Two Keys To Recognize A False Prophet

Happy Sabbath to everyone. And again, greetings to those who are visiting with us here in person or those over the Internet. I hope we're all having a very fine and enjoyable Sabbath day. I also hope that, for those of us at least here in the United States, that we had an enjoyable holiday to properly celebrate the founding of our country many, many years ago. But, brethren, people through the ages have wondered about the return of Jesus Christ, the return of the Messiah, when Christ will return, when He would reappear. Christ talked about His return and the conditions leading up to His return.

We can read about that in the Olivet Prophecy, Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. Christ talked about His return and events taking place up till that time. The Olivet Prophecy is a familiar prophecy to many of us, but let's turn now to Matthew 24 and notice something. Now, start reading in verse 3. Matthew 24 and in verse 3. It says, Now, as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be? What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? And again, it's been a popular subject for many, many centuries.

And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many. So Jesus Christ starts out answering the question by giving them a warning of telling them, warning them of deception, warning of one of the things that's going to be happening up to His return. The disciples asked, Well, what is the sign of your coming? What are the conditions of your coming? And He starts out with a warning. Watch out for deception. Christ also warns us about other events, but He mentioned deception first.

So one thing to occur before Jesus Christ returns is the fact that there's going to be a great deception. Many will come in Christ's name. And notice it says, deceive many, not just a few, but many. Some will claim to represent Jesus Christ. Some will actually claim to be Christ, you know, where it says, I am Christ, and deceive many. But we also know that with this warning, it's a warning as well for people living all the way up to the return of Christ.

So talking about Christians, I'll say today and in the future. Dropping down to verse 11, verse 11, He repeats the warning. He says, then many, again, not a few, but many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. So again, the warning is given. Many will be deceived and then dropping down into verse 24. Verse 24, where Christ repeats Himself again. For false Christ and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

So Christ is talking about strong delusion. He says, see, I have told you beforehand. So again, false Christ and false prophets are foretold to come in the future of great signs and great wonders. Matthew 24 here reminds me of 2 Thessalonians, the second chapter, where it talks about the lawless one. Or Revelation 13, talking about the second beast, a little miracle-working beast. Strong delusion. But Christ is saying, I'm warning you in advance. Prepare yourselves so that you're not deceived. We need to be on guard against false prophets.

I'm sure that, you know, that's not a revelation to any of us. We need to do that. But how do we do that? We need to be on guard. Several years back, for those that were around then and remember, maybe have seen pictures, there was a man who prophesied that the egret fountain, which is, I'll describe that in a minute, the egret fountain would pick up and go over to Jerusalem, fly en masse, I guess. The egret fountain, this was at the Basterd College campus in Pasadena, California. It was a fairly large fountain, and it had these egrets, these giant birds.

I guess they would weigh something around a ton each. It was going to get picked up and fly to Jerusalem. An incredible, you know, forecast, an incredible prophecy. Well, it didn't happen. Likewise, the Ambassador College of the Ambassador Auditorium was also prophesied to be somehow unplugged, moved over as a unit, and then replugged into Jerusalem.

Again, incredible forecast and incredible prophecies. They didn't happen. You know, they still have not happened. Yet, for some reason, you know, the person that said this had a following. And he not only had a following, but even after these things don't come to pass, people follow him anyway. I really have something that I don't understand. The false prophets have some way of attracting people and getting them and keeping them, regardless of whether what they say is true or not.

Again, even if the events do not occur. Many have claimed to be one of the two witnesses, and I think that's likely that that will continue. Actually, it's kind of interesting. I heard of one man who claimed to be both of the two witnesses. Don't know how to do that, but in any case, he's a false prophet. So how can you know if someone's a false prophet or not? How can you protect yourself from being deceived? Today I'm going to talk about how to recognize a false prophet.

Specifically, I'm going to give two keys on how to recognize a false prophet. The keys are simple, they're logical, and they're effective, and they will benefit all of us as we remember them and as we use them. So today I'm going to talk about two keys to recognize a false prophet. Let's start out, put a bookmark or your finger or thumb in Matthew 24, as we'll come back here later. Well, the first key is found in Deuteronomy 18, and I'll start reading in verse 20. Deuteronomy 18 in verse 20, it says, 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.

And if you say in your heart, well, how do we know the word which the Lord has not spoken? How do we know he's a false prophet? Verse 22, it says, 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 presumptuously, you shall not be afraid of him. So this is key number one. If the person makes a prediction and the prediction doesn't happen, the person is a false prophet.

I'll say period, and a sentence. Though that person might have excuses, justifications, rationalizations, they might have all sorts of explanations of why it didn't happen. But obviously, God says if it doesn't happen, it didn't come from him. Now that seems like it's pretty obvious. Someone predicts an advantage doesn't happen, you figure, well, God didn't tell him what that event was going to be.

So that seems pretty obvious. And as I said, for some reason, people still believe false prophets. They stay with them. They're attracted to them, and they stay with them. I don't know what the attraction is, but in any case, that happens. There was a man, I don't know, he wrote an article 15 years ago, plus or minus, and in it, he claimed to be a prophet, and he named specific things, events, and dates when things were going to occur.

It looked pretty convincing. However, none of those things happened. But the interesting thing as well is that the end of the list of his prophecy, and near the end of the article, it says these things are true. They're going to happen. If they don't happen, I am a false prophet, and you don't need to believe me. So he even said it himself, and the people, they don't believe him. They still stay with him. I fail to understand that, but anyway, the first key is, does the prophecy actually come to pass as stated?

The second key is, well, what if the event does occur? You know, the person makes a prediction, and it happens. Is that person a true prophet? Is that person a true prophet? And the answer is, maybe. He might be or he might not be. And that brings us to the second key. And I say, he may be or he may not be. It could be a she as well. Turn back to Deuteronomy 13th chapter, and I'll start reading in verse 1.

This will introduce the second key. Deuteronomy 13, 1, it says, If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or wonder, and the sign or wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods which you have not known, and let us serve them. So his prophecy has come to pass. But then he's trying to draw people away. Verse 3, it says, You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or the dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. So the second key is, number one, the person must speak about an event that does take place. You know, talk to foretell something that's going to happen. But then they also must speak, number two, according to the law, according to the prophets.

In other words, according to the Bible. They should not say that we know we're going to worship God in this way or on this day or in some other manner. Stick to the word, you know, stick to the Bible. They must speak according to the Bible. They should not preach lawlessness. Remember, the false prophets are able to work miracles, but they must speak according to God's word, or a true prophet will speak according to God's word.

So, brethren, in conclusion, there are two keys, these are two keys, to recognize a false prophet. As I mentioned, they are simple, logical, and effective. Key number one, did the event come to occur or pass as stated? If not, the person is a false prophet. No excuses, no justifications. Not a true prophet.

Key number two, does the prophet speak according to the Scriptures? Again, if not, this is a false prophet. God has not sent him. So, remember these two keys. Let's turn back to Matthew the 24th chapter. Matthew the 24th chapter, and we'll read verse 24 again. Remember these two keys. Verse 24 says, for false Christ and false prophets will arise. Again, it's going to happen. We need to be prepared. We need to be ready. For false Christ and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders. Fantastic signs. So as to deceive, if possible, even the elect. So again, Christ is warning us in advance. There is going to be strong delusion. But Christ loves us, and He doesn't want any of us to be deceived. So He gives us this warning in advance. Verse 25, it says, See, I have told you beforehand.