DISCERNMENT PRINCIPLES TO TEST PROPHETS

             

''See to it that no man deceives you'' was the Lord's warning sign of the end of age- Matt. 24:24. It was also included that false prophets and false Christs would arise and show great signs and wonders that would mislead many, if possible, even the elect.

The most important principle for discerning the false is to know the true. The better we know someone, the less likely we are to be fooled when others try to disguise themselves as that person. Also, the better we know the Lord, the less likely we are to be fooled by any spirit that claims to be Him, and this is applicable to prophets. False prophets will not fool Christians that know the true Christ.

A number of churches have been devastated by false prophets or false prophecies for basically the same reason many people have been deceived by false Christ. Our responses should not be to reject prophecies but to discern the true from the false. Prophecy is a vital tool and has been a primary way that the Lord  has related to His children since the beginning- Hos. 12:13; Amos 3:7-8. It is also biblical wisdom not to be ignorant of Satan's devices- 2 Cor. 2:11.

It is possible to be a believer and still give false prophecies- Matt. 24:4-5; the Lord did not say  many would say that they were Christ but that He, Jesus was the Christ. False prophets and prophecies are founded on deception. The most effective guise of the devil is o come as an ''angel of light''. Just because a prophecy has an element of truth does not make it genuine. Unfortunately, the devil knows the bible better than most Christians- He is clever at perverting its message that he even tried it on Jesus, who is the word Himself. Just knowing the scripture and being able to use it as a weapon to bring others into submission with it does not make one  a true messenger; we must ask if one is rightly diving the word of truth- 2 Tim. 2:15.

The word can rightly be divided by the Holy spirit. People will not be saved because they know someone else is saved. The Lord must be our personal Savior, our personal Lord, and truth must be personal if we really must know it. Regardless of how good our scripture interpretation , we will be subject to deception if we do not know and follow the spirit of truth.

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