 Hello, I'm Pastor Joey Rogers and welcome to Pace Assembly Live. We're glad that you've joined us today. In just a moment we're going to go into the sanctuary where we're worshipping the Lord in every portion of the service, from giving, the lifting of our hands, singing, and the Word of God that's going to come your way today. We hope that you will engage the service right there where you are, and that the presence of God will be made real no matter where you are around the globe. We know that we're reaching so many people around the world right now, and our effort and every part that we do is about reaching one more soul for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for helping us accomplish that through your giving and your prayerful support. May God bless you now. As we enter into the service, let's go live into the presence of God. Father, we thank you for your Word tonight. Let it be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, and we give you praise for what you're going to do. Speak to us from the volume of the book, and we give you praise for it. In Jesus' name, and everybody shout out a great big amen. In your Bibles, in the book of 1 John chapter 4, verse number 1. I want you to look with me there. Very sobering passage of Scripture and instructional passage of Scripture. And it is found in verse number 1, and we'll read just a few verses here tonight. If you've found that, say a good amen. If you're still looking, say, hold up. Yes, little John, 1 John. All right, giving you a second to find that because you need to know this tonight. Amen. What a wonderful crowd here this evening. Glad to have you here. All right, verse 1. Beloved, talking to us believers, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Now, here's the litmus test. Hear by no ye the spirit of God. Now, notice that He's not trying to identify all these other spirits or give you a profile of them. He just said, if you know what the spirit of God looks like, sounds like, acts like, then the other counterfeits will jump out on their own. Hear by no ye the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of anti-Christ. Now, that's very important because that is, if you want to consider it, a politically incorrect statement for today. But it's truth. This is the spirit of anti-Christ, whereof you have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world. Let me give you some encouraging scripture. You're of God, little children, and have overcome them. So every spirit, every evil spirit, you've already overcome them. Why? Because greater is He that is in you. Four people in here have the spirit of the Lord. Then He that is in the world, they are of the world. Therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. Ye are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth us. He that is not of God, heareth not us. Hear by no we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. All right. Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they're of God because many false prophets are going out into the world. So tonight I'm going to tackle the big, big issue in the room. The big issue that I've had people calling about, texting about, a lot of people been talking about. And I want you to hear me clearly because I don't want to be misunderstood so this is on tape and videotape and all that kind of thing so that it will be clear. Tonight, I want to talk to you for a few moments and teach you concerning how to judge prophecy. The principles of judging prophecy. Why do I need this? Why do we need this? Because we are in a situation, a culture and all that's going on right now where over the past several months and even year or more and many people, Christians have been disillusioned, discouraged, wondering because prophets quote unquote have made predictions concerning what would happen and what would not happen. But before I go into this lesson and teach you these principles, I want to make sure you hear what I'm telling you. Prophecy is real truthful and when it is backed up by these principles you can receive it as the word of the Lord. Here's what I want you to understand. There will always and have always been extremes and flesh in anything that calls itself of God or spiritual. What is the tactic of the enemy? The tactic of the enemy, if he walked up to you and gave you some false prophecy up in your face and had a t-shirt on and said, hey, I'm a false prophet, you turn him off like that. So what does he have to do? The Bible says that Satan and his emissaries, his angels come as ministers of light, they mimic, they imitate the truth but their faults. Why and what is the motive of Satan in that? It is to undermine your belief in the truth. So for instance, if, you know, there were many people that received the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues this past weekend. And all you need is for someone who may have questions or whatever it may be for someone to come up and exploit that gift for it to undermine the belief that that person can say that that is true and real. Same thing with prophecy. All you need is for someone to get it wrong, so to speak or make a statement that doesn't come to pass and suddenly people begin to doubt, and let me say this to you, I'm talking about even people inside of the church, begin to doubt whether or not prophecy is real or the gifts of the Spirit are real. What you need to know is, is that the Bible is real. And what the Bible says is truth. And the Bible says, according to the Scripture in 1 Corinthians, multiple places you'll find that the love or rather the fruit and the signs chapters are backed up with one another. So for instance, in 1 Corinthians 13, we know that to be the love chapter, but sandwiched between the fruit of the Spirit are the sign chapters. 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 14. Why is that? Because the fruit of the Spirit and the spiritual gifts, the gifts of the Spirit are to work in tandem with one another. They are not absent of one another. So understanding that there is truth, you don't throw out prophecy in the gifts simply because someone was making something or saying something or say they had a dream or a vision or whatever it may be that did not come to pass. I'm giving you instruction tonight in these nine principles to help you identify what is real and what is false. Why is that so important? Because Jesus said that many false prophets are going to literally flood the land, especially in the last days. And I'm telling you that there are people who have made predictions and those are false prophecies. Now the Bible is very emphatic about this. And so let me say this to you. The word of a man or the word of someone who wrote something down or whatever it may be is always, and you'll see it in a moment, superseded by what the Bible says. That's the reason why for all the 14 years and four months that you've been hearing me preach at this church as your pastor, you hear me frequently say this. The Bible says, the Bible says, the Bible says, because my opinion and your opinion about something is one thing, but what the Bible says is truth and it's not truth until the Bible says it. And what we have done in Christendom in recent years is that people are now elevating what somebody's book says above this book. Well, so and so wrote a book. I mean, and I'm going to say this to you. We have a, if I called his name, you might even know him, a prominent assembly of God pastor who recently wrote a book and actually spoke at the general council of the assemblies of God and his book is completely Calvinistic. What is that? Well, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, the fact is, and I'll not go into the depths of Calvinism, but the point is, we do not believe in the Calvinistic mindset or theology here. That's not who we are. That's the reason why it's important for you to know doctrine and not doctrine out of somebody's book or what they think or their interpretation. I've got books by the thousands on my shelf, but all of them are in the shadows when it comes to knowing and understanding what truth is. You understand what I'm saying? So with that in mind, there are the nine gifts of the Spirit, and they're not the only exclusive. There are other gifts of the Spirit that are in operation, but you'll find them listed in 1 Corinthians chapter number 12. In that category, there is the gifts of tongues and the interpretation of tongues. And tongues and interpretation of tongues are equal to prophecy. So in this church, for instance, if we believe in the gift of tongues and operation and the gift of interpretation, so from time to time, whatever, we believe in the full manifestation of all the gifts of the Spirit and operation. And I only get trouble when we don't have the gifts and the operation of the Spirit. That's the reason why you need to have instruction about this. So understand this, that in a service, for those of you that are not familiar or maybe have a background in this, in our Spirit-filled denomination and the assemblies of God, but we're not exclusive, it's just distinctive. We're not the only ones. We're not claiming that. But the Bible lets us know that the gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation is for the church today. It didn't go out with the apostles. So from time to time, there will be people in this congregation who may give a message in tongues. That is to say, not a learned tongue, but a message that comes forth in an unknown tongue, that they speak out loud and when that takes place in the discernment of this pulpit, if it's of God, the Bible says that we're all to judge that prophecy coming forth, that tongue and that interpretation. But we'll cease the music to hear at that moment the Word of the Lord through a message in tongues and then someone interpreting that tongue for the edification of the congregation. Paul is very clear. He talks about this. He said, if it comes, let it be by two or by three. But three is the limitation of that, he says, because it can get out of hand when everybody starts prophesying, speaking in tongues. Why? Because the Word in tongues and the interpretation should come as instruction and specific instruction as you'll hear in a moment for the body of Christ at that church. Okay? So tongues a message in tongues comes and then maybe there's someone in the congregation who has that gift of interpretation they interpret it in the known tongue. So, for instance, if we were in Guatemala it would be speaking in Spanish because it would not edify that congregation for them to hear it in English. That's the predominant language there. The predominant language here is English so it would be interpreted in English if it is to edify the body. Are y'all with me so far? Tongues and interpretation are equal to prophecy. What does that mean? If someone speaks out and sometimes you've heard it said like this it doesn't have to come out this way and prophecies don't have to come out in sounding like the King James version of the Bible. Thus saith the Lord. But sometimes in all of my growing up when people are used in that gift of prophecy it will come out many times with the Lord something like that. When it is acknowledged by the church and the leadership of the church we silence to hear what the Word of the Lord is. Prophecy would be something that comes without a message in tongues. Tongues and interpretation is equal to prophecy. Paul said, I rather that you prophesy but the whole point in the entirety of the tongues and interpretation of the prophecy spoken in that known language at that moment is to edify the church. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? To build up. So you get instruction. Okay? So prophecies that come forth or as you've heard in recent months people getting online or whatever and they say, you know the Word of God told me this to tell you that this is going to happen and this is going to happen and as we found out in many cases in fact one predominant man who calls himself a prophet wound up apologizing for saying that he said that he believed that God told him to say this, that this was going to happen and it didn't happen. Well I can appreciate the integrity of that man but I can tell you, you don't have to listen, if you're going to run around and call yourself and title yourself as a prophet you should be ready to be killed because that's what happened in the Bible to all these prophets. I mean everybody, oh I want to be like Isaiah well then you're going to lay down and they're going to take a great big bandsaw and cut you in half while you're resting in a log. I don't hear nobody wanting to be a prophet. Okay? It's not to say that it's not real. There's the office of the prophet and then there's prophecies that come forth. I'm talking tonight about prophecies that come forth so that you can understand what is right and what is wrong and what is false and what is real because there's going to be more of it in the days that are ahead. In fact in the business the Bible says in the book of Revelation during the tribulation period there's going to be a man that is identified as the false prophet and you church must understand what is real and what is not. Do not deny genuine prophecies or messages and tongues or interpretation. These are gifts from God but we are to be the people who judge that whether it's real or not. Whether it's a personal prophecy as some people have called it somebody walk up to you and say hey the Lord says your name is Trish. Well I can tell you probably you already know that. And the shenanigans of recent years where people get on platforms and have a little bug in their ear and say you know this or this or this I'm going to help you to understand what is real and what is not. Let me just make this statement now let's not forget it. Any word of prophecy that comes over your life should only be a confirmation of what God has already been speaking to you in your life. If you've been praying and studying the Word of God it is a confirmation for you. Okay? Today I was preparing this message and most of the time before I get to this pulpit I get a confirmation of that. It doesn't have to be a say of the Lord and the clouds and the thunder and all that kind of stuff. But Dean Easterwood pulled out I was out front out here and he pulled up in front he had no idea what I was going to teach tonight. He pulled up out front out there and came out there shaking hands and we talking a little bit. The next thing I know he starts talking about prophets and prophecies coming forth and the next thing you know the conversation led right up to the point where we were actually talking about false prophets and the light went off confirming that that's the message that needs to come here tonight. Now that's the way he works with me may not work with everybody like that but generally speaking that's the way it works with me. If you're sensitive to the Holy Spirit in prayer and you're studying the Word of God the prophecy that comes should only confirm what God is already saying in your spirit. I believe in prophecy but not all prophecy is from God. And so otherwise Paul would not have written in 1 Corinthians 14 and verse number 29 let two or three prophets speak and let the others judge. We're commanded in the Word of God especially in the book of 1 John chapter number four to try the spirits to see whether or not they're of God. So he's already telling us don't just don't just drink it down or eat it up just because somebody says thus saith the Lord you are to try those spirits tonight I'm going to show you how to try those spirits because many people Christians are gullible to the point that whatever somebody says they take at face value and start running off and wind up getting themselves many times in trouble or like I'm going to show you here tonight sometimes and unfortunately this is the way it is this is the reason why you need to have a discerning spirit sometimes there are prophets that will say something that they heard somebody else say and they piggyback on that and it's just like the proverbial thing that goes on in the little classroom with kids it embellishes to such a degree because this guy said this well in order for me to get the attention on YouTube and get how many clicks and likes I got to say a little something well thus saith the Lord well how about let's getting instruction for the Word of God then we'll know how to discern things y'all all right out there when truth is listen every prophetic utterance either comes from God or the flesh or from the devil through an evil spirit you might want to write this down when truth is denied deception will follow when truth is denied deception will follow now let me stop right here and say this because your mindset right now is thinking about just church and just prophecies in the spiritual realm in church but I want you to broaden your understanding here because not all prophets are having to do and doing their prophecies inside the church there are political prophets religious prophets dictator prophets so when you're listening to what I'm telling you it's important for you to have an understanding so you can discern because in the time we're in people have hooked their hooked their rope to people simply because they like their agenda or whatever and have not ran it through the filter of God's Word to know whether it is right and true so what I'm saying to you in this statement is when truth is denied deception follows let me say it like this when a nation a people a house, a church, whatever when they deny truth the only thing left is a lie deception in leaders make decisions against truth it's getting a setup for deception false prophets and false prophecies are multiplying today and Jesus warned in these three passages of Scripture in Matthew 24 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 19 through 21 and Mark 13 22 specifically that the foremost sign today's would be deception Jesus said in Matthew 24 take heed to his disciples take heed that you be not deceived false prophecies lead to deception and open the door watch this to manipulation or domination by false prophets who have ungodly motives and hidden agendas okay let's get a hold of here some prophets claim to be legitimate because they're right five out of ten times oh I'm coming right down the line well I'm going to tell you that was bad for Israel if they were right five out of ten times and it was bad for the prophet because the Bible clearly gives instruction and I'll show you this in a moment that whenever a prophet claimed to be speaking for God for the nation of Israel it was life and death not only for Israel but it was life and death for the prophet and the Bible says that if that prophecy does not come true from that person who claims he's a prophet take him out and stone him now you don't have to do that today just say something online and there'll be enough people stoning you online that you won't have to worry about rocks some say well some of my prophecies are true I want you to know mathematically if you guess it's something long enough you'll be right some of the time for instance let me say it like this somebody in here has got back trouble how many of you in here got back trouble how many of you are hurting right now just because I said somebody in here has got back trouble okay that's nothing more than a glorified horoscope reading come on let's wake up now right let's be alert to this because the key is this to understand somebody says well I get it right some of the time don't write me off well it's not about writing you off if God said to you I get it right some of the time would you still be serving God how about somebody that's supposed to be your trusted friend says listen I'm going to do this thing over here and I get it right 50% of the time you trust me God doesn't operate in that way I want you to know God is 100% truth all of the time he never misses it so anything that does say of the Lord is going to be on the mark 100% of the time now that does not mean that it might not happen right now because some people want to write it off because God has spoken and there's things that's not come to pass yet but I can assure you based upon his past reputation it will come to pass according to the book of Isaiah the Bible says the things of old are to be there is a secular event that takes place with God because he put things in motion and they're going to come to pass seed time and harvest so if you're guessing at something long enough you'll be right some of the time but you can see that happening today and there's so many false prophets and stuff that's going on out there today and unfortunately many people just write it completely off and they don't want to hear anything about it and so we've had an exodus of people from spirit filled churches because they did not have discernment nor did they want to take responsibility for it so they said we're going to just write it all off and we'll go to a nominal church where none of that woo-woo happens problem first of all you know too much that's the reason why that's the reason why it's hard for a spirit filled individual to go to a church that is a non-spirit filled church and be satisfied oh I can sit there and dry up and die but I want you to know once you've tasted of the goodness of God in the spiritual realm nothing will survive but the moving of the Holy Ghost that's the reason why around this service this past weekend some folks had to make explanation I've already gotten that from a few folks because they invited people to come to church next thing you know the pastor jumps off the platform starts laying hands on people and they're falling out in the floor and everybody goes oh my god are they alright out there I grew up in a church and many of you did too that if people were falling out we didn't have no catchers your head got bloody they were not in the Holy Ghost and they just had to go house and fix themselves see some of you know the concept but today for legal purposes we got to have somebody catch you before you hit the ground I'm just going to tell you something that the spirit of the Lord is real powerful and this past Sunday you witnessed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in this house and that's what attracts people to God I can tell you the more when I called people to this front and I started praying for them I told my wife when I got home the more I prayed for people the stronger the anointing of God with people getting touched and healed now whether it happens now or next week or next month is irrelevant God has done the work He has spoken it and it shall come to pass that's why we cannot write off prophecy I'm going to say this again in a few moments but I'm going to say the truth right now just because somebody missed it and was in the flesh don't let that break down every part of the Holy Spirit moving in your life they missed it that's the reason why that I don't call myself a prophet David Wilkerson did not call himself a prophet but he got it right to this day are y'all hearing me get in this y'all got a pen full of ink you're ready to write principle number one the purpose of the New Testament prophecy is to edify exhort and comfort this is the three ingredients of a true prophecy word of prophecy for that congregation or you individually it should edify which means to build up it should exhort which means to encourage and it should comfort which means exactly what it means 1 Corinthians 14 3 says speaketh unto men to edification exhortation and to comfort if someone speaks a word of prophecy over your life and it leaves you confounded condemned or in fear that message is not from God see it's not complicated all you got to do is just know the word of God that's a fear mongering individual now watch this it's the reason why I say you can't be listening to the news media because it is fear every night prophetically how do you know it's prophetic cause they get on there and say doctor so and so said by June there's going to be a million people dead okay I don't know and neither do you all I can go off of is the prophecies and they haven't come to pass so stop letting the false prophets whether they be in the church or out of the church dictate the way you walk live and conduct your life well I think I'm on the right path here to now principle number two we're going to move with this tonight how about it prophecies should agree with the word of God Isaiah 8 and 20 says to the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them so let me say to you right now all prophecy everything that's going on in your life you should have this is a terminology for you a Christian world view not a secular world view or a globalist world view a Christian world view that is to say everything that's going on in my life and in this world I look through the filter and lens of the word of God I have absolute truth in the Bible that is trusted and proven and whatever's going on out there this is what makes you a spiritual individual to discern what's going on and other people go wow I wonder what's happening with all this that's going on with Iran it's just looking the Bible and it tells me ancient Persia is going to rise up again in the last days and I can speak with authority because it's not my word, it's God's word that they're going to gather a whole group of people and they're going to attempt to go into Israel and defeat them so all this rhetoric you know nobody cares about that until it actually happens but God has already spoken it and it is history into the future we call that Bible prophecy so the Bible says our prophecy should agree with the word of God all true prophecy comes from the Holy Spirit who is the author of the word of God so all prophecy will agree in fact and in spirit with the word of God it does not agree with the word of God is a false prophecy so whatever anybody says should be able to be backed up by the word of God if it is not found in the word of God somebody said you're going to let's say if the Lord you're going to have a wart break out on your nose well first of all I already know that's not a true prophecy somebody comes and condemns you and judges you Bible said that's not from God now how do I know that because the Bible says alright not everyone is speaking for the Lord here's principle number three prophecy must bear fruit and agree with the Holy Spirit in conduct and character this is critical for you to get a hold of because let me tell you the devil is subtle he comes as an angel of light if he came to us with a pitchfork and a pointed tail and a red jumpsuit we say well there's the devil how about that he doesn't come that way he comes like your favorite kind of chocolate candy bar wrapped around the problem whatever your favorite we are drawn away the Bible says of our own lusts well pastor I don't like chocolate ok he'll give you whatever you want that's the tactic of what's going on today and it's going to get worse therefore you must understand what is the conduct of the Holy Spirit and the character of the Holy Spirit and you find that out by the life of Jesus obviously Romans 14 17 the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but what is it righteousness and joy in the Holy Ghost here's a litmus test for you any joy or peace now watch this this is where it gets a little bit tough any joy or peace that bypasses righteousness is a demonic spirit of religion so somebody could get joy out of a prophecy praise God I just hit the lottery must be God oh I got this blessing but I'm not paying my tithes it ain't a blessing it's a curse for you because the Bible says that the blessings of the Lord maketh rich and adeth no sorrow are you hearing me you can't have joy and peace without righteousness if it's genuine joy and peace in this prophecy coming people want to prophesy oh you're going to be blessed you're going to be this you're going to be that well praise God if it's from the Lord but I want to know not only is the prophecy right based upon the word of God but I want to know what is the vessel that is bringing this prophecy are they living right what's their conduct what's their character a man who prophesies that one didn't get you a man who lives a sexual immoral lifestyle or financially is irresponsible is in deep deception and as a false prophet a person who sows discord, dishonesty inside of the body of Christ is a false prophet I don't care what they say thus sayeth the Lord I don't want to hear you thus sayeth the Lord in fact now don't do this but in those days whenever somebody was a false prophet they didn't wait around and go like we do today well you know we just won't say anything we just know that that person there just a little bit no no no they say false prophet false prophet everybody know false prophet and what we got right now we got a major a major church organization who everybody everybody around there was saying what that guy is saying in the pulpit is not right doctrinly impure but nobody want to deal with it and it kept going right on and right on and right on and everybody said he's winning Hollywood stars and it kept going right on and right on and nobody dealt with it until he hit the floor removed disgracefully for immorality financial messing up living a luxurious lifestyle outside of his means and being oppressive to that congregation tens of thousands of people now ladies and gentlemen let's just go back for just a moment for all of you that are a little older and can understand what I'm about to say there was some serious issues that took place with evangelists back in the 80s not to say that people can't be restored but hear what I'm telling you and here's the problem if leadership if people do not come up underneath leadership in a proper way and submit themselves to that process thousands of people will drop their faith off at the front door of the church and never come back and that's exactly what the devil loves to happen are you hearing me y'all are out there prophecy must agree with the fruit of the spirit don't prophesy to me if you're just a hateful old contankerous nasty ain't got no long suffering come on somebody I don't want to hear nothing you got to say are you kind how do you treat your spouse you're prophesying up in the church how do you treat your spouse forget that let me ask your kids they'll tell the truth every time if a prophecy is without love from God I don't care what you've got if you don't have righteousness then your peace will not last it's not up God am I helping anybody out here false prophets don't holler on the corner Matthew chapter 7 let's just forget all of this nonsense let's just go straight to the Word of God and see what he says because he got something to say about this I'm talking about in the red letters Jesus said verse 13 enter ye into the straight gate for wide as the gate broad as the way that leads to destruction and many there be that go there in because straight as the gate and narrow as the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it stop you narrow-minded right-wing Christian fundamental radical conservative people I didn't write the book he said the way to get to heaven is a narrow way I don't have to be a prophet for that he said you're going to have to walk right you can't be all over the road making up your own road well let's go a little deeper Jesus got something to say I'm going to tell you when Jesus took him on he took him on he said verse 15 beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are raving wolves now he gives an analogy you shall know them how by their fruit you can't tell by their suit you can't tell by their tongue because they're slick you wouldn't have bought the aluminum siding if they weren't that slick so you cannot tell from their outward appearance because God looks on the heart man looks on the outward and you can't tell from their speech because they're slick and you can't tell from their heart because you don't know their motive what is the one ingredient to tell whether or not somebody is right or wrong true or false he said you will know them by their fruit you want to know your pastor what's the fruit the people that live around you claim to be Christians what's their fruit you're not going to like me for this statement but I'm going to say it anyway you can't be a Catholic and then sign an executive order to kill babies what's the fruit who did you vote for I'm just telling you we're all up underneath that cloud he said you'll know them by their fruit do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles even so every good tree bringeth forth what kind of fruit good fruit but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit every tree that bringeth forth good fruit is hewn down and cast in the fire not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast in the fire therefore by their fruit you shall know them anybody get that lesson from Jesus right there tonight now fruit takes a little time to mature and to tell so you can't tell whether or not somebody straight up on the first opportunity so you got to back off and watch them a little bit and if the pattern of conduct and character in their life is not bringing forth good fruit I didn't say it Jesus said that's a corrupt tree now does it mean does it mean that if the tree doesn't fall on its roots and say lord forgive me that the tree can't be preserved but right here if they continue doing what they're doing he said sooner or later they're going to be cut down and thrown into the fire y'all with me they come in sheeps clothing the bible says they look good on the outside they talk fine they even look like sheep but their purpose is to devour and deceive the body of Christ the first thing a false prophet or any person in deception that are deceived themselves will say to you don't judge me don't judge me you judge it this is what we're hearing in the world right now people that can say one thing out of their mouth and then condemn somebody else for doing the same thing don't judge me I ain't judging you baby I'm just a fruit inspector and your fruit is rotten now let me just tell you all of you apples that are doing real good right now don't get in a bowl with somebody who is rotten because if you get in there with a rotten piece and you lay your good piece right up there beside them sooner or later you're going to become rotten yourself so get out of the bowl and get in the church amen principle number four by the way a wolf a wolf can't stay in any wool very long there's only so long you can con especially a good bible preaching holy ghost spirit filled church come on somebody the hotter it is the hotter it is for that wolf trying to put on that wool coat comes to church putting that wool coat on hot in here no it ain't hot in here we're all just fine you a devil principle number four if a prophecy contains predictions that do not come true the prophecy was false look at Deuteronomy 18 22 if what a prophet proclaims in the name of the lord this is NIV does not take place or come true that is a message the lord has not spoken that prophet has spoken presumptuously do not be afraid of him the bible says I'm reminded in a couple of years my growing up I was a small child when this took place very small I don't remember it had to be related to me but there was a preacher a prophet guy that came to our little church there in Fort Walton beach and my dad was kind of an interim pastor at that particular time and then sister Kaver one of my first my first Sunday school teacher was going to the church at that time and they called into question his preaching and teaching the service he pronounced and prophesied their death to occur and then made everybody step over the bible at the threshold of the back door I think my dad might have been somewhere in his 30's maybe during that time or 40's yeah he lived till 93 false prophet how do I know it already because it didn't exhort edify and comfort he stood up in that congregation my dad's death sister Kaver lived till 90 something false prophet this is too tight for you here tonight this is separate sheep and goats right here, isn't it let's look at because if you think I'm something you gotta look at Jeremiah write this down it's down on your paper Jeremiah 28 and 9 somebody that didn't play no games was the prophet Jeremiah because he was like thrown in jail and every prophecy that he prophesied came to pass and the false prophets were lying on him all that kind of stuff here's what he says the prophet which prophesied when the word of the prophet shall come to pass then shall that prophet be known that the lord had truly sent him in other words if that message comes to pass like he said then you can know that guy he's gonna be speaking for the lord now let me stop right here and say just because somebody is used in the gift of prophecy one time does not make them a prophet so stop running around if somebody gives a message if somebody gives a a message of prophecy don't try to elevate them to start some church somewhere and start following them around because they annoy them because they may have only been used at one and only time and if their conduct and character is not right it goes to their head then they want to go out and get a tent and some chairs and be through your organ and start a new church I knew I was gonna have fun with this message tonight and your silence is the truth of it principle number five if a prophecy comes true but promotes disobedience against god or his word it is not a true prophecy flip over to Deuteronomy real quick Deuteronomy chapter number 13 maybe on your paper right here Deuteronomy 13 verses 1 through 3 if their rise arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and giveth thee a sign or a wonder so notice this that sign or wonder would have been given it would have been manifest and the sign or the wonder come to pass where have he spake unto thee saying let us go after other gods which thou has not known and let us serve them thou shall not harken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the lord your god prove with you to know whether you love the lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul he said even if the prophecy looks like it's coming to pass and a sign or a wonder but that sign or wonder points you to somebody other than Jesus Christ it's a false prophecy is this helping anybody now I know again you're thinking about church stuff but let me help you to understand there is the propagation of false prophecies going on in every different genre from movies to social media to everything else under the sun false prophecies promising this and then this happens are you hearing me Moses clearly states here in Deuteronomy just because a prophecy comes true doesn't mean it's from God that's the reason why it's so important for you to know the word of God because the only way with the fruit but that takes a little time but if I know the word of God and it's hidden in my heart and somebody speaks something that's not in this book you're already tagged are you hearing me if that person causes you to look to another source for spiritual guidance and you do you're living in spiritual adultery you can only serve one master Acts chapter number 16 Paul encounters a demon possessed girl on the road and look what she does some people would let this go on to their head and went wow I must be really gifted because she follows behind them after they've been in town for a little while and she says everybody listen to the man of God these are men of God these are men sent from God modern day prophets would turn around and say thank you very much have you got an offering for me Paul the discerning apostle of God turned around and rebuked the girl and cast the devil out of her and then they put him in jail and people were amazed and astonished because it looked like now if you read the story the Bible lets us know that this girl was demon possessed and was being manipulated by those who used her in false prophecies for their own monetary increase and behind every evil is money there was a prophet in New York City claimed himself to be a prophet several years ago in his hotline for X amount of dollars he would prophesy to you now newspapers are all but obsolete but in the days I was growing up there was a whole column in there with Gene Dixon a seer and the horoscopes and yet today people are doing all kinds of stuff listening to people that their character and their background is motivated by money and their spirit can we flip over here to the book of Jeremiah once again Jeremiah I can't give you very much Jeremiah because Jeremiah wore out the false prophets so bad it was like the seven sons of Siva I mean he just tore them up and he did it from jail that was pretty impressive I don't have time to read all this let me just say you can read this for yourself there's a prophet in here false prophet that comes around and tells everybody I'm going to summarize it for you he tells everybody within two years the yoke and the burden that is on your neck Israel by Nebuchadnezzar will be broken off and we will return with all of our stuff back to Jerusalem and we're going to live good and it's going to be a blessing and Jeremiah comes up and he says well alright Hananiah if that comes to pass we'll see so then he comes over physically and literally breaks the illustrated sermon off of Jeremiah's neck of a wooden beam and says just like this yoke is broken off the burden is going to be broken off all of that was manipulative to display to the people that were listening to demean the true prophet and elevate the false prophet Hananiah are y'all with me so far I'm summarizing there's more to this story but I'm summarizing to bring it to you because when I read it I thought man we are right there right now because Hananiah comes in presents himself as this great prophet and Jeremiah knows something's fishy here the fruit ain't right he breaks that off of his neck and it's a means of demeaning the true prophet Jeremiah who is not prophesying out of his own dreams and visions and bad pizza the night before is telling the people repent and get right before God because that is the word of the Lord but the people wanted to hear Hananiah prophesy these good things that everybody's going to come blessed out of Babylonian bondage and the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar is going to be broken off of your neck and Jeremiah said well if that comes to pass then you'll be a true prophet he kept on listening to God the people rose up and said the oracle of the Lord the oracle of the Lord and that word oracle there means burden they said what is the word of the Lord because people that are not satisfied with hearing the preached and taught word of God straight from God are always running from place to place to get another word from the Lord this will lead you to deception just like it did Hananiah until Jeremiah comes up and God speaks to Jeremiah and says he broke the yoke off of your neck but you go tell him that there's going to be an iron watch this there's going to be an iron yoke put around his neck for prophesying lies to my people to get them so pumped up to think that this event is going to happen within two years and it's not because my people have not yet repented you want to know what's happening in America I can tell you right now we want to see revival we want to see the move of God but when the people of God repent to the degree that God is satisfied across America and around the world that's when you'll see revival and we are not there yet we're way too arrogant way too proud and we think nothing can touch America but ladies and gentlemen if we don't repent ladies and gentlemen the kingdom of God will not come this is what was going on the burden's going to be loose you're going to be blessed and highly favored Jeremiah heard from the Lord and God told him you go over there and tell him and this is what Jeremiah said Jeremiah said I want to let you know that there's an iron yoke around your neck for prophesying lies to the people of God and you're going to be dead in just a few hours therefore they'll say to the Lord turn off from the face of the earth this year thou shalt die because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord verse 17 so Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month Satan will tell you enough truth to get you to listen and then suddenly lead you into deception you better know the truth that will make you free because here's what we're dealing with right now in America and some people want to write this off and tell you right now it's true the spirit of Jezebel is loose in America Jezebel is not an earring makeup wearing it is a controlling spirit and if in Revelation chapter 3 in the church of Thyatira that spirit was active of manipulation and control it is active right now in our society I don't believe in that well then you'll have to write off the entirety of the front part of the book of Daniel because the Bible says that Daniel prayed and 21 days later it was answered and what was going on there was a prince of Persia a controlling spirit that is still there today controlling that region up underneath it and he warred with Michael the archangel to keep Gabriel from bringing the message to Daniel but take heart ladies and gentlemen the Bible says that God heard Daniel's prayer on the first day and ladies and gentlemen it got through and that went to war in the heaven east in the behalf of God's people and Daniel true prophecy will bring freedom not bondage this is the next one principle 6 true prophecy produces liberty and not bondage I gotta hurry true prophecy will bring freedom and not bondage any form of control over another person by intimidation manipulation or domination is witchcraft you look to no one but Jesus and ain't a lot of preachers that'll tell you this but don't you elevate me on some pedestal thinking that somehow because I'm the pastor of this house that I'm you know I can do no wrong or speak no wrong I'm a human being just like everybody else God has appointed me to this office and the respect to the office is necessary whoever standing in this pulpit but hear the word of the Lord tonight don't you elevate anybody but Jesus Christ to the rightful position he alone is worthy principle 7 true prophecy inspires life when true prophecies come forth the Holy Spirit begins to bring life into that in other words if we have a prophecy that comes in this auditorium right here and for the edification exhortation and comfort of this congregation then we should see life coming into that and I don't have time to get into it you're talking about people being born again lives being changed all of that brings life into a congregation you follow what I'm saying if a prophecy comes to destroy the worship of God that prophecy is not from God anything that comes to distract you or destroy your worship not from God Proverbs 18 19 this is how it manifests itself today I'll tell you this quickly Proverbs 18 19 a brother offended is harder to be one than a strong city and their contentions are like the bars of a castle what's Jesus say in the last days the problem is going to be that people are going to be offended are we living in that society today you can't say nothing can you everything is politically incorrect are I supposed to call you a they or a him or a her how do I say what do I say my friend the church is supposed to be a place where all God's people can get together under one banner and one personage that's Jesus Christ and love one another and be able to speak kind words and speak peace and joy and love to one another and that is what we need now more than ever before principle 8 true prophecy given by the Holy Spirit will bear witness with your spirit I told you this a few moments ago it'll bear witness with your spirit now Jeremiah 23 and 16 the false prophets were offering the people a false hope the Lord said in that in verse number 17 to Jeremiah 23 the Lord says you'll have peace the prophet said you'll have peace and no harm will come to you that's what the prophet said you'll have peace no harm is going to come to you that wasn't right you know if you read the book of Jeremiah and understand Jeremiah's life he stayed incarcerated for most of his time of prophecy and he never saw one convert man I'm going to tell you if you talk about a depressed preacher he never saw one convert come to God in all the years of his prophecy in fact he saw the turning of hearts away from God the more he prophesied the more they turned let me give you the scenario here this was a popular message hear it in light of today this was a popular message and the frightened people grabbed a hold of it and held on to it are we living in a society where people are afraid today fearful absolutely what are they going to grab for anything that comes down the pike that tickles their ears or prophesies peace peace to them but the false prophets heard the message of God's counsel and they made it up out of their own hearts the Bible says in chapter 23 so instead of peace they got a storm that's the reason why I'm preaching repentance to us today pastor I've already repented let's come together let's get on our face before God how about let's repent for a nation that's gone away from God let's repent for a community let's repent for a people let's repent for a family the people loved these false prophets because they gave false hope to them and they prophesied under false authority they did it of their own accord not only did they give them false authority or false hope but when they spoke they said it was from God and God said I haven't spoken to them that's the reason why you got to be careful you say God told me be careful about that my spirit was impressed or I feel like the Lord spoke to my heart about this but when you speak God said you're held accountable if they were truly prophets from God they would have lived godly lives and encouraged the people to turn from their wickedness and repent before God instead they taught popular theology that made it convenient for people to be religious and still live in their sins interesting how it mirrors in the book of Jeremiah to the time we're in right now the word of God should challenge you you hear me the word of God should challenge you challenge you why were they so easy to say God said just like the prophets of today false prophets of today God said God said because they feel like that he's not watching them and in the time of Jeremiah they had pagan gods who were to identify as local gods in other words they would say God said and they looked towards the the statues and the idols that were around them to be their gods but they didn't know and they didn't have an understanding that the God that they were saying sent them and this prophecy was not these idol deaf dumb blind gods around them it was a God who sits high and looks low and sees everything and hears everything this is so important for us to get a hold of in the time we're in right now because a worldly church will always put an emphasis on entertainment before tears does the prophecy bear witness with your spirit somebody gets up and speaks in tongues in here and interpretation comes is it bearing witness you judge that prophecy a predominant AG church I was told this recently a man had a message in tongues for that congregation large congregation one of the noted churches of our denomination in order for that message in tongues to be heard they had to come to the front and notify one of the ministers who was teaching the spiritual gifts class but he didn't believe in the spiritual gifts and asked whether or not he could give that message in tongues I don't have a problem being in order but then that minister said wait let me text to see if the lady who does the interpretations are here tonight while the man waited with a word in his spirit who was not a flighty individual the minister turned around and responded to him she's not here tonight it won't happen you should thank God I'm just the vessel here for a season you should thank God that for 80 plus years there has been a church that you're sitting in tonight that you didn't build but you arrived here and you're sitting on top of the prayers and the anointing and the power of God that manifest in here the genuine real moving of the Holy Ghost you should thank God for that that's all I gotta say about that the last principle any prophecy that comes true but does not give glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ is the spirit of divination you read about that in 1 Corinthians 14 32 33 and there's more for that the fact that a prophecy comes true does not prove that it is from God it should ignore you should ignore any prophecy that comes from anyone that does not operate under spiritual authority why is that? because that's for your protection God has established since the beginning of Genesis righteous delegated authority and God has established that in the church okay it was God who established that Satan is the author of confusion God is the God of order righteous delegation what does that look like children obey your parents for this is right in God's sight that's righteous delegated authority now understand this if you rebel against righteous delegated authority then whoever is under you will rebel against you that's the principle of God's word I want my children to obey me pastor who are you obeying who are you submitting to not for domination manipulation all of that I'm talking about willingly submitting yourself to a righteous delegated authority husbands love your wives and gave himself for it why submit yourself under your own husbands for this is right as the church does to Christ that's righteous delegated authority are you hearing me this is the way God structured it when that is adhered to it is for your protection you can read about it in Acts chapter 20 verse 28 through 31 here's what the Bible says take heed there 40 yourselves and do all the flock that's made you overseers he's talking about pastors to feed the church of God which has been purchased with his own blood so Luke is recording what Paul is doing and he's saying to you pastors you watch over the flock and you care for the flock and you be the overseer righteous delegated authority why is that verse 29 tells us why for I know this all the disciples enter in among you not sparing the flock also of your own self shall men arise of your own self men shall arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them therefore watch verse 31 and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears this is an admonition that comes to us because it's not for your protection now tonight I have taught you this lesson to wolf proof your life you should take this meditate on it study on it because the days that are ahead there's going to be more and many false prophets turn loose into the world and every YouTube prophet is not a prophet from God every Facebook prophet is not a prophet from God is there real prophets absolutely and most of the time you'll find out that they don't sign their checks prophets so and so they respect the office not to say that there may not be out there and there certainly is and words of prophecy that will come forth and tongues and interpretation and the ministry of gifts of the spirit and we want that to happen and the fact is it's not supposed to be exclusive to the ministry of the clergy or the pastors of the church in fact the Bible says in the last days that's to happen among believers these signs shall follow them that believe signs shall follow them that believe don't deny the moving of the spirit but also don't take everything at face value this has been a word from your pastor shepherd the overseer of this flock for your spiritual enrichment and encouragement here tonight and if you'll take this you'll be able to operate within the perimeters when God puts a spirit of prophecy in your life you'll be able with confidence to already know what it looks like what it sounds like and what it's supposed to act like and then you can speak with confidence if God's given you a word of prophecy let that flow let me say to you if somebody gives a word of prophecy and it doesn't come to pass don't grab them by the pants and throw them into fire they operate it in the flesh how many times have you and I operated in the flesh we said God told me and we said something and then we went wish I hadn't said that now you can't say it as much as I can because this is what I do every day and I can assure you that between here and my house the enemy will eat my lunch after every Sunday because there will be something that I said I don't know how many children in the house that is not right and I almost said a word that started with an ST but I won't say stupid so I'm saying to you tonight friends it is important why am I teaching this tonight because I desire for the gifts of the spirit to flow at pace assembly with liberty and freedom for the edification and strength of the body but I also want you to be instructed on how and what that looks like so that if someone prophesies to you whether it's here or somewhere else you can say I'll receive that or I don't receive that because here is the profile of what it's supposed to look like does that make sense has this helped you here tonight amen come on give God glory right there that's what that's all about now father I pray for this congregation days ahead you're going to use people and the gift of prophecy and the gift of tongues gift of interpretation Lord and words of wisdom and words of knowledge and all the gifts and operation in the lives of your people I pray they won't be intimidated by the gift but they will allow the spirit of God to flow through their lives and because they receive the pure word of instruction and truth from the Word of God tonight they are prepared this evening to be able to operate in that gift according to the Word of God to release the gifts of the spirit across this congregation let the anointing of God fall upon your people in such a degree that they begin to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and moving in the gifts of the spirit so that this congregation is edified and you are glorified and we do that and ask it in the mighty name of Jesus Christ tonight and for your glory and everybody that believes it shout a great big amen I hope that you've enjoyed today's message of strength and faith into your life if you'd like more of this Word and more teaching you can go to PaceAssembly.org or to the PaceAssembly app where there are archive services available for you 24-7 we'd like for you to connect with us on all the different platforms we're available there and we'd love to hear from you in an email at info at PaceAssembly.org let us know where you're watching from and how that we can pray with you we believe when two people agree it's touching any one thing it shall be done the most important thing is to serve the Lord in these days and keep your faith strong so the Word of the Lord that's coming through this program is going to help you do that on a daily basis thank you for being a part of today's program and until the next time we get together around God's Word remember Jesus Christ is coming soon