Friday, March 22, 2024
Much of the church suffers false end-time prophecies and has been taken captive by deceiving spirits in the world of the prophetic. Speaking of the time of the end the Lord Jesus warned that “many false prophets will rise up and deceive many” (Matt. 24:11). Today, the church suffers a plague of false prophets. And they are of the kind that prophesy “false things” and “ear-tickling” things. They speak their desires. Some even blather about having been to the “Throne Room” in heaven to receive a special message, though Jesus said “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven” (John 3:13). Only the foolish believe them because they’re a redo of false prophets that also plagued ancient Israel.
The NT warns of “false prophets” seven times: Matt. 7:15, Matt. 24:11, Matt. 24:24, Mark 13:22, Luke 6:26, 2 Peter 2:1 and 1 John 4:1. Those warnings should get the attention of every believer. First, a true prophet is called and commissioned by God and not man. Full stop. Whatever God’s true prophet speaks comes to pass. Full stop. Secondly, a self-professed and self-styled prophet commissioned by man and some prophecy “center” or prophecy “school” is not God’s prophet. And you, dear believer, must know how to discern the “God vs man” commissioned prophet.
False prophets litter Christian airwaves. Many prophesy peace, blessing, prosperity and a return to government justice in the face of end-time lies and calamities; they deny reality; they promise believers the opposite of what God’s word promises would befall the end-times; they deny God’s word. Some foolishly say they’ve seen “God’s Warehouse of Spare Body Parts” for our healings. There’s no such thing in Scripture. They are charlatans creating faith in the absurd. But God said “evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim. 3:13). We see that even now. Until the end, most will “grow worse and worse”, not better.
And as concerns the elect saints, two prophets foretold the exact same thing, one from the OT and one from the NT – both foretell the same. “I was watching; and the same horn [Antichrist] was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, [at the resurrection rapture] and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom” (Dan. 7:21–22). And a prophet from the NT said: “It was granted to him [Antichrist] to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation” (Rev. 13:7). Now, why would certain people contradict what God said by His true prophets? There’s only one reason: because they don’t like the true prophetic, so they carve up their own self-styled, self-professed cravings for the things they want, regardless of their things being against God’s true prophetic agenda!
People and events of this world will not get better before the resurrection rapture “at the last day” (John 6:40, 44); when “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout … And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thess. 4:16); and then “we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51–52); when “the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’” (Rev. 11:15); all this, however, “Immediately after the [seven-year] tribulation of those days” (Matt. 24:29–31); because “that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:20–21). Don’t miss that vital truth that He, Christ, must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore all things, which occurs after the tribulation; only then the Lord Himself will “descend from heaven” for the resurrection rapture.
People will grow worse and worse before Christ gathers His elect in the resurrection rapture, but that doesn’t suit false prophets. As a result, self-professed prophets speak what they want to be true instead of what God said. Pre-trib rapture teachers are “false prophets”, because they deny the testimony of Christ as applying to them. In that vacuum of truth millions blindly follow self-professed prophets even though the things they prophesy are absolutely proven to be untrue. But God warned of their lies: “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. [Anyone preaching that!] And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’—when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him” (Deut. 18:20–22). This is the truth.
False prophets plagued ancient Israel as in the church today, because “That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, ‘See, this is new’? It has already been in ancient times before us” (Eccl. 1:9–10). As the Spirit said of ancient Israel, so also the Spirit says today, “That this is a rebellious people, Lying children, Children who will not hear the law of the LORD; Who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’ And to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits” (Isa. 30:9–10). This is exactly what’s filling the airwaves of Western Christianity! Many men and women, not called of God, declare themselves prophets of the LORD and speak things which are outright lies, “smooth things”, as they “prophesy deceits”. Those who listen to and applaud false prophets are equally as guilty of rebellion and unbelief.
Fellow believers, I plead with you, turn away from false prophets. It’s for your good to test those who profess to be prophets. Test their record. Almighty God said “if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken”. Examine their record and if one thing they said fails to come to pass they are not God’s prophets, but are self-serving charlatans! They love to blather on and on about things related to the presidential election, the certainty of one candidate over another, they blather on and on about politics, prosperity and the economy. They love the praise of men who are seen rather than the praise of God who is unseen; they love the spotlight and positions of popularity. But do not follow them, nor believe their false reports.
Peoples, cultures, societies, nations, governments, economies, politics and the church will grow worse and worse as we draw nearer to the revelation of the Antichrist. And when he is revealed, along with the “two witnesses” (Rev. 11:3) who “prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth” the first half of the seven-year tribulation will have begun; they will declare truths and not lies; they won’t blather about “smooth things” or “prophesy deceits”, but prophesy God’s judgments with immediate results. Get my new book “ON EAGLES’ WINGS”.
Marlin J. Yoder
