Ads
Summary: This study will investigate what the fruit (life and ministry) of a false prophet. Part 2 of this series is simply an introduction and begins by contrasting a man of God’s fruit (piety and holiness) with the false prophet’s fruit (sin, not doing God’s will).
For an overview, see
False Prophets and Teachers Overview
Contents
The Fruit of a false prophet’s Doctrine is bad.
John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
God desires that we bear fruit that is the moral character of God. All the fruit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 is essentially the moral character of God. We can consider this “morality.” Not only is this morality a little bit here and there, but it is God working in us to make it abundant in our life.
Ask yourself if the minister in question causes these spiritual manifestations by his preaching, teaching, actions, attitude, by the spiritual environment that he produces in his ministry and church, and by the actual example of his own life? Ministers that stir and cause conflicts, that hurt people’s feelings, that have a short fuse, that simply are not good people, that don’t do good to others, and provoke good works between the brethren, that have no meekness nor self-control, these are the false prophets by God’s definition. The fruit or end of their ministry and their own life is not a fruit that a true Christian would produce.
It is amazing and very sad that most Christians never analyze their church leaders, their pastor, and those shining, dynamic, charismatic ministers they follow by this standard. I think of a poor country church with a humble, lowly and meek pastor. He is not all bright and shiny, glory and fame, and his people despise him, ignore him, or simply refuse to follow him because he is not like some TV evangelist, or some “great man of God” that they adore. By Christ says, the false prophets will proclaim great spiritual works and achievements in the name of God, and on judgment day, God will send them all straight to hell. Yet God identifies for us the true ministers of God as being those humble, almost invisible men of God that reject and shun all that type of glory, fame, and excess. How deceived and misled are the majority of Christians today!
How far into error can you go and never see the light! Jesus Christ is completely God, and he is great and has great fame and power. Yet he came as a humble servant, and Christianity today is so drugged up with the hype of Satan’s ministers, that we simply cannot bear to follow a humble and meek man like our Lord! The people who refuse this kind of pastor and spiritual example are themselves deceived and going to hell. Change people! Change your mindset! Change your goals, your heros, your spiritual examples, and if need be, change your churches!
Can you honesty follow the spiritual and moral example of your pastor?
Many times people want to know if they are in a bad church, and they write presenting certain events that they deem incorrect by their pastor, and then they ask me if they should leave their church. They already know the answer, but they cannot take the plunge to do what needs to be done, to separate themselves from a false prophet. I don’t know why this is so har, but it seems to always be a tremendous fight within people.
Heb 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
1Pet 5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight [thereof], not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. 5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all [of you] be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
1Cor 16:15 I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and [that] they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,) 16 That ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with [us], and laboureth.
ERROR #3 Don’t look at the preacher, follow God even if the preacher is a bad example of things.
Just where this lie of hell entered into popularity among wolf led churches, I don’t know, but it is the exact cover story of every hypocritical wolf-pastor.
If you cannot in all honesty say that you are striving to be the image of Christ, just like your pastor is trying to do in his own life, then you should get out of that church and get right with God. Why do you think anything good will come of you staying and learning the moral standards of somebody that you already know is corrupted and non-Christlike? Nothing good will come of that. The false prophet will make excuses and build walls (church involvement in anything from church finances and adminstration to church ministries) to make it difficult to impossible for good Christians to leave a bad church. You must shed all that, and deny the viability and biblicalness of all such ministries and just leave.
You must see and realize what Christ taught in Matthew 7, even though there is a constant boasting about what a great ministry this man has, he is a worker of iniquity, that is probably not even saved. You must separate yourself from him and his ministry at all costs, no matter what consequences it may cause you afterwards. The man at the head of the ministry, and the leaders and teachers of the church ministries MUST ALL BE EXAMPLES OF CHRIST, or you need to find a new church.
He does not do nor respect the will of God.
The minister of God (like Jesus) dedicates himself wholely to the Will of God
John 4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
Jesus saw as a summary of his whole work, to do the will of God the Father. Inherent in this is an exclusion of a person’s discerning or inventing what he is to do. We do not make up or create ministries. We do what God has already decided and told us to do. While there is no lack of new innovative ministries springing up every day, all of these are not God’s plan, they are not God’s will. What is God’s will?
What is God’s will?
John 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is amazing that so many ministers and ministries and churches simply cannot get this right. God’s will is not “up for grabs”, for anybody and everybody to dictate what it is. God concentrates and focuses on all believing in Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, in the resurrection of Jesus as a foundational belief which will cause regeneration and everlasting life. This is our gospel. Those who don’t focus and concentrate principally on this are false prophets. They may have some really good point in other doctrines, but the error is still there, because they don’t preach the Bible’s gospel.
It is just as much in error and wrong to preach some non-gospel portion of Scripture as your gospel as to preach that a stone or golden image will save. An alternative is a misdirection, and it is the work of a false prophet.
Submission to God’s will is before understanding.
John 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or [whether] I speak of myself.
Understanding and knowing God’s biblical doctrine and truth are conditioned on dedication and submission to the will of God. There is a great condition plaed on ministers (and members) in that God will only give discernment to a person when he personally submits and dedicates himself to finding, understanding, and always obeying God’s will. When a minister expresses a light regard for God’s will, or that he is not really interested in God’s will “much”, you are looking at a false prophet.
God will not hear nor help those who don’t do His will.
John 9:31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.
This principle basically means that God is not the power behind a self-oriented minister. When he excludes God, God’s Word, and God’s will as the principle focuses of his ministry, this man is operating by the power of Satan. True mininsters of God will always have a tremendous respect, and will dedicate long, hard hours and laborious efforts in understand God’s word, and many hours in prayer and meditation in trying to understand from God’s work what is His will.
If a minister is not completely absorbed by the word and will of God, he is most probably a false prophet. Some people are not good students. But every true pastor will be a good student of God’s word. His eternal life depends on it. His ministry depends on it. If he doesn’t care about getting the true divine message from the Scripture, then he already has his own invention, and because he has settled on giving his people his own ideas, he doesn’t need (in his mind) to know God’s will . This attitude will reveal the false prophet to us.
-end-
Continue to part 3
- Why so many Crises Today?
- What is Prophecy?
- The Fruit of a False Prophet Part 2
- Pastoral Covetousness OT
- Pastoral Covetousness NT
- Ministerial Requirement Not Covetous
- Good Shepherd Sacrifices
- Fruit of a False Prophet and the Bible
- FP: Using Scripture or Following Scripture?
- FP: The Fruit of a False Prophet Obedience part 3
Knapp The Ethics of Eternal Punishment is a single chapter work on the everlasting or eternity of hell. Christopher Knapp is a brethren author.
PDF: Knapp The Ethics of Eternal Punishment
theWord: Knapp The Ethics of Eternal Punishment
MySword: Knapp The Ethics of Eternal Punishment
eSword: Knapp The Ethics of Eternal Punishment