LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

I was actually chilly. I was wearing only a short-sleeved shirt because I had given my fleece jacket to someone who had forgotten to bring one. We were high up on the top of a mountain ridge and the temperature had dropped from 95 degrees in the valley to around 65 degrees at the top. Plus, the wind was blowing.  We were there to spend the night at a resort owned by the mayor of that area who was a Christian and a friend of the ECOFI Ministry. We sat out on the edge of the cliff at a table that hung over the drop off.  We laughed, we sang, we prayed, and we shivered.

As we talked, I was informed that just down the road, on the top of the ridge, was a prayer retreat for a false prophet. He is the self-proclaimed Filipino messiah, calling himself the appointed and anointed son of God. He has millions of followers and has raked in millions of dollars, taking advantage of people’s itching ears for self-validation. He is also currently under investigation by the United States Justice Department for human trafficking.

As we talked, I was reminded of the Old Testament prophet who described such false prophets. In Jeremiah chapter fourteen, the Lord has just declared judgment upon the people because of their idolatry. God said he would destroy them with sword and famine. But in the public arena, Jeremiah is hearing a different message from those who pretend to be messengers from God.

Jeremiah said to the Lord, “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ ”And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although I did not send them, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed.And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.”

The world is filled with people pretending to be pastors, evangelists, preachers, and prophets. They are fulfilling the warning of the Apostle Peter when he wrote, “there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (2 Pe 2:1–3)

My friends, it chills me to think of the number of people who think they are safe in Christ while they are being deceived by false teachers. We must pray every day for the discernment of the Holy Spirit so we do not get suckered into believing false teachers just because they appeal to our emotions, pride, and sensuality. The same condemnation and destruction promised to the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day is not idle nor asleep. It is coming upon all such teachers, and upon all those who follow them. And that’s a chilling thought.

Pastor John