:1-3, Peter also cautions that many false prophets who will deceive countless number of people will come. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord. He even goes on to say that, many people will follow their destructive ways. By covetousness, they will exploit people with deceptive words.
• In first John 4: 1 – 6, Christians are warned not to believe any spirit (prophet), but to test whether the spirit is of God or from the devil, because many false prophets have come. He goes on to explain the difference between false prophets and true ones.

1. There are so many other examples from the Bible. I have taken these few ones to let you understand that the Bible is very serious on this matter. Now that we have seen what the Bible is saying, let us look for some common characteristics and methods these false prophets use. We can easily see whether one is truly from Christ by comparing his behaviour to Christ’s own.   Let us start comparing the behaviours and characteristics of these prophets to Christ’s own.

v     The false prophets today are very proud and boastful, this can be seen through their clothes they wear, how they talk and the people they associate themselves with.

v     Most of them are very worldly and delight in much luxury. They also delight in pomp, pageant and show.

v     They always want to feel on top of the world and they want to be very popular. They also want to gain respect, honour and worship from men.

v     They use deceptive means to collect money from their church members to buy luxurious items for themselves rather than using it to let the work of God go on.

v     In fact, when you study them very carefully, you can see that their behaviour is what God hates: proud looks, boastful hearts, lying tongues, worldly minds etc.

v     They misinterpret the Bible in an attempt to deceive ignorant people.

v     They always talk about prosperity, getting rich, etc. and not about Christian living, the seriousness of sin; holy living and other topics that help one get closer to God.

v     They always tell their church members that when you become a Christian, you must get rich and you must never face difficulties in life. This is totally not so, for even Christ, the founder of Christianity was very poor and he faced so much difficulties, how much more His followers? He even said “A servant is not greater than His master, if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”

v     They always brag about their achievements in life and not about what Jesus has done for us.

These and many more characteristics show that they are people sent by Satan to turn the minds of ignorant people against Christ. Their behaviours are the direct opposite of Christ’s own. Let us also look at the characteristics of the true followers of Christ.

ª      They are very humble, lowly and contrite in heart.

ª      Generally they want to get closer to God and encourage their church members to do so.

ª      They are the direct opposite of the false prophets.

Dear reader, I hope you have read a lot about this article. Don’t be too stubborn – headed, thinking your pastor is a Messiah. Compare him to Christ – the real Messiah. Is he, lowly, humble, gentle, loving, meek, kid, forgiving, merciful, honest, and faithful as Christ is? If so, then go ahead worshipping with him. If not, run away from him. Don’t let him lead you to hell. Find a better leader who will lead you to God. RUN AWAY FROM THE FALSE PROPHETS!