Recognizing
False
Prophets
And
Ministers
By
Tommy Hunter
“For
such are false
apostles,
deceitful
workers,
transforming
themselves
into
apostles
of
Christ.
And no
wonder!
For
Satan
himself
transforms
himself
into an
angel of
light.
Therefore
it is no
great
thing if
his
ministers
also
transform
themselves
into
ministers
of
righteousness,
whose
end will
be
according
to their
works”
(2
Corinthians
11:13-15).
One of
the
greatest
signs
revealing
the
nearness
and
imminence
of the
Lord
Jesus
Christ’s
return
is the
increase
in
apostasy.
The
apostle
Paul
said, in
1
Timothy
4:1:
“Now
the
Spirit
expressly
says
that in
latter
times
some
will
depart
from the
faith,
giving
heed to
deceiving
spirits
and
doctrines
of
demons, speaking
lies in
hypocrisy,
having
their
own
conscience
seared
with a
hot
iron.”
Identifying
those
who are
false
prophets,
false
apostles,
and
false
teachers
usually
ends up
becoming
a very
contentious
subject,
because
there
are so
many
believers
who
idolize
their
“favorite”
celebrity
televangelist;
that
they do
not want
to hear
anything
that
will
question
the
Scriptural
validity
of
televangelist’s
teachings.
There is
so much
misinformation
and
FALSE
teaching
regarding
the
subject
of false
prophets
and
false
teachers.
I have
personally
had my
share of
heated
discussions
with
fellow
believers
when I
have
questioned
what is
being
presented
across
Christian
television
as the
Gospel
of Jesus
Christ.
I’ve
been
told,
based on
Psalm
105:15,
to
“Touch
not
God's
anointed.”
Christians
are
always
taking
this
Scripture
out-of-context;
God was
instructing
them to
not KILL
the
prophets
in that
psalm!
It is
very
clear
throughout
the Word
of God
that we,
as
children
of God,
are
supposed
to
question
everything
we hear
and read
that is
preached
or
taught
by any
minister
of the
Gospel
of Jesus
Christ:
“Beloved,
do not
believe
every
spirit,
but test the spirits,
whether they
are of
God;
because
many
false
prophets
have
gone out
into the world”
(1 John
4:1).
“Then
the
brethren
immediately
sent
Paul and
Silas
away by
night to
Berea.
When
they
arrived,
they
went
into the
synagogue
of the
Jews. These
were
more
fair-minded
than
those in
Thessalonica,
in that
they
received
the word
with all
readiness,
and
SEARCHED
THE
SCRIPTURES
DAILY to
find out whether
these
things
were so. Therefore
MANY
OF THEM
BELIEVED,
and also
not a
few of
the
Greeks,
prominent
women as
well as
men” (Acts
17:10-12).
The
latter
Scripture
refers
to the
Bereans,
who
QUESTIONED
the
teachings
of the
apostle
Paul...and
he wrote
the
majority
of the
New
Testament!
Our Lord
Jesus
Christ
told his
disciples
(not the
world)
in
Matthew
7:15 to
“Beware
of false
prophets,
who come
to you
in
sheep’s
clothing,
but
inwardly
are
ravenous
wolves.”
Jesus
would
have
never
told
them to
beware
of those
who are
blatantly
against
God and
deny His
Deity,
because
He knew
that we
(the
body of
Christ)
would
automatically
know to
avoid
and
dismiss
them
(i.e.
Islam,
Mormonism,
Buddhism,
and
Hinduism).
He is
talking
about
ministers
(wolves
posing
as
sheep)
who say
all the
right
things,
act like
us, and
can
quote
Scriptures
(chapter
and
verse)
at the
drop of
a hat.
We must
be
diligent
to
scrutinize
everything
every
celebrity
preacher/televangelist
says,
and even
our own
local
pastors.
A lot of
truth
and just
a little
bit of
error is
false
doctrine!
Period.
“A
little
leaven
leavens
the
whole
lump”
(Galatians
5:9).
Case in
point,
if you
have a
bottle
of fresh
spring
water
and add
a
teaspoon
of
strychnine;
you
drink
that
water
and it
will
kill
you! It
does not
matter
how
fresh
that
water
is! It
is
exactly
the same
way with
false
prophets
and
teachers!
Their
sweet
words
will
entice
you, and
they
will
throw in
enough
Scriptures
to get
you to
accept
their
heresy
and
drink it
all in,
but
eventually
their
teachings
will
destroy
you
spiritually.
I
recently
saw Joel
Osteen
do an
interview
on the
Today
Show
to
promote
his new
book,
and I
have to
say he
was a
complete
embarrassment
to
Christianity
and the
Gospel
of Jesus
Christ!
During
the
ten-minute
interview,
this
“pastor”
DID NOT
mention
the name
of Jesus
Christ
ONCE!
Savannah
Guthrie,
the
Today
Show
host,
asked
him the
following
question
from a
viewer:
“Pastor
Osteen,
how can
I
reconnect
to God?
I don’t
feel
like I
know
Him.”
The
answer
he
should
have
given
is,
“Call
upon the
name of
the Lord
Jesus
Christ,
accept
His
sacrifice
on the
Cross
for the
remission
of your
sins by
His
blood,
believe
that God
raised
Him from
the dead
and you
shall be
saved.
Then you
will
have a
relationship
with
God.”
But here
is the
answer
that
Joel
“Colgate
toothpaste
commercial”
Osteen,
gave the
woman
looking
for God:
“I
think it
starts
in your
thoughts
and your
heart.
You
should
say,
‘God I
believe
you are
real and
you want
to be a
part of
my
life.’
You talk
to God
like you
talk to
your
friend.
You tell
God I
have a
purpose
and a
destiny
and help
me to
fulfill
it.”
Joel
Osteen
purposely
refused
to
mention
the name
of Jesus
or
salvation
through
His name
during
this
interview!
He was
so vague
about
the God
he’s
supposed
to be
serving
that a
heathen
would
have
thought
it could
be any
god...Allah,
Buddha,
or Zeus!
This
should
NEVER
be the
case
with a
minister
of Jesus
Christ!
1 John
4:2-3
says:
“By
this you
know the
Spirit
of God:
Every
spirit
that
confesses
that
Jesus
Christ
has come
in the
flesh is
of God,
and
every
spirit
that
does not
confess
that
Jesus
Christ
has come
in the
flesh is
not of
God. And
this is
the spirit of
the
Antichrist,
which
you have
heard
was
coming,
and is
now
already
in the
world.”
I assure
you if a
Muslim
imam had
been on
that
show,
there
would
have
been no
question
which
god he
serves!
This is
just one
of many
examples
I could
give of
end-time
apostasy
in the
body of
Christ.
So many
believers
are
deceived
into
thinking
since
celebrity
preachers/televangelists
have
huge
mega
churches
or
millions
of
so-called
“ministry
partners,”
the
blessing
of the
Lord is
on their
ministry
and
their
lives.
This
could
not be
further
from the
truth.
If you
compare
the life
and
ministry
of our
Lord and
Savior
Jesus
Christ
to the
average
televangelist/mega
church
pastor,
then He
(Jesus)
would be
considered
a
failure—based
on the
American
church
standards.
Jesus
started
out with
12
disciples,
which
grew to
70, and
then to
probably
a few
thousand.
Jesus
presented
a
difficult
Word to
His
followers,
words
that
were
hard for
them to
accept
(John
6:60-69:
the
Scriptures
that say
many of
His
disciples
departed
and left
Him).
After
His
resurrection,
1
Corinthians
15:6
says,
He was
seen by
over
five
hundred
brothers
at once.
But when
He told
them to
go to
Jerusalem
to wait
for the
promise
of the
Holy
Spirit,
only 120
showed
up to
the
Upper
Room
(Acts
1:15).
Wow, He
would
have
definitely
been
looked
down
upon by
the
majority
of the
rich and
prestigious
mega
church
pastors/celebrity
preachers/televangelists
for not
having a
following
of
millions
and a
40,000
plus
member
congregation!
But this
is our
Lord’s
response
to those
who
follow
these
ministers
who
preach a
watered-down
gospel
to fill
their
churches
with
thousands
of
people:
“Enter
by the
narrow
gate;
for wide is the
gate and
broad is the
way that
leads to
destruction,
and
there
are many
who go
in by
it. Because
narrow is the
gate and
difficult is the
way
which
leads to
life,
and
there
are few
who find
it”
(Matthew
7:13,
14).
The
gospel
is clear
and
straightforward:
It is
the
Death,
Burial,
Resurrection
and
Return
of the
Lord
Jesus
Christ,
the Son
of the
Most
High
God. And
it is
only,
through
believing
in Him
that we
have
eternal
life.
The
gospel
IS
NOT
you
getting
a
breakthrough
to get a
better
job,
money to
start a
business,
get a
bigger
home, or
a luxury
car as
described
by many
of the
prosperity
preachers.
These
ministers,
through
their
false
gospel,
are in
actuality
causing
covetousness
to
spread
through
the body
of
Christ
like a
cancer!
God has
promised
to take
care of
each of
us
(Matthew
6:25-34)
and we
should
be
content
with
what we
have (1
Timothy
6:8).
I
can only
imagine
what the
Apostles
and Paul
would
say or
think if
they saw
the
American
church
as it is
today.
They
would
probably
“rent/tear
all of
their
clothes
off”
until
they
were
naked!
Nowhere,
absolutely
nowhere
in the
New
Testament
is there
any
justification
for
ministers
of the
gospel
to be
living
“lifestyles
of the
rich and
famous”!
In the
book of
Acts,
the
Apostles
had
nothing
except
food and
shelter
provided
by the
saints.
They
didn’t
become
wealthier
as the
church
grew in
numbers,
as so
many of
the
American
ministers
do
today,
while
members
in their
congregations
struggle
to
barely
make
ends
meet.
And
there is
also
nowhere
in the
Word of
God that
states
money is
needed
to
spread
the
Gospel
of Jesus
Christ!
I
challenge
anybody
to find
it in
the
Scriptures!
You
won’t! I
really
believe
that all
of the
celebrity
preachers/televangelists
were all
originally
called
by God
to
preach
the
gospel,
but
99.99%
of them
have
fallen
prey to
“the
deceitfulness
of
riches”
(Matthew
13:22)
and they
don’t
even
realize
it. What
the
majority
of them
now
preach
is now
clouded
and
influenced
by
dollar
signs.
If the
apostle
Paul
were
alive
today,
most of
the
celebrity
televangelists
would
tell him
to get a
marketing
director,
and sell
his
epistles
for
$29.99
each!
Jesus,
Paul,
and the
Apostles
in the
epistles
would
not have
emphasized
over and
over
again
for us
to
beware
of false
prophets
and
teachers
if there
were not
a chance
of us
being
deceived
by them.
And
unfortunately
that is
exactly
what is
happening
today.
The
great
falling
away
(apostasy)
is
taking
place
right
now,
just as
Paul
prophesied
in 2
Thessalonians
2:3. We
ARE
in the
Laodicean
church
era
(Revelation
3:15-21)!
And as
we draw
closer
to the
Rapture
of the
church,
apostasy
will
become
more
prevalent!
There is
absolutely
no doubt
about
it! I
admonish
you to
test the
spirits!
Don’t
believe
and
accept
everything
you hear
without
comparing
it to
the Word
of God!
As the
coming
of the
Lord
Jesus
draws
nearer,
it is
incumbent
upon
each of
us to be
rooted
and
grounded
in His
Word! We
must not
be
ignorant
of the
devices
the
enemy
uses to
destroy
our
faith!
“But
there
were
also
false
prophets
among
the
people,
even as
there
will be
false
teachers
among
you, who
will
secretly
bring in
destructive
heresies,
even
denying
the Lord
who
bought
them, and
bring on
themselves
swift
destruction.
And many
will
follow
their
destructive
ways,
because
of whom
the way
of truth
will be
blasphemed.
By
covetousness
they
will
exploit
you with
deceptive
words;
for a
long
time
their
judgment
has not
been
idle,
and
their
destruction
does
not
slumber”
(2 Peter
2:1-3).
“For
when
they
speak
great
swelling words of
emptiness,
they
allure
through
the
lusts of
the
flesh,
through
lewdness,
the ones
who have
actually
escaped
from
those
who live
in
error.
While
they
promise
them
liberty,
they
themselves
are
slaves
of
corruption;
for by
whom a
person
is
overcome,
by him
also he
is
brought
into
bondage.
For if,
after
they
have
escaped
the
pollutions
of the
world
through
the
knowledge
of the
Lord and
Savior
Jesus
Christ,
they are
again
entangled
in them
and
overcome,
the
latter
end is
worse
for them
than the
beginning.
For it
would
have
been
better
for them
not to
have
known
the way
of
righteousness,
than
having
known it, to
turn
from the
holy
commandment
delivered
to them.
But it
has
happened
to them
according
to the
true
proverb: A
dog
returns
to his
own
vomit,
and, a
sow,
having
washed,
to her
wallowing
in the
mire” (2
Peter
2:18-22).
Blessings
to you
all!
MARANATHA!
Tommy
Hunter
cthunter63@gmail.com
Emboldened
Scripture
added by
the
author
for
emphasis.