It is established in the Word that the great problem of false prophets and false teachers will come forth in the end time. We are aware that things, which do have a great deal of truth to them, will be so beguiling that people will follow after them and be led into deception, thus missing some of the greatest things that God is doing. I have become aware of how many things can come which are so plausible and enticing that if you are not alert, you will be deceived.
There was a girl who was very young, she had discovered some wheat lying on the floor in an old house and she picked up the wheat and ate it, typical of what children did who lived on the farm. It was rat poison; and she died a very painful death. This particular rat poison was ninety-nine percent pure wheat, but that little invisible tasteless coating on it made it so deadly.
Satan’s tactics work the same way. When he brings forth something in this hour that will kill a saint of God, he makes it like rat poison: ninety-nine percent pure wheat and one percent poison.
It is that one percent of Satan in it that kills. Satan comes as an angel of light, the Apostle Paul tells us, and if it were possible the very elect would be deceived by the false prophets and false Christs that Jesus said would appear in this end time (II Corinthians 11:14, Matthew 24:24).
Therefore, it is important for us to look at the few Scriptures that give us a yardstick by which we can test the true and false prophets and teachers and be able to understand more about them.
This study is of interest to us because some of the doctrines that are taught by these false teachers are rather amazing. They are so close to the truth God is revealing that at first you will think it is the same message and the same teaching. But if you follow after it, you will soon see that it is of another spirit. You must be able to try the spirits to see whether they be of God or not (I John 4:1).
The passage we will study in this lesson is found in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7:15–23. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. This is the picture that the Lord gives: The false always has the image of being a sheep; it will never come as something that is false and dangerous.
As we go into the future, it is going to be difficult to realize that false prophets, false Christs, and deadly insidious witchcraft will come to try the very souls of the saints of God and to deceive them if it were possible.
Outwardly will be the sheep’s clothing, but down inwardly are the ravening wolves set to devour the flock. And if you look closely, you will find certain signs of the deception.
One of the deadliest experiences that a certain church passed through was the witchcraft and deception that came up from within it. This was especially deceptive because of the fact that it was founded upon a very real experience that a person had with God.
To the Pastor, the experience was so convincing and so real that he did everything he could to help the individual. Even when he sensed that the problem was so deep that dealing with it was almost like trying to stop an avalanche with your bare hands, he still tried.
Now in retrospect, he can see many things that actually occurred. This individual constantly preyed upon the people, repeatedly asking for money until several thousand dollars were nibbled away from different ones, even from those who had very little. Not only was this true on the financial plane, but in other ways the person was constantly reaching in.
Several people complained to the Pastor that their best books and other items had disappeared. The spirit of the wolf was continually working and preying upon the Body in various ways.
The Lord told us that by this one sign we will be able to know the false: It always appears to be the sheep, but down underneath it is devouring. Not only does it devour the substance of the saints, but it devours the saints themselves; it comes directly against them.
By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? When you get right down to it, the test of fruit is the real acid test of the true and the false.
You cannot go by the signs and wonders that a false prophet produces. “Well,” you say, “he performed a miracle.” That does not prove a thing.
“But this is a good man, this is a good woman; they’re healing the sick and blessing the people in their health.” That does not mean anything either.
The time will come when they say, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we do many mighty works in Thy name?” Remember that miracles of the supernatural are not necessarily an indication of whether the spirit behind them is true or false; rather it is the ability of an individual to reproduce after his own kind that is important.
You can breed a horse and an ass and the offspring will be a mule. But if you try to breed two mules, they will not produce anything. That is the end of the line because a mule cannot reproduce itself.
Spiritual things, like the mule that is produced, can come forth as monstrosities. They are Ishmaels. They may have had something of God in their begetting, but there was a dedication to evil that came into their hearts and the result is a spiritual “mule,” something that dead-ends. They cannot reproduce anything good.
On the other hand, a true prophet can reproduce a prophet. Actually, only God reproduces prophets, but He anoints a prophet to produce another prophet.
The Lord told the prophet Elijah to go and throw his mantle upon Elisha. Immediately Elisha chopped up his wooden plow, killed and cooked his oxen, and called in the relatives for a feast. It was the end of farming for Elisha—he was going to be a prophet. He turned his back on everything of the past and never looked back to the farm again.
He set off with Elijah and it was written of him that all those years he poured water on the hands of Elijah (II Kings 3:11) he had the spirit of a servant, because he was determined to be a prophet.
Finally, the time came when Elijah said, “It was revealed that I will be translated; God is going to take me. What shall I give you?” Elisha answered, “I just want a double portion of the Spirit that is resting upon you.”
Elijah studied that. “It’s a hard request,” he replied, “but stick close by me and you will get it” (II Kings 2:9). That is exactly what Elisha did. The Bible records that twice as many miracles of raising the dead were performed by Elisha than by Elijah. He had twice as much. Elisha was a prophet of the double portion. How did it come? Because Elijah was a true prophet, Elisha was a true prophet.
On the other hand, what happened to that which Elisha started to produce? When he saw the spirit going wrong in Gehazi his servant, he cursed him with Naaman’s leprosy (II Kings 5).
The prophet would not allow the ministry to be propagated any further if that man was going to move in covetousness and with a lying, deceitful spirit. He was determined not to produce a false prophet, so he put an end to it.
I believe that God grants a true prophet the very authority to stop that which is coming up under him if it becomes perverted and moves in a satanic channel.
He has the authority to stop it, just like the men do who are in control of one of those missiles that is shot into space. If it gets off its course, they can simply push a button and blow up the craft—end of the whole project! This is what God granted Elisha to do.
There is one thing that only a true prophet can do: Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit he can lay his hands on a man and produce a true prophet.
In the first chapter of Genesis, verses 24 and 25, the principle is established that everything brings forth after its own kind. God spoke that this is the way it would be. There may be a variety of breeding within a species, but it will still bring forth after its own kind.
A true prophet brings forth a true prophet. A false prophet brings forth nothing because he is spiritually barren and sterile, since God is not in him; and Satan does not have creative life in himself—only death. He has death in him, and he can produce nothing but death.
This gives you the one acid test of a true or a false prophet: What is the fruit of his ministry? What is he producing? Can you point to any person that he has ministered to who is moving in some ministry, who has revelations or signs, and is growing in faith?
This is the test of it. Some people will point to a man with a great ministry who travels around healing the sick and doing many great things. But study that man closely. Is he producing any other ministries? Is he bringing forth after his own kind? If he is not, then you might conclude that this man is an Ishmael. He may be a freak development which, like a spiritual mule, is the end of the line. He cannot produce anything further because it is not the true begetting of God. I hope you are able to understand that.
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. It is a law of kind. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. There will be an ultimate destruction of the evil, but there are forebodings and foreshadowings of it occurring even before eternity. Something always seems to devour and destroy the ministry that is false.
Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them. You are going to know them—no question about it. In Revelation 2:2, John talks to the church at Ephesus saying, … thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars. How could they try them? by testing to see what they produced.
If a man is a true apostle, he can lay foundations. If he is not a true apostle, he cannot lay any foundations. If the brothers are true elders, they can minister life to the people, lead them with authority, and produce that same spirit within the people. If they are not true elders, they cannot. If the ministries are true prophets, they not only can prophesy, but their words have life in them, like the seed planted which produces and brings forth growth in the lives of the people.
Samuel was such a true prophet, knowing the voice of the Lord from the days of his youth. After Samuel started the school of the prophets, how much fruit did he produce? Whole crowds came forth, all moving as prophets. They came to be called the sons of the prophets and they continued on through the days of Elijah and Elisha.
Samuel started something moving that absolutely did not end, so powerful and so forceful were the great bands of prophets who came up under him. The true prophet produces prophets. The true ministry produces ministries. This does not mean that it will happen automatically with no effort on your part. But if you are a hungry young man or woman, all you have to do is join hard and fast to the body of people who are being led by ministries, and it will not be very long before you will begin to emerge in the same ministry yourself.
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. This is important: “Not every one that saith, Lord, Lord.” This refers not only to profession, but also to many people who preach and teach and do many things, but are not necessarily doing the will of God. They often are doing their own will.
This, again, is the test of a true prophet and a false prophet. A false prophet has his own program, his own plan, and he goes about it at his own initiative. He lays out his own plan and schedule with a great deal of ambition.
But a true prophet does only those things that God shows him to do. A true apostle goes where God tells him to go. He is under the direct guidance of God.
Take care to remember this point:
There are many good, true ministries and many false ministries, but there are even ministries who are in between. These ministries that are so mixed are like Ishmael things—they had a godly ancestry, but something went astray, and they became children of bondage.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Notice the two thoughts emphasized in those verses: First, by the name of the Lord they were casting out demons, and second, they were prophesying in the name of the Lord. Do you think that one devil can cast out other devils? Do you think people can cast out demons by the power of the devil?
When He was accused of casting out demons by Beelzebub, Jesus said, “A kingdom divided against itself will not stand” (Matthew 12:25). But let me show you a different insight into this. Understand the fact that Jesus was casting out demons and they were staying out forever.
But Matthew 12:44, 45 reveals this principle: If a person from which a devil has been cast out remains empty, like a house swept and garnished, a vacuum is created there; and that same devil will go out, find seven other devils worse than itself, come back, and fill the house. The latter end is worse than the beginning.
Now, if you were Satan, would you consent to one devil being cast out of a person, knowing that if the vacuum remained in him, seven other devils would come back and fill him? Of course, you would. The devils know what they are doing.
This is actually what takes place many times. A ministry might appear to be a great prophet of God. Everyone praises God because he is casting out devils, but beware if there is no ministry of God put into the vacuum. If nothing is there to fill the vacuum, in only a matter of time seven devils will come back to fill the situation where there was only one before. The casting out of demons does not necessarily prove that the ministry is truly of God.
This same principle can apply to prophesying. Have you wondered about these people who place their entire emphasis on prophecy? Are these true prophets coming on the scene?
One man, I recall, spoke all kinds of prophecies (one, for instance, claiming that the lost continent of Atlantis would emerge again in the Caribbean); and though some never happened, many of them did come to pass. But that does not mean one thing.
Even a few centuries ago in Europe, there was a man who could walk through mining departments, and as he put his hands over rocks, he could tell whether silver, gold, or copper was deposited in them and the exact amount of it. This man was so clairvoyant and had such sharp perception that he could see exactly what was happening in one place while he was many miles away. Without a doubt he had amazing powers, but did that make him a true prophet? Absolutely not! In fact, he became the father of many things that were definitely false and very satanic.
In our day, there is a great deal of prophecy coming forth. There are many amazing accounts of predictions, and prophecies about various events actually coming to pass. How do they do it? by devil power.
A person may even prophesy in Christ’s name, cast out devils, and do many mighty works, but none of this means that he is a true prophet of God.
The one final test is this: What do these prophets produce? What is the fruit of what they do? What comes out of what they are? This is important because there will be so many things sent to deceive you.
A number of years ago, a ministry came to the city where I lived and several people, I know went to see him, he had such physic ability they even if he had his back toward you, he could call out your name. What fruit finally came out of that move? I know of nothing. I do not know of one genuine ministry that came forth from it.
Another ministry I heard of took all the castaways and the rejects; all the ones who could not make it anyplace else suddenly flocked to him. He seemed to have a great company of followers: ministers, missionaries, and those whom he had proselyted and swallowed up.
But because it was false, all of a sudden it turned sterile and dead, like the mule that could not reproduce. It never has produced one fruitful thing. They would advertise and put on a glamorous show to try to attract a crowd, but nothing of God comes out of it.
They talked about the school that would produce apostles and prophets in six months, but to my knowledge not one person came out of that school moving in a ministry.
A personally know of another ministry in the city I was born in, I went to his church for a while, but I noticed he started to get off, he then went on the radio, and this man could preach, but I knew his preaching, because hisw whole stlye of ministry changed, instead of coming under the conviction of God in his ministry, he became one of those bless me prophets, and he got a large following, and started a building fund, and was going to have Fred price come to our city and dedicated it. He raised a million dollars and left the city, and everybody lost their money and couldn’t do anything about it.
By their fruits ye shall know them. This is a very solemn issue. We tend to be tolerant and say, “Live and let live. They preach a reasonably good doctrine.”
Be careful because you must test it to see if it has life in it, to see if it is something that produces life. This is not the day of merely having doctrines or signs or wonders or miracles, but this is the day that God wants a Living Word brought to the people—a word that produces life and reality within them—and that, only God can speak.
You can prophesy in His name and do signs and wonders in His name, but only God in a man can speak a Living Word which creates the miracle of what He wants to produce in the lives of the people. That is the answer. That is the TEST of a true and false Prophet.
Let me give you a few chapters that I encourage you to read. II Peter 2 should be studied because it is dedicated to the false prophets and false teachers who will come in the end time. It speaks also of their judgments. In case you tend to be a little tolerant toward them, see what God says about them, and you will be aware that very severe judgment is going to come against them.
What does a false prophet, a false teacher, or a false ministry produce? Jeremiah 23:2: Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.
Jeremiah 50:6: My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.
Ezekiel 34:2: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
The Lord also described the true and the false in John 10:12: But he that is a hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth and the wolf catcheth him and scattereth the sheep.
This is important for you to grasp. This is the difference between the true and the false: the true stands there and fights through, even at the price of self-sacrifice. It stays there because it knows it has a responsibility before God.