Uplifting Christ

In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. (2 Peter 2:3 NLT)

After writing about Beware of False Prophets two years ago, I have been following the lives of some preachers around the globe and what I have realized is quite intriguing. In the past, false prophets were known to be antichrist. That is they don’t preach about our Lord Jesus Christ. The story is gradually changing in these last days. They have clothed themselves with sheep skin and exploiting innocent people for their personal gains, as well as leading them to eternal destruction. The sheep are now feeding the shepherd on the field.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. (Matthew 7:15, KJV)

Jesus is the good shepherd and we are supposed to follow his examples. When you study the life of Jesus, you will find out that Jesus was not only concerned about people’s spiritual need, but their physical needs too. That was why after giving the multitude spiritual food and performing wonders for three days, he said to his disciples “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way.” (Matthew 15:32, NLT). Before his ascension, he told Peter in John 21 “Feed my sheep” three times. This should tell us the extend of how Jesus wants His sheep to be taken care of.

Peter, having been through persecutions, beatings, and prisons, gave this message to shepherds “Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly–not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.” (1 Peter 5:2, NLT).  The point I want us to note is “watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it”. Peter’s message is very simple and clear. Your service to God as an apostle, pastor, teacher, evangelist, or prophet should be done willingly. The main task is to care for the sheep that have been entrusted to you.  In the book of Acts, the scripture says “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock–his church, purchased with his own blood–over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders.” (Acts 20:28, NLT). The story today is different, that is the sheep are now caring for the shepherd.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. (Matthew 7:15, KJV)

A friend told me “…but it is very difficult to know false prophets these days because everyone mentions the name of Jesus and quote the scriptures”. This is true because when you watch TV, read books, listen to podcast, read magazines, and other channels, you will realise that everyone talks about Jesus. They have disguised themselves as ministers of God but inwardly, they are ravening wolves. This should not be a surprise because “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”  (2 Corinthians 11:14). He also knows and quotes scriptures. So having his prophets’ do the same is not a big thing to do. But as Jesus said, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. You shall know them by their fruits. That is something they can’t hide. They pretend to be who they are not to get what they want. They are after wealth, fame, and personal achievements. They pay attention to how to build temples and maintain them, how to drive the expensive cars, live in luxurious houses, be on every channel, to be heard all over the world, but ignore the well-being of the sheep God has entrusted to them. The point is if you are unable to cater for the few sheep under your roof, how can you care for those outside? They seek to promote themselves instead of the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. (2 Peter 2:2 NLT)

Many people follow their evil teaching because these prophets preach what they (people) want to hear. I kind of wonder why today’s messages are all about prosperity and how to get well. This has led to believers seeking foul means to get well or successful. Some cheat to get money to pay tithe and offering because if they don’t, they wouldn’t be considered as members of their churches. Some people don’t go to church because of clothes. Such people don’t want to look or feel bad about how they dress to church. There is evil in the church today because the basics of Christianity have been ignored. Ministers spend millions on outreach programs while some members are starving and finding it hard to pay their bills.

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 John 4:1, NIV)

I am not condemning any preacher’s work but I believe that if anyone has given himself or herself genuinely to God, then he or she must do so willingly. There are many false prophets in the world. I was shocked when I heard a preacher said on radio that people pay consultation fee before seeing him.  Some sell products, believed to perform miracles, in the church. The Bible didn’t say Paul sold handkerchiefs to perform miracles. So where from the selling of calendars, bottled waters, pennants, oils, etc. to extract money from innocent people who are desperately in need of miracles. God has power to work through anything but my question is can’t they be given to members for free? Must people pay huge sums of money for miracles?

You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? (Matthew 7:16, NLT)

God was able to preserve 7000 in Israel who didn’t bow down to baal. In the same way, although there are many false prophets in the world today, there are good ones who are diligently doing the task that has been assigned to them. All you need to do is to pray that God guides your heart and steps so that you don’t fall prey to any of these wolves who have clothed themselves with sheep skin.

I will close with this:

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. (Matthew 7:15, KJV)