Hundredfold Ministries, Int'l

In this chapter I want to deal with a very serious subject. It is the false prophet in the body of Christ. God's judgment has always been, and still is, very harsh on the false prophet. Furthermore, God is very hard on those who encourage false prophecy and false prophets. He has never had a lot of patience with false prophets nor with those who want to hear the lies of the false prophet.

For purposes of this chapter I define a false prophet as one who uses the prophetic gifts for personal gain, self-aggrandizement, and/or deception. A false prophet is one who has a total disregard for truth or scriptural veracity. His source of prophecy is his own mind or the tree of death referred to in chapter four, that is, his own mind, or the satanic realm.

Let's first examine the question: Why would God allow a false prophet to come into His church? The answer can be found in Deuteronomy, chapter 13:

Thus, from this passage, we know not only that there are false prophets in the church, we also know why they are there. They are there to test our hearts.

Old Testament Judgment on False Prophets

When most of us think of the false prophet, we think of some of the prophets of the Old Testament. Remember, God was trying to shape Israel into a nation that worshipped Him, that was obedient to His commands, and that was a nation which would be fit to receive his Son, Jesus, as the Messiah.

God's word in the Old Testament was very direct and wrathful against the false prophet. Nowhere in the Old Testament is the false prophet more challenged and condemned than in Jeremiah. Let us look at what the Lord had to say through the prophet Jeremiah on this subject.

It is interesting and very sobering to note how many times the word of the Lord about false prophets also included God's judgment on those who encourage and listen to the false prophets:

Clearly God has very little patience or mercy on either the false prophets or on those who seek them out and encourage them.

New Testament Judgment on False Prophets

This stern judgment on the false prophet and false prophecy carries over very consistently into the New Testament. In fact, Jesus himself speaks forth judgment on false prophets. He strongly condemned them:

These are verses with awesome implications. Jesus is telling us plainly that false prophets will not only prophesy in His name, but they will drive out demons and perform many miracles. Yet He does not know them. Jesus is telling His church that a truly false prophet has power to perform miracles but that power does not come from God. If that power does not come from God, what is its source? Obviously the only answer is that it is Satanic or demonic power--the tree of death. Thus, Jesus is warning His church through the ages that we will have false prophets in our midst who will actually be using demonic power to mislead the church.

And how long will these false prophets be operating in the Church of Jesus Christ? They will be in our midst until Jesus returns! In Matthew, chapter 24, Jesus tells us that false prophets will be with us as one of the signs of the end of the age and His second coming:

This is very sobering, isn't it? We have Jesus warning us that we will have false prophets among us and that they are evildoers sent to deceive even the elect. That is their mission. Hence it is extremely important, and in fact, absolutely necessary, that we be alert to the false prophet and false prophecy. And, once we determine that we are dealing with a false prophet, a truly false prophet, it is absolutely incumbent on us to move with great authority in Christ to deal with that person.

How May We Recognize the False Prophet?

Now that we know how dangerous the false prophet is, and that we must reject that person's message, the question becomes, “How can we recognize the truly false prophet from the person with a prophetic call who is still in training and just makes mistakes as part of his or her learning process?” This is a very good question.

I begin the answer by dividing prophets into three categories. First, there is that group who are genuinely called to be prophets but who are still immature and in the learning process. Remember, it takes years to develop a mature prophetic call. The second category are those who are moving rather strongly in that call but who have gotten into error. In other words, the call has become bent, usually by pride and/or some doctrinal error. The third category is that of the truly false prophet. Those who fall into this group are no longer in the training process. They have become so bent in the call that they willfully speak out false prophecy. I believe it is this third category of false prophets about which Jesus speaks out so strongly.

Let us examine the characteristics of each of these categories.

1. The Prophet in Training

This person makes mistakes during his prophetic growth and training. He has difficulty learning when to speak out and when to be still. He is just learning that not every thought that comes into his head is a word from the Lord. This person is still usually judgmental and can be very critical. However, most importantly, this person is teachable. This person knows he or she has a great deal to learn and is willing and eager to accept correction and teaching when appropriate.

2. The Called Prophet Who Is Bent

This person is like a tree that has been bent or malformed in its growth. Instead of standing straight, it is crooked and misshapen. A called prophet who is unteachable, or who is not well grounded in Scripture, or who is prideful, is very likely to become bent during his growth. This person lacks balance. He very often does not understand or honor the other calls and gifts in the church. My observation of this category of person is that he is very judgmental and condemning. This person has probably studied the prophets enough to realize that sin and repentance are a large part of the call of the prophet. This understanding can lead to the belief that repentance is the answer to everything.

The two most apparent traits of this bent prophet is that he or she has a very strong will and is much harder to correct than the prophet in training. Tragically, this person is on the road to becoming a full fledged false prophet. If the bent prophet is not straightened, that person, if he or she continues as is, will 1) ultimately become a false prophet, or 2) quit the church all together.

3. The False Prophet

The truly false prophet is one who has become totally unteachable and uncorrectable. He or she will not submit to any authority and believes that if anyone disagrees with him, that person is wrong and usually becomes “an enemy.” Often this person has become known in the church and prophesies for his own gain, be it money, more power, prestige, or whatever personal motive drives him. There will be an overwhelming pride. And there is often great personal sin in this person's life.

It is this third category of person that we are repeatedly warned about throughout both the Old and New Testament. It is this person that Jesus calls a wolf in sheep's clothing. And it is this person who may be able to perform miracles. This person is often able to use psychic skills to foretell the future. But remember, the source of these powers is the demonic realm. Jesus said, “By their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matt 7:16 NIV).

Or even if this person is not yet that powerful, he or she may use secretive, devious, or manipulative means to gain control over others. This is especially true in the area of personal prophecy. This person may say something like, “No one else will be able to understand this word . . . this is for you alone. You must not tell anyone about this word”! Remember, we must teach our congregations the necessity of submitting all prophecy to the appropriate people for judgment. No secrets!

It is this person that God tells us that we must reject. If we are in leadership in a church or Christian group, it is this person that we must boldly confront and strongly deal with in order to protect the church. If necessary, we must turn this false prophet out of fellowship to stop the harm being done. As church leaders, and maturing members of the body of Christ, we must always be alert to this type of person. Remember, being alert is a part of the armor of God in Ephesians, chapter six.

The more we come to understand these different categories, the more we can move with wisdom in dealing with prophetic error. Of course, if we are dealing with a prophet in training who is trying his or her best to be faithful, we must move with great love, compassion, and encouragement. If, on the other hand, we are dealing with a truly false, willful, unteachable prophet, we must move with unyielding godly righteousness to stop that person.

One last point, if a prophet comes to your church or organization, learn what you can about his or her history. It is important to know at least the general history of anyone who is prophesying in your church. This can be done by asking a few questions . . . and listening carefully to the answers.

Some of the questions I would ask are: “What church did you come from before you came here? How long were you a member of that church? What other churches have you been involved with? When and how long were you involved with them?”

If you are not satisfied with the answers to these questions, contact the pastor of the prior church this person has attended. Ask him about this person's involvement and history in that church. By this simple process much can be learned about the past history of the person in question. Please note that I am not suggesting you become suspicious and act as a detective. I am simply suggesting that when someone begins to prophesy in your church, if you do not know him well, in light of Deuteronomy 13:1-3, wisdom dictates that you learn as much as you can about him.

Aren't We Glad We're Under Grace!

There is a doctrinal error which has crept into much of the western church today which I want to address. This doctrine is very serious because it dismisses or down plays prophetic error. It goes something like this: “Believers in the Old Testament were under the law. Because they were under the law, if a prophet prophesied a false prophecy he was stoned to death. But now we're under New Testament grace. Under grace it's alright to be wrong.

Improper Handling of Prophetic Error

To illustrate the danger of this error I will tell a true story. We live in Southern California, a place where earthquakes occur frequently. My wife, Carolyn, was present at a local church meeting a few years ago when this error was expressed. The young pastor of the church told this story. It seems he had attended a large prophetic conference several months before where a “prophet” prophesied that there would be a very big, destructive earthquake in Southern California within the next 30 days. All present at the conference took this prophecy to be the word of the Lord. One man, who was scheduled to leave his family in California and take a long trip, became very frightened and didn't want to go on his trip. Although very worried he did go, and the young pastor said, “It turned out alright because there was no earthquake.” But the pastor then went on to assure the group that the prophet was truly a genuine prophet, he just made a mistake. The pastor showed no concern--he brushed this false prophecy off by saying, “Aren't we glad we don't stone prophets anymore? Aren't we glad we're under grace?” Some people laughed and everyone present (except my wife!) agreed.

The Church's Spiritual Authority

This is error. Nowhere in Scripture are we given the liberty to simply brush off wrong prophecy with a reference to New Testament grace. Now, in one sense, our young pastor was correct. In the time of the Old Testament, the leaders of Israel did have the authority to stone a false prophet to death.

But by the time Jesus lived on earth, the Israelites no longer had power over civil matters. Israel was an occupied land. The Romans were the civil authority. The Jews were still the spiritual authority to be sure. They still presided over their own religious matters. But the imposition of the death penalty, by whatever means, was reserved for the Romans as the civil authority. That is why the Pharisees and Sadducees had to take Jesus to the Roman authorities to have him put to death. They accused him of treason, a civil offense under Roman law, because it was this offense which carried with it capital punishment.

Thus, to say that we no longer stone false prophets because we are under grace is not accurate. The church of today simply does not have that civil authority. But the church of Jesus Christ does and must move in spiritual authority over itself. Jesus, when he strongly attacked false prophets, never attempted to impose any civil penalties on them. He was already moving in the spiritual authority of His Father by correcting error and sin in the church.

It is interesting to note the incident of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts, chapter five. This husband and wife sold land and lied to the church leadership about the amount of money they received. They did die within hours of their lie, but it was at the hand of God, not man.

As to the spiritual authority of the church, the same spiritual laws apply today as much as they did in Jesus' time. The church must continue to deal with spiritual problems. For example, in I Corinthians, chapter five, we see Paul telling the church in Corinth to expel an immoral brother if he will not repent of his sin.

In I Corinthians, chapters 12 and 14, Paul gives very specific directions to the church concerning the gifts of prophecy, speaking in tongues, and worship. He does so because “ . . . everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” (I Cor 14:40). This is an example of the church's spiritual authority over the prophetic gifts. The church must continue to deal with prophecy through its spiritual authority. Prophecy and the prophet must be held to the same standards that we see throughout the Old Testament. It is simply the consequences of the prophetic error that vary depending on the era of time.

Today prophetic error must be dealt with according to God's spiritual laws. The church, with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, must intervene and discipline false prophets and deal with false prophecy. Nowhere in the New Testament do we see a prophet allowed to be wrong. Nowhere do we hear of Jesus, or Paul, or Peter, or anyone else, saying of a false prophecy, “Oh, well, that's alright, we're under grace now. I just hope he or she is correct the next time.” No church leader should sanction or excuse error based on “grace.”

Please note again that I am not saying that we don't move with wisdom, grace, and mercy when we are dealing with a prophet who is just learning and who steps out and is incorrect in what he or she “prophesies.” Of course, when we are in leadership, and a prophet in training makes a mistake, we move with gentleness and wisdom in our correction. But this gentle correction is very different than simply accepting prophetic error because we are under New Testament “grace.”

We are always to judge the prophetic message. We are always to reject the error. There is no biblical basis for simply ignoring a wrong prophecy. Of course we don't “kill” the prophet these days. And, yes, John the Baptist did end that line of prophetic utterances concerning the first coming of our Messiah. And yes, grace abounds. But God's spiritual principles still apply. The judging of the prophecy and the examination of the person of the prophet must continue to be done by responsible church leaders until Jesus returns!