bibleprophecyaswritten.com HOW TO SPOT A FALSE PROPHET Part 1 by Phillip Goodman , https://bibleprophecyaswritten.com/ copyright, Phillip Goodman TKC Newsletter, Jul - Aug 2006 "And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many.” (Mat 24:11) How To Spot A False Prophet by Phillip Goodman All cults, false religions, and heretical teachings arise from False Prophets. All False Prophets put a lying spin on God’s Words. They twist the truth into a lie. All lies are of the Devil “for he is a liar, and the father of lies.” Therefore, False Prophets are of their “father the devil.” (John 8:44) And False Prophets are due to multiply dramatically in the Last Days. Jesus said, "And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many.” (Matthew 24:11) In this statement, Jesus clearly says that both False Prophets and their followers would be “many.” But He also stated emphatically that we would be able to recognize these false prophets when He said, "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15 - 16) “You will know them by their fruits,” Jesus said. He went on to explain in another place the process by which the fruit of a false prophet is expressed. "For each tree is known by its own fruit...for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. And why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:44 - 46) From this Scripture we can see 3 stages in the manifestation of the “fruit” of a False Prophet. In stage 2 the “fruit” becomes apparent. It is most often in stage 2 that we can “know them by their fruit.” 1. First, the fruit of every false prophet begins with “that which fills his heart.” (Luke 6:45) Of course, at this stage we cannot discern false teaching, false prophecy, or a false prophet, because their belief system is internalized and thus private. 2. However, in this second stage “that which fills his heart” flows forth when the false prophet’s “mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45) That is, the heart of a false prophet is revealed in the words he speaks or writes! At this stage, the fruit of false prophets becomes apparent to all in the message that issues in their preaching, teaching, or from their pen. Every Christian should be equipped through their knowledge of the Bible to “know them by their fruit” at this stage. Another way of saying it is, “You will know them by their message.” 3. Finally, the third stage comes naturally when a false prophet follows the dictates of his heart by his actions. Even if his message sounds Biblical, his actions will reveal “that which fills his heart,” since Luke 6:46 goes on to say, “And why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?” The “fruit,” or message, of any speaker constitutes two types — good or bad. (Mat. 7:17; Luke 6:45) The only standard for measuring — or discerning — the difference between a Biblical (good) or unbiblical (bad) message must be, of course, the Bible! In other words, when Jesus said of false prophets “You will know them by their fruits,” He was saying “You will know them when you see their message contradict the Bible.” For example, when Episcopalian Bishop John Shelby Spong says “The Bible is not necessarily true,” and continues to teach that lie, then his message exposes him as a false prophet. (see “Indeed...” , below). “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing.” There will be “many, ” and they are here in these Last Days. “...they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.“ (Mat 15:14) “The Bible is not necessarily true” pseudo - Biblical religions (and this includes Islam) when he asked “Indeed, did God say...?” This first recorded statement of Satan to the human race essentially says, “Can you really trust the Bible?” That is the essence of “Indeed, did God say?” Can you really trust the Bible?” Bishop John Shelby Spong of the Episcopalian Church began his career as a false prophet by adopting that first precept of satanic doctrine. It became his foundational tenet in dismantling the Christian faith. He writes, “The Bible did not drop out of heaven fully written. That seems obvious, yet so many use the Bible as if “Indeed, Has God Said?” & False Prophets When the Serpent sowed the seed of doubt in Eve’s mind that God’s Word could be trusted, he began the spiral of temptation that led to the original sin. Satan set the agenda for all future false prophets, and the foundation for all future Episcopal Bishop John Spong False Prophet of the 1990s - early 2000s it had. Perhaps we will discover that everything written in the Bible is, first of all, not eternal, and, second, not necessarily true.” (false prophet Spong) Here we have precise echoes of that primal temptation, “Indeed, did God say?” Every pseudo - Christian cult and religion begins at this point. They almost never reject the Bible outright. Instead, they alter, distort, discredit, add - to or deduct - from its text to fit their own ends. This junking of God’s Word always leads in the same direction. Let’s go back to Satan’s 5 - point sermon in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:1 - 5 to understand this age - old lie, Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, 1. "Indeed, has God said ...?" [discredit the Bible] 2. "You surely shall not die! [deny judgment & sin] 3. "your eyes will be opened” [awaken to the real truth] 4. “you will be like God,” [you are an immortal ’little’ god] 5. “knowing good and evil." [decide own right & wrong] Whether it is The Jehovah’s Witnesses, The Mormons, Islam, The Unitarian Church, The DaVinci - Gnostic Gospels, or any of the other Bible cults, they all get their start with step one. Some, like Islam and the Papacy, simply distort the Bible to raise up a false prophet or a line of successive false prophets who assume god - like enlightenment and mislead millions. Others twist the Bible to mislead millions into believing that by birthright they can attain their own god - like enlightenment. But they all start at the same point — ” ” Indeed, has God really said in the Bible...?” Meanwhile, what happened with Bishop Spong once he took step #1 above? He proceeded down the dark path of steps 2 - 5. He denied all of the major doctrines of Christianity. He determined that all — except for “narrow - minded fundamentalists” [Bible believers] — can enter a new age where all religions lead us to “be like God,” and decide for ourselves “good and evil.” And, of course, he proclaimed abortion and homosexuality to be “good.” Yes, you will know them by their fruit! The founder of Islam, Mohammad, penned the Muslim “holy” book, the Quran, in the 7th century AD. He took Satan’s first lie to mankind — ” Indeed, is the Bible really God’s Word?”, (Gen. 3:1) — and made it his own by “updating” the Bible with the Quran. The Result: Mohammad became history’s “greatest” false prophet. More than 2 billion people today claim to be Muslims! After distorting the Bible to fit the lying pages of the Quran, Mohammad claimed that man “surely shall not die” apart from the Cross of Christ — rather, the Quran substituted “another Jesus” and “another gospel.” Then Mohammad’s “eyes were opened” to the “real truth” — not only was Jesus NOT the savior of the world, but He was demoted as a prophet so that Mohammad himself was a GREATER prophet! As this “new revelation” poured forth from the Quran — and Mohammad’s pen — he himself became “God’s” mouthpiece on earth. He became “like god,” being the sole channel of “enlightenment” from “Allah” to the human race! When all of this new “word of god” was finally written down in the Quran, a new moral code had arrived by which “good and evil” laws would lead to eternal life or eternal damnation respectively. But liars are seldom clever. Mohammad claimed that “Indeed, Did God Say?” and The Islamic Religion the Quran (Koran) the Bible of his day was being corrupted. However, the earlier Scriptures were true. (Quran, Surah 10:94) And here is where the Quran is exposed. It so happens that we have copies of those “earlier Scriptures,” — thousands of them. This very same Jesus that Mohammad demoted is recorded in those “earlier Scriptures” as saying that He would give to anyone who asked Him the gift of eternal life . (see “In One Verse ,” Part 2) Mohammad could not do this, and never claimed he could! So Mohammad, who began by attempting to demote Jesus, is himself demoted to a false prophet. And, by the way, let us point out to Muslims that when the Quran says that truth will be found when we “ask those who have read the Scriptures before you [the Bible before Mohammad; Sura 5:46 - 50],” it is the same Bible we have today! ( Psa 119:160; Mat 24:35) Six thousand years BEFORE Mohammad and the Quran it pointed out the only way to Eternal Life (below) — In Jesus Alone, through Faith Alone, by Grace Alone — exposing Mohammad and ALL false prophets to come. My friend, if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, then remember daily to thank Him, and tell others, so they also may know Jesus as their Savior. If you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior, here’s how you can. Peter was asked a question and gave this answer, ONE SIMPLE, COMPLETE QUESTION — ..."Sirs, what must I do to be saved?“ (Acts 16:30 ONE SIMPLE, COMPLETE ANSWER — ..."Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved ... Acts 16:30 Friend, if you want the Eternal Life Jesus offers, believe in Him and ask Him, and He will give it to you as 1 — a free gift, (Rom 6:23) 2 — immediately, (John 5:24) 3 — and irreversibly! (John 10:28) Yours in Christ, Phillip Goodman https://bibleprophecyaswritten.com/