(ThyBlackMan.com) Before you accuse me of judging, let’s shut that down right now. I do not use my likes, dislikes, opinions, preferences or personal judgments to spot a false prophet. In 1 John 4:1 we are told to try the spirits to see if they are of God because false prophets have gone out into the land – and boy have they. In other books and chapters of the Bible, they proceed to tell us how to try spirits. I do not profess to know all the methods, but I do know 19 solid, accurate methods presented and explained in scripture. I am only going to share a few because I am not going to do your homework for you. The Bible tells ALL of us to study to shew ourselves approved, not to be gullible, lazy, in denial or ignorant. Time to wake up!
Unfortunately, because many of you never studied how to try a spirit thoroughly, if at all, it is easy for you to simply accuse me of judging. But you actually just don’t know how to spot a false prophet or maybe you don’t even want to. As for me, I follow what I am directed to do as best I can. The difference between a person judging vs. trying or testing a spirit is that doing it according to 1 John 4:1 is relying on God’s judgment, God’s parameters, God’s standards and God’s ability to teach us how to spot and expose false prophets. Not using man’s opinion, man’s interpretation nor man’s personal judgments.
If you look up the words “false prophet”, you should see a huge picture of Juanita Bynum. But unfortunately you probably won’t. Yes I said it and for those of you who follow her, you are unfortunately clueless as a box of rocks and being severely deceived more than you know.
The first thing you need to know to spot a false prophet is what a true or real prophet is. A prophet(ess) is not a pastor, teacher, evangelist nor apostle. He or she should not be the head of a church assembly or church body. His or her calling or office (Ephesians 4:11) is not to be confused with being a vessel of prophecy whereby any yielded vessel can be used (Numbers 22:28-31) nor the spiritual gift of prophecy (1 Corinthians 12:10) which is in operation from time to time. A word of knowledge (1 Corinthians 12:8,10) should also not be confused with prophecy nor the office of a prophet.
A prophet is sent by God, often not popular, sometimes harsh and always accurate. In the Old Testament prophets who were inaccurate were stoned. Today, because that does not happen in America, people often pop up saying they are prophets when many actually are not. And guess what? So many Christians who don’t identify, expose nor confront false prophets today allow the fakes to get away with fooling millions of people. You would be surprised how being told you are “judging” and the intimidation of being ostracized quiets down Christians from following 1 John 4:1. Sad but true.
The second key is to look at his or her prophecies. I will use false prophet Juanita Bynum as an example since she is arguably the most prominent false prophet on the Christian speaking circuit. Listen to her and you will hear that what she calls moving in the prophetic is simply rewording and repeating what the Bible has already said in the first place. For those who don’t study intensely and those who like this fake, they are so lost or in denial that they fail to recognize she is simply rewording the scriptures.
The third dead giveaway is when so-called prophets charges for prophecy services. They are more like part moneychangers and part fortune tellers than prophets. Actually I should say they are “profits” running a con game and using the Bible to do it. They are skillful in the use of the Word of God but then again so was/is Satan himself. Read about when he approached Christ or when he came to Eve in the garden. Crafty, smart and clever with words (Romans 16:17-18). They have a form off godliness but deny the power of God. These are reasons these counterfeits seem so real – especially when the majority of people they prey on do not know how to spot false prophets, false doctrines, false teachers or other spirits masquerading as the Holy Spirit. Where did any prophet of the Bible charge for prophecy?
A true prophet of God does not charge money for operating in his or her office and fulfilling the calling thereof. He or she knows better because a true prophet of God knows the punishments for merchandising the gospel like the moneychangers can be severe. A true prophet of God is not concerned about his or her finances, but rather focused on the mission at hand.
Recently false prophetess Juanita Bynum (who needs counseling badly) became upset because the pastor who invited her to Virginia to speak entered her hotel room to confirm everything was up to par and unintentionally saw Bynum’s underwear. UUgggghhhh. Because of that, she backed out of the speaking engagement. But the pastor went up to the hotel room his church had paid for without even knowing Bynum had arrived. Once he saw someone’s things were in the room, he went back downstairs and asked the hotel staff why the room was not ready. Again he did not know Bynum had checked in. Bynum said the matter threatened her integrity. How false prophetess Juanita? How?
Bynum who never healed spiritually from being sexually molested a long time ago lost her mind yet again and cancelled. But not so much that she couldn’t count and keep the fat deposit she was given? She is definitely a PROFIT but a false prophet. Yet people still follow this fake who needs mental help.
A true prophet(ess) of God goes where he or she is sent, does what God commands and speaks what God says to speak regardless of who likes it, disagrees or acts up. A true prophet(ess) of God would not dare back out of anything due to a genuine human error by one person who did so unintentionally, especially with as many slip ups, broken relationships and anger issues as Juanita has had. But then again, she is a PROFIT. A true prophet(ess) of God would be more concerned about the mission, the message, obeying God and the people than anything else.
The next time someone claims to be a prophet, remember to try their spirit to see if they are of God. When you do, you are not judging. You are following the Word of God. If you who profess to believe to do not speak up, speak out, restore, rebuke and expose, you are not doing what Christ did. You are not doing what the Apostles did. You are not doing what the Word of God tells us to do. And Christ says to you, how can you say you love Him but do not do the things He says (Luke 6:46, John 14:15)?
The Bible warns us how false prophets infiltrate the Body of Christ. They come in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15). So they look like sheep or part of the flock while they are actually wolves. A wolf is a skillful and cunning predator with an insatiable hunger and thirst for its prey. And for those of you who cannot spot the wolf, you will be the first to fall. Matthew goes on to tell us how to spot them by the fruits they bare. If the fruit is deception, fake prophecy that is just reworded scriptures in disguise, money-changer type fees for sharing the Word of God with the people and/or inaccuracy, the fruit is not the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And you need to know God did not want us to know how to spot a false prophet just so you could ignore the warnings, the ability to spot them and the responsibility to turn away, avoid them and expose them. Every believer has these responsibilities.
When a true prophet(ess) of God comes on the scene, people are not always excited. Prophets do sometimes prophesy blessings however prophets often bring hard or harsh messages that are not always filled with blessings as if God is Santa Claus and the prophet is Rudolph. Beware of those who claim to be prophets but seem to read your past. That is a trick of a false prophet and really of no use to you because you already know your past. Yet false prophets sometimes use such a trick to amaze you, get your attention and convince you that they are hearing from God when actually they are hearing from other spirits. In Galatians Paul is concern about the gullibility of far too many believers. He says:
Galatians 1:6-9 (KJV)
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
God takes the topic of false prophets very seriously and we should too. The church must hold church leaders accountable instead of being silenced by scriptures such as “touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm”. Many (not all) of those called prophets of today are fakes. So let’s take a look at what else God has to say about them.
9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.
16 This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
Matthew 16:11-12
11 How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
2 Timothy 4:3-4
3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
Acts 20:29-30
29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.
6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. 10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.
11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith
14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
2 Peter 2:1-3, 12-14, 15-18, 21-22
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.
12 But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish. 13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. 14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood!
15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. 17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.
21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
Matthew 23:1-4, 5-7, 13-15, 28-30
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. 29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
There are other false prophets outside of Christianity but it takes quite some time to prove that in an article and much more space than this article has for its posting. But stay plugged in because i will be releasing an fact-based article on Islam soon. So don’t get mad, do your research, find out the truth and accept it. Living in denial, darkness and deception will never help you.
Now you know. What you do with this knowledge is up to you but you can never say you have not been told. The assembly people are calling the church needs cleansing by exposing the fakes, frauds, money-changers, false doctrine, false teachers, pulpit pimps and yes – the false prophets who prophalie because they are more about profit than they are about the truth.
Staff Writer; Trevo Craw
