The Fruit of a False Prophet Obedience part 3

The Fruit of a False Prophet: Obedience part 3
Obeying God willingly
By David Cox

Summary: This study will investigate what the fruit (life and ministry) of a false prophet. Part 3 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).

1John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
Luke 11:2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 1John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

One of the distinguishing differences between a true man of God and a fraud is that of a godly and pious lifestyle. A true man of God lives like Christ because he loves Jesus. A false prophet will use religion, and he will loudly and frequently create and reinforce his own image of righteousness in order to control and use people. When it comes down to the nitty gritty of the two, a true man of God is a man of prayer. This goes hand in hand with humility. People ask him to pray for their needs and situations, and after a while things go right. When you ask for a false prophet to pray, he has no recourse with God, and in fact he doesn’t even really know God personally. He knows that. God knows that. And you are a fool if you cannot figure that out about your minister. What happens is that the false prophet will arrange “miracles of prayer” centered around reinforcing his own fame and power, proving that the mighty hand of God is on him and his ministry. But we go back to basics, did your life result in divine intervention because of his prayers? No.

1John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Very salvation is attributed to the person who sets the main goal of their life as doing God’s will. When you see a minister centered and obsessed with doing his own will and getting his own way with people, the church, and even in his own marriage and family, you are staring at a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

1John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 1John 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1John 2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 1John 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

The identification of a true Christian is that he is obsessed with finding and doing God’s will. If this is true on a lower level of just being a normal Christian, it is a thousand times more true on a ministry level.

True is is as True does

1John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 1John 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 1John 3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. 1John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 1John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 1John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 1John 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

There is a sure sign of who is a good minister of God and who is a false prophet. That sign is that as they try to identify as a man of God, they act the part. On a normal believer level, God offers that this is true, and as a minister of God it is even more true.

What does this mean? First of all, ministers who use unrighteous methods, activities, or where you see unrighteousness in them, they are not God’s ministers. They are either sinning (not good, but better than the other option) or they are just false prophets.

So let me lay out some signs of a true minister. He is honest. He does not use deception and manipulation, “psychology” if you will in order to get what he wants. He is mature enough to lose some times in church matters, and allow other people to put forth something, and if God’s people agree in the majority, he will let it go, and get on board with it although that was not how he thought it should go.

Spiritual maturity is not much different from just plain old maturity. Immature people have a time trying to always get their way. They “use people” instead of interacting with people and having spiritually fruitful and blessed interaction with them.

A man of God is a person that shines Christ in his actions, attitudes, and speech. His moral character is exactly what you would expect Christ to be. He doesn’t cheat. He doesn’t cut corners. He is not afraid of personal examination because literally he doesn’t have anything to hide. He may not be perfect, but on close examination you will find a mature Christian struggling to be like Christ. Mistakes are admitted, and effort is put forth to not repeat them. He is not an egotist, and he is not proud.

1John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 1John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 1John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

A mature man of God is a person that has experienced personal spiritual victory in his own life. Moreover, it is not worn on his shoulder either, i.e. he doesn’t brag about his personal struggles and victories (or loses). But they are there, his discouragements, and his victories. The key to discerning a man of God from a false prophet is first understanding the will of God for yourself, especially about the work of God and church, and then seeing how the minister seeks that will of God both for his own life and his administration of the church.

The idea of “are not grievous” is that there is joy in the person’s heart in obeying God’s way of doing things. Those ministers who use deceit, manipulations, bribes and improper motivation are all false prophets.

Think for a minute. If a church gives away things in order to get kids to come to church, then what is the motivation that they are teaching the kids? “Come on our bus so that you can get hamburgers, candy, prizes, and toys.” Did Jesus or his followers ever use those kinds of motivational tactics? Never. And God’s people don’t use them today either. The way we do ministry tells a lot about whether we are God’s true ministers or not.