1 John 4:1, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

It seems that every so often, some misguided soul feels the need to tell us when Jesus is coming back. How they can continually miss the warning Jesus gave in Matthew 24:23-26 is beyond me. “Then if anyone says to you, Look, here is the Christ! or There, do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore, if they say to you, Look, He is in the desert! Do not go out; or Look, He is in the inner rooms! Do not believe it.”

I guess the thing that astonishes me even more is how many people believe them. If you dare speak against these false prophets, many who claim to be Christians will get upset at you. And yet, John tells us that we must not believe every spirit, but test the spirit to see if God has spoken or if it’s some man’s deluded idea. There are many man-made prophecies floating around today.

False prophets and their false teachings can cause people to stray from the truth. We need to pray for our pastors and church leaders that they will remain faithful to God’s Word.