BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS (II)

Ms. Joyce R. Aryee

'Watch out for false prophets.  They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  By their fruit you will recognise them.  Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?  Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit' - Matt. 7:15-20.  NIV

2.  They Teach Unsound Doctrine
The Spirit says clearly that some people will abandon the faith in later times; they will obey lying spirits and follow the teachings of demons.  Such teachings are spread by deceitful liars, whose consciences are dead, as if burnt with a hot iron. Such people teach that it is wrong to marry and to eat certain foods.  But God created those foods to be eaten, after a prayer of thanks, by those who are believers and have come to know the truth -1 Timothy 4:1-3.

The time will come when people will not listen to sound doctrine, but will follow their own desires and will collect for themselves more and more teachers who will tell them what they are itching to hear.  They will turn away from listening to the truth and give their attention to legends - 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

He must hold firmly to the message which can be trusted and which agrees with the doctrine.  In this way he will be able to encourage others with the true teaching and also to show the error of those who are opposed to it.  For there are many, especially converts from Judaism, who rebel and deceive others with their nonsense.  It is necessary to stop their talk, because they are upsetting whole families by teaching what they should not, and all for the shameful purpose of making money - Titus 1:9-11.

3.  They Distort the Truth
I know after I leave, fierce wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock.  The time will come when some men from your own group will lies to lead the believers away after them - Acts 20:29-30.

Such teaching is like an open sore that eats the flesh.  Two men who have taught such things are Hymenaeus and Philetus.  They have left the way of truth and are upsetting the faith of some believers by saying that our resurrection has already take place - Acts 20:29-30.

4.  They Promote Immortality
Some of them go into people's houses and gain control over weak women who are burdened by the guilt of their sins and driven by all kinds of desires, women who are always trying to learn but who can never come to know the truth.  As Jannes and Jambres were opposed to Moses, so also these people are opposed to the truth - people are opposed to the truth - people whose minds do not function and who are failures in the faith - 2 Timothy 3:6-8.

But there are a few things I have against you: there are some among you who follow the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak how to lead the people of Israel into sin by persuading them to eat food that had been offered to idols and to practice sexual immorality.  But this is what I have against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a messenger of God.  By her teaching she misleads my servants into practicing sexual immorality and eating food that has been offered to idols - Revelation 2:14; 20.

5.  They Introduce Heresies
They will be paid with suffering for the suffering they have caused.  Please for them is to do anything in broad daylight that will satisfy their bodily appetites; they are a shame and a disgrace as they join you in your meals, all the while enjoying their deceitful ways!  They want to look at nothing but immoral women; their appetite for sin is never satisfied.  They lead weak people into a trap.  Their hearts are trained to be greedy.  They are under God's curse!  They have left the straight path and have lost their way; they have followed the path taken by Balaam son of Beor, who loved the money he would get for doing wrong followed and was rebuked for his sin.  His donkey spoke with a human voice and stopped the prophet's insane action.  These men are like dried-up springs like clouds blown along by a storm; God has reserved a place for them in the deepest darkness.  They make proud and stupid statements, and use immoral bodily lusts to trap those who are just beginning to escape from among people who live in error - 2 Peter 2:1-3; 13-18.

6.  They Cause Division
I urge you, my brothers: watch out for those who cause divisions and upset people's faith and go against the teaching which you have received.  Keep away from them!  Whoever teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the true words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching of our religion is swollen with pride and knows nothing.  He has unhealthy desire to argue and quarrel bout words, and this brings on jealousy, disputes, insults, evil suspicions, and constant arguments from people whose minds do not function and who no longer have the truth.  They think that religion is a way to become rich - Romans 16:17; I Timothy 6:3-5.

7.  Their Message is False
You may wonder how you can tell when a prophet's message does not come from the Lord.  If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and what he says does not come true, then it is not the Lord's message.  That prophet has spoken on his own authority, and you are not to fear him - Deuteronomy 18:21-22.

That same year in the fifth month of the fourth year that Zedekiah was king, Hananiah son of Azzur a prophet from the town of Gibeon, spoke to me in the Temple.  In the presence of the priests and of the people he told me that the lord Almighty, the God of Israel, had said: 'I have broken the power of the king of Babylonia. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the temple treasures that King Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylon.  I will also bring back the king of Judah, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, along with all the people of Judah who went into exile in Babylonia.  Yes, I will break the power of the king of Babylon.  I the Lord, have spoken.'

Then in the presence of the priests and of all the people who were standing in the Temple, I said to Hananiah: Wonderful!  I hope the Lord will do this!  I certainly hope he will make your prophecy come true and will bring back from Babylon all the treasures and all the people who were taken away as prisoners.

But listen to what I say to you and to the people.  The prophets who spoke long ago, before my time and yours, predicted that war, starvation, and disease would come to many nations and powerful kingdoms.  But a prophet who predicts peace can only be recognised as a prophet whom the Lord has truly sent when that prophet's predictions come true.  TO BE CONTINUED!

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