House of Hope Online

February 22, 2026

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Last week’s word of the Lord taught us “What You Say Matters.”  Proverbs 18:21 says we have a choice when we harness the power of our tongue: we can eat the fruit of life or death when we speak.  To speak life, we must engage Jesus, whose testimony is the Spirit of Prophecy.  Therefore, we said we should prophesy over our life and circumstances according to what the word of God says about us. We studied Ezekiel 37 and the prophecy of the Valley of Dry Bones, a powerful word of prophecy over the whole nation of Israel.  The Lord used prophecy to speak life into dry bones and wants to do the same over the slain, dry bones of our lives as well.

Today, I want to discuss the danger of false prophecy which unfortunately is a reality in our world and within the Church.  It is not my intention to discredit a specific ministry or wrong prophet, but we cannot ignore the fact that we have seen abuses of the prophetic today and the Lord would have us be informed.  Fortunately for us, we do not have to be ignorant because the word of God dedicates many words to it, from Old Testament warnings to the words of Jesus, His Disciple John, and the Apostle Paul.

Old Testament Warnings

Jeremiah 14:

 14 Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.

Jeremiah’s ministry spanned 627 B.C to 580 B.C., so this false prophet issue has been around awhile.  As verse 14 shows, the Lord was none too happy about it.  The false prophets were not sent by God, and they were prophesying a false vision, using divination, which includes the use of witchcraft.  Their words were futile and deceptive.

Jeremiah 23:

 30 “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the LORD, “who steal My words from each other.

 31 “Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the LORD, “who use their tongues and declare, ‘[The Lord] declares.’

 32 “Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams,” declares the LORD, “and related them, and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the LORD.

These prophets were “stealing” God’s words from each other.  They prophesied falsely in the name of the Lord.  They recklessly misled many, they boasted, and they were not sent by God.

Ezekiel 13:

 9 “So My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will have no place in the council of My people, nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, that you may know that I am the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel’s ministry overlapped part of Jeremiah’s timeline.  Bible scholars estimate that Ezekiel prophesied from 592 B. C. to 560 B. C.  Note again the false visions and lying divinations.  There is more of the same described in Ezekiel 22.

Ezekiel 22:

 28 “And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD has not spoken.

And so, the Lord defined false prophet as one who says “Thus saith the Lord…” when the Lord has not spoken to them.

New Testament Advice

In the New Testament, Jesus also warned us to beware of false prophets.

Matthew 7:

 15 ¶ “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

 16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn [bushes,] nor figs from thistles, are they?

 17 “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

 18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.

It is interesting that Jesus taught us to use discernment, a gift of the Holy Spirit, to know a prophet according to the fruitfulness of their ministry.  Is it a ministry that bears witness to Jesus and brings glory to God, or to themselves?  Is it a ministry that bears fruit by blessing others?

In Matthew 24, Jesus warned that false prophecy is an early sign of the End Times.

Matthew 24:

 3 And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what [will be] the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

 4 ¶ And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.

 5 “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.

 6 “And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for [those things] must take place, but [that] is not yet the end.

 7 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.

 8 “But all these things are [merely] the beginning of birth pangs.

 9 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name.

 10 “And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another.

 11 “And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many.

Matthew 24:

 24 “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.

 25 “Behold, I have told you in advance.

 26 “If therefore they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go forth, [or,] ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe [them.]

 27 “For just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.

The purpose of the false prophets and false Christs is to mislead the elect.  Jesus is giving advance warning.  By using the term “birth pangs,” He is saying the time is near to birth His new Kingdom.

In 1^st John 4, we are again encouraged to use discernment and test the spirits.

1^st John 4:

 1 ¶ 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.

 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;

 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the [spirit] of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

 4 ¶ You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak [as] from the world, and the world listens to them.

 6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

John provides a simple litmus test here in discerning spirits: every spirit that confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh is from God; if not, then that is the spirit of the antichrist.  Note John writes that the spirit of the antichrist is already in the world.  So, while the man who is the antichrist has not yet been revealed, the spirit of the antichrist is present in our world. And it is this antichrist spirit that is manifesting in false prophets.

We talked last time about how prophecy breathes life into us and into our circumstances, so it just makes sense that the devil would attack prophecy and try to discourage the Body of Christ from seeking the Spirit of Prophecy.

The advice from both John and Jesus is to use discernment and test the spirit that is speaking.

Just as John distinguished between the antichrist and the spirit of the antichrist, so should we draw a distinction between the spirit of the false prophet, and the false prophet himself.  Revelation 16 describes a counterfeit trinity that opposes the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Revelation 16:

 13 And I saw [coming] out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs;

 14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.

The dragon in verse 13 is the anti-God, the beast is the antichrist, and the false prophet is the anti-Holy Spirit.  Out of their mouths come demon spirits whose purposes are to deceive the entire world to gather against Jesus at the Battle of Armageddon.

While the event described in Revelation 16 will happen late in the Great Tribulation (last 3.5 years), nevertheless the spirit of the false prophet is present today.  He is a counterfeit Holy Spirit whose purpose is to deceive Christians and potentially new Christians from trusting the words spoken into our spirits by the Holy Spirit.

The test for us is: “Is this word bearing witness to Jesus or to man?”  Is it an uplifting word that breathes life into me or is it a word that appeals to my fleshly nature?  Does the word edify (build up or strengthen) the Body of Christ or does it build a man’s kingdom?

Press into the Holy Spirit

If you know the purpose of the false prophet is to deceive you, then your defense for that is not avoiding the moves of the Holy Spirit.  If fact, the opposite is true, we need to press further into the Spirit of God and ask for the gift of discernment.

In 1^st Thessalonians 5, Paul encourages us to praise and pray our way into His presence, and examine everything.

1^st Thessalonians 5:

 16 ¶ Rejoice always;

 17 pray without ceasing;

 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

 19 Do not quench the Spirit;

 20 do not despise prophetic utterances.

 21 But examine everything [carefully]; hold fast to that which is good;

 22 abstain from every form of evil.

 23 ¶ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

Praise and prayer will lead us into His gates and into His courts, where He speaks life into us.  Paul exhorts us not to quench the fire of the Holy Spirit nor to despise prophetic utterances, but to examine everything carefully and hold fast to that which is good.  In other words, compare what you are hearing to the word of God, and to the teachings of Jesus, whose testimony is the Spirit of Prophecy.  Receive into your spirit only those things which line up with Biblical principles, and which are consistent with Biblical End Times prophecy.

Closing

I am saddened that the Body of Christ needs to be alert to deception within its ranks, but today we find to be accurate the Biblical prophecy that false prophets will arise.  There are abuses in the Office of the Prophetic that will be recompensed by Jesus, the Righteous Judge at the Great White Throne Judgment.  As faithful believers, we must not despise the prophetic but be on the alert for deception of the antichrist spirit.

Here is Jesus’ advice:

Matthew 10:

 16 ¶ “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves.

Be encouraged and rest assured that our day of salvation is drawing near, when all the deception and lying will be done away.  Here are the Lord’s encouraging words regarding the establishment of Jesus’ Kingdom.

Revelation 21:

 1 ¶ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer [any] sea.

 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them,

 4 and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be [any] death; there shall no longer be [any] mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

 5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

 6 And He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.

 7 “He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

 8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part [will be] in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Let us be the ones who overcome this deception.  Jesus says in verse 7 we will inherit the water of life without cost, and He will be our God forever.

Let us pray.

Father God, we give you glory and honor in all things, and we rejoice in You and in the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.  Lord, we ask that You quicken us to discern the spirits so that we would know when You have spoken.  Lord, we pray for wisdom to be shrewd as serpents yet innocent as doves.  Help us to test the spirits, to despise not prophetic utterances, but instead to examine everything and accept what is good.  And, Lord, we pray for those who have been deceived by the spirit of the false prophet.  Comfort them and help restore them within the Body of Christ.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.