Hidden Treasures: Test Those Who Claim to Speak for God

1John 4:1  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.


When someone comes to you claiming to speak for God or claiming that there are those of his or her church who speaks for God or is a prophet, then it's time to go to the Bible and test what they say against what the Bible has to say.  If the two are not in agreement then something is wrong. They are false.

Here is one test of whether a prophet is false or true:

1John 4:2-3 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

There are many who claim what is written in this verse, but this isn't the whole test of whether a prophet is true or false.  Take a look at this verse:

 Deuteronomy 13:1-5 "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,"and the sign or the 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,' "you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that 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. "But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.

So, this was directed to the Children of Israel in Old Testament times.  In those days there was no tolerance for those who taught heresy.  They were commanded to put them to death.  In the New Testament, Jesus said to let the tares grow up with the wheat and in the end they would be gathered and burned. So this part of these verses are not applicable for us today, but the test of the prophet is still applicable.

Check out the one who is hailed a prophet. Check out what he has said and compare it to the Bible's teaching.  Is it in agreement?  Has the prophet prophesied future events?  Has every event come to pass as prophesied?  This means you must dig a little bit and do some study.  Don't just take someone else's word for it.  Find out for yourself if what the prophet has said has always come to pass or is in agreement with the Bible.  If not, then you can be assured that prophet is a false prophet and you don't need to follow him/her.  They will just lead you astray.

The same goes for some so-called Christian teachers that are out there on TV, authoring books and teaching in churches.  Check then out. Compare their teaching with the whole of Scripture (the Bible). Don't just take the verses they cherry pick to support their teaching and assume they are alright.  Read the context and study the teaching out as it compares the the teaching of the Bible as a whole.  Is it consistent with the Bible?  If not, then don't give them any heed.  If you are in a church where they are teaching, then run as fast as you can away from there and find a church that teaches what the Bible teaches and not just what a few verses that they have cherry picked to support their positions.