Overview of Profile of the False Prophet. I outline the general characteristics of the false prophet, which in following posts I will define each characteristic. This fifth part will continue to deal with marks of the false prophet.
Contents
Marks – Produce Bad Fruit
Jesus said in Matthew 7 that by their fruits ye shall know them. The true man of God seeks to produce, and does produce, spiritual fruits of a good nature in God’s sight. But the final analysis of the life and ministry of a false prophet is simply that good spiritual fruit is not found in himself, nor in his followers. Again he substitutes other things which he proclaims are spiritual fruit, but lives changed to show forth Jesus Christ in them doesn’t really happen.
Marks – Reject and Abuse Authority
The false prophet is a person who abuses authority. True authority only comes from God, and there is no person which legitimately has the authority of God without that person having correct moral character, a calling from God, and a recognition by God of their position.
The false prophet inserts himself into a structure where he does not belong, taking authority without first living a history of life of obedience to God. Once he has illicitly taken authority, he then pressures God’s people to obey him as their authority. It is always he is the dictator in God’s stead. The pope syndrome. They never seek God’s will, but impose their own will as God’s will.
Marks – Reject Repentance
The essence of salvation is moral change. This is plain and simple repentance. A regret, which is an emotion followed by abandonment of the wrong, and a forceful seeking of the right that should be done in the wrong’s place (sin). This is known as righteousness. A good church and a good minister will have moral change as the foundation of everything.
Marks – Respects Man’s Opinion more than God’s
The false prophet ignores and denies the will of God. They seek and live, surfing on the waves of popular opinion. The decrees of God are timeless, but the teachings of the false prophet are driven by the winds of man’s opinion.
Marks – Practice Spiritual Abuse
The false prophet knows very well what he is doing, and he is using people in order to gain some kind of advantage from his control of their lives. Some focus on making illicit financial gains, others take sexual advantage of others, and others are seeking glory and praise of man. But all of them use people, and this illicit use becomes spiritual abuse very quickly. People are hurt by his ministry over time. He doesn’t care about them. He cares about himself, and his kingdom of control and glory that he is building.
Marks – Are Unoriginal, Plagiarists
The true minister of God gets his message from God. This is the source of what he teaches and preaches. But, in reality, his best messages are coming from his personal devotional life with God. The false prophet has no personal devotional life with God. He copies real men of God to appear like them, wolf in sheep’s clothing again. But he cannot come up with a constant message from God in the long run. He only copies who he thinks the people will like.
Marks – Use Tricks, Deception
Again, the false prophet is a servant of his lord, the Devil, the great deceiver, the father of lies. The use of deception with others is just a mark of what he is. When a church offers free whatever, entertainment, or some other carnal desire to entice people to enter the building “so that they can give these people the gospel,” he is using the methods of the Devil to “do the work of God.” Nobody can force the work of God. Will God come down and change lives when the methods used are deception? No. God is not in that.
Overview of Profile of the False Prophet
More Posts on False Prophets
- A Short Definition of a False Prophet
- A study on False Prophets and Teachers
- Biblical Overview of Covetousness
- Contrast of a False Prophet and a Pastor
- Covetousness doesn’t mix with God’s Work
- Covetousness is Idolatry
- Covetousness, Topical References
- F.P. Examining Leadership Models
- False Prophets and Teachers Overview (updated 1/28/2022)
- False Prophets Are Greedy, Covetousness
- False Prophets Are Guided by Demons
- False Prophets Are Unoriginal, Plagiarists
- False Prophets are Unsaved
- False Prophets lord over other’s salvation Commentary
- False Prophets Preach a Substitute Message
- False Prophets Produce Bad Fruit
- False Prophets, Introduction and Overview
- FP: Catching the False Prophet with his hand in the Cookie Jar
- FP: Contrast of True Christ and false christs
- FP: False prophets worship other gods
- FP: Fruit of a False Prophet Disobedience Part 8
- FP: Fruit of a False Prophet other gods part 5
- FP: Fruit of a False Prophet Repentance part 6
- FP: Fruit of a False Prophet Willfulness part 4
- FP: Identifying a False Prophet (updated 1/29/2022)
More Posts under the Profile of the False Prophet Category
- Covetousness, Topical References
- False Prophets Are Greedy, Covetousness
- False Prophets Are Guided by Demons
- False Prophets Are Unoriginal, Plagiarists
- False Prophets are Unsaved
- False Prophets Preach a Substitute Message
- False Prophets Produce Bad Fruit
- Overview of Profile of the False Prophet Part 1
- Overview of Profile of the False Prophet Part 2
- Overview of Profile of the False Prophet Part 3
Read Tracts about False Prophets and the True Man of God
- ch16 Example of the man of God
- ch19 Marks of a False Prophet
- ch22 Pastorless Flocks
- ch23 Paying the Pastor
- ch24 The power of an example
- ch26 Don’t touch the anointed of God
- ch30 Man of God must not be contentious
- ch31 3Bs of success: buildings, bodies, and bucks
- ch38 Recognizing a good pastor
- ch39 What should we preach?
- ch41 The marks of a bad minister
- ch42 Destitution of Pastor
- ch43 Time to leave your church?
- ch47 The Christian and His Money
- ch49 The Biblical Pastor: The Biblical Duty
- ch51 Cowboys versus Shepherds