<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Amazing Facts

Doug Batchelor

Proving the Prophets

This presentation is brought to you by the Friends of the Amazing Facts Ministry.

The 14th century Aztec Empire was 1 of the most powerful and sophisticated civilizations in the Western Hemisphere.

Yet this kingdom of 2000000 people was conquered within a year by a Spanish force of just 600 lightly armored men.

Well the Aztecs believed in the coming of Quetzalcoatl, a legendary feathered, bearded, light-skinned god-king who was going to come from across the sea to Mexico.

When the conquistadors arrived in 1519, Hernando Cortes impersonated this god of the Aztecs to befuddle the superstitious King Montezuma.

By fooling the native people, Cortes completed his conquest that included enslaving and murdering many of them.

The vague prophecies of their Aztec God easily pave the way for a counterfeit.

Jesus has foretold in the last days, many false Christs and false prophets will use great signs and wonders to deceive, If it were possible, even God's very elect.

He also said, most people will be deceived.

That's why you need to join me for today's program as we learn from the Bible how to identify false Christs and false prophets.

We're gonna start with a story in the Bible, 1 of my favorites.

Just to give you the background, it's based on 1 Kings 22, most of the chapter.

King Ahab, bad king, northern kingdom, he finally made peace with King Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, southern kingdom.

King Ahab invited Jehoshaphat up to the northern kingdom and said, why don't we join forces and let's go fight against Syria because they took the city of Ramoth-Gilead from us and let's see if we can recover it.

He said, my horses are like your horses and my chariots like your chariots.

And then Jehoshaphat said, well, let's inquire of the Lord.

And they all came and they had a pep rally and they said, go fight against the Syrians, you'll recover Raimeth Gilead, go fight, fight, fight, win, win, win, you're gonna win, God is with you.

And Ahab said, you know, or rather Jehoshaphat said, these guys all look like prophets of Baal.

He said, Ahab, nothing personal, but are there any prophets of Jehovah here that we could inquire of?

Ahab got a little bit tense and he said, oh, yeah, there's 1 guy.

His name is Micaiah, the son of Imla, but he never says anything good about me.

And Jehoshaphat said, no, don't be so hard on him.

So Ahab sent a messenger to go fetch Micaiah.

And in the meantime, they continued their pep rally.

You're going to beat the Syrians, and you're going to win, and God is with you.

And so the messenger that goes to fetch Micaiah, he says to Micaiah as they're on their way to this assembly, he said, look, they're having a great time.

Micaiah says, I will have to say what the Lord tells me to say, whether it's popular or not.

So he finally comes before Ahab, the 2 kings are on their throne and all the prophets are gathered around, and they're all prophesying positive things about this battle, and Ahab says, okay, Micaiah, should we go up to Ramoth Gilead or not?

He said, OK, I saw Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep having no shepherd.

And these prophets are lying to you, the Lord has told me.

Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, he said, I told you he'd say nothing good about me.

Micaiah clearly said, do not go into that battle.

Ahab said, we're going to put you in prison until I come again in peace.

Micaiah said, if you ever return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.

So they went into battle, and Ahab was a little worried because he knew these prophets of God like Elijah.

And he said, all right, well, he says, I'm going to get killed in battle, so what I'll do is I'm gonna have Jehoshaphat dress up in his king's attire and go into the battle.

I'm gonna dress up like a soldier and stay on the outskirts.

I'll be safe, I'll put on my armor, nothing's gonna happen to me.

I'm gonna be extra careful so I survive this battle and prove the prophet wrong.

Well, you know, the Bible tells us that a certain soldier drew a bow at random.

We don't even know if it was 1 of his own soldiers.

And he struck the king of Israel in the joints of his armor.

It hit a vital artery and he began to bleed seriously.

Instead of getting medical treatment, he was so proud, he said, prop me up in the chariot.

And he stayed up in the chariot until he bled to death and he died that day.

You cannot overcome or overrule a true prophet of God.

And so we're going to be talking about the subject of proving the prophets.

When Jesus in Matthew 24 talks about his second coming and the disciples say, what is the sign of your coming, the end of the world?

There will be false prophets and false Christs, and so we need to know how do you distinguish the true from the false?

Question number 1, To whom does the Lord reveal his final plans?

Amos chapter 3, verse 7, surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secret to his servants, the prophets.

The Lord tells us that if he's going to do anything significant, he usually calls a prophet.

When God was getting ready to destroy the world with a flood, did he have a prophet?

And when the Lord was ready to carry the children of Israel out of Egypt, did he raise up a prophet for these monumental occasions?

And when they were about to be conquered by the Babylonians, did God raise up prophets to warn them and guide them?

Jeremiah, Isaiah, and subsequently Ezekiel, Daniel.

These profound times in history, God raises up prophets.

Before the Messiah came, did God bring a prophet that would be a voice in the wilderness?

John the Baptist, to prepare the way for this great event of the Messiah coming.

So here we are on the threshold of eternity.

Do you think that this would be a great time to have the gift of prophecy?

It says there, the Lord God does nothing, meaning nothing significant, unless he reveals his secret to his servants of prophets.

God does not want to catch his people off guard.

He wants us to know and to brace for impact.

So he sends prophets also to give us guidance along the way.

Number 2, will there be both true and false prophets in the last days?

Back to Menu

Proving the Prophets

Transcript

Sponsor

Recorded

Related

IMPACT Scandinavia 2012: Workshop B

The Most Essential and Attacked Gift of God’s Remnant Church, Part 3

1h 29m

How to Introduce Ellen White to New Believers

02 The Testimony of Jesus

53m

We Believe

We Believe – The Gift (Part 2)

49m

The Ministry of Healing

51m

How to Introduce Ellen White to New Believers

05 God’s Prophetic Gift

47m

Jesus On Prophecy

Hallelujah, Here Comes the Judge

59m

Darkness Before Dawn

1h 12m

Is the Bible Enough?

52m

Prophecies of Hope

22. Modern Prophets Visions and Dreams

52m

The Arch-Villain of Prophecy

The Arch-Villain of Prophecy, Part 2

28m

Sound Doctrine