HOW TO DISTINGUISH A TRUE PROPHET FROM A FALSE PROPHET !!! (BEWARE OF PSYCHICS)
A Prophet of God is one who speaks ‘God’s truth’ to others.
He knows the Heart and Mind of God and communicates them to individuals or even
to nations. Thus, the Office of the Prophet. He never speaks on his own authority or share
his personal opinions. Also, ‘Gift of Prophecy’ should not be mistaken for ‘The
Office of Prophet’. Gift of Prophecy is graciously given to believers as the
Holy Spirit ‘wills’ and the primary purpose is to strengthen, encourage and to
comfort believers (1 Corinthians 14).
A Psychic is one who has a supernatural ability to read your
mind, emotions, physical self, see your past events and predict your future.
They are sometimes able to get information from your spirit (natural human
spirit but Never from a believer in Christ with a regenerated spirit). Psychics
sometimes receive messages about you from demons and other evil spirits and
make them known to you.
INDEED, THIS PRACTICE IS DEMONIC AND FALSE.
Psychics use a combination of psychology, intuition, observing behavior and analyzing appearance, and possibly, occultism. The purpose is to understand
people enough to control and manipulate them, impress them with some
general comments, and enhance their impression of you.
Prophets and psychics can both make accurate predictions.
Accuracy is not the only test of a true prophet. Test the spirit behind the
word because there are many false prophets (Psychics, Magicians, Fortune
Tellers, Diviners, sorcerers etc.) making true predictions.
“For 1 John 4:1 says, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but
try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone
out into the world.”
"Acts 16:16-18 also reads; On one occasion, as we went
to the place of prayer, a servant girl possessed with a spirit of divination
met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. She
followed Paul and us, shouting, 'These men are servants of the Most High God,
who proclaim to us the way of salvation.' She did this for many days. But
becoming greatly troubled, Paul turned to the spirit and said, 'I command you
in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.' And it came out at that
moment".
These so-called prophets who lack the power of the Holy
Spirit are easily convinced that any impression that comes to their mind in the
form of images or words is from God. And since they do not know the difference,
they become self-deceived.
Some may be Christians and have received the baptism of the
Holy Spirit unto salvation. Yes! But that does not mean they have the ‘power or
gift of prophecy.’ That is God’s decision, not theirs (1 Corinthians 12:11).
Some believers, especially the young, crave for this gift of
prophecy for personal gains and they end up possessing evil spirits to that
effect.
TESTING THE
SPIRITS
So the question is, how do we test if a prophecy is from God?
The primary way to test the spirits is to test it against
the Bible. The Holy Spirit does not
speak with a forked tongue. The Spirit of God and the Word of God agree. In
Acts 17:10-11, when Paul and Silas preached the gospel to the Bereans, they
were "daily examining the Scriptures, to find out if these things were
so."
If the word breeds fear,
for example, we know it's not from God because God did not give us a spirit of
fear (2 Tim. 1:7).
If the word exalts the person delivering it, we
know that's not God because the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus
(Rev. 19:10).
If the word causes strong
confusion, we know that's not of God because God is not the author of
confusion (1 Cor. 14:33).
If the word does not comfort,
strengthen or edify, then we know it is not from God as it is written in 1
Corinthians 14:3.
When you know the Word—when you know the Lord—you'll
recognize what's coming from His Spirit and what's coming from a different
spirit.
Ways to recognize these
Psychics/False Prophets.
1. Their ego is
attached to what they do, no matter how positive they seem.
2. They will take offerings as if they deserve compensation.
3. They will become offended if you do not believe them.
4. They need to be acknowledged as prophets, or one that
“flows in the prophetic.” In general, they need to be acknowledged as special.
5. Spiritually, which may not be visually evident, they are
oppressed in nature.
6. They speak in general terms, and say things that anyone
could say anyhow. That way, they are always right.
7. They might avoid “prophesying” over people they do not
know, or if they do, they stereo type the person first, then speak to that
stereotype.
8. They will appear very self-confident, because so far,
they have the admiration and respect of people who have believed them. The
church, desperate for spirituality, may promote them, enhancing their image and
self-esteem.
9. They will claim that New Testament prophecy is
“different” from Old Testament prophecy.
*** This is not true. The Holy Spirit has not changed. And
man has not changed either. It is the same Spirit with the same messages.
9. They speak in generalities.
Examples:
God loves you, and wants to use you.
God says you are special.
10. They use “social typing.” They will observe you for a while
before they say anything.
11. They might start by singing or playing authentic worship
or “mystical” songs to put you in the mood. The purpose of this is to soothe
you, to remove any critical
impression you might have of them, and make you agreeable to their suggestions.
It is a form of brainwashing. We (believers) must be very
watchful and discerning at all times by yielding to the Holy Spirit.
FINAL WORDS
When a prophecy is from the True Living GOD, the information
will be useful and purposeful but not just good sounding
words.
It's a dangerous game to knowingly turn to prophets who are
operating in a false anointing. Leviticus 20:6 says, "The person who
turns to spirits through mediums and necromancers in order to whore after them,
I (God) will even set my face against that person and will cut him off from
among his people."
It's also dangerous to do this unknowingly. The Bible warns
us over and over and over again not to be deceived. We're told to test the
spirits (1 John 4:1). We must obey the Word and not automatically believe any
and every prophecy we hear. We must exercise the gift of discernment and know
the Word of God, lest we fall prey to false prophets.
***May God deliver us from the hands of these false prophets
in the name of Jesus Christ our LORD***
REFERENCES
Comments
Post a Comment