WAYS FALSE PROPHETS OPERATE

The following are the primary ways that we can be deceived and fall into traps that open us up to false prophets and their prophecies:

The first is allowing any truth to eclipse the centrality of Christ; Christ is the ultimate purpose of God, and if we do not keep our attention focused on the ultimate purpose of God. The enemy uses distraction, side-tracking, deception, and destruction to destroy God's people. Those who go to extremes or become off center do so because they lose their focus in Christ- Eph. 1:9-10. The central purpose of the church is to reveal Jesus.

The commission of the apostles was not just to teach truths, but to labor until Christ was formed in the church. We can only do the works that Christ did when He is formed in us- Jn. 14:12.

Another way false prophets deceive is by becoming too sympathetic to interests of men; we are commanded to love people, but we must not let our hearts be captured by human interests and this causes us to love people more than we love the Lord- Jam. 4:4. The things that are highly esteemed by men are detestable with God; Who do you want to please, God or man?

Also having an unholy familiarity with God- True prophetic ministry must have a proper balance between friendship with the Lord. John was intimate with the Lord but Judas was familiar with Him. There is a difference between the two. Even though John was close enough to lay his head on Jesus' bosom, when he saw the resurrected Christ during his revelation, he fell to the ground like a dead man. Wisdom is to seek to be as close to the Lord as possibly as we can, while at the same time remembering who He is and who we are.

False prophets always think that they alone see the truth- Prophets only see in parts, if we are to see the whole picture, we must put our parts together with other people's part; hence we must be united to achieve this. Those who listen to one prophet or teacher are usually a cult. The deception by these false prophets lead them to isolation.

These false prophets do not walk in what they preach- A key element to anyone who would walk in true prophetic ministry is fruitfulness to his or her message. A true prophet always walk in the counsel of the Lord, and he can do that by heeding to His word. This does not mean that a true prophet cannot make mistake- Jer. 23:18,22.

They also prophesy prejudices- Prophets who allow prejudices to influence the words they attach to ''thus saith the Lord'' will become false. Prejudices can be cultural, religious, racial or the result of unhealed wound. Any true prophet must heed to the instruction in Prov. 4:23. Some of these prejudices include pet doctrines- Acts 10:9-43; Bitterness or resentment, rejection, rebellion, the party spirit or sectarianism.

These false prophets also take more authority- Even if the Lord gives a prophet a revelation, that does not necessarily give the prophet the authority to dictate policy to accomplish it. The prophet as a watchman, distinguishes between friends and foes and conveys what he discerns to the elders who sit at the gates. It is not the watchman's duty to determine what action should be taken. It is the elders' responsibility  to determine if one is to be left in or kept out of the city ; Unfortunately, many prophetic people fall into the trap of believing that they have the responsibility to see their prophecy come to pass. From this, they assume the authority to carry it out. Some prophets assume the responsibility of tearing down anything that they do not believe is from the Lord. No responsible father will let anyone come in and start correcting or dictating policies in his family; also, a responsible church leader has the duty to throw out anyone who has not been part of the building but only comes in to give corrections or set things in order.

People are also deceived by false prophets in the area of receiving prophecies that do not come in the demonstration of the Holy Spirit- God denied Moses the blessing of leading the people into the promised land because God told him to speak to the rock to bring forth water, but he struck the rock in anger- Num. 20:7-12. As a prophet, he represented God as being angry when He was not, and it cost him dearly. It is easy to understand how frustrated Moses was, but prophets must never convey their feelings as the Lord's feelings. Many prophetic people have disqualified themselves from higher realms of authority by representing the Lord improperly. Elijah prayed for the judgments of the Lord to come upon the people, but it was not out of his own wrath. Before a prophet can give another ministry or person corrections, questions like  Do I love them, Has God given me the authority, Has the bridge of trust been built so that they can receive the corrections, should be answered by the prophets.

People should be aware of sin, it is another deceptive strategy the devil uses through false prophets. Prophets are called to see for the body and should be careful what they see with their eyes. If a prophet's eyes are on the Lord, his body will be full of light, but when he looks upon lust or sin, the body will in turn be full of darkness- Matt. 6:22-23.

We also have to look out for new covenant prophets who type themselves after old covenant prophets- The spiritual gifts of New Testament prophets are the same with the old but their functions differ. Old Testament prophets were under the law and therefore had to present its severity while New Testament prophets are under the covenant of grace and truth and must represent this covenant- Jn. 1:14-17. Truth without grace will only be half message. Also, the old prophets stood alone while the new prophets are a team of a ministry that equips the church; so the new testament prophet must be properly related to the rest of the team. A deceptive spirit enters when a young immature prophet tries to live under the old covenant mandate given to prophets in Deut. 18:18-22. This yoke makes it impossible to learn from mistakes.

The people of God have to be careful of prophets that say they are not required to use proper biblical protocol or procedure- The prophets under the old covenant were used mostly to bring correction to the Lord's people; but this is not the primary responsibility of the new testament prophet. This is not to say that a prophet cannot give correction but they must comply with the new covenant procedure in Matt. 18 and Gal. 6:1.

The presumption that prophecy must be specific or spectacular is a wrong notion- Normally, prophetic words are general and not with details. This is because prophecy is seldom given to convince someone that the Lord exists or to testify His messages. It is given for revealing His strategic will and for awakening the church to her need of preparing for the Lord's coming. Many prophets turned a good prophecy into a false one by trying to go beyond what they are given and making it spectacular.

The wizard spirit is one of the primary forms of false prophets who try to infiltrate the body of Christ. They usually have a clean professional appearance and often establish their credibility by prophesying information that they know in the natural. One of their chief weapons is flattery- Dan. 11:32. They speak falsehood- Ps. 12:2-3. One of the responsibilities of biblical prophets was to confront, expose false prophets. True new covenant prophets must face up to this responsibility.

The call of the true prophet is to love the truth, righteousness and justice- Jer. 9:23-24; Amos 5:15; Micah 6:6-8; To do all things for the sake of the gospel- 1 Cor. 9:12,23; Tom live for the one who purchased us with His blood- 2 Cor. 5:15; To challenge the kingdom of darkness- Jn. 1:5, 1 Jn. 2:8-11; To live in the power of truth which has been given to us that is greater than any lie- Jn. 1:12-17; Never retreating before the enemies of the cross- Eph. 6:10-18; Overcoming evil with good- Rom. 12:17-21; Proclaiming the truth with our lives- Jn. 12:24-26, Rom. 1:14-18. If these qualities are not in any prophet, RUN.

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