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Series Code: AFDB
Program Code: AFDB000196S
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00:02 male announcer: This presentation is brought to you
00:03 by the friends of the Amazing Facts ministry. 00:10 Doug Batchelor: The 14th century Aztec Empire was one of 00:14 the most powerful and sophisticated civilizations in 00:17 the western hemisphere. 00:19 Yet this kingdom of 2 million people was conquered within a 00:23 year by a Spanish force of just 600 lightly armored men. 00:28 How did it happen? 00:30 Well, the Aztecs believed in the coming of Quetzalcoatl, a 00:34 legendary feathered, bearded, light-skinned god-king who was 00:38 going to come from across the sea to Mexico. 00:41 When the conquistadors arrived in 1519, Hernán Cortés 00:46 impersonated this god of the Aztecs to befuddle the 00:49 superstitious king, Montezuma. 00:52 By fooling the native people, Cortés completed his conquest 00:56 that included enslaving and murdering many of them. 01:00 The vague prophecies of their Aztec god easily paved the way 01:05 for a counterfeit. 01:07 Jesus has foretold in the last days many false Christs and 01:11 false prophets will use great signs and wonders to deceive, if 01:15 it were possible, even God's very elect. 01:18 He also said, "Most people will be deceived." 01:22 Will you? 01:23 And that's why you need to join me for today's program as we 01:26 learn from the Bible how to identify false Christs 01:30 and false prophets. 01:36 Doug: We're going to start with a story in the Bible, one 01:38 of my favorites. 01:39 Just to give you the background, it's based on 1 Kings 22, most 01:43 of the chapter. 01:45 King Ahab, bad king, northern kingdom, he finally made peace 01:49 with King Jehoshaphat, kind of Judah, southern kingdom. 01:53 King Ahab invited Jehoshaphat up to the northern kingdom and 01:58 said, "Why don't we join forces and let's go fight against Syria 02:02 because they took the city of Ramoth Gilead from us and let's 02:05 see if we can recover it." 02:07 And Jehoshaphat was being very generous. 02:09 He said, "My horses are like your horses and my chariots like 02:12 your chariots. 02:13 I'm going to join together. 02:15 Let's work together to win this battle." 02:16 And then Jehoshaphat said, "Well, let's inquire 02:18 of the Lord." 02:20 He was a godly king. 02:21 Ahab was not such a godly king. 02:22 His wife was involved in Baal worship. 02:26 And so, Ahab said, "Oh, no problem. 02:28 I've got a lot of prophets." 02:29 And he called out the prophets of Baal. 02:32 And they all came and they had a pep rally and they said, "Go 02:34 fight against the Syrians. 02:35 You'll recover Ramoth Gilead. 02:37 Go fight, fight, fight. 02:38 Win, win, win, you're going to win. 02:39 God is with you." 02:41 And Ahab said, "You know." 02:42 Or rather, Jehoshaphat said, "These guys all look like 02:44 prophets of Baal." 02:46 He said, "Ahab, nothing personal, but are there any 02:49 prophets of Jehovah here that we could inquire of?" 02:52 Ahab got a little bit tense and he said, "Och, yeah, 02:55 there's one guy. 02:57 His name is Micaiah, the son of Imlah, but he never says 02:59 anything good about me." 03:02 And Jehoshaphat said, "Nah, don't be so hard on him. 03:04 Let's give him a chance." 03:06 So Ahab sent a messenger to go fetch Micaiah and, in the 03:11 meantime, they continued the pep rally. 03:13 "You're going to beat the Syrians and you're going to win 03:15 and God is with you and--" So the messenger that goes to fetch 03:19 Micaiah, he says to Micaiah, as they're on their way to this 03:24 assembly, he said, "Look, they're having a great time. 03:27 It's very positive." 03:29 He said, "Strong morale, everyone's encouraged. 03:32 Don't go say anything negative." 03:34 Micaiah says, "I will have to say what the Lord tells me to 03:37 say, whether it's popular or not." 03:42 So he finally comes before Ahab. 03:44 The two kings are on their throne and all the prophets are 03:46 gathered around and they're all prophesying positive things 03:49 about this battle. 03:50 And Ahab says, "Okay, Micaiah, should we go up to 03:55 Ramoth Gilead or not?" 03:57 And Micaiah said, "Go and prosper." 04:00 Ahab said, "No, tell me the truth. 04:01 I know you're being sarcastic." 04:03 He said, "Okay, I saw Israel scattered on the mountains as 04:07 sheep having no shepherd, and these prophets are lying to you. 04:12 The Lord has told me." 04:14 I'm condensing the whole chapter. 04:16 Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, he said, "I told you he'd say 04:19 nothing good about me. 04:20 Micaiah clearly said, 'Do not go into that battle.'" 04:24 Ahab said, 04:25 "We're going to put you in prison until I come again 04:27 in peace." 04:28 Micaiah said, "If you ever return in peace, the Lord has 04:32 not spoken by me." 04:35 So they went into battle, and Ahab was a little worried 04:37 because he knew these prophets of God like Elijah, everything 04:40 Elijah said, happened. 04:41 Micaiah was friends with Elijah and he said, "All right, well," 04:45 he says, "I'm going to get killed in battle so what I'll do 04:47 is I'm going to have Jehoshaphat dress up in his king's attire 04:51 and go into the battle. 04:52 I'm going to dress up like a soldier and stay 04:54 on the outskirts. 04:55 I'll be safe. I'll make sure. 04:57 I'll put on my armor. 04:58 Nothing's going to happen to me. 04:59 I'm going to be extra careful so I survive this battle and prove 05:02 the prophet wrong." 05:04 Well, you know, the Bible tells us that "a certain soldier drew 05:08 a bow at random." 05:09 We don't even know if it was one of his own soldiers. 05:12 "And he struck the king of Israel in the joints 05:14 of his armor." 05:16 He hit a vital artery and he began to bleed seriously. 05:20 Instead of getting medical treatment, he was so proud he 05:22 said, "Prop me up in the chariot," and he stayed up in 05:25 the chariot until he bled to death and he died that day. 05:28 The very thing Micaiah said happened. 05:30 You cannot overcome or overrule a true prophet of God. 05:35 And so we're going to be talking about the subject 05:37 of proving the prophets. 05:39 When Jesus in Matthew 24 talks about his Second Coming and the 05:44 disciples say, "What is a sign of your Coming, 05:46 the end of the world?" 05:47 what is the first thing Jesus said? 05:49 "Beware, many false prophets will arise." 05:53 There will be false prophets and false Christs and so we need to 05:56 know how do you distinguish the true from the false? 05:58 Question number one: To whom does the Lord reveal 06:01 His final plans? 06:03 Amos chapter 3, verse 7: "Surely the Lord God does nothing, 06:08 unless He reveals His secret to His servants the PROPHETS." 06:13 The Lord tells us that if He's going to do anything 06:15 significant, He usually calls a prophet. 06:18 When God was getting ready to destroy the world with a flood, 06:20 did He have a prophet? 06:22 What was his name? 06:24 Noah. 06:25 And when the Lord was ready to carry the children of Israel out 06:28 of Egypt, did He raise up a prophet for these 06:30 monumental occasions? 06:31 What was his name? 06:33 Moses. 06:34 And when they were about to be conquered by the Babylonians, 06:37 did God raise up prophets to warn them and guide them? 06:41 Jeremiah, Isaiah, and subsequently Ezekiel, Daniel. 06:45 These profound times in history God raises up prophets. 06:51 Before the Messiah came, did God bring a prophet that would be a 06:55 voice in the wilderness? 06:57 What was his name? 06:58 John the Baptist, to prepare the way for this great event of the 07:02 Messiah coming. 07:04 So here we are on the threshold of eternity, the Lord is about 07:07 to come, do you think that this would be a great time to have 07:11 the gift of prophecy to find out what the Lord says? 07:14 Absolutely, it says there: "The Lord God does nothing," meaning 07:18 nothing significant, "unless He reveals His secret to His 07:21 servants the PROPHETS." 07:23 God does not want to catch His people off-guard. 07:25 He wants us to know and to brace for impact. 07:29 He wants us to be prepared spiritually, 07:31 so He sends prophets. 07:32 Also to give us guidance along the way. 07:35 Number two: Will there be both true and false prophets in the 07:40 last days? 07:41 What does the Bible say? 07:43 Well, Jesus warned us. 07:44 Matthew 24:11, also Mark 13, Luke 21. 07:49 He says: "Then many FALSE prophets will arise 07:52 and deceive many." 07:53 Now, you'll notice the words "many" and "few" used by Jesus. 07:57 When it comes to eternal life and the straight road, is it 08:01 many or few? 08:03 It says few. 08:04 When it comes to the broad way to destruction, many or few? 08:08 Many. 08:09 So when He says "many false prophets," the true prophets 08:12 are going to be what? 08:14 Few. 08:16 But are there true prophets? 08:17 I think, and this is a picture of, what was it? 08:20 Marshall Applewhite, that poor people deceived by him and that 08:24 Heaven's Gate cult, and they committed suicide. 08:27 And there's been many others and you'll find people--and it's not 08:31 just the people who say, "I'm Jesus." 08:34 There's a lot of false prophets when you channel surf. 08:39 Yeah, there's a lot of people out there supposedly speaking in 08:41 the name of the Lord and they're begging for money and they say, 08:45 "I've got a word from the Lord, and God told me this 08:47 and God told me that." 08:48 And one way you can know the difference between a true and a 08:52 false prophet is a true prophet is not going to ask for your 08:55 credit card number. 08:58 I just can't picture Elijah going to Ahab and saying, "I've 09:01 got a message for you. 09:03 But you're going to have to first give me your credit card," 09:04 or "It's going to cost you this much." 09:06 You cannot stop a true prophet from delivering his prophecy. 09:10 So that right there is a test that should help us. 09:14 Yes, there'll be false prophets, we all know that. 09:17 In fact, if I told you I know someone that's a prophet, people 09:20 automatically kind of cringe a little bit and they say, "Man, 09:23 there's so many false prophets." 09:24 As soon as someone says they're a prophet, we are on our guard 09:27 because I think we've all seen that there's a lot of 09:29 counterfeits in the world. 09:31 But do not let our concern about false prophets prejudice against 09:35 the real thing. 09:37 You hear that? 09:39 Because Jesus warned us about false prophets. 09:41 If He said there would be no prophets, He would have said, 09:43 "There'll be no prophets in the last days." 09:45 But He didn't say that. 09:46 He said, "We want to be aware and watch out 09:47 for false prophets." 09:49 Look at what it says in Acts chapter 2:17. 09:51 Peter preaching said: "It will come to pass in the last days, 09:55 says God. 09:56 I will pour out MY Spirit on all flesh, and your SONS and your 10:00 DAUGHTERS will prophesy." 10:03 The Scripture just popped in my mind I want to share with you. 10:05 From the book of Ephesians chapter 4, and you can start 10:10 with verse 11: "And he gave some to the apostles; some, prophets; 10:17 and evangelists"; I'm technically an evangelist, 10:19 "some, pastors and teachers." 10:22 Why? 10:23 Why does God have these offices? 10:25 Do we need teachers? 10:27 Do we need pastors? 10:29 Do we need evangelists? 10:30 Do we need apostles? 10:32 Apostles were, like, the leaders and administrators 10:34 of the church. 10:35 Do we need prophets? 10:37 You would think so, but listen how long we need them. 10:40 It says "For the equipping--" Why do we need them? 10:42 "For the equipping of the saints, for the work of 10:45 ministry, for the edifying," or building up, 10:48 "of the body of Christ." 10:49 How long? 10:50 "Till we all come into the unity of the faith, of the knowledge 10:54 of the Son of God, and to a perfect man, to the measure of 10:58 the stature of the fulness of Christ." 11:00 I don't think we've arrived yet, which means we still need the 11:03 gifts of prophecy. 11:05 Does that make sense? 11:06 What types of false prophets are specifically condemned 11:09 in the Bible? 11:10 "One who practices witchcraft." 11:13 I remember watching "The Wizard of Oz" and thinking, "Oh yeah, I 11:16 don't want to be a bad witch. 11:17 I want to be a good witch," you know? 11:19 And so all these little girls, they want to be good witches 11:22 like that beautiful little witch in the story and the Bible 11:24 says witchcraft is bad. 11:26 Now I'm not suggesting we re-establish the Salem witch 11:28 trials, but I meet people all the time, they say, 11:32 "Well, I'm a good witch." 11:34 -- "I'm a wiccan, but don't be scared of me. 11:36 I only cast good spells." 11:39 Karen and I got an Uber to the airport, and hopped in the Uber 11:46 and we're driving along, and so the driver, he asked, he said, 11:51 "So what do you do?" 11:52 You know, you're making conversation, 11:53 going to the airport. 11:55 I said, "I'm a pastor." 11:56 And he got real quiet and he goes, "That's interesting. 11:57 I'm a wiccan, I'm a witch, I'm a wizard." 12:01 And I'm in the front seat with him because we had our bags in 12:03 the back, Karen's back there, and I look in the rear view 12:05 mirror and I see Karen's expression go... 12:09 She starts praying. 12:10 At first, I thought, "Oh, this is going to be strange." 12:14 And then I thought, "Well, you know, the Lord cares 12:15 about his soul." 12:17 And so I started telling him about my testimony. 12:19 I said, "Oh, yeah, I was into that kind of stuff," I said, 12:21 "but there's no power there." 12:22 I said, "Now I got the real power." 12:25 And he started thinking, "You got more power than me?" 12:28 "Oh yeah," I said. 12:29 "That -- you don't have any power there. 12:30 The real power's with God." 12:32 And I started giving my testimony. 12:34 By the time we got to the airport, you know, we're all 12:36 praying for him. 12:38 I gave him my book and had prayer with the guy. 12:40 So--but it was a little weird when he first told me he was 12:42 a--he said he became a wizard so he could cast spells on his 12:45 mother-in-law because she was casting spells on him. 12:51 A soothsayer. 12:53 People that is interpreting, you know, these sites 12:55 like Nostradamus. 12:57 He spoke in these just very abstract ideas and made very 13:01 vague kind of incoherent mutterings and people are always 13:04 trying to figure out what his prophecies mean, and it just 13:07 seems like a lot of gibberish whenever I've looked at it. 13:11 "One who interprets omens." 13:13 "Oh, I looked at the chicken bones today and you know what 13:15 they say?" 13:17 Or "I cut open the liver and it--because it looked like this, 13:19 that means this is going to happen," and--or "The bird flew 13:21 by and that's a sign because it was a crow and not an eagle," 13:24 and, you know, that's kind of witchcraft. 13:27 God says, "Stay away from that." 13:28 God doesn't do it that way. 13:30 "A sorcerer." 13:32 Someone who is casting spells and concocting potions. 13:38 By the way, sorcery, it talks about one of the problems 13:41 with Babylon. 13:43 It says, "By her sorceries were all the nations deceived." 13:46 That word "sorcery" is pharmakeia, which is where you 13:50 get pharmacy or drugs, and when I was a young man, I don't like 13:56 telling people this because they think I'm still hallucinating, 13:58 but I was trying to find God through hallucinogenics. 14:02 A lot of kids back in the '60s, they were taking LSD and we were 14:05 eating mushrooms and things, were trying to have these 14:08 experiences, but it was drug-induced. 14:10 It's counterfeit. 14:12 God doesn't need to have you take drugs to receive 14:14 the Holy Spirit. 14:15 Jesus turned away from the drugs they offered Him on the cross 14:17 because He did not want to be inebriated or influenced. 14:22 Answer "F": a medium, someone who says, "I am the go-between 14:26 between me and the ghost world or the spirit world, and you can 14:30 communicate with them through me." 14:32 "G": a spiritist, people are going to cast spells and voodoo, 14:37 and these things are all from the dark arts that Christians 14:42 should have nothing to do with. 14:45 Doug: Don't go anywhere, friends. 14:46 In just a moment, we will return to today's presentation. 14:49 Imagine tonight on the evening news some charismatic character 14:54 appears, claiming to be a prophet of God. 14:57 He heals the sick, brings fire down from heaven, and even 15:00 quotes from the Bible. 15:02 Should you believe that they are a real prophet of God? 15:06 The Bible warns that many false prophets will come in the last 15:09 days, but how can we distinguish a true prophet 15:12 from a counterfeit one? 15:14 And it is vital that we get this right, friends, because "many 15:17 will be led astray in the last days by false prophets." 15:21 To better understand this subject, Amazing Facts has 15:23 prepared a beautifully illustrated resource and it's 15:26 titled, "Does God Inspire Astrologists and Psychics?" 15:30 It's filled with easy-to-understand Scripture and 15:33 insights, and you'll get trustworthy information about 15:36 how to know someone is a true prophet and how you can avoid 15:40 falling under the spell of false prophets, even when 15:43 they do miracles. 15:44 To get your free copy, call the phone number on your screen and 15:47 ask for offer number 144, or visit the web address. 15:51 After you read this incredible resource, 15:53 make sure and share it with a friend. 15:55 Doug: Well, let's get back now to today's presentation and 15:58 learn some more amazing facts from the Word of God. 16:03 Doug: So, Christians shouldn't have anything to do 16:05 with these forbidden aspects, and that would accrued--like, 16:09 astrology, someone who looks at--considers the times, and, 16:15 you know, there's a lot of people. 16:16 They--there's nothing wrong with astronomy. 16:18 That is the legitimate and the fascinating study 16:20 of the heavens. 16:21 Nothing wrong with astronomy. 16:23 I'm fascinated with space and the science of space. 16:27 Astrology is this mumbo-jumbo that the organization of the 16:32 stars is somehow affecting you and I grew up in that. 16:35 My mother used to write astrological songs and I'd say, 16:38 "Do you believe this?" "No." 16:40 And her friends would do readings and they'd just 16:42 make stuff up. 16:43 And you meet somebody and they'd say, "So what's your sign." 16:46 "Oh, I'm an Aquarius." 16:48 "I'm a Pisces." 16:49 "Oh, we should get along great because--" And just--do you 16:51 really think that when a baby's born, a certain month or year, 16:54 they're locked in for life because of where your stars 16:58 were organized? 16:59 I dunno. 17:00 Friends, that's not of God. 17:02 And I think you almost put yourself on the devil's ground 17:05 when you start looking into that. 17:07 Will God's end-time church have the gift of prophecy? 17:11 Yes, you read in Revelation 12:17, says: "The dragon was 17:15 wrath or enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the 17:19 remnant of her seed," this is down to the end of time. 17:21 It's the remnant. 17:22 What are those characteristics? 17:24 "Which keep the commandments of God and have the TESTIMONY of 17:28 JESUS Christ." 17:30 Well, we know what the commandments of God are. 17:31 What is the testimony of Jesus Christ? 17:33 You go to Revelation 19:10, John falls down to worship this angel 17:38 that's giving him a message, and the angel says, "See that you do 17:40 not do that." 17:41 He said, "For I am of your brethren who have the testimony 17:45 of Jesus. 17:46 Worship God! 17:48 For the testimony of Jesus Christ is the SPIRIT of 17:51 PROPHECY." 17:53 So here the dragon is angry with the church in the last days. 17:57 Goes to make war, and whatever 17:59 the two outstanding characteristics? 18:01 Keep the commandments of God as the testimony of Jesus Christ. 18:06 What is the testimony? 18:07 Spirit of prophecy. 18:08 Is God going to still have the spirit of prophecy 18:10 at the end of time? 18:11 And of course, that means the law and the prophets, but God is 18:14 going to still be speaking to and through His people 18:16 in the last days. 18:19 "Surely the Lord God does nothing." 18:21 I'm repeating this verse just for reinforcement. 18:24 Amos 3:7: "The Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His 18:27 secret to His servants the prophets." 18:30 That verse was not canceled out with the cross. 18:32 That is still true today, that God speaks through His prophets. 18:36 And I should add that while someone might not have all the 18:39 qualifications of a prophet, God has spoken through a lot of 18:42 inspired people through history. 18:44 I mean, I've read things that Spurgeon said 18:46 that I believe were inspired. 18:48 I've read things that Luther said, John Calvin, John Wesley, 18:52 some of these great reformers. 18:54 They were in inspirational statements. 18:56 God still speaks through people. 18:58 I would hope that God still speaks through pastors 19:00 from time to time. 19:02 Well, I got a couple of "Amens," one from my wife. 19:07 "Behold, in the last days--" Malachi chapter 4, one of the 19:09 last prophecies in the Bible. 19:11 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of 19:15 the great and dreadful day of the Lord." 19:18 Now this is a prophecy that has a dual application, because the 19:21 disciples came to Jesus and they said, "When is Elijah coming?" 19:26 And Jesus said, "Elijah has come, and Elijah will come." 19:31 He said, "Elijah has come in the ministry of John the Baptist." 19:34 But that wasn't it. 19:35 Not only did John come to prepare the world for Jesus' 19:37 First Coming, I believe God is going to send another Elijah or 19:41 Elijahs, an Elijah message, in the last days before 19:44 the Second Coming. 19:45 I mean, don't we need it in the world today? 19:48 We need that power of prophecy in the last days before the 19:52 climax of the world's history. 19:54 Question number five: In what way does God speak 19:58 to a true prophet? 20:00 What does the Bible say? 20:02 Numbers chapter 12, verse 6 and 8: "If there's a prophet among 20:06 you, the Lord will make--I, the Lord, will make Myself known to 20:10 him in a VISION; I'll speak to him in a DREAM. 20:14 I will speak to him face to face." 20:17 Now Peter had a vision while he was on the roof, and God spoke 20:20 to Joseph in a dream, and God spoke to Moses and Abraham 20:25 face to face or -- 20:26 God the Son, spoke to him that way because no man has seen God 20:29 the Father, the Bible says. 20:31 Not only that, says, "Now the ANGEL talked with me." 20:34 So you've got visions and dreams, face to face, 20:36 and angels. 20:37 What are some of the ways God speaks to prophets? 20:39 These are supernatural ways when God speaks to His prophets. 20:43 And at Zechariah chapter 4, verse 1. 20:45 There's numberless places in the Bible where God spoke to His 20:48 prophets, Daniel, John, Ezekiel, through angels that appeared to 20:53 them, and gave them special guidance. 20:56 Are miracles definite evidence of a true prophet? 21:00 Can false prophets feign miracles? 21:03 You read in the New Testament about Simon who seduced people 21:07 with his signs and wonders and miracles. 21:09 And the magicians of Pharaoh. 21:12 They would do signs and wonders. 21:14 Moses threw down his serpent. 21:16 They'd throw down their serpents. 21:18 Moses made frogs. 21:19 They said, "We can make frogs." 21:20 Moses turned the water to blood, they said, "We can do that." 21:24 Finally, when it came to lice, they told the Pharaoh, 21:27 "We can't do lice. 21:28 This is the hand of God." 21:32 But it says: "They're the spirits of DEMONS, performing 21:34 SIGNS, that go out to the kings of the earth 21:36 and the whole world." 21:38 There and this is Revelation chapter 14. 21:39 Before the end of time, is the devil going 21:41 to manufacture miracles? 21:43 So signs and wonders and miracles are not proof that a 21:46 person is a prophet of God. 21:48 What's the most important test of a prophet? 21:52 What does the Bible say? 21:54 "To the LAW and to the TESTIMONY! 21:56 If they do not speak according to this word, it is because 21:59 there is no light in them." 22:01 And you might be thinking, "Well, Pastor Doug, but if 22:03 somebody has a vision that they write a book and they say 22:06 they're a prophet, wouldn't that be on the same parallel, the 22:09 same plane, as the Bible?" 22:11 No, have you read in the Bible about some of these other 22:13 prophets that had books that are not part of the Bible? 22:18 Joshua 10:13: "Is this not written in the book of Jasher?" 22:21 Do any of you have the book of Jasher? 22:24 Says he's a prophet. 22:25 1 Chronicles 29:29: "The book of Nathan the prophet and the book 22:29 of Gad the seer," a seer and a prophet are the same thing. 22:32 Anyone here have the book of Gad or the book of Nathan? 22:36 No. 22:38 2 Chronicles 12:15: "Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and 22:41 last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet 22:44 and Iddo the seer?" 22:45 So here, you've got, like, five different people that are 22:47 mentioned that wrote books but God did not have them 22:50 included in Scripture. 22:51 Sometimes, prophets give specific messages 22:54 for a specific time. 22:55 Noah's message about getting on the boat was a very important 22:58 message, but our message today is not "Get on the boat," 23:01 except as an allegory for coming to Christ. 23:04 What's the second test of a prophet? 23:07 "By this you will know every--know the Spirit of God: 23:11 Every spirit that confesses that JESUS CHRIST has come 23:15 in the flesh is of God." 23:17 So when somebody says that "I am a prophet and I'm a 23:20 reincarnation of Jesus," they're not a prophet of God. 23:24 I remember when I was going through my Eastern religions 23:28 that people were saying, "Well, yeah, Jesus was one of the 23:31 manifestations of God, but he's on the same level as Buddha and 23:35 maybe Muhammad was another manifestation," and everybody 23:38 says that they've got, you know, that they're just 23:40 on an equal plane. 23:42 Jesus was God incarnate. 23:44 And there's no other God above him. 23:47 He's, you know, you've got God the Father, the Son, and the 23:49 Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ was the Son of God. 23:54 What's a third test of a prophet? 23:56 Says, "You'll know them by their fruits." 24:00 This character here, Jim Jones--I actually baptized a 24:03 girl that had escaped from Jonestown--and, of course, his 24:08 organization was here in northern California, led those, 24:12 what, 600 people or more, committed suicide down there 24:16 in South America. 24:17 Started out preaching from the Bible, gradually gave up the 24:20 Bible and said his teaching was more important than the Bible, 24:23 and it led the wrong direction. 24:25 What's the fourth test of a prophet? 24:27 "When the word of a prophet COMES to PASS, the prophet will 24:30 be known as one whom the Lord has truly sent." 24:33 So what's a clear way of knowing if a prophet's true? 24:36 Do their prophecies come true? 24:38 Are they accurate? 24:40 What three things does Paul recommend regarding prophecy? 24:43 Does he command regarding prophecy? 24:46 One, "Do NOT despise prophecies. 24:49 TEST all things; HOLD fast to what is good." 24:54 So if someone says, "Oh, there's a prophecy here," check it out. 24:58 I've had a lot of people say that, you know, so-and-so's a 25:00 prophet, and I'll say, "All right, well, let me read it." 25:03 I'm open-minded if it's a message from God, but then it's 25:05 got to pass the test of following Scripture and the 25:08 other criteria, and the personal life. 25:11 You know, one of the things we didn't talk about 25:13 was the personal life. 25:14 So many people say they're prophets, but their personal 25:16 lives are a little bit strange. 25:19 And so, do not despise these prophecies. 25:21 Check it out. 25:23 Whose counsel do we reject when we reject the words 25:26 of a true prophet? 25:28 What does it say in Luke 7, verse 28 and 29? 25:31 "There was not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; And when 25:34 all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors 25:37 justified God. 25:39 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the WILL of GOD 25:43 for themselves." 25:45 Jesus, you know what His accusation was? 25:49 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem," the people of God He's talking to. 25:52 "The one who kills the prophets and stone those 25:55 who are sent to her!" 25:56 How often it is true in history that it seems like God's people 26:01 reject the true prophets and we follow the false ones. 26:04 You've got to make sure that it's following and staying with 26:07 the biblical criteria for what is true. 26:10 Let me just give you a couple of reasons here in closing. 26:13 Why do we need the gift of prophecy in the last days? 26:15 What do prophets do? 26:17 Here's a few reasons, seven reasons. 26:18 One: prophet must uplift Christ. 26:21 They don't point to themselves. 26:23 Any prophet that's exalting himself, not a prophet of God. 26:27 They need to understand the big battle between good and evil. 26:30 We need prophets because they give spiritual, 26:33 devotional blessings. 26:35 They can also teach us about the practical things of life such as 26:38 health and those advantages. 26:40 They uplift the Scriptures and point people to the Scriptures. 26:43 They impact the church institutions and then they'll 26:46 give us guidance and predictions that will help us 26:49 to understand what's coming. 26:51 And then my question for you would be: since God still speaks 26:55 through prophets and since a true prophet's words are the 26:59 personal "testimony of Jesus" to you, are you willing to test 27:03 modern prophets by the Bible and follow the counsel of those 27:07 who agree with Scripture? 27:08 I believe the gift of prophecy is still alive and we may see 27:11 prophets in the future. 27:12 How are we going to know the true from the false? 27:15 We've got to use the Bible, friends, amen? 27:22 announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 27:24 free resource. 27:25 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 27:28 download a digital copy straight to your computer 27:30 or mobile device. 27:32 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 27:35 the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 27:40 shown on your screen and be sure to select the digital download 27:43 option on the request page. 27:45 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 27:48 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want. 27:51 And most important, to share it with others. 27:56 ♪♪♪ 28:00 announcer: And thank you for your continued support as we 28:02 take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. 28:05 We hope you'll join us next week as we delve deep into the Word 28:08 of God to explore more amazing facts. 28:13 ♪♪♪ 28:21 ♪♪♪ 28:24 announcer: This presentation was brought to you by 28:26 the friends of the Amazing Facts ministry. |
Revised 2022-06-02