Beware of false prophets!

FALSE PROPHETS IN THE CHURCH IN NIGERIA: BY THEIR FRUITS YOU SHALL KNOW THEM….

There are several challenging aspects in the Christian faith. One of these challenges is the simple way that Jesus prescribes for His sheep to recognise FALSE PROPHETS. Please read the following passage carefully: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. YE SHALL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

WHEREFORE BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM" (Matthew 7:15-20).

‘BY THEIR FRUITS….’ There is no doubt that this is an extremely high standard! But these are the direct words of THE WORD Himself. This passage is very plain to read and understand. We do not need Bible commentaries, Greek lexicon, or a deep insight to interpret the passage. Jesus spoke very plainly, He spoke along these lines: “Many false prophets SHALL abound in the Christian faith. You may not know they are false because you cannot see what they think or do in the corner of their hearts. All you can see is the miracles they perform, the power they wield, the influence they have, etc. But, I, the Lord, do not look at these external superficialities. I look at the heart. Therefore, I see what is hidden to men” “When a false prophet attempts to deceive my sheep, I, the Lord, undertake the responsibility of REVEALING THE FRUITS OF HIS HEART – just so that my people are not deceived. So that my people may see through MY EYES what is hidden in the hearts of men. And, in this way, my sheep will be able to identify FALSE PROPHETS and flee from them. I undertake this responsibility because I love my sheep, and I do not want them to be deceived – for deception will lead many astray, and many into eternal damnation.”

In effect, these are God’s words to us in protecting believers from ravening wolves that come to believers in sheep’s clothing. These words of Jesus also confer a clear responsibility on true believers. And this is the responsibility: we MUST carefully WATCH the fruits of the lives of our ministers. We are not WATCHING the fruits of their lives because we are wicked, or because we dislike them, or because we are hoping they will fall – we are WATCHING because this is what Jesus commands in the Scriptures.

This is precisely how God designed Christianity to function.

Carefully watching the fruits of the lives of our ministers is NOT a sign of rebellion. IT IS A MARK OF GODLINESS. A mark of obedience to the words of Jesus Christ. A mark of respect for God that wants FULL protection for His sheep.

But fast-forward to our days. Specifically in the Church in Nigeria. We do not really want to identify a man of God from the fruits of his life. No! Doing that will be too rude, we convince ourselves. That will be equivalent to ‘touching God’s anointed’, we convince ourselves. That will be like judging God’s servants, we convince ourselves. And for good measure, we quickly pull out passages like Romans 14:4, to justify our foolishness and disobedience (a passage that has absolutely no relevance to this subject).

Rather than follow the words of Christ, and the wisdom of God, we have drawn our own criteria for identifying true men of God. We reason that any man that says he is called by God must obviously be called! In our estimation, any man that pulls large crowds MUST be a man of God. Any man that continuously performs ‘big’ miracles MUST be a man of God. Any man that has a grand vision for heralding people like sheep into a place we call church, and keeping them there for many years, MUST be a genuine man of God. The list we use to identify and define our men of God is as long as it is FOOLISH. But one standard that we fear to use is the ONLY standard that Jesus gave us – by the fruits of their lives.

And the reason we are quick to ignore this standard, apart from fear, is because we also are NOT earnest pursuers of God’s holiness and righteousness. We believe the standards of God, and the standards of the

Gospel, are too high! Therefore, we are very quick and eager to excuse sin in the lives of our leaders; because, deep in our hearts, we are also sin-loving people. “Judge not, so that you will not be judged,” we quote in deceiving ourselves.

And any believer that dares to go against this collective folly and rebellion against the words of Christ, is labelled A REBEL! He is hounded, molested, alienated, ridiculed, and cursed by some believers for ‘touching the Lord’s anointed’! When God sends His prophets into the church to constrain us to look at what we want to willfully ignore, we ‘stone’ the prophets – so that we can continue to be deceived by the wolves in sheep’s clothing.

We do this because there is a strange love between God’s people and deception. Rather than face up to God’s high standards, His people have an actual preference for deception. “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and MY PEOPLE LOVE TO HAVE IT SO….”

(Jeremiah 5:31).

In 2 Timothy 4:3-4, we’ll find an interesting parallel to the above verse. The believers in the passage do NOT want to endure God’s sound doctrines, because it is too uncomfortable for their flesh. You’ll think the next logical thing is that such people will leave the faith, or change to another religion, or become an atheist, etc. But No! They prefer to hang around the Lord’s temple, seek ministers that will deceive them with fables, and then PAY these deceivers for their services in the form of tithes, offerings, and the sundry charges that are imposed on them!!! Fascinating, isn’t it?

This love for deception is one of the many traps that will ensnare many careless believers, and consign them to hell fire on the Day of Judgment. For this is a very, very serious matter. To underscore the importance of identifying and running away from FALSE PROPHETS, please look at the context of the Matthew 7:15-20 passage quoted at the top of this article. You will observe that Jesus sandwiched this teaching between Matthew 7:13-14 that talks about the broad/narrow way that leads to hell/life, and Matthew 7:21-23 that warns us that not all that call Him ‘Lord, Lord’ will get into the Kingdom – including many miracle workers. This in itself is a very sobering consideration, as well as a pointer to how these Scriptures will stand against many believers on the Day of Judgment.

For any believer that is deceived will bear the FULL RESPONSIBILITY for the deception, and will be punished for the deception. This is because people DELIBERATELY CHOOSE to be deceived! It is not that deceivers can out-wit God, or His Holy Spirit that indwells the believer. People are deceived because they want to be deceived. In effect, on the Last Day, deception will NOT be an excuse for any believer. God has in-built safety measures to safeguard the life of the discerning sheep. We neglect or ignore those safeguards at the peril of our souls in eternal damnation.

By its design, Christianity is NOT an ice-cream party. It is a very challenging way of life. It is a challenging way of the cross, and of blood. The blood of the Son of God that was shed so that we can become established in the way. Today, we live in perilous days – just as Christ warned us that deception will be at its highest as the end of the world approaches. A lot of believers sense that His return is now more imminent than ever. Therefore, we need to be extra-careful about deception in these days.

Beware of ANY man of God that tries to hide behind the often misquoted passage of ‘touch not my anointed’. This is the passage that has been used to whip many believers into complacency and criminal silence in regard to the atrocities committed by men that present themselves to us as ministers of Christ.

The only reason people run from light is because their works are evil (John 3:20). Also, beware of those that are always warning believers to desist from talking about men of God. Of course, God wants us to talk about His servants! That’s why He told us to EXAMINE the fruits of their lives as quoted in Matthew 7:20; see also Hebrews 13:7. That’s why He said a city that is set on a hill CANNOT be hid (Matthew 5:14). That’s why He said we should let men SEE our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). In Revelation 2:2, He even commended the church in Ephesus for examining/judging/testing some apostles, and proving them to be liars! In our own days, such fake apostles would have flourished because of the ‘touch not my anointed’ mantra that has been used to brainwash us!!!

Christianity is NOT a secret society! It is a way of life that uses LIGHT as one of its most significant emblems! Genuine Christianity is an open life – because it has nothing to hide. No skeletons in its cupboard.

Having said all these, it is extremely important to also stress that ANY believer that falsely/wrongly accuses a true man of God is toying with the wrath of God! God does not tolerate rebellion against authority lightly. Just as He takes offence against any of His children very seriously. Please see His stern warning in Matthew 18:6 in this regard. If you are a true child of God, you will not dare to FALSELY accuse another true child of God. In this world, there are only few believers (if any) that are COMPLETELY above sin (though this is the clear goal that God has set for us, and has paid for with His own blood). But as we strive towards living out the spiritual reality of our complete deliverance from sin; God, in His mercy, forgives our sins as we repent. And most times, He covers the shame of our iniquity. But when we persist in ignoring His warnings, He at times allows our sins to blow out into the open. When He allows this, it is because He wants the matter to be dealt with OPENLY. In such situations, SECRET REPENTANCE is simply NOT an option! Because most times, the integrity of the Gospel is at stake in such situations. Thus, for the sake of the Gospel, a minister that is OPENLY exposed for wrong-doing MUST REPENT OPENLY. That is how to maintain the integrity of the Gospel before a mocking world, so that the name of Christ is not blasphemed.

ANY minister that cannot repent OPENLY in such situations is putting his personal reputation and interest ABOVE the interest of the Gospel. ABOVE the interest of Christ. And above the demands of his exalted office as a representative of God. When SELF is thus blatantly put ahead of Christ, the state of the heart of a man is revealed! For no one that puts SELF ahead of Christ in such an open manner is worthy of being called a servant of God. He is NOT even a follower of Christ, not to talk of a leader! For Jesus made it clear that it is only those that DENY SELF and carry their cross that can truly follow Him (Luke 9:23). Thus, this is one of the ways that God exposes the impostors in our midst.

When sin occurs, the GRACE TO REPENT (openly, if necessary) is one of the fruits that Christ wants us to look out for in the life of a genuine man of God, according to the Matthew 7:15-20 passage. False ministers DO NOT REPENT OPENLY because their public image is extremely important. For this is what draws the gullible crowd to them – not the power of God. This is why false ministers will rather hurt the Gospel of Christ than ruin their public image. And God exposes them to discerning believers so that they will not be deceived by external appearances.

The conspiracy of silence that is shielding the many, many false prophets in the church in Nigeria is demonic! It is designed by Satan to impede the Gospel in Nigeria by spreading falsehood in the faith, and encouraging believers to be lukewarm in falsehood. Please do not be a part of this evil conspiracy. Don’t be a shield to darkness. And do not weaken the hands of those that the Lord is using to shine the light in the dark crevices of the deception that has enveloped the church in Nigeria.

If you are truly for Christ, in love, stand against the works of darkness and reprove them as the Bible commands in Ephesians 5:11. A matured believer that is too fearful to stand up for the DIFFICULT truth of the Gospel of Christ will NOT be able to enter the Kingdom – for the Kingdom is not for the fearful (Revelation 21:8). Neither is it for those who choose to tread the path of deception in not following the Man of Truth. Whose name is THE TRUTH (John 14:6). And whose house is the pillar and ground of THE TRUTH (1 Timothy 3:15).

We are living in days when we have to make the difficult choice of TRULY standing for Christ – or standing with His enemies against Him. It is entirely a matter of choice. And the ball is FIRMLY in your court. I pray you choose wisely. Amen.

Thanks for reading, God bless you.

David Oludairo is a seasoned minister of God based in the United Kingdom.