Weigh The Prophecy (Don't Just Take In Every Prophecy)

Mark 13:5–6 NIV

5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.

Matthew 24:4–5 NIV

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.

The statement "For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ" - Has two interpretations

1. There are people who will come and actually claim they themselves are Jesus Christ, the savior. Throughout the history of the church, and even today, many have made claims to messianic identity. Jesus’ disciples therefore must be on their guard against such people. I remember a video that circulated on social media, where a man from Nigeria claiming he is the long awaited Christ.

2. The other interpretation is that many will come and actually acknowledge Jesus as the son of God and yet they are false prophets and will deceive many. There are many who haven’t said, they themselves are Jesus Christ, but are preaching Jesus, they call Jesus their father and yet are false prophet who are deceiving many into destruction.

Therefore we opt to be very careful, just as Jesus has warned in Matthew 24:4 “Take heed that no one deceives you” there haven’t been many who actually claim, they are the “Messiah” or Jesus Christ, they are few. But there are many, countless people who are with the title Apostle, Prophet, Servants Of God and Evangelist etc. Who are deceiving many. So watch.

How to identify false prophets.

It is our duty to identify false prophets, if we can’t identify them, them we have been deceived for a long time. There are two keys to identity these false prophets but before that let us look at

1 Corinthians 14:32

1 Corinthians 14:32 NIV

32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.

What does that means? it means that in the early church, they had it that when a prophet give a prophecy, that prophecy is not just taken in but there are other prophet in the church, who must take what is said and weighed it, for it to be confirmed that it is coming from God, because we sometimes prophecy out our imaginations , we can give inspirational words when we are happy or sad, there for the other prophet there to weigh the prophecy.

So these men of God will will not allow their prophecies be subjected to scrutiny are all wrong. That is why their prophecies does not come true and the bible say’s if a prophet prophecy and it does not come true, that prophet is a false prophet (Dt 18:20-22)

Deuteronomy 18:20–22 (NIV)

Deuteronomy 18:20–22 NIV

20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.” 21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.

First Key To Weigh Prophecy: The Word

When a prophecy is given don’t just take it in, but you must take the prophecy and weigh it by the scriptures, must of the times these prophecies comes with a scripture backing and if you are not careful you will be carried away. In Jesus’s confrontation with the devil, the devil quoted scriptures but Jesus knowing the scriptures counters the devil with scriptures ( Ps 91:10-13)

Psalm 91:10–13 NIV

10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

at that time Jesus got to know that satan, had quoted the scripture out of context and had also editor that scripture.

I remember in my church, when i thought this very sermon, a woman who went to a certain so called church, and the so called man of God preached and quoted scriptures, this woman wrote the scriptures down and after church services it was one on one withe the man of God and while the woman waited for her turn she opened the bible and read from the bible the scriptures the man of God gave them, so when it got to her turn to see the man of God, she asked the man of God that all the scriptures given by him does not tally with the bible. The so called man of God told her, she is a smart woman, what does that mean, it means all along this man has been misleading the whole church and they don’t even see it.

Let us be like the people of Berea. the bible say’s “they received the message by Paul with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every to see if what Paul said was true. It does not matter who, weigh their message with the scriptures. Paul said in Gal 1:8-9

Galatians 1:8–9 NIV

8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!

Second Key to Weigh Prophecy: By Your own Spirit.

Secondly we must weigh prophecy by our spirit, what it means is that prophecies must confirm what we already have in our hearts. or prophecies comes to confirm what we have in our hearts Acts 13:1-3

Acts 13:1–3 NIV

1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

Final Scriptures

1 John 4:1 NIV

1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1 Thessalonians 5:20–22 NIV

20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.