FALSE PROPHETS HAVE CREPT IN UNAWARES

 

FALSE PROPHETS HAVE CREPT IN UNAWARES - AUDIO

A.W. Tozer made the following quote.

“Among the gifts of the Spirit, scarcely is one of greater practical usefulness than the gift of discernment. This gift should be highly valued and frankly sought as being almost indispensable in these critical times.”

If we understand the role of the Church in the end time, how God has chosen her as the agent by which He will establish His Kingdom on earth, we are to take any deception as a serious threat to ourselves, but more importantly to the Kingdom.  The whole focus of deception is to be subtle and clothed in truth, but like a snake, the bite deadly.  In Matthew 24 when the disciples asked the Lord about the signs of the end-time, His first words were…

“Make sure that nobody deceives you…”

Out of all the warnings He could have given, the greatest threat is deception.  This deception comes in the form of false christs and false prophets.  It stands to reason that He was pointing us to through what agents the enemy will cause this great deception.  It also stands to reason that if this is our greatest threat, which I might add, unseen, then the greatest requirement is indeed the gift of discernment.  The gift of discernment comes in various forms.  Some people have the ability to discern things in the spiritual realm.  But others have to grow in their discernment where it is based on our relationship with the Lord and how He teaches us.

Often the thing about deception is that it is presented in a way that would aim directly at the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life.  But the greater deception lies within our own hearts, whether it is by a certain disposition we cling to, our own personal opinion, or our own understanding by which we view this world.  Having then from that disposition, which seems right in our own eyes, to be confronted, it often confronts us to the point where the truth is too hard for us to face.  We choose willful ignorance.  This is because the deception starts within our hearts. We then feel the need to persuade ourselves and come up with various arguments, just as long as we do not have to give up the “golden calve”.  For this very reason He admonished us not to lean on our own understanding and to guard our hearts with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life.  We tend to seek the outward manifestation out there in cyber world, whilst unaware of the disposition of deception in our own hearts.  In Jeremiah 17 we read the following:

Jeremiah 17: 9 - 10

⁹The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

¹⁰ I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Truth always requires of us.  Because no matter how we confess a truth, if we are not living in authenticity in that truth, we are living a lie.  Yes, it sets us free, but from what?  From deception.  The only anti-dote to deception is the truth.  But it is not as simple as knowledge of the truth.  As we know, Jesus is the Truth.  Our love for the truth is made manifest in our fruit, that is to say what we do with it.  It will usually require of us to give something up or to retract what we say.  Therefore, knowing the truth, and even believing the truth is not enough.  The only thing that will suffice is the absolute love of the truth.  Because in loving it, we will not compromise with deception, nor tolerate it.  And as I said, this deception starts with ourselves first.  To the degree that we love the truth, is the degree that we will compromise.  Let me put that another way.  To the degree that we love Him, is the degree we are willing to compromise.  We do not like to hear this, but I am praying that you do.  We know that a little leaven, leavens the whole lump.  This is why Jesus says in Matthew 7 that many will come to Him and say, “Lord, Lord…” and then continue with giving a list of all they have done for Him.  He will say, “I never knew you…”  How is this possible?  How can He say that when they are doing all these wonderful miracles for the Kingdom in His Name?  It does not make sense that He says He does not.  They are professing their faith, of His Lordship, and even doing miracles and yet He says He does not know them.  Remember, we are talking about people that come to Him to plead for mercy, which means these people are deceived.  They believed that they were truly serving Him.  And herein lies an important point.  Miracles does not constitute relationship.  If we find our security in how He uses us, we make a grave mistake.  Our security is in walking in obedience to Him.  This is why He says the following before He addresses those false prophets in Matthew 7.

Matthew 7: 14 - 20

¹⁴ Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

¹⁵ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

¹⁶ Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

¹⁷ Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

¹⁸ A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

¹⁹ Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

²⁰ Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

It is to these false prophets that come to Him and say, “Lord! Lord!” that Jesus is saying “I never knew you…” Even though they did all these wonders. He says we will know these false prophets (which includes teachers) by their fruit.  So obviously the fruit is not the miracles and wonderful works.  Therein lies the deception where the enemy through these miracles and wonders in the Name of Jesus, attacks the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, wolves clothed in sheep’s clothing.  We look to these wonders and we see how sincere they are, coupled with their knowledge of the Word and we approve.  We like what we see and hear.  It is amazing how these wolves in sheep’s clothing are able to have such a great following.  Many years ago Father said to me that I am to be aware of whenever there is some new “thing” in the Church that everybody is flocking after.  He said, “The sheep are called not to follow other sheep, but to follow the Shepherd.”  That gives a new spin on the social media aspect of “following” someone.  Not to mention how eager we are to know how many are following us.  Can you discern the subtle deception in that?  These are demonic entities that are behind social media. 

We lust after miracles even though Jesus said it is an evil generation that seeks a sign.  We do seek these signs as “confirmation” for our idolatry. After all, this person is healing the sick and many are brought to Jesus through his/her ministry.  Please do not think I am referring to the blatant false prophets that is just so obvious like the Prosperity Teachers and the likes.  I’m referring to our everyday Joe or Jolene.  The prophet with the many dreams and visions, and out of this world experiences.  The pastors and teachers with charisma to the likes of a snake charmer.  “They live among us” is not a cliché.  Father did say that He will pour out His Spirit on us and that there will be dreams and visions.  Did you think the enemy was not going to have a counter plan to this outpouring?  Think again.  Because even now we are inundated with the not so obvious false prophets and teachers.  We forget how a little leaven, leavens the whole lump.  And many of us form a bond with these people by our interactions with them and slowly without being aware, we become partial without even knowing it. 

He says we are to know them by their fruit.  This fruit is what is produced by how He prunes us through discipline and trials (John 15. Hebrews 12, James 1.)  Jesus continues in Matthew 7 to sum up the whole of the chapter by describing the qualifications of a wise and a foolish man.  The wise hears and does His words, and the foolish hears, but does not do His words.  The foolish He calls workers of iniquity, which means lawless.  In modern day terms, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law”.  The deception in this present time is of such a high level that I fully believe that even the elect can be deceived as He warned.  With that comes a warning of a flood, a flood of deception that will carry away those who profess to know Him, but do not obey Him.  Which is in itself the carrying away of those who are already deceived and apostate, the lawless ones. 

I wonder by what power are these false prophets doing these miracles and wonderful works.  We know that the anti-Christ will come in the same fashion and we read in 1 John that many anti-Christs have already come.  Indeed it is the anti-Christ spirit that is already at work in these deceivers.  Not to deceive the world, but to deceive the elect, the Church.  Our focus can easily become about the deception in the world, unaware of the deception in the Church.  Once again, I am not talking about the obvious deceivers.  The world is already in the bag, but the Church he desires to devour.  The reality is that much of the Church are still very deceived in following these wolves and do not want to believe the worst of their favorite pastor, teacher or prophet.  They want to hold on to the cyber relationship they have built with him.  The relationship with these wolves is by far more important than their relationship with the one whom they profess as their Lord.  The reality is that they love not the truth.  They love knowledge and understanding.  They love miracles and goosebumps.  They love the “anointing” they feel when these people are singing, all the while being serenaded by sirens in the spirit.  They respect the truth and enjoy finding out about it, but they do not love it and therefore are not jealous for the truth.  Not in their Church, and not in their own personal lives.  Satan is the master deceiver, the father of lies.  Make no mistake that when Jesus says that we are sheep and they are wolves, He is not merely talking about wolves in the context of people that want to deceive, but demonic entities masquerading as humans.  In all honesty, what chance do we have? 

The only antidote to deception is to love the truth. The Truth of His Word, but also He who is the Word, which is both our knowledge and revelation of the Word as He teaches, and our obedience in love of both the letter and the Spirit.  There are some who demand the accuracy of the Word, but have not grown in discernment when it comes to the leading of the still small voice of the Spirit.  Then there are those who depend solely on the still small voice and are willing to ignore the accuracy of the Word.  This is why we need each other, because nobody has all the puzzle pieces.  We are to protect the flock.  The only way to know the Word of God is to abide in it, which means to actually do it.  And the only way to know Him, is to allow Him to work out the reality of His Word in our lives and walk in obedience to the still small voice of the Spirit.  Holiness transcends knowledge of the Word.  It is the embodiment of the Living Word in us and the outworking of that reality in us.  These are those who abide in Him, which includes His Word.  Hence why He says in John 15, “If you love Me, you will do My commandments”.  It’s a “no brainer.”  We are to covet the pure undefiled water of the Word of God.  At the same time He tells us that His Spirit is that living water that flows from our innermost being.  The two are one, the Spirit and the Word.

At the heart of deception lies our heart.  Not the deceiver. Not what the wolves are doing, but our propensity to be deceived.  Our own compromise in our walk with the Lord, that leavens the whole lump, is what opens the door for deception.   I know leaven is the leaven of the Pharisees, but the root of all sin, is pride. The compromise in our lives is what defiles the Word already in us, which opens the door to deception. 

We read the following in 2 Peter 2.

2 Peter 2: 1 – 3

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

² And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

³ And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

What is this way of truth that shall be spoken evil of?  Jesus says, “I am the way”.  And He also said that the way is narrow.  He also said that He came to show the way.  There is no confusion, “the way” is the way of the cross.  The crucifying of the flesh in all its categories, because that flesh which is in enmity with the Spirit (Romans 8), is the very means by which the deception comes first in us.  Just like the Holy Spirit prepares our hearts to receive the seed of His Word and the ability to grow, in the same way, the enemy, the spirit of deception, prepares our hearts through compromise and disobedience, to receive the implanting of the seed of deception.  He prepares our hearts and this is why I am saying, deception starts in our hearts.  Can you understand why it is so vital that we guard our hearts with all diligence?  Crucifying our flesh is crucial to our ability to discern.  So those who speak evil things of the way, are those who say we do not have to die to ourselves, we do not have to deny all and we can “do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law”. Sounds very familiar to me. Satan is known as the Lawless One.  And just so we are perfectly clear, Peter expounds on this a bit more by giving us a description of these false prophets, which includes teachers.

2 Peter 2: 9 – 10; 12 – 22

⁹ The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

¹⁰ But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

¹⁴ Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

¹⁵ Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

¹⁶ But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet.

¹⁷ These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.

¹⁸ For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

¹⁹ While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

²⁰ For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

²¹ For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

²² But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

When we read this it sounds as if we are talking about occultist and the unsaved, but these are those that say, “Lord! Lord!” that brings many to believe in their teachings, dreams and visions.   They are a law unto themselves and therefore speak evil of the way. 

Second Peter has to be read with the book of Jude.  It’s as if they were taking notes together.  Jude has the following to say about these false prophets.

Jude v 3 - 4

³ Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

⁴ For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

These false prophets have crept in unawares in our churches and different media.  They have one aim and that is to turn God’s grace into lasciviousness.  Lasciviousness means to be lacking legal or moral restraints and marked by disregard for strict rules of correctness. Ask yourself, “Does it not stand to reason that these false prophets and teachers would be subtle in their deception?”  They have crept in unawares.  Meaning they have successfully blended in, knowing what to say and how to say it, with a very good knowledge of the Word.  Very sincere with great testimonies of how the Lord loves us all and love them.  Just dripping with sainthood.  However, they are lawless.  He describes them further in verse 16 - 19

¹⁶ These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

¹⁷ But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;

¹⁸ How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

¹⁹ These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

                                             

Can you believe this of your favorite pastor, teacher or prophet?  When we read this, the association is so far removed that we are just simply not willing to believe that this can be true.  But here we have Jesus, Peter and Jude and many more saying, this is who they are…DO NOT BE DECEIVED!

Jesus as the patterned Son came to show us how to discern.  Isaiah says:

Isaiah 11: 1 – 3

¹And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

² And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;

³ And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

The means by which He will judge is by the Sprit.  That Spirit that rests upon Him, that does not trust upon the sight of His eyes, neither by the hearing of His ears.  The next verse says…

But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

Righteousness is His standard, and we who are walking in righteousness and not in lawlessness, will be able to judge righteously as He admonishes in John 7.

John 7: 24

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

Jude ends his letter with the following hope.

²⁰ But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

²¹ Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

²² And of some have compassion, making a difference:

²³ And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

²⁴ Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

²⁵ To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

I cannot stress enough the call to discernment in the time we are in.  Not only because it will draw us away from the truth, but also how the Most High looks upon this. Following false prophets is a covenant with death.  Please hear what the Lord is saying in Isaiah 28.  Most of the chapter is about false prophets and those who follow them.  The blind leading the blind.  You will see the similarity with Matthew 7.  He speaks a judgment over these false prophets and we should not think that He looks lightly on those who follow them.  Judgment is about to come upon the Church.  Understand that this covenant of death is with the anti-Christ.  We do well to heed the Spirit in searching our hearts and to have a fresh look at all those we are subscribed to.  Do we feel that we have the right to enter heaven whilst at the same time following a false prophet, even if we are unware?  Ignorance is not an excuse.  He warned us.  Also read the word Father gave me in the beginning of the year, called "Enough is Enough!"with regard to exposing false prophets. 

Isaiah 28: 14 - 19

¹⁴ Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

¹⁵ Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

¹⁶ Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

¹⁷ Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

¹⁸ And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

¹⁹ From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.