The False Prophet

THE FALSE PROPHET

Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. (Revelation 13:11)

Most Christian people talk about Antichrist, the first beast. He comes out of the sea of mankind. He is the love of money. Christians are hoping they will be caught up to Heaven before Antichrist appears. But Antichrist already is in America. He is our god—“the love of money.”

We do not know that much about the second beast, the False Prophet. The False Prophet is Christian people who have rejected their personal cross and are seeking to be important and successful in the world. We know the False Prophet is Christian people because it has “two horns like a lamb.” The “Lamb” is the Lord Jesus Christ. The “two horns” represent a double portion of the power of the Lamb. One may ask, “How could someone who speaks like Satan employ the power of Christ?” According to the following passage, it is possible and does take place.

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:22,23)

Antichrist comes out of the “sea” of the nations. The False Prophet emerges from the “earth,” that is, the soul of man.

Many Christian leaders of today are speaking with the mouth of the dragon. They are advising the believers that they can be great in wealth, or in politics or business. “Their destiny is before them. They can go forward in faith, and success in the world will be theirs.”

John the Baptist said, “I must decrease and He must increase,” referring of course to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Outstanding Christian speakers of today are saying this does not apply to the believers of today. In so saying they reveal that they do not know the Lord. The truth is, our entire Christian discipleship is one in which we lay down our body as if it were an offering on the altar, and seek the will of God in every aspect of our life. We actually desire to decrease that Christ may increase in all that we are and do.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1,2)

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Think about that statement for a moment. We in America are barraged constantly by worldly things and values. This abundance of information affects our mind so we tend to think like the world. This precisely is what Satan desires.

The world admires the forceful person who becomes successful and prosperous. This admiration is affecting the Christian people.

When I became a Christian, I accepted Jesus’ definition of a disciple. Jesus said that we could not be His disciple unless we denied ourselves, took up our cross, and followed Him; that we are not of this world just as He is not of this world.

That was seventy years ago. But I still believe such is the true Christian life.

Now we have Christian speakers who are telling us just the opposite. We are to be prominent and successful in terms of money and power. God is ready to exalt us if we will just believe it. Instead of denying ourselves we are to realize our full potential. Not the potential of the Lord Jesus but our potential. The door is open before us to fulfill our heart’s desire.

Yet I just read of twenty-two missionaries being killed by Muslims in Afghanistan. Did they realize their full potential?

People, we are being lied to by the False Prophet, by Christian leaders who are speaking with the mouth of the dragon.

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26,27)
In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:33)

This is what the Lord said, and we ought to believe it and cling to it at all times. It is the very opposite of what is being taught in some of the mega churches.

It does not mean to hate our relatives as in anger, but to put Christ in first place when it comes to a conflict. Christ is of greater importance than our closest relatives.

A while back, a teaching entered the Christian churches. Perhaps the word “dominionism” could serve as a general title. Such doctrines as “the prosperity message,” “name it and claim it,” became accepted in many places. The idea is that if you can believe something, it will take place.

There may be times when the Lord Jesus tells us to go forward in an impossible situation.

Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. (Exodus 14:16)

Moses would not have dared to step into the sea. But the Lord told him to do it. That makes all the difference.

We never should be attempting to exercise faith for the miraculous apart from the specific guidance of Christ. We always are to pray and ask the Father in Jesus’ name for our needs and desires, and not be acting in our own wisdom and strength.

Can you see how the concept of dominionism would feed the ego of an ambitious person, and actually separate him or her from Christ?

Now, with the “Seven Mountains” teaching, the idea is that we can become prominent in politics. This is the path to the False Prophet who will support Antichrist.

It (the False Prophet) exercised all the authority of the first beast (Antichrist) on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. (Revelation 13:12)

Isn’t it true that some of the Christian ministers are speaking to us about material wealth rather than about the true riches of the Lord?

The Lord Jesus gave us many examples of speaking a word of faith. He cursed the fig tree with a word. He calmed the storm with a word. He told us we could move a mountain with a word of faith. But all of this proceeds from the Father’s Word through Christ.

Can you imagine the chaos in the earth if the Christians could move mountains? They would be fighting about where to place the mountain they moved. They would argue because we are emphasizing spiritual power rather than growth in the image of Christ.

Why do evangelists pray for power? Do they wish to compete with God? Abraham was the friend of God. My personal ambition is to be a friend of God, not to get something out of God.

Why then would the Lord Jesus invite catastrophes by telling us we could move mountains by faith? Perhaps His teaching is intended to be an encouragement to us when we face great difficulties, although it is conceivable to me that Christ might speak to one of His disciples to direct the placement of a mountain.

Joshua commanded the sun and the moon.

On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. (Joshua 10:12,13)

Notice that Joshua was doing God’s will at the time, and also that he spoke to the Lord. He was not trying to exercise faith apart from his service to God.

I heard someone quote a saying that I did not like: “God in the hands of a man.” I do not want the Lord in the hands of a man. Men will use great power to their own destruction.

Some of the modern teachers of faith claim we should restore Adam and use his talents. I do not understand this. A good part of my efforts as a Christian is to get rid of my adamic nature and ask Jesus about everything I think, say, and do. And now I am told I am supposed to resurrect Adam. I don’t think so! If you ask me, this is the voice of the False Prophet.

I like the idea of the “rest of God” mentioned in Hebrews chapter 4. The concept is that God determined the course of our life and our destiny from the foundation of the world. All we have to do is to keep presenting our body as a living sacrifice and always keep aware of God’s will.

Now, why are experienced Christians deceived when hearing a teaching that clearly is the opposite of the New Testament concepts? There are two reasons:

First of all, they have not been taught that to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus, they have to defer the desires of their heart. They have to take His yoke upon them, just like a trained horse, and quietly and cheerfully obey His commands—even though it may not be something they enjoy.
Second, they have not been trained up in the Lord. People receive Christ when He is preached. Then there is no specific program to bring them to maturity in Christ. They are told that the important task is to go forth and “save souls.” They are not taught how to recognize and resist deception.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ. (Ephesians 4:14,15)

Sometimes it may be true that those who should have been bringing the believers to maturity are themselves deceived.

I have been a dedicated disciple of the Lord Jesus for seventy years. However, I never have heard of a church or Christian denomination that did not stress evangelism as its prime objective. Yet, this emphasis is not the primary emphasis of the New Testament, as far as I can tell. Rather it is the desire of the leaders to have greater numbers of converts that they can point to as indicating the success of their efforts.

Can you imagine a company that made micrometers for machine shops having no quality control department? All the management cared for was how many micrometers were turned out each month.

Some of micrometers did not measure accurately. When this was pointed out, the company, instead of installing a quality control department, increased the number of micrometers manufactured per month.

How long would that company last when the word got around that their product was worthless?

It is like this in the work of Christian evangelism and missions. The number of converts is duly recorded. But it may be true that of a thousand converts, only five actually were pressing forward in Christ. The remainder were vulnerable to any false teacher that came along—preaching about our need to “realize our fullest potential,” for example.

It may be noticed that these teachers of realizing our fullest potential often emphasize that if we receive the Gospel of Christ and keep believing that God wants us to be rich and successful, we soon will be gifted with an abundance of money and prominence.

Middle-class and upper middle-class men and women, when assured of this soon day of visitation, will clap loudly at this seemingly good news. But what do we have here, if it is not the blind leading the blind?

The Apostle Paul warned us clearly to avoid seeking to be rich.

People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (I Timothy 6:9-10)

If this is the case, why are we receiving those who are teaching us that it is desirable to be rich? Don’t we believe the Apostle Paul? Jesus told us to not seek worldly wealth, but the true riches.

So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? (Luke 16:11)

The “true riches” are eternal life and all that is contained therein, such as righteousness, holiness, obedience to God, love, joy, and peace. These are the result of a close walk with the Father and the Son, and there is no amount of money that can buy these blessings.

We of God’s elect, His Church, the Royal Priesthood that will govern the creation forever, are not to be sidetracked with the hucksters who are peddling the Gospel as a means of becoming rich and successful—rich and successful in the sight of the world, that is. Our wealth is to have a close relationship with the Father and the Son. Nothing compares in value with that!

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (I John 1:3)

When we as a Christian refuse to crucify our desires, and then look to the Gospel to make us wealthy and successful in this present world, we will become part of the False Prophet. We will attempt to use the power of Christ to work the miracles that we think will help us with our program. We will encourage people to put their trust in money rather than in God.

If you do not want this to happen to you, then turn away from all forms of dominion teaching, including the prosperity teaching and the Seven Mountains heresy, and serve the Lord Jesus Christ with a glad heart. You do not need the blessing of the world, only that of the Lord God of Heaven.

I can’t speak for you, but as for me and my house, we want Jesus Christ exalted. We do not want to realize the potential of our fallen adamic nature. We want to lift up the Lord Jesus in all matters. The False Prophet has nothing we want.

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (I John 1:3)

(“The False Prophet”, 4260-2, proofed 20210728)