Jesus warned us to watch out for false prophets in the last days. Let's learn from God teachings how to identify false prophets.
Matthew 7:13 Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
Jesus teaches us that it’s difficult to identify false prophets by their appearances alone. Jesus shows us the main characteristic of false prophets so we can recognize them.
Matthew 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
‘Evildoers’ can be translated in differently as the ‘Lawlessness’, who violate God’s commandments. False prophets may appear to prophesy, and drive out demons, and perform many miracles in Jesus’ name. However, they don't keep God's law but practice lawlessness. This is how we can recognize the false prophets.
But we still have a problem. We know that the Sabbath, Passover, and the feasts of God are God’s law. But today, several feast-keeping churches have emerged, as WMSCOG or NCPCOG beside COGJW. How, then, can we identify false prophets among them?
So today, I’d like to study representative examples of false prophets in the Bible. So, we can distinguish the truth among them.
Let us take a brief look at the time of King Zedekiah, the last king of Judah.
It was around 600 years before Christ, and Judah was living in its final, darkest days. The powerful Babylonian Empire, ruled by King Nebuchadnezzar, had already invaded Jerusalem once. Many nobles and young men including Daniel were taken away as captives to Babylon. King Zedekiah was placed on the throne as a puppet king, forced to serve Babylon.
However, the political atmosphere was full of rebellion and confusion. Their leaders of Judah wanted freedom. They secretly looked to Egypt for help and dreamed of breaking Babylon’s control. The people hoped God would save them quickly, just as He had in the days of Moses. But in truth, God was judging them for years of idolatry and injustice.
Two Prophets, Two Voices
During that time, two prophets stood before the people with completely opposite messages.
Jeremiah 28:1-3 In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the LORD in the presence of the priests and all the people: ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the LORD’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon."
Hananiah, a popular prophet, gave a comforting message with no call for repentance. He declared, “This is what the Lord says! Within two years, God will break the yoke of Babylon, and all the captives will return!” His words sounded wonderful just what the people wanted to hear.
But Jeremiah delivered a message that no one wanted to accept or to hear
He said, “No. This captivity is God’s discipline. The yoke of Babylon will last for seventy years. Do not fight it. Surrender and live.”
Jeremiah 29:10 “his is what the LORD says: ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.’
Jeremiah spoke not from wishful thinking, but from obedience to God’s word. In the end, Hananiah’s prophecy proved false, and Jeremiah’s message came true.
Babylon returned, destroyed Jerusalem, and carried the people away. Babylon completely devastated the rebellious Judah.
Why do they prophesy such a thing
This story teaches us something important: True prophecy doesn’t please people it speaks the truth from God. We must listen not to words that make us feel good, but to the truth that changes our hearts.
What do you think the reason that false prophets like to give a comforting message only? Let’s think about the case of Hananiah. The ruling class of Judah feared losing their power and wealth during the seventy years of Babylonian captivity. The prophet Hananiah loved to appeal to them to get popularity. He might believe that it is the best way of success to get their trust. Hananya prophesied what they wanted to hear eventually.
At this moment, I like to share a story about NCPCOG. When NCPCOG was launched in Seoul around early 2000, they had never said that Ahn Sahng-hong is second Christ. A member of the NCPCOG came to our church in 2015 and was baptized. He gave me a funny story about NCPCOG.
One day, a member of the World Mission Society Church of God visited NCPCOG for Bible study. Having seen numerous evidences that God the Mother was a fake, the believer seemed eager to be baptized in NCPCOG. Before making up his mind, he asked one last question: How do you believe in Ahn Sahng-hong? When he was told that Ahn Sahng-hong was not the Second Coming Christ but a prophet, he immediately left the church. Having experienced such cases several times, NCPCOG decided to first disguise themselves as believing in Ahn Sahng-hong as the Second Coming Jesus. Of couse, NCPCPG planned to teach about Ahn Sang-hong again later as a prophet after the person completely left the World Mission Society Church of God and was baptized.
Brothers and sisters, let’s look around us today.
Even among churches that keep the Passover and God’s feasts, many have turned away from the truth. They worship another gods.
In 2007, NCPCOG began to change their teachings about Ahn Sahng-hong. They began to claim that Ahn Sahng-hong was divine not because they found new truth, but to attract ex-members of WMSCOG. They adjusted their message to fit what the ex-members of WMSCOG wanted to believe.
Frankly speaking, when we preach the truth to ex-member of WMSCOG, we get to know that they dislike saying “Ahn Sahng-hong is not the second Christ, but just a prophet”.
The ex-member of WMSCOG used to feel easy to hear that Ahn Sahng-hong denied the female God. However, they feel uncomfortable to hear that Ahn Sahng-hong is just a prophet who can mistake.
Now, let us ask honestly:
Between Hananiah, who spoke what people wanted to hear, and Jeremiah, who spoke God’s uncomfortable truth which spirit do NCPCOG follow?
Jesus’ Warning
Jesus Himself warned us about the danger of false prophets.
Matthew 15:14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.
If someone is deceived by false prophets and disobeys God’s word, they cannot use that as an excuse before God. Each believer must learn to discern truth from lies.
The people of Judah should have known why their nation was falling apart. God had promised blessings for obedience, but judgment for disobedience. Religion of Judah had become corrupt and commercialized a way to make money instead of serving truth.
Those who truly understood the situation could see that Jeremiah’s painful message was God’s will. Hananiah’s message only pleased the rich and powerful.
Now, let me talk about Daniel Park. He was a junior pastor to me, when I was in WMSCOG. Kim Joo-cheol found it burdensome as a boss to have Daniel Park as his subordinate, because he was very smart. Kim Joo-cheol removed Park Gwang-su from his position at the General Assembly eventually and sent him to Colorado, USA, thereby distancing himself from the upper leadership group of the church.
I recently heard about him. He went out of the church and founded his own church, claiming to be the Second Coming of Jesus. It's said that around 100 American believers followed him. Last month, the World Mission Society Church of God held a large-scale meeting and publicly provided them education how to defend against Park's claims.
In my investigation, Park is targeting Kin Joo-cheol. They officially claim that the only reason they separated was because Kim Joo-cheol persecuted Zahng Gil-jah, and therefore it was God's will that Daniel Park respected and served Zahng Gil-jah well. So, they said that all members must follow Daniel Park to serve Zahng Gil-jah well. However, I couldn’t find any differences of their main stream doctrines between them.
Do you think why Daniel Park separated himself from WMSCOG? Do you think it is because they have different idea about the truth? I don’t think so. They are fighting each other to take over believers. Park is targeting Kim Joo-cheol, rather than question the truth. It is clear that Park's goal is not the truth, but to take over the believers.
Doesn't it seem like Daniel Park had an impure heart like Hananiah?
The current state of this final world is a very confusing place for the chosen people. This is the last days when we must value Jesus' warnings even more.
Matthew 15:14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit
Why Are We Here on Earth?
Brothers and sisters, why were we born on this earth as human beings?
Our true home was the Kingdom of Heaven. But we are living here because we once disobeyed God’s word, deceived by the enemy who pretends to be an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:13-14 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
Just as Adam and Eve were deceived in Eden, we too were once deceived by the same enemy. Therefore, if we come to this world and are again fail to recognize the truth, that would be the greatest tragedy.
Our Mission Today
Brothers and sisters! Are you sure you have accepted the truth of the early church?
Then ask yourself—where else in the world can you hear it? From your own experience, you know the Church of God Jesus Witnesses is unique in keeping the pure gospel.
We believe Jesus Christ is our High Priest, still working in the heavenly sanctuary today. His ministry as High Priest is said to be uninterrupted and to continue forever.
Hebrews 6:20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews confirmed that Jesus performs his duties of a high priest forever without interruption. Who can say that the duty of a high priest in the heavenly sanctuary has been stopped during 67 years when Ahn Sahng-hong lived in earth. Could that really be true? No one with a sound mind would make such a claim. Yet, some of them go even further, proclaiming, "As High Priest, ZaHng Gil-jah grants salvation to 144,000 believers." These people are truly crazy. They've lost their minds. Brainwashing is this scary.
But when we see so many people zealously following falsehood, we should not lose heart. Let it inspire us to work harder for truth. Let us spread the gospel of the New Covenant and build up the American Church with love, unity, and patience.
Kim Joo-cheol is afraid of our teaching, so he has never publicly educated their people about our teaching yet. This is because they are afraid that if they educate about our church, they will end up promoting our church to their own members. On the other hand, he had publicly large-scale education meeting about how to refute Pastor Park's claims.
Brothers and sisters,
What we need to do is to make our teachings known to them as much as possible. We simply need to effectively convey what we have to them so they can hear it. Then, the Holy Spirit will work with the words we preach.
May we be like Jeremiah speaking truth even when it’s unpopular. And may we hold firmly to the New Covenant until the day we return to our true home in Heaven.
Thank you, and may God bless you all.
Source: https://blog.naver.com/ceongkim/224039431792