We are aware that there are many things which do have a great deal of truth to them, and they are so beguiling that people will follow after them and be led into deception, thus missing some of the wonderful and genuine 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.
A good illustration is a particular kind of rat poison which is composed of ninety-nine percent pure wheat; however, the invisible tasteless coating of poison makes it very deadly.
Satan's tactics work the same way.
When he brings forth deception in this hour to destroy a saint of God, he makes it look like truth. In fact, ninety-nine percent of it may be truth and only one percent the poison of deception.
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 understand more about them.
Some of the doctrines that are taught by these false teachers are rather amazing. They are so close to the truth which 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 are of God ( 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 will come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. Verse 15.
This is the picture that the Lord gives: The false always has the image of being a sheep; it never comes as something that is false or dangerous.
As we go into the future, it will 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 inside are the ravening wolves set to devour the flock. And if you look closely, you will find certain signs of deception.
I feel that one of the deadliest experiences we have passed through was the witchcraft and deception that came up in one of the churches.
This was especially deceptive because of the fact that it was founded upon a very real experience that a person had with God. To me, the experience was so convincing and so real that I did everything I could to help the individual.
Even when I sensed that the problem was so deep that dealing with it was almost like trying to stop an avalanche with your bare hands, I still tried.
Now, in retrospect, I can see many things that actually occurred. This individual constantly preyed upon 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 she was constantly reaching in.
Several people complained to me 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 saints themselves; it comes directly against them.
By their fruits ye shall know them. do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistle? Matthew 7:16. 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 will 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 breed two mules, they will not produce anything. That is the end of the line because a mule cannot reproduce itself.
This illustrates some spiritual things that come forth as monstrosities. They are Ishmaels. They have something in God in their begetting, but a dedication to evil 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.
(We have seen this over and over again in our "Desert Ministry" through out the years. Many men have come out to the desert with us to get a Word from God and leave with the ability to prophesy and replicate the faith.)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 served him. He poured water on the hands of Elijah ( II Kings 3:11 ) because he was determined to be a prophet.
Finally the time came when Elijah said, "It has been 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 is a hard request," he replied, "but stick close by me and you will receive it" ( II Kings 2:9-10 ) .
That is exactly what Elisha did. The Bible records that twice as many miracles of raising the dead were performed through Elisha as Elijah.
Elisha was a prophet of the double portion. Because Elijah was a true prophet, Elisha was also 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, and 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 as the scientists do who are in control of a missile that is shot into space.
If it gets off its course, they can simply push a button and blow up the craft- end the whole project!
There is one thing that only a true prophet can do: Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit he can lay
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.
( Today Monsanto has produced all kinds of genetic engineered crops that cannot produce after its own kind. These seeds are called "death seeds" because they cannot produce after their own kind.
Eventually what they are calling "Heritage seeds, Heirloom seeds" God's seeds, will be eliminated from the earth and their will be a great famine upon the earth in the end of days. There are some who believe that Monsanto may be responsible for this. )
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.
In order to determine whether a man is a true or a false prophet, look to the fruit of his ministry. What is he producing?
Among the people to whom he has ministered, is there one who is moving in some ministry, who has revelations or signs and is growing in faith?
This is the acid test. Some people will point to a man with a great ministry who travels around, healing the sick and doing many great miracles.
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 he 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.
( My own prophetic ministry and calling in Jesus Christ came unto me by way of Lonnie Frisbee. It could be said that spiritually Lonnie Frisbee begot me in Christ as he did many others who move in ministry today. )
Matthew 7:17-19:
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 the 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. Verse 20.
You will know them- there is no question about it. John was told to write to the church at Ephesus, ...thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars. Revelation 2:2.
They could not try them by testing to see what they had produced. If a man is a true apostle, he can lay foundations. If the brothers are true elders, they can minister life to the people, lead them with authority, and produce the same spirit within 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 a seed, they produce life and bring forth growth in the lives of the people.
Samuel was a true prophet. He knew 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?
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 begets 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 that is being led by ministries, and before long you will begin to emerge in the same ministry yourself.
( That is why I have always been an advocate of "Getting under the spout where the glory comes out." Why spend your time under a dead-end ministry? Get yourself under a ministry that feeds you from the Word of God. Get under a ministry that feeds you life. )
Not everyone 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. Verse 21.
This, too, is the test of a true prophet and a false prophet. "Not every one that saith, Lord, Lord," refers not only to those who make that profession, but also to many who preach and teach and do many worthwhile things, but are not necessarily doing the will of God.
They often are doing their own will. A false prophet has his own program, his own plan, and he goes about it at his own initiative, laying out his plan and schedule with a great ambition.
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.
There are many good, true ministries and many false ministries, but there are even more ministries that are between. They are like Ishmaels: 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 by 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. Verses 22-23.
Notice the two activities: By the name of the Lord, they were casting out demons, and they were also prophesying in the name of the Lord.
Do you think that one demon can cast out other demons? Do you think people can cast out demons by the power of the devil?
When Jesus was accused of casting out demons by Beelzebub, He said," A Kingdom divided against itself will not stand" ( Matthew 12:25 ) .
But let me give you further insight into this. When Jesus cast out demons, they stayed out forever. Matthew 12:44-45 reveals this principle: If a person from whom an evil spirit has been cast out remains empty- like a house swept and garnished- a vacuum is created; and that same evil spirit will go out, find seven others worse than itself, come back, and fill the house.The latter end is worse than the beginning. If you were Satan, would you consent to one demon being cast out of a person, knowing that if the vacuum remained in him, seven other demons would come back and fill him? Of course you would. The devil knows what he is doing.
This is actually what takes place many times. A ministry might appear to be a great prophet of God. Everyone who sees him praises God because he is casting out demons, 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 demons 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 a thing.
A few centuries ago there was a man in Europe who walked through mining departments, and by placing 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 doubt he had amazing powers, but that did not make him a true prophet.
In fact, he be came the father of many things that were definitely false and very satanic.
In our day there is a great deal of prophecy coming forth. Many amazing predictions and prophecies about various events are actually coming to pass. How is this done?
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 their activities? What comes of what they are? This is important because many things will be sent to deceive you.
A number of years ago, about the time when this move of God was just beginning, a ministry came to the Los Angeles area and several of our members went to see him.
But God had shown me the deception in it. I warned them, "Don't go; this is a false prophet." Some people became very upset with me over it.
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.
But this one thing I did notice; he took the flotsam and the rejects; all those 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 the move became sterile and dead. It never has produced any fruit.
Even today they 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 the school moving in ministry.
By their fruits ye shall know them. This is a very solemn issue. We tend to e tolerant and say, "Live and let live. They preach a reasonably good doctrine."
Be careful; test the teaching to see whether it has life in it, whether it is producing life.
In this day God does not only want us to have doctrines or signs or wonders or miracles; He wants a living Word brought to the people- a Word that produces life and reality within them- and that, only God can speak.
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