Matthew 24: Eighth Sign - "Many false prophets will rise and deceive many."
Posted by Leisa Amorosa on Saturday, December 10, 2011 Under: Prophecy
This is a continuation of a synopsis of Matthew 24. In this chapter, Jesus foretold His disciples of certain signs that would be prevalent in the world when He returns. Seven signs have been addressed already and today, we will review details of the eighth sign Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:11, "Many false prophets will rise and deceive many." The simple truth is, contrary to what many are teaching today, there is one God, one Savior, and one truth. The Bible is very clear on this subject, "Let this be known to you all and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who you crucified, who God raised from the dead, even by Him does this man stand before you well...Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" Acts 4:10,12.
The Apostle John wrote, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits to determine whether they are of God or not, because many false prophets have gone out into the world" 1 John 4:1. False prophets are those who twist the Word of God and distort it, fashioning it to fit their perverse lifestyles. False prophets also predict things that do not happen. A true prophet never lies, they are 100% accurate, according to the Word of God. Several false prophets easily come to mind right away: David Koresh, who was burned to a crisp with 54 of his followers and, sadly, 21 of their children. Jim Jones, who committed suicide with 909 of his followers in Jonestown, Guyana. Marshall Applewhite, who committed suicide with 39 of his cult members (and later, an additional two of his followers committed suicide). These are just a few false prophets, who started out as false prophets, and later went so far as to claim to be Christ Himself, or Christ reincarnated, and who all came to a tragic end, which is not shocking in the least. It is fearful thing to blaspheme the God of heaven. Beyond these few, there were many false Christs discussed in a report last week (dated 12/2/11) titled, Matthew 24: First Sign. There are 21 false Christs named in that article, many of whom started out as false prophets, then later proclaimed themselves to be Jesus Christ, or Jesus reincarnated.
There are many false prophets and teachers today, namely those who preach wealth and prosperity doctrines. Paul wrote to Timothy, in 1 Timothy 6:3-6, "If any man teach otherwise, and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and words of strife, from which comes envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputing of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, supposing that GAIN is godliness: from such withdraw yourself. Godliness with contentment is great gain." That is very plain, simple and to the point. "Jesus said, 'The foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man (Jesus Himself) does not have a place to lay His head" Matthew 8:20. Jesus did not teach a wealth and prosperity doctrine. In fact, when He instructed His disciples to go out witnessing and preaching, these were His words: "He called the twelve (disciples) to Him and began to send them forth by twos, and gave them power over unclean spirits; and commanded them to take nothing for their journey, only their staff (cane); no script, no bread and no money in their purse" Mark 6:7-8. Notice, Jesus did not instruct them to go out and take up collections and when they did, He would make them very rich, and everyone else who comes to the Lord. His instructions included going out by faith and relying on God, who sent them. Jesus, knowing all things, did not want His disciples to be a reproach, or criticized by the people, as those seeking wealth and gain. Their mission was to take the Word of God to the people, heal the sick and cast out demons, not go out and get wealth! The message is still the same today, yet you hear of preacher after preacher who is living the life of luxury, while even their members live very poorly. Here are some popular false prophets preaching wealth and prosperity, who have bilked millions from naive people: Robert Tilton, "Reverend" Ike (Frederick Eikerenkoetter II), Joel Osteen, Keneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, Frederick Price...the list goes on. Of course, they preach some of the truth, but not all of it, especially not the parts that many people don't want to hear about, such as the punishment of sin. Their primary message is a "feel good gospel."
Another popular thing ministers are doing today is drawing crowds with the enticement of the "world" inside of the churches. In other words, they are using worldly techniques to draw people to church. Jesus never used the tactics of the devil to increase His following, in fact, just as he posed the question to the rich young ruler, "Sell all that you have, give it to the poor, and follow Me" (Matthew 19:21), He made it a bit hard for some to follow Him, because He only wanted those who were sincere in heart. He had no use for hypocrites, whose hearts were still in the "world." If ministers are using worldly music, worldly events, worldly stage settings and other attractions to draw the crowds to their churches, they are deceived. Jesus didn't do it and no minister of His will do it. Of course, it depends on what the minister is interested in, sincere followers of Christ, or building up the church attendance in order to build up the tithes and offerings. As the Apostle Paul said, "withdraw yourself from them." Measure every preacher or prophet by God's Word. Some preachers actually deceive themselves into thinking, "This is just a method to get the sinner into the church, then they can get saved!" Wrong, this is a deception. These people will have come for the wrong reason and their "foundations will be built on the sand" (Matthew 7:26), not the solid rock of Jesus.
Without going on indefinitely, sincere people who just want to serve God and live according to His Word, need to make certain they compare every word from a preacher's mouth to the Word of God. If what they are saying and teaching doesn't fit with the life and ministry of Jesus, then they are false teachers/prophets, and as the Apostle Paul admonished Timothy, "withdraw yourself from them."
The Apostle John wrote, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits to determine whether they are of God or not, because many false prophets have gone out into the world" 1 John 4:1. False prophets are those who twist the Word of God and distort it, fashioning it to fit their perverse lifestyles. False prophets also predict things that do not happen. A true prophet never lies, they are 100% accurate, according to the Word of God. Several false prophets easily come to mind right away: David Koresh, who was burned to a crisp with 54 of his followers and, sadly, 21 of their children. Jim Jones, who committed suicide with 909 of his followers in Jonestown, Guyana. Marshall Applewhite, who committed suicide with 39 of his cult members (and later, an additional two of his followers committed suicide). These are just a few false prophets, who started out as false prophets, and later went so far as to claim to be Christ Himself, or Christ reincarnated, and who all came to a tragic end, which is not shocking in the least. It is fearful thing to blaspheme the God of heaven. Beyond these few, there were many false Christs discussed in a report last week (dated 12/2/11) titled, Matthew 24: First Sign. There are 21 false Christs named in that article, many of whom started out as false prophets, then later proclaimed themselves to be Jesus Christ, or Jesus reincarnated.
There are many false prophets and teachers today, namely those who preach wealth and prosperity doctrines. Paul wrote to Timothy, in 1 Timothy 6:3-6, "If any man teach otherwise, and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and words of strife, from which comes envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputing of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, supposing that GAIN is godliness: from such withdraw yourself. Godliness with contentment is great gain." That is very plain, simple and to the point. "Jesus said, 'The foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man (Jesus Himself) does not have a place to lay His head" Matthew 8:20. Jesus did not teach a wealth and prosperity doctrine. In fact, when He instructed His disciples to go out witnessing and preaching, these were His words: "He called the twelve (disciples) to Him and began to send them forth by twos, and gave them power over unclean spirits; and commanded them to take nothing for their journey, only their staff (cane); no script, no bread and no money in their purse" Mark 6:7-8. Notice, Jesus did not instruct them to go out and take up collections and when they did, He would make them very rich, and everyone else who comes to the Lord. His instructions included going out by faith and relying on God, who sent them. Jesus, knowing all things, did not want His disciples to be a reproach, or criticized by the people, as those seeking wealth and gain. Their mission was to take the Word of God to the people, heal the sick and cast out demons, not go out and get wealth! The message is still the same today, yet you hear of preacher after preacher who is living the life of luxury, while even their members live very poorly. Here are some popular false prophets preaching wealth and prosperity, who have bilked millions from naive people: Robert Tilton, "Reverend" Ike (Frederick Eikerenkoetter II), Joel Osteen, Keneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, Frederick Price...the list goes on. Of course, they preach some of the truth, but not all of it, especially not the parts that many people don't want to hear about, such as the punishment of sin. Their primary message is a "feel good gospel."
Another popular thing ministers are doing today is drawing crowds with the enticement of the "world" inside of the churches. In other words, they are using worldly techniques to draw people to church. Jesus never used the tactics of the devil to increase His following, in fact, just as he posed the question to the rich young ruler, "Sell all that you have, give it to the poor, and follow Me" (Matthew 19:21), He made it a bit hard for some to follow Him, because He only wanted those who were sincere in heart. He had no use for hypocrites, whose hearts were still in the "world." If ministers are using worldly music, worldly events, worldly stage settings and other attractions to draw the crowds to their churches, they are deceived. Jesus didn't do it and no minister of His will do it. Of course, it depends on what the minister is interested in, sincere followers of Christ, or building up the church attendance in order to build up the tithes and offerings. As the Apostle Paul said, "withdraw yourself from them." Measure every preacher or prophet by God's Word. Some preachers actually deceive themselves into thinking, "This is just a method to get the sinner into the church, then they can get saved!" Wrong, this is a deception. These people will have come for the wrong reason and their "foundations will be built on the sand" (Matthew 7:26), not the solid rock of Jesus.
Without going on indefinitely, sincere people who just want to serve God and live according to His Word, need to make certain they compare every word from a preacher's mouth to the Word of God. If what they are saying and teaching doesn't fit with the life and ministry of Jesus, then they are false teachers/prophets, and as the Apostle Paul admonished Timothy, "withdraw yourself from them."
In : Prophecy
Tags: "false prophets in the world"
