This study was first taught on August 9, 2011

Topic: Beware of False Prophets: How to Identify Them (2.2)

No audio available for this study.

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Background
Last week, we began to look at the second comment the Lord made about false prophets, and that is, that they can be identified by their fruits—the outflow or manifestation of their lives and ministry. We saw that what flows out of the life of a false prophet is fleshly, carnal, worldly, and sensual, for he is not led by the Spirit of God, but by his sinful nature (the flesh). He is influenced by what he sees, not by the word of God, and is in fact an enemy of God and of the cross of Christ (because he loves the things of the world and his messages are of the things that are pleasing to the flesh). We also saw that the false prophet boasts in his achievements, position in the church hierarchy, title, affluence, wealth, connections, contacts, etc.

We noted that the false prophet is averse to the message of holiness, and can never encourage anyone to live holy. We said that if he ever speaks about holiness, it is in the context of man’s strength, not God’s grace. Instead, the false prophet encourages people to live as they like, which includes committing fornication and adultery, and engaging in idolatry. We affirmed by the word of God, that he is a bold-faced unrepentant sinner, whose belly is his god; and everything he does is about money. Indeed, we concluded that his, is essentially a life of worldliness!

Scripture Text(s)
Matthew 7:16, 20; Galatians 5:19-21
Tonight, we shall take a more detailed look at some of the fruits of the false prophet. May the Holy Spirit give us wisdom as we continue, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
The works of the flesh, which we know to be the fruits of false prophets, as enumerated in our scripture text is not exhaustive. We shall here attempt to describe some of them, so that we would not be confused when we see these false prophets manifesting them and giving us their own private interpretation of Scripture to support and defend their iniquitous, rebellious, and disobedient conduct, vis a vis, the word of God.
Galatians 5:19; Matthew 22:29; Matthew 5:27-28; 19:3-9; Mark 10:12; John 8:3-11; 1 Corinthians 7:10-13, 15-16; Romans 7:2-3; 1 Timothy 3:1-2a; Titus 1:5-6a; 1 Corinthians 6:15-18; 2 Peter 2:14; James 1:8; Genesis 49:3-4; John 1:40-42; Ephesians 4:11-14.

Conclusion
The works of the flesh which the false prophet manifests are the practices or conduct of the unregenerated, sinful, or carnal man, which the word of God tells us are clearly obvious and unmistakable. Unfortunately, many believers in Christ are deceived by false prophets because these believers don't even know what some of these practices or conduct really are, based on the word of God. Hence, tonight, we have looked at two of these practices in some detail, to eliminate confusion––a trademark of false prophets.

We have seen that false prophets exhibit sexual immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, sorcery, as part of their practice. Tonight, we have taken time to expound on what constitutes sexual immorality in real terms, so that we will not be confused and deceived by the false prophet's private interpretation, to excuse their immorality.

Sexual immorality is essentially adultery and fornication. Adultery is generally defined as sexual intercourse between a married person and another person (married or unmarried) but who are not married to each other, while fornication is sexual intercourse between two unmarried people (singles who are not married to each other). From the stand point of the bible, which is our yardstick for assessing our conduct, however, sexual immorality includes looking on the opposite sex with lust (imaginations that arouse sexual desires in a person), divorce and remarriage (being remarried while one's spouse is still alive), and prostitution (having sexual intercourse for gain, which can include personal gratification, as well as with multiple partners).

Thus, the false prophet displays obvious sexually immoral behaviour. These things are clearly seen in the way they ogle (stare) at the opposite sex, and in their marital life. For example, a false prophet is most likely to have more than one spouse, and a retinue of lovers. He is also likely to have relations with prostitutes in cities and communities they visit. They are comfortable to invite the opposite sex for private consultation in places where the setting is amorous, and at times, when they are likely to be alone!

False prophets prey on unstable souls and trick them away from God’s presence and grace. We all need to pray to God to bring change to our lives and make us stable, so that false prophets do not lure us into their trap.

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