by Tom Stewart
Preface
"When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him" (Deuteronomy 18:22).
The Saints of God are unique in that they have been given the Holy Spirit to teach them the very Scripture of Truth (Daniel 10:21) that is a "Light unto [our] path (Psalm 119:105) to guide us away from the snares of false prophets.
"But the Anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all things, and is Truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him" (1 John 2:27).
The inability to discern a false prophet from a true prophet, will open the way for the deception of the False Prophet -- the beast "out of the Earth" (Revelation 13:11) -- who is the End Time co-worker of the Antichrist. All the marks of a false prophet should be understood by the Body of Believers and applied to our daily discernment of who ought to be believed and who ought to be rejected.
"For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the Word of Righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Hebrews 5:13, 14).
Our LORD did not excuse the hypocrites for their lack of discerning the "signs of the times" (Matthew 16:3). Nor will He excuse the world for allowing the False Prophet to deceive them into worshipping the Antichrist.
"And he [the False Prophet] exerciseth all the power of the first beast [the Antichrist] before him, and causeth the Earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed" (Revelation 13:12).
Then, why should the LORD allow those of us that name the "Name of Christ" (2 Timothy 2:19) to be ignorant of the false prophets, who are currently deceiving the "Flock of God" (1 Peter 5:2)?
