What America's Watergate scandal
taught us was to "follow the money". I now say,
"follow the fruit".
Each generation has deceptive
prophets who falsely claim to speak on behalf of God. Today is
no different than Jeremiah's day when false prophets predicted
political and financial prosperity while Jeremiah predicted God's
judgment on a godless nation.
Maxine Bernier, the leader of the
far right nationalist People's Party of Canada mounted a campaign to
become Prime Minister in the 2019 election. One prominent
prophet predicted his victory that would usher in a Christian
revival that would spread from Canada to the rest of the
world. Well, Bernier didn't even win a seat in parliament let
alone become Prime Minister. So I say, "follow the
prophetic fruit".
A television prophet predicted that
Ted Cruz would win the 2016 American presidential election.
Well, he didn't. So I say, "follow the prophetic
fruit".
During 2016, prophets anointed
Donald Trump to be today's version of Cyrus of Persia whose army
conquered the Babylonian Empire in 539 BC. Like Cyrus who
freed the Jews from Babylonian bondage so they could return home to
rebuild God's temple and their nation, Trump would free Christians
from Democratic domination so they could rebuild the church in a
Christian nation. What these prophets failed to acknowledge
was that Cyrus and his empire eventually fell to Alexander the
Great, and regarding the Jews, only about 42 thousand out of 2 to 3
million Jews returned to rebuild the temple and their nation which
neither got rebuilt. So I say, "follow the prophetic
fruit".
Remember, Jesus said "watch out
for false prophets ... by their fruit you will recognize them"
(Matthew 7:15 and 16). Our word "fruit" is
translated from the Greek plural noun "karpos" meaning
"that which is produced by an inner energy of a living
organism". The inner energy of false prophets that
produce prophecies is their own inherent energy. The inner
energy of true prophets that produce prophecies is energized by
God's Spirit and fertilized by Scripture.
Our verb "recognize" in
"you will recognize them" is translated from the Greek
verb "eipginosko". Both the verb tense and the
intensity of this Greek verb suggest a thorough and inherent
recognition of a false prophet, and that due to some preparatory
effort on our part that is aided by the Holy Spirit. I'm
talking about prophets, not the average Christian who may wrongly
prophesy on occasion, understanding that prophecy isn't always
predictive. In this case, grace and Biblical instruction is
required.
When it comes to prophets, 1
Corinthians 14:29 says "two or three prophets should speak, and
the others should weigh carefully what is said". Our
responsibility is to evaluate prophets based on their Biblical
accuracy which we often don't do based on our Biblical illiteracy.
Jesus predicted that "in the
last days, false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform
signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect"
(Mark 13:22). In fact, this age ends with the ultimate false
prophet, the false messiah that 2 Thessalonians 2:3 calls the
"lawless one". He will deceive the world with
miracles as he spreads the lie that he is the Messiah, Jesus who has
returned to earth. As an act of judgment God "sends them
(truth deniers) a powerful delusion so that they will believe the
lie" that this lawless one is Jesus (2 Thessalonians
2:11).
So can you agree with me when I say
it's time to "follow the fruit"?