Potential Danger Of Prophetic Spiritual Gifts

“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”

2 Corinthians 11:13‭-‬15 ESV

We have a very deceptive enemy.

A problem that has found its way into the modern church, particularly those churches that are more open to the active, present work of the Holy Spirit is the emphasis on operating in spiritual gifts. Often this becomes the central focus and there is little or no emphasis on bearing spiritual fruit. 

I want to make it understood that I am not a cessationist by any means. God has not died. The Holy Spirit has not been on vacation since the last book of the New Testament was completed. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) The same miracle worker that was active in the Old and the New Testament is still very much alive and well today.

We also need to understand that Satan is still very much alive today. He is loose and he is out to deceive and seek who he can devour. The above verse says that he disguises himself as an angel of light. In other words, “He does a good imitation of Jesus.” So good in fact that Jesus himself said that if it were possible even the elect would be deceived. (Matthew 24:24)

In Matthew 7:22-23 Jesus said:

“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ “

There are a few things I need to point out here:

1. Jesus said ‘many,’ not ‘few.’ There would be a lot of false teachers. Possibly they would make up the majority.

2. They would exercise spiritual gifts, specifically prophetic. They also performed miracles and cast out demons. 

3. In spite of their giftedness in ministry Jesus said these were people he never knew. They were not his.

Satan has his counterfeits for just about everything. Never forget the slave girl in Acts 16:16-18 who was gifted by a demonic spirit of divination. Apparently she was very good at it because she made her owners a lot of money. She even proclaimed that Paul and Silas were servants of God proclaiming the gospel. Yet Paul knew that her words were not from God even though everything she said was true. How many people in churches today would have heard her and been deceived into thinking she was speaking the words from God and not the devil?

Prophetic danger

The main reason I am focusing on the prophetic is because the prophetic can be used to do untold harm to individuals and to the body of Christ as a whole unless it is handled properly. That means it is crucial to learn how to determine what IS and ISN’T truly prophetic.

If the prophetic is being used by someone who is not truly bearing fruit of the spirit, it can often be used to manipulate and control people. This is even the case of true believers who simply haven't matured to the point they can use the gift wisely.

In the Old Testament, claiming to be a prophet when you weren’t was a very serious offense. In Deuteronomy 18:20-22:

“But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.”

 

And how many chances did this prophet get? ONE!! That's how serious it is. I have seen many cases where people had these glowing ‘words from the Lord’ that ended up not coming true and it was simply dismissed as if it was no big deal. Claiming to have a word from the Lord that doesn’t pan out is a violation of the third commandment; “Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”

In churches where the prophetic is encouraged one very seldom hears any warning against making false prophecies because they don’t want to discourage the prophetic gifts. But the words of God in Deuteronomy would have made many ‘prophets’ keep their mouths shut.

In the words of Zechariah:

“And on that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness. And if anyone again prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the Lord.’ And his father and mother who bore him shall pierce him through when he prophesies. “On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive, but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth.’ And if one asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your back?’ he will say, ‘The wounds I received in the house of my friends.’ Zechariah 13:2‭-‬6 ESV

Prophecy is not something to take lightly.

In Chapter 13 verse 3 of Deuteronomy God says that he sometimes allows the false prophets in order to test his people to see if they will be deceived into falsehood or not?

Years ago I remember a pastor explaining the need to be a man or woman who is a devoted student of the Bible when determining whether a word was from the Lord: “The Holy Spirit can speak to you and he does speak. But there is another spirit, a very unholy one, that also speaks to you. And the only way you can know whether it is God or the devil is by knowing what God’s written word says.”

Keep in mind, this is not just a distinction between those who are truly prophetic and those who aren’t. The devil will do everything he can to speak to the truly prophetic in order to deceive and do harm.

Prophetic words need to be weighed.

In 1 Corinthians 14:29:

“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.”

Often it is simply assumed that whatever a supposed ‘prophet’ said was a good word simply because it sounded good. But the only true criteria is God’s word. Does it line up with what God has already said? 

Here are some suggested criteria that will help to determine whether a word is truly from God and the problems with such criteria.

1. It should encourage. Problem – sometimes a truly prophetic word is a harsh rebuke. That may not seem very encouraging.

2. It is convicting, not condemning. That depends on who the word is directed at. If it is to edify the saved then it will convict. But if it is directed to nonbelievers then it may very well be condemning. The gospel does have a message to the unrepentant sinner – judgment is coming.

3. Old Testament prophecy was the very direct 'Word of the Lord,' whereas in the New it is not as direct and needs to be weighed by other believers. Actually, when Agabus prophesied about a coming famine in Acts 11: 28 it was very specific. Some have charged that when Agabus prophesied that Paul would be arrested in Jerusalem by the Jews he was somewhat inaccurate because he was actually arrested by the Romans. This is not unusual even for Old Testament prophecy. Josiah was told he would die in peace before calamity fell on Judah. He was actually killed in battle. Neither of these prophecies should be considered inaccurate because Paul was arrested at the provocation of the Jews and Josiah died in relative peace compared to what was coming. Either way, true prophecy hasn't changed from the Old to the New Testaments. Most Old Testament prophecies were addressed to rebellious, unregenerate people. They would not have the capacity to weigh the prophecies whereas New Covenant believers who are indwelt with the same Holy Spirit that gave the prophetic word have that ability.

4. Old testament prophecy was directed to a nation. New Testament prophecy is directed towards the church. That may be true in general but the New Testament has much to say about the judgment coming on the nations. Even in the Old Testament some of the prophets spoke against nations other than God’s chosen people. Obadiah prophesied against Edom. Jonah and Nahum prophesied against Nineveh. Habbakuk had words of judgment against Babylon, and there were others, Egypt, Tyre, Sidon, etc. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. And the spirit of prophecy is as well. 

The only sure way to determine whether a prophetic word is truly from the Lord is to weigh it against Scripture. That means we need to become astute students of the Word. As it says in Acts 17:11, we need to search the Scriptures daily to see if these things are true.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

Here is some practical advice:

1. Don’t be hasty in sharing your words. It’s usually not an emergency. Pray into it. Meditate on it.

2. Share it with your pastors or elders privately. Pastors should be careful about allowing ‘words’ to be shared without carefully evaluating them first. Just allowing people to get up and speak is opening the door for Satan to speak to the people.

3. It’s OK to say, “I feel like I should share this and let you weigh it for yourself" rather than say, “The Lord showed me.” If it turns out to be a ‘dud word’ so to speak, you didn’t take God’s name in vain. And if it turns out to be a solid word, we can all give God the credit then.

When you look at the entire New Testament as a whole there is very little written concerning spiritual gifts. That is because spiritual gifts are not the end goal. They are given by God and they pretty much take care of themselves. 

Spiritual Fruit

Jesus said in John 15:8:

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

This should be what we emphasize. He did not say his Father was glorified if we manifest many gifts. We are to bear much fruit. Fruit is growing in the image of Christlikeness. God gives the gifts as he sees fit in order that the church may be built up. Often we get it backwards and we make it about the gifts. 

The gospel is about God saving his people and producing fruit in his people. It is not about gifts. Satan seeks to deceive and he deceives not by overtly inserting wrong ideas but by being very subtle. He just has to get us off little by little.

Let us stay focused on the main thing. Desire the true spiritual gifts so they can be used to build up the church but don’t make the gift the central focus.

We All Die. Then what?

"And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,"

Hebrews 9:27 ESV

One of the most prominent landmarks in Palm Beach County, Florida is the Breakers Hotel in the town of Palm Beach. In the lobby of one of the high rise condominiums where I did some work, there was a picture of a beach party at the Breakers dated in the 1920's. I remember looking at the picture of the crowded beach front seeing the people enjoying the warm sunshine, salt water and seabreeze having a great time when a profound thought occured to me:

These people are all dead now.

But the picture showed mostly young adults in the prime of life, full of youth and vigor enjoying life on the beautiful shores of Palm Beach. Yet as I looked at the picture none of these people are around anymore. They are all dead. The youth and vigor had given way to age and frailty and finally could no longer maintain and had returned to the dust of which we are made.

It is safe to assume that at the time this picture was taken none of them gave any thought that I would one day be looking at this picture, preserved for posterity, nearly a century later and they would be gone, largely forgotten except for this old photograph. 

We need to realize that this life is temporary. It will end. We are going to die eventually. Even while we are in the prime of life and we feel like we are invincible there is an inescapable truth. We are going to die. 

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 90:12 ESV

I remember Pastor John MacArthur being interviewed after the events of 9-11 and I believe he was asked if God was punishing the victims in the twin towers. Dr. MacArthur responding by saying something to the effect that nothing had happened to them that isn't going to happen to every one of us. We all have an expiration date that God has predetermined. 

Jesus responed to a similar situation as Dr. MacArthur did in Luke 13:

"There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, 'Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.' ”

Luke 13:1‭-‬5 ESV

The real question is, "Then what?"

The message of the gospel starts with the bad news. We are a condemned race. Most people (even unbelievers) know John 3: 16. But very few know what verse 17 says and almost nobody knows what verse 18 says:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

John 3:16‭-‬18 ESV

THE WORLD IS ALREADY CONDEMNED!!

It was condemned back in Genesis chapter 3 when Adam and Eve sinned.

"And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,"

Hebrews 9:27 ESV

In the words of Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones, "The gospel has a message to the unrepentant sinner, judgment awaits." 

There is a day of judgment coming. Jesus talked a lot about judgment and about hell, even describing hell in quite some detail. Contrary to the universalist view, it is not a place you ever return from. Dante had it right in his Inferno when he described the inscription on the sign over the entrance, "Abandon all hope ye who enter here."

 The apostles warned people to save themselves from judgment. 

And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” (Acts 2:40 ESV)

Modern Evangelistic Preaching

It has become popular in modern preaching to only focus on the good parts of the gospel message. Sometimes it is just glossing over the bad news. Often, new converts are told to start reading the gospel of John. In retrospect, reading at least the first 3 chapters of Genesis, preferably the first 6, before reading John would instruct an understanding of the fall and the serious ramifications of our sin nature. It is important to understand the bad news first before reading the good news.

Often modern preaching is simply preaching what people want to hear. 

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." (2 Timothy 4:3‭-‬4 ESV)

In the words of Charles Spurgeon: "The time is coming when in the church instead of shepherds feeding the sheep we will have clowns entertaining the goats."

Some evangelistic outreaches have made the gospel all about the miracles, prosperity, and 'your best life now.' We've seen the hyped up evangelistic crusades which seem to thrive on sensationalism. 

That isn't what Jesus and the apostles taught.

Yes God performs miracles today. He blesses and he does heal. But let's put that into perspective. I had a pastor once who did this very well. He said, "When we pray for healing and God miraculously heals that person we celebrate, rejoice and praise Him. But we have to understand that when someone is healed in this life it is only prolonging the inevitable. Even Lazarus would still need his tomb."

And then what?

Judgment

"The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death." (Isaiah 57:1‭-‬2 NIV)

We are all going to die. But death for the saved is completely different than it is for the unrepentant.

For the repentant:

"Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years." (Revelation 20:6 ESV)

For the unrepentant:

"Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:15 ESV)

If we are to be judged by what we have done then we will be found guilty. Isaiah 64:6 says:

"...and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment."

The only righteousness that God will accept on that day will be the righteousness of his Son, Jesus Christ that was imputed on our behalf.

2 Corithians 5:21:

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Lazarus and the rich man

There are some things we should briefly observe from this narrative:

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

Luke 16:19‭, ‬21‭-‬31 NIV

Because this narrative differs from Jesus's parables in that Lazarus and Abraham are specifically named, some have speculated that this is not a parable but something that actually happened. I personally think that's a flimsy foundation to base a doctrine on but nonetheless, there are a number of things to understand about the final judgment from this:

1. People don't return. There is no chance for a redo.

2. Jesus actually did return from the dead and people still did not believe him. Thus proving that people would not listen and believe even if someone were to return from the dead.

3. It is significant that Lazarus and Abraham are named but the rich man is not. While in this life he had prestige and honor, in the next life he is a nobody. If in fact this is an actual historical narrative, then those of us in Christ will one day meet Abraham and this Lazarus. We will never see this rich man. That is the fate of the unrepentant. Proverbs 10:7 says that even the name of the wicked will rot.

Repent while it is still the day of grace and mercy

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:18‭-‬21 ESV)

When Jesus quoted this passage from Isaiah 61 he stopped before he read the next line which is, "and the day of vengeance of our God." That part of the passage was not fulfilled at that time. The day of judgment is yet future but do not doubt, IT IS COMING.

When Jesus came the first time it was to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. That day is still now. But that day will come to an end and then it will be too late. If you have not repented of your sins, I implore you to throw yourself on the mercy of Jesus Christ. Let his blood cleanse you of your sin. Let his righteousness be placed on you while it is still today. The day of his vengeance yet to come, will be too late for you.

It is appointed unto men once to die. It is appointed unto the wicked to die twice. There is no resurrection from the second death. Turn to Jesus Christ so that you may have your part in the first resurrection on whom the second death has no power!

May God richly bless you all.