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Beware Of False Prophets 

By Pastor J.D. Link

Abundant Grace Fellowship Church, Blanco, TX

1Jn 4:1 says “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”. As Believers, we are instructed to not believe every spirit, but rather to test the spirits to see if they are of God. How do you test the spirits? By The Word of God. If what one is saying does not line up with the written Word, then it is not of God. Of course, if you don’t know what The Bible says, you can’t tell when something is of God or not. That then leads to you being deceived. If you don’t know the truth, how can you spot a lie? Jesus didn’t say we should be gentle as doves and dumb as a brick. He said we should be wise as serpents (Mt 10:16).

If someone claims to be the Messiah, it’s easy enough to go to The Word of God and see what the evidence should be. There have been people claiming to be Jesus for the last 2,000 years, and everyone of them have turned out to be frauds; deceivers who prey on ignorant people. One such recent false Christ who lives in Houston has received international attention. His followers are even getting 666 tattooed on themselves, which is the number of the beast of Revelation (Rev 13:18). Without going into a lengthy discourse on the beast, let’s just say he’s no one you want to follow; and his final destination is the Lake of eternal Fire, as well as his followers (Rev 14:9-11, 19:20, 20:10),

This false Christ also says there is no sin, and there is no Hell. He’s going to wish there was no Hell when he meets the real Christ on Judgment Day. I assure you, Hell is real, and it is forever (Mt 10:28, Mk 9:43-48, Lk 16:23-25, 2Thess 1:7-10, 2Pt 2:4). I could list a lot of verses about sin, but 1Jn 1:8 is sufficient: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Well, you can’t get much clearer than that. I agree that Jesus Christ paid for our sins on the cross, and that through faith in Him you are cleansed from your sin; but to say it doesn’t exist is a lie.

I also find it interesting that this guy says he’s Jesus; but yet when referring to Christ he says “He”, instead of “me”. If you claim to be somebody, wouldn’t you say “I did such and such” instead of “he did such and such”? He also says that faith is all in your mind, symbolized by his two-finger salute. What does the Bible say? With the heart man believes unto righteousness (Rom 10:9-10); trust in the Lord with all your heart (Prov 3:5); If you believe with all your heart (Acts 8:36-37); You have obeyed from the heart (Rom 6:17). Read The Word!

I’m not writing this to bad-mouth anyone; but I feel it is my responsibility as a pastor to teach people the truth. Folks, I know it’s tempting to just laugh this guy off: but he is leading people to eternal damnation, and that is no laughing matter. So I felt like I should take time this week to address this. The Bible says God hates a false witness that speaks lies (Prov 6:16-19). It also says there will be false teachers among us (2Pt 2:1), as well as false brethren (2Cor 11:26, Gal 2:4) and false apostles (2Cor 11:13). Jesus said false Christs and false prophets shall arise and deceive many; and even try to seduce the elect (Mt 24:11, Mk 13:22). He also said they would not come in a red cape and pitchfork, but rather as a wolf in sheep’s clothing (Mt 7:15).

So what can we do to not be deceived? Read The Word; meditate on The Word; know The Word! Cherish The Holy Bible and thank God for it. We would be clueless without it. My mom was a bank teller when I was growing up. She said she handled money so often, that she could tell if a bill didn’t feel right or look right. If you thoroughly know the real thing, you’ll spot a counterfeit. If this has opened even one person’s eyes to the truth, all praise be to God! Until next week, rejoice in The Lord! (Phi 4:4)