How to Identify and Separate False Prophets
As the days grow spiritually darker across the world, as they must for the return of Jesus Christ to take place, false prophets and teachers are laying claim to deceived souls at a record pace.
With the power of social media at their fingertips, millions are being lulled into a false sense of spiritual community with a figure that is leading them down death’s path.
Recently, Pastor Greg Locke of Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, shared a passionately personal story of having to unhitch himself, and the church, from a friend who has been deceived by one of these false prophets.
*The portion on false prophets runs from the 1 hour and 20 minute through the 1 hour and 50 minute mark.
Accusing a man who goes by the name of Passion Java of being a false prophet, a witch doctor and a practitioner of the Kundalini spirit, Locke shared why he had to unhitch himself and Global Vision from his friendship with Lovy Elias.
“The Bible says when you know somebody is false, call ’em out,” Locke says during a recent church service.
“I am friends with Lovy Elias, I am,” he adds through tears. “We had to fly to Los Angeles to see it for ourselves. … I’ve talked to him for hours. Remember what Joseph Z said, ‘When a prophet begins to get off-kilter, he can get to about the sixtyfold, and he still has some salvageability to him. You can still reel him back in.’ I feel like Lovy is there. But I have to unhitch my church and my influence from him.”
Less than 24 hours after sharing this series of events with his congregation, Locke announced on Facebook that he will no longer be attending the TSNL Forerunners Conference hosted by Daniel Adams. He had said the previous evening this cancellation would be due to the inclusion of E.J. Newton as a listed speaker.
There is a shaking going on in the prophetic world, as Locke is following in the same steps taken recently by Evangelist Mario Murillo, who removed himself from attending Flashpoint and called out Kat Kerr and Robin Bullock by name as false prophets.
In today’s culture, where acceptance and tolerance of sin has replaced adherence to the Word of God, the enemy would try and convince people that Java is just living out his truth, and Locke is simply a hater.
But that is not what the Bible says.
Locke points to 1 John 4:1 in his newest book, “Cast It Out,” as guidance for himself and his congregation when determining if a spirit is of God or not:
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
“In this verse, the apostle John exhorts us to ‘test the spirits,’ Locke writes. “When the Bible tells us to measure whether or not a spirit is ‘from God,’ that means some spirits are of God and all other spirits are not of God. John is saying that the effort to avoid being seduced by the dark spirits in false prophets must involve testing the spirits, which points to the difficulty in discerning spirits that can appear as ‘angel[s] of light’ (2 Cor. 11:14). We will often need to weigh spirits to discern whether they are angels of God or demons of Satan.”
The act of unhitching from someone you care about is not easy for the flesh, but obedience to the Holy Spirit is a necessity, especially when one is the shepherd of a flock the way Locke is.
As the end times continue to progress, the rise of false prophets will continue to lead people away from the one true salvation, which is Jesus Christ.
They must also be called out for what they are according to the Word of God. If someone, or some group, points to anything other than God and His Scriptures, then Christians must stand up as His representatives on earth and correct the issue.
Christians often talk about exposing the darkness with the light, and when a prominent leader finally does, it remains to be seen if people will heed the warning or continue forward in willful ignorance that will take them off a spiritual cliff. {eoa}
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James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
