BEWARE OF FACEBOOK PROPHETS – Part 2
The Bible exhorts us to seek the Lord whilst he is near and when we can find him. Running after miracles and signs and wonders will only take us running after false prophets who will alienate us from God.
Like Isaiah said, seek the Lord whilst he may be found and call on him while he is near. I know that these are all signs that the end is near, after all, Apostle Peter warned believers of false teachers who will rise up in the last days and make merchandise of people.
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” (2 Peter 2:1-3)
There is no doubt that these lying people who call themselves prophets shall surely get their reward on the last day. But the question is, “Why are today’s Christians so insensitive to the things of the Spirit? Where is the spirit of discernment that the Lord gave to his followers? Has spiritual gifts ended with prophesying and speaking in tongues? How have Christians become so spiritually dull and blind that even when an unbeliever says, “Thus says the Lord, we can’t even discern the source?” But we jump up and say amen to whatever and from whomever? What has gone wrong with us?
I have carefully studied and followed most of the things people say here on Facebook in the name of prophecy and I find them very disturbing and completely misleading.
The way Christians are running after just anyone who says, “Thus says the Lord,” is very disheartening and pitiful to say the least. Every church goer; I mean people who think that they are Christians simply because they go to church; but have not Christ in them are all fast becoming prophets, especially on Facebook. People whose primary duty on Facebook is to mislead people and make them believe that they are prophets are everywhere on Facebook. Please understand that I am not saying that they are no genuine Prophets on Facebook. That is not what I am saying. I know very well that we have many God fearing Prophets and Prophetesses on Facebook. I have been blessed richly by a couple of them. But I have also observed that majority of the people who are seeking people to prophesy to are liars who come in the name of prophets for whatever reason. They are the ones I refer to as Facebook Prophets.
Beware of them.
These Facebook Prophets are taking the supposedly Children of God who have made themselves so cheap for granted. Anyone on Facebook can prophesy, whether he knows what he or she is about or not and people who claim they are Christians would jump at whatever they say to them in the name of prophecy. Prophecy is not just saying, “Thus says the Lord. Prophecy is meant to instruct and encourage.
“For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.”(1 Cor. 14:31)
This means that every prophecy that comes in the name of the Lord must glorify the Lord. It must come to encourage and give instructions about a situation and give the mind of God concerning that situation so the Lord would be glorified in the end. But how do we reconcile this with the Facebook Prophets style of Prophecy which only releases cars and private jets and money and wives and husbands to those who say amen and fire?
How do we reconcile this with the arrogant attitude of Facebook Prophets who can prophesy in and out of will? And how do we glorify God when Christians are on Facebook seeking people to tell them their future? When people are urging the so called Prophets to go deeper and deeper until they have heard what they want to hear? Do these prophecy seeking Christians really understand that most of the so called prophecy they get here is by no means from God? They are by themselves by means of psychology telling the so called prophets their own story and in turn
they receive their so called prophecy from them?
My worry however is not about the Facebook Prophets. I am rather worried about the level of ignorance prevalent in the body of Christ today. It is very glaring that about 97% of people on prophetic groups on Facebook are people running after prophecy. This could be clearly seen in the manner these people keep asking for a word in all the groups. It is also common that they are very quick to defect from one group to another all in the name of looking for a word of prophecy. It is therefore no doubt why almost everyone on Facebook prophetic groups is fast becoming a prophet. All you need is to ask, Can I prophesy?
You would be amazed how many people would come begging you to locate their wives for them or tell them why they have no jobs or when they will buy a new car or may be when they should sack their fiancé/fiancée and get a new one all in the name of prophecy. No one is interested in the word of God as laid down in the scripture any more. What is wrong with us? Just say a word
in the name of prophecy and you would have hundreds of Facebook Christians saying, “Amen” to whatever you have said, whether it makes sense or not is immaterial to them.
Anything is now prophecy so long as it tells someone something that entertains his or her ear and gladdens the heart. The question however is, “what happens when these so called Prophecies fail to manifest?” Would we call God a liar? Many will surely say God deceived them, whereas God did not speak to them in the first place.
Prophecy is not just speaking a word in the name of the Lord. The fact that someone said, “You will buy a car or marry tomorrow or even get healed of your sickness all in the name of the Lord does not mean that it will come to pass.” Someone can say all of that and you can say your amen a million times; yet that word not come to pass simply because it was not Holy Spirit inspired.
On the other hand, prophecy is speaking the mind of God into a particular person, group of people or even a nation’s situation in order to bring a solution from God’s perspective. When a man of God speaks the mind of God, it comes to pass because God is behind it. But when a word is spoken in the name of God simply because we claim to have faith, want to be called prophets or out of excitement, we hurt people because such words have no backing by the Holy Spirit and will never come to pass.
The danger is that people will loose faith in God and backslide. When this happens, God will hold you the self acclaimed Prophet responsible for causing his children to backslide. If you are truly a Christian you should know that it is wrong to say what God did not say to his people. This attracts a huge curse from the Lord. I would like to remind us again of what Prophet Jeremiah said concerning lying prophets:
“Therefore,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the Lord. “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the Lord. “When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, ‘What is the oracle of the Lord?’ say to them, ‘What oracle? I will forsake you, declares the Lord.’ If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, ‘This is the oracle of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and his household. This is what each of you keeps on saying to his friend or relative: ‘What is the Lord’s answer?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ But you must not mention ‘the oracle of the Lord’ again, because every man’s own word becomes his oracle and so you distort the words of the living God, the Lord Almighty, our God. This is what you keep saying to a prophet: ‘What is the Lord’s answer to you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ Although you claim, ‘This is the oracle of the Lord,’ this is what the Lord says: You used the words, ‘This is the oracle of the Lord,’ even though I told you that you must not claim, ‘This is the oracle of the Lord.’ Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your fathers. I will bring upon you everlasting disgrace — everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”( Jeremiah 23:30-40)
That is a word already spoken which cannot be erased. God was telling the lying Prophets to stop acting as his representatives since what they were saying to the people did not come from him. He made it clear that there is shame and disgrace for the lying prophets. The same thing applies to the prophets of today. We can only escape this by doing it right. We cannot willfully deceive and cause harm to innocent and unsuspecting people and expect God to close his eyes to it.
Lying in the name of the Lord is a very dangerous thing for anyone to engage in. We should also not forget that God will judge every idle word we speak to people in his name and those idle words are enough to send anyone to hell on the last day. It is clearly written in the Bible that men would give an account of every careless word that proceeds out of their mouth.
“But I tell you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matt 12:36-37)
This warning is not for the Facebook Prophets alone. It is also for those who patronize them. After all, there can never be a supply without a demand. Facebook prophets are thriving because some ignorant church goer who thinks he or she is a Christian is asking for their service. Unfortunately, both of them are like what the Bible describes as, “Meat for the belly, and the belly for the meat, but both of them would be destroyed at last.” (1 Corinthians 6 vs. 13)
Jesus did not die for you to be deceived a second time by the devil. You have been given the word of God which is the truth. Why this crazy crave for prophecy which will only cause you pain and agony and may be your salvation? Do you know that many of this Facebook Prophets are not even born again? How can someone without the Holy Spirit tell you what the Holy Spirit is saying? Can someone give you what he or she does not have?
The Bible says we should prophesy according to the proportion of our faith. But it is very important to understand that faith works when we act in accordance with the word of God. We cannot walk in disobedience to God and still believe that our faith will move mountains. To say God said when God did not say is a dangerous thing which must not be encouraged. Facebook for me has become a two edged sword promoting both the work of God and that of Satan as well. It is however the duty of every Christian to discern the source of every word he or she receives before saying amen to it. Most of the things people say here on Facebook in the name of prophecy are not just ridiculous but misleading in every sense of it. Unfortunately, most of today’s Christians are running after signs and wonders and every word spoken in the name of prophecy means the Lord speaking to them. This is simply because the church has derailed from the truth.
Prosperity message has sacked salvation message from the church. It is a dangerous trend and many would pay dearly for it. Don’t be one of them. This is a warning to save your soul from hell. Don’t sell your soul to the devil by running after Facebook Prophets whose mission is to deceive and destroy. If you become a victim, you would have yourself and no one else to blame. Salvation does not lie in prophecy, neither does your future. The solution to all your problems lies in the word of God. Like Isaiah said, seek the Lord whilst he may be found and call on him while he is near.
“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.”( Isaiah 55 vs.6-7)
Repent from this fortune telling adventure. Cast away these Facebook Prophets and turn to the Lord for mercy before it becomes too late. God bless you all.