What is cheap evangelism?
This question was presented to me in a class recently, and the varying answers were interesting. One said, "Well, Pastor. He's very inexpensive." That drew laughs, of course. More serious answers were things like, "Preaching only money, and nothing else," and "Ministry that doesn't cost you anything." Ministry, real ministry, should always cost you something.
That sparked an interesting discussion on prophets, since there've been all kinds of end-of-the-world talk lately, and I've decided to address that topic here.
What is a prophet? A lot of people limit it to someone who can see the future, but that's really not it. Are there still prophets today? I would say yes, absolutely. A prophet is someone who hears the voice of God, and relays His messages to His people. Did those, in the Old Testament, usually involve warnings of the future? Yes. But we cannot overlook the fact that there are still prophets around today.
So, if we still have prophets, what will the devil use to counteract them?
"If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. But that prophet or that draemer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst." --Deuteronomy 13: 1-5
False prophets are everywhere. Now, some people will say, "Oh, I knew that." But did you, really? Do you think that these deceivers are going to be obvious about it? It is so hard to discern these things, and so important that we do so. So how do we know?
First: A prophet will not lie. "And if you say in your heart, "How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?'- when a prophet speaks in the anme of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him."-- Deuteronomy 18: 21-22. If he's saying something untrue, or promising something that doesn't happen, he is not from God.
Nostradamus is saying that the end of the world is coming on Mother's Day this year, and a lot of people believe him. How do we contradict a statement like that?
Scripture is the ultimate basis of truth. If what they're saying does not match up completely with the Bible, it's not true. "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of Heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only." --Matthew 24:36 So, if even Christ doesn't know when God's going to send him back, how does Nostradamus?
Second: Even if what he says comes true, you have to watch our for his instructions. If everything he says actually happens, if he performs "miracles", but tells you to do something against Scripture, his words are not from God. "For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand." --Matthew 24:24-25 They will try to lead you in idol worship, in useless faith. Have you ever watch a big-time televangelist and heard something like, "Send in a gift, pray, and you will be miraculously healed!" Sounds pretty good, right?
But what does money have to do with healing? I don't remember Jesus saying, "Give your tithe to the church, then I'll heal you." These people are sneaky, guys. Even faith in money is idolatry.
Third: If their message is void of a message... you guessed it. Not from God. My friend listened to a preacher on TV for almost half an hour, and he did not mention God, quote Scripture, or talk about Salvation even once. In half an hour! This is a big hind. A lot of these people are great motivational speakers, but they are distracted from God, and are being used to distract us from God.
The focus of their ministry should be God, and nothing else. One man- or maybe more, I only heard of one- is charging admission to get into "his" church! Can you imagine charging someone for their soul? Then there's this "crystal cathedral" or whatever. My only question is this: Do you think that Christ would call that good stewardship?
I'm not saying that anyone with a big church or anything is a false prophet guys; I'm just saying to be careful. Because even if the message is only a little off, it can mess up your beliefs so bad.
It's always good to remember that every good lie is mostly truth. They may sound really good, look really good, smell really good, but you walways have to be on guard.
Another big sign is how you feel about them. I'm not saying that you can't be fooled, but if you are wholly and truly filled with the Spirit, you probably won't be able to stand listening to them. Light and darkness can't coincide, and the Spirit will not let you keep filling your mind with lies.
Don't worry about people predicting Christ's second coming, guys. "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe them. So if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." --Matthew 24:26-27. He'll make it obvious; there will be no doubt that it's actually him. People are so concerned, that false prophets are feeding off of it. "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather." --Matthew 24:28. Just relax. We're not supposed to know. Worrying won't make it come sooner or put it off until later. He'll return when He returns.
Wen eed to keep studying. How will we know the teacher is wrong if we're not familiar with the subject? How can we contradict them, tell the truth, if we have no knowledge to back it up? Keep yourself keen. Test everyone- your pastor, your Sunday school teacher- everyone. Hold your teachers accountable, and make sure that you're not being deceived.
"Hey, God, it's me. I pray that you will keep me always focused on you, and keep me on your path, so that I will not be led astray."