Red Flags From False Prophets

 

By Carl Worline

 

 

 

We know that we are in the Last Days and the Bible tells us that in the Last Days He will pour out His Spirit on mankind and that we will have dreams, visions, and prophecies.  Therefore, at least some of the people out there in the world who are speaking prophecies are speaking the truth.

 

 Unfortunately, the Evil One and his minions attempt to dilute and confuse these dreams, visions, and prophecies with false counterfeits.  Discerning the truth from the lies can be challenging.  Red flags help us to find the truth by helping us to identify the lies. 

 

Of course, red flags also pop up occasionally in true dreams, visions, and prophecies, so we have to use discernment to rightly divide the words we hear.  The following is a list, in no particular order, of things which trigger red flags in my mind when modern day prophets speak:

 

• Any prophecy or message that contradicts the Bible.  This is more than a red flag to me.  It is a black flag and I will immediately dismiss the entire message as fake.
• Any message that attempts to change or twist scripture, even if it is just a little.
• Any message that calls attention to the person who is delivering the message.  This includes, but is not limited to, people who insist on using personal titles (like academic titles or titles of position) when they address us.  The Bible tells us that God is no respecter of men and is not impressed with our titles in life.
• Any message in which the Lord is, presumably, declaring the person who is delivering the message to be His true prophet or authorized representative.
• Anyone who speaks down to me like I am so far beneath them and they are so far above me. 
• Anyone who is shouting at me. Jesus didn’t shout at us when He was here the first time, so why should I believe that He has changed now?
• Anyone who claims that God has revealed information to them that they are not allowed to release yet.  Dr. Owuor is a prime example.  He has many following his every move because he claims God has revealed the date of the rapture to him but says he is not allowed to tell us.
• Anyone who claims that in order to find salvation we must obey God’s rules, as set forth in the Bible, plus that person’s rules.
• Anyone who feels the need to bury their message in so much scripture as to hide any obvious flaws in their own message.  God does not have to provide justification or proof of authenticity when He tells us something.
• Anyone who must take us to the King James Study Bible, or any other version of the Bible for that matter, and read scripture to us before delivering their message, as proof that their message is legitimately from God.  If our Lord wants to say something to us, He doesn’t need to preface it with a sermon.
• Anyone who delivers their message from the Lord with a phony Old English accent and/or outdates words.  This is a superficial attempt to make us think it is somebody else talking to us through them.  The Holy Spirit does not have a phony 16^th century accent.  The Holy Spirit has a perfect mastery of every language on Earth.  If they Holy Spirit were to have an accent, it would be an Aramaic, ancient Hebrew, or ancient Greek accent.  Think about it.
• Along the same line, I am highly skeptical when I hear people change their voice slightly, change their grammar, or start using outdated words.  My discernment tells me that messages from these alleged prophets come to us by way of either demon possession, or else really stupid people who insult my intelligence by thinking I could be so gullible.
• I also tend to be very suspicious of wanna-be prophets who claim to have insight about something that is obvious.  For example, one does not have to have the gift of prophecy to come out with a profound statement like “There is going to be a huge earthquake in California.”  Of course there is going to be a huge earthquake in California someday.  Scientists tell us California is well overdue for a huge earthquake.  To be credible give us a date, or an approximate time range, or the exact magnitude on the Richter scale, or an exact death count.
• Speaking of earthquakes, have you ever noticed how there are a huge up-tick in dreams and visions about impending earthquakes each time a real earthquake of major magnitude occurs?  The same is true for other major world events.  The dreams and visions that seem to be generated like this definitely trigger a red flag in my mind.
• I am highly suspicious of people who use what I call the “buddy-buddy” approach of delivering God’s message by insisting on calling me their “brother.”  I do not have any brothers or sisters and I feel that those who refer to me as “Brother Carl” are trying to establish a common ground of trust where none exists in truth.
• A major red flag also pops up when one of these modern day prophets starts off by telling me to “use discernment” regarding his message.  If he (or she) truly believes that their message is from God then why is he telling us to use discernment?  Is he telling us that God might be lying to us?  This person is obviously an insincere phony.
• People who have a hard time concentrating or who cannot hold a thought loose credibility with me very quickly.  It seems that a lot of modern day prophets (or wanna-be prophets) are bored out of their mind when they are putting out their message on You Tube.  If God told me to tell the people something I would definitely not be bored.
• People who tell us that they have encountered some minor annoyances in making the video and then blame it on Satan, saying that he is trying to stop them from posting the video.  We are supposed to believe that their message is truly from God because Satan, himself, is trying to stop them.  Trust me, if Satan were truly trying to stop that person from posting a video, they would be encountering more than a series of minor annoyances.
• This is going to sound strange, but people who insist on starting with a prayer before telling us what God told them generate a red flag in my mind.  Fortune tellers and spiritualists, for example, often like to start a séance with a prayer because it adds a false sense of credibility to what they are about to say.  If God really did give me a message and tell me to tell the people, I would immediately obey.  I would not feel the need to make a show out of asking for His permission or blessing before hand to do as I was told. 
• Likewise, I am really turned off by any pompous, arrogant false prophet who starts off by praying that the scales be taken from my eyes so that I may see that he is telling the truth.
• Anyone who says or implies that I am an ignorant fool if I do not believe what they are about to say.
• A major red flag pops up when I hear a supposed modern day prophet start off their message by telling us how their day is going, what they are cooking for dinner, how their health is, what the weather is like, who won some recent sporting event, or any other such drivel.  Obviously, they do not think the message God supposedly gave them is very important.
• People who put out a video by saying something to the affect of “I just wanted to put out this short video before I have to (do something more important).” 
• Anyone who is supposedly relaying a message from God in which God identifies Obama (or anyone else) as the official anti-Christ.  According to the Bible, the anti-Christ will be revealed when the Restrainer is taken away.  When the Restrainer is removed, the rapture will happen.  Therefore, God will not reveal the identity of the anti-Christ until after the rapture. (Note:  I do not have a problem with people identifying other end time players in the Bible, like the young Jewish boy who said Obama was Gog.  That does not violate scripture.  But positively identifying Obama as Gog does violate scripture).
• A major indicator of legitimacy for me is the tone of the message.  I ask myself if it really sounds like the person with the message is telling me something that God told him to convey, or is the person on a personal rant about something and claiming it is a message from God.
• Lastly, and perhaps most important, I take a step back and ask my spirit how I feel in general about what I just heard.  Do I believe that this was truly a message from God. 

I would like to reiterate that even true prophets of God can and will generate red flags based on all of the criteria I have listed above.  Discernment through prayer is absolutely essential.  Satan and his demons have been around for thousands of years and they are very clever.  Nevertheless, I find the above useful tools when trying to sift the truth from all of the weeds they enemy has planted.

 

Carl Worline

Oaktree3168@aol.com