True and False Prophets

September 18, 2022

How does one determine who is a true and who is a false prophet? There

must be a standard to which both can be measured. For Christians, the

standard is Christ Jesus and his word, the Word of God. There is no other

– any more or any less is an abomination (Revelation 22:18-19).

Perversions of this gospel cannot be tolerated and those who deliberately,

not ignorantly, alter or misapply scripture are false prophets. They must be

counted as heretics, but every effort must be made to educate those who

ignorantly hurt themselves and others. The deliberate abuser of the word

and the brotherhood must be disciplined, (Matthew 18:15-17), by the

whole church with the objective of saving his soul. Jesus prescribed this

knowing that offenders would come and disrupt the faith and fellowship of

all believers throughout history. The false teacher is no less prevalent now

than before; but today we have written word and its author, the Holy

Spirit, as our standard for measurement (Ephesians 6). Then, (Acts 13),

they had many prophets and teachers in Antioch including Barnabas and

Saul who were called by the Holy Spirit for a certain word. Upon them

prayer was laid and they were sent to the task of preaching the word, they

were ordained for this work and so began to preach the word in Salamis.

In Paphos, they found a Jew that was a false prophet and a sorcerer, he

withstood them. Notice the personality and presumption of Elymas and

compare him with Barnabas or Saul. See how he is described by Saul in

(Acts 13:10) and why he was struck blind. The detail description given

here describes every false prophet then and now. Whether we see all these

traits or not even one should send up a flag to those with any portion of

discernment. False prophets are determined to deceive “the very elect” and

so we must be all the more careful like the Bereans to search the scriptures

to see what is being taught. Doing so daily should be our challenge and

our delight for therein is the reward. (Psalms 1:1-6).

Dr. Kenneth E. Morrison