They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
2 Peter 2:15-17
#churchleadership #Faith #FalseProphets #Jesus #Messiah #salvation #SignsOfTheTimes
https://lightforthelastdays.co.uk/video/false-prophets/
2 Peter 2:15-17
#churchleadership #Faith #FalseProphets #Jesus #Messiah #salvation #SignsOfTheTimes
https://lightforthelastdays.co.uk/video/false-prophets/
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LearningTranscript
00:00all good praise the lord good morning everybody great to be back again always great to be here
00:18praise the lord so please do open up your bibles to 2nd peter chapter 2 2nd peter chapter 2 i want
00:26to talk about false prophets today i've been preaching about this sort of thing quite a lot
00:30in the last few weeks i'm kind of in a false prophet mode right now so i want to go into the
00:35topic of false prophets and beginning in 2nd peter chapter 2 from verse 1 2nd peter chapter 2 is
00:42really a chapter which you have to understand a lot about the old testament for because there's
00:46many old testament references in it so 2nd peter chapter 2 from verse 1 if everybody's found it
00:542nd peter chapter 2 from verse 1 but there were also false prophets among the people
01:01even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies
01:08even denying the lord who bought them and bring on themselves swift destruction
01:12and many will follow their destructive ways because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed
01:19by covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words for a long time their judgment
01:25has not been idle and their destruction does not slumber in other words their destruction is soon
01:30going to come and it can't be stopped now the subject of false prophets is quite important one why
01:37because they're everywhere false prophets are everywhere and unfortunately false prophets don't come
01:43with a t-shirt or a label that says i am a false prophet you have to detect them you have to discern
01:51them and god has given us various ways of doing that the thing is with false prophets is that they come
01:58undercover when you send someone in undercover then they try to blend in with the people that they're
02:06infiltrating they'll try and look and sound like the ones they're trying to blend in with that's
02:11the whole point of sending someone in undercover they will look and sound like the ones they're
02:16trying to blend in with jesus said in matthew 7 in verse 15 beware of false prophets who come to you
02:23in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves so they look like sheep they sound like sheep
02:29but inwardly they're wolves and wolves is always a picture of false prophets second corinthians 11 in
02:37verse 13 it says for such a false apostles deceitful workers transforming themselves into apostles of
02:44christ and no wonder for satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light therefore it is no
02:51great thing that if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness whose
02:57end will be according to their works same thing that peter said their destruction will not slumber
03:02these people are heading for destruction and it can't be stopped so because they will always try
03:09and blend in with those who they're trying to infiltrate that's why it is our responsibility as
03:16believers in yeshua to detect them and to sniff them out first john chapter 4 verse 1 beloved do not
03:24believe every spirit but test the spirits whatever happened to this verse in today's mainstream church
03:30test the spirits whether they are of god because many false prophets have gone out into the world
03:36now military organizations will always have ways and methods of detecting those who have been sent in by
03:45the enemy an enemy organization does anyone here know what a shibboleth is a shibboleth not surprised not
03:54see too many hands going up a shibboleth is a form of password it's a password it's basically
04:00getting someone to pronounce a word in a certain way to tell where they're from so the definition
04:07the dictionary definition of a shibboleth is the pronunciation of a particular word or phrase
04:13which distinguishes one group of people from another so it's a form of password let me give
04:18an example if you hear someone from australia and someone from new zealand they sound the same
04:24they have the same accent however if you want to know who's from which one get them to pronounce
04:30chips they can't pronounce chips the same so if you want to discern and detect which one's from
04:36australia and which one's from new zealand get them to say chips and then you'll know
04:41that's called a shibboleth in the second world war when you had german double agents operating
04:50undercover for for the uh germans the british soldiers would get them to pronounce words with
04:56w in it why because they don't pronounce w they pronounce it v don't they it's not white it's white
05:01it's not wine it's vine and they struggle to say w the way we do so no matter how good their english
05:09accent was if you wanted to sniff out a german spy get them to pronounce words with w in it and then
05:15that would normally give them away that's known as a shibboleth well this term shibboleth it actually
05:21comes straight from our bible it comes from judges chapter 12 after the story of jephthah after the
05:27story of jephthah in judges chapter 12 this is where we see the first example of a shibboleth
05:33now the word shibboleth itself is actually meaningless the word shibboleth means ear of corn
05:39ear of corn that's what the word shibboleth means but in the book of judges chapter 12 the
05:45men of gilead who were going to war against the tribe of ephraim would get the ephraimites to
05:51pronounce the word shibboleth and they couldn't say it they would say shibboleth instead of saying
05:56shibboleth they would say shibboleth and they couldn't pronounce it that way so that would give
06:01them away they would be able to detect who was a ephraimite that is known as a shibboleth so this
06:06idea of a shibboleth comes straight from our bible that's where it originates from and now there's
06:11a thousand examples you could look at how to distinguish one group of people from another
06:16simply by how they pronounce words well that's one example of how a military organization would detect
06:23double agents and spies and things like this but we've been given something a lot more powerful than
06:29that we've been given the anointing of the holy spirit and john refers to this in first john in
06:33chapter 2 verse 26 he says these things i write to you concerning those who try to deceive you i don't
06:40forget john is writing here against the ancient gnostics the ones who were trying to bring in
06:44gnostic heresies trying to deceive the early church concerning those who try to deceive you
06:49but the anointing which you have received from him abides in you and you do not need that anyone
06:55teach you but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie
07:01and just as it is taught you will abide in him so he refers here to the anointing that we've received
07:08the rebirth the holy spirit that we receive when we become believers and when we have faith
07:13in yeshua the messiah we receive the holy spirit and it's that anointing that enables us to detect
07:19those who are trying to deceive us once again a concept which seems to be completely lost now
07:24in today's modern day church and first corinthians 12 lists of course the gifts of the spirit and one
07:32of those gifts in verse 10 is the gift of discernment of spirits or distinguishing of spirits
07:37in some translations so it is a spiritual gift that we are given to discern false spirits and false
07:44prophets and ultimately we have the word of god which is the ultimate litmus test when someone comes
07:51out with something we are to always line it up against scripture aren't we we're always to test it
07:56against the word of god it is the ultimate and final litmus test in regards to what someone is saying
08:02now what we have in deuteronomy 18 is a black and white definition of what a false prophet is first
08:09of all you must understand the basic biblical definition of a false prophet which we are given
08:14in deuteronomy 18 in verse 20 the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which i have not commanded
08:21him to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods that prophet shall die and if you say in your heart
08:28how shall we know the word which the lord has not spoken when the prophet speaks in the name of the
08:34lord and the thing does not happen or come to pass that is the thing which the lord has not spoken
08:39the prophet has spoken it presumptuously you shall not be afraid of him so very very simple definition
08:46there that even a school kid can understand is that a false prophet is someone who predicts things in
08:52the name of the lord which don't come to pass things that don't happen and we see this quite a lot
08:56unfortunately with some of today's so-called prophets who make these prophecies and predictions
09:01but don't end up coming true they are by a biblical definition a false prophet
09:06now peter talks in the past tense and the future tense doesn't he he says
09:13there were false teachers or false prophets among the people he's talking in the past tense so i think
09:21there's no better example of israel's past where there was false prophets as the time of jeremiah
09:27the time of jeremiah was the ultimate time in israel's history where false prophets were rampant
09:33so please do turn to jeremiah beginning in chapter 14 please
09:37we can look at exactly what god says about some of these people making predictions in the name of the
09:48lord now the word prophet in hebrew i'm sure many of you know is navi navi
09:53jeremiah the prophet so it's not just the role of the prophet to predict the future it's also to
10:01call the nation of israel to repentance the word navi means spokesman that's what the word navi means
10:06spokesman so it is god's spokesman and it was not just their role to make predictions about the future
10:12and have all these visions etc it was also to basically call the nation of israel back to the one
10:18true god because at this time they had gone astray they began worshiping other gods sacrificing their
10:24children to other pagan gods things like this it was always the role of the prophet not just jeremiah
10:29but at this time other prophets like zephaniah and habakkuk it was their role to call the nation of israel
10:35back to the god of israel so jeremiah 14 we'll go from verse 10 jeremiah 14 verse 10
10:44thus says the lord to his people thus they have loved to wander they have not restrained their feet
10:50therefore the lord does not accept them he will remember their iniquity now and punish their sins
10:56then the lord said to me do not pray for this people for their good when i tell people that the
11:03bible actually says three times in the book of jeremiah that god tells jeremiah to not pray for the
11:07people anymore people often don't believe me and i have to show them physically where it is
11:11god actually tells jeremiah do not pray for these people anymore they've gone too far they've gone
11:16too deep into their sin and the judgment has already been announced so in other words it's now past the
11:21point of no return do not pray for these people anymore for their good when they fast i will not
11:26hear their cry and when they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings i will not accept them but i'll
11:31consume them by the sword by the famine and by the pestilence and verse 13 this is when jeremiah speaks
11:38then i said ah lord behold the prophets say to them you shall not see the sword nor shall you have
11:45famine but i'll give you assurance and peace in this place so god has told jeremiah one thing
11:51jeremiah replies by saying ah but the prophets here are telling us something different they're saying that
11:57we're not going to see the sword there won't be pestilence there won't be famine there won't be
12:01destruction there'll be peace this is what the prophets are saying
12:04verse 14 and the lord said to me the prophets prophesy lies in my name
12:10i have not sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them they prophesy to you a false vision
12:17divination a worthless thing and the deceit of their heart therefore thus says the lord concerning
12:24the prophets who prophesy in my name whom i did not send and who say sword and famine shall not be in
12:31this land by sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed so god is saying to jeremiah i have not
12:37sent these prophets i have not spoken to them they prophesy lies in my name and those prophets who say
12:42there will be no sword or no famine or no destruction those very prophets will die that way by the sword
12:49and by the famine and by destruction that's what god's telling jeremiah here please go now to chapter 23
12:55of jeremiah chapter 23
13:00jeremiah 23 we'll go from verse 16
13:12jeremiah chapter 23 verse 16
13:18thus says the lord of hosts do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you
13:25they make you worthless they speak a vision of their own heart
13:28not from the mouth of the lord they continually say to those who despise me the lord has said
13:35you shall have peace and to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart
13:40they shall say no evil shall overcome you so this is again what the false prophets are saying they're
13:45saying no evil shall overcome us but god is saying i have not spoken to these prophets i have not sent
13:51them they're prophesying of the imagination of their own heart let's jump to verse 21 very quickly
13:57in the same chapter i have not sent these prophets yet they ran i have not spoken to them yet they
14:04prophesied let's go now to chapter 27
14:07chapter 27 jeremiah in chapter 27 has been told to wear a yoke a yoke and he's supposed to go around
14:17to the different nations and different kings with this yoke which is like a big wooden bar which you'd
14:22have to wear like this as a symbol that they must put themselves under the yoke of king nebuchadnezzar of
14:28babylon whoever does not put himself under submission to king nebuchadnezzar of babylon will be destroyed
14:34that's what the message is that jeremiah must bring to these nations again not a message people want
14:40to hear is it but he's saying nebuchadnezzar is coming to take over this land and you must surrender
14:45to him and put yourself under his yoke that's what the yoke is for as a symbol and in jeremiah 27 we'll
14:52go from verse 9 therefore do not listen to your prophets your diviners your dreamers your soothsayers
15:00or your sorcerers who speak to you saying you shall not serve the king of babylon for they prophesy a
15:07lie to you to remove you far from your land and i will drive you out and you'll perish but the nations
15:15that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of babylon and serve him i will let them remain in
15:20their own land says the lord and they shall till it and dwell in it so they're saying whoever comes
15:29under submission to king nebuchadnezzar of babylon they shall be able to remain in their land but
15:33whoever does not submit they will be destroyed verse 12 i also spoke to zedekiah king of judah so
15:40this is now the last king of judah the last king before the destruction of jerusalem i spoke to
15:45zedekiah king of judah according to all these words saying bring your necks under the yoke of the
15:51king of babylon and serve him and his people and live why will you die you and your people by the sword
15:58by the famine and by the pestilence as the lord has spoken against that nation that will not serve
16:03the king of babylon so jeremiah is saying don't listen to these false prophets we must surrender
16:09to babylon otherwise we're going to be destroyed by the sword verse 14 therefore do not listen to the
16:15words of the prophets who speak to you saying you shall not serve the king of babylon for they prophesy a
16:21lie to you for i have not sent them says the lord yet they prophesy a lie in my name that i may drive
16:29you out and that you may perish you and the prophets who prophesy to you so once again i have not spoken
16:34to these men i have not sent them they prophesy lies to you and let us now go to chapter 28 where
16:41we're going to see an individual an example of an individual hananiah don't forget the idea that
16:48the people must surrender to the king of babylon this is not something people want to hear is it
16:52what people want to hear is that there's going to be peace and that we're not going to see the
16:56destruction that's what people want to hear so jeremiah here is the one who has to go and tell
17:01the people actually no that's not how it is we must surrender to the king of babylon otherwise we will
17:06face the destruction jeremiah 28 verse 1 and it happened in the same year at the beginning of the
17:13reign of zedekiah king of judah in the fourth year and in the fifth month so this is coming up now
17:19towards the end of the time of jerusalem before it was destroyed by babylon in the fourth year in the
17:27fifth month that hananiah the son of azur the prophet who was from gibeon spoke to me in the house of the
17:33lord in the presence of the priests and of all the people saying thus speaks the lord of hosts so
17:39hananiah here is saying i'm speaking on behalf of god don't forget the word navi prophet it means
17:44spokesman hananiah here is claiming to be speaking on behalf of god thus speaks the lord of hosts the
17:50god of israel saying i have broken the yoke of the king of babylon within two full years i will bring
17:56back to this place all the vessels of the lord's house that nebuchadnezzar king of babylon took away
18:02from this place and carried to babylon so basically there was three waves there was three invasions
18:08by the babylonians and in the first two waves they took captive certain jews they took captive one of
18:14the kings uh jehoiachin and they took all the vessels of gold in this in the temple and things
18:20like this and what hananiah is saying is within two years so he's been time specific as well within two
18:27years god is going to bring those people back he's going to bring those people back to here with the
18:32gold and with the vessels that have been stolen from the temple this is what hananiah is saying we
18:37don't have to submit to king nebuchadnezzar the yoke is going to be broken and god is going to return
18:42all those captives the ones such as daniel and ezekiel they all went to babylon in captivity in
18:48the first and second wave the third wave was the one which destroyed jerusalem completely but hananiah
18:53is saying it's all going to come back there's going to be peace and there won't be sword
18:56verse four and i'll bring back to this place jeconiah that is the same king jehoiachin two
19:04different names i'll bring back to this place jeconiah the son of jehoiakim don't confuse jehoiakim
19:09and jehoiachin they're very confusing some of these kings
19:12king of judah with all the captives of judah who went to babylon says the lord for i will break the
19:19yoke of the king of babylon then the prophet jeremiah spoke to the prophet hananiah in the presence
19:25of all the priests and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of the lord
19:29and the prophet jeremiah said amen the lord do so and the lord perform your words which you have
19:36prophesied to bring back the vessels of the lord's house and all who were carried away captive from
19:41babylon to this place what jeremiah is saying there is great let's see it happen let's see it happen
19:46amen verse 7 and now jeremiah is going to speak the truth don't forget there's always someone who god
19:54raises up to bring the truth despite what the rest of the world is saying verse 7 nevertheless
20:00hear now this word that i speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people the prophets
20:05who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms of war
20:11and disaster and pestilence as for the prophet who prophesies of peace when the word of the prophet
20:18comes to pass the prophet will be known as one whom the lord has truly sent so he's kind of drawing there
20:24on the definition from deuteronomy 18 that true prophets speak things that come to pass false prophets
20:30speak things that don't come to pass very simple and straightforward verse 10 then hananiah the prophet
20:37took the yoke off the prophet jeremiah's neck and broke it and hananiah spoke in the presence of all
20:43the people saying thus says the lord even so i will break the yoke of nebuchadnezzar king of babylon
20:49from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years once again being time specific this is
20:55all going to take place within two years according to hananiah and the prophet jeremiah went his way
21:01verse 12 now the word of the lord came to jeremiah after hananiah the prophet had spoken
21:07sorry had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet jeremiah saying go and tell hananiah saying
21:14this thus says the lord you have broken the yokes of wood but i have made in their places yokes of iron
21:21in other words i'm going to make it much worse for you you have broken a yoke of wood but i'm going
21:26to put it in its place a yoke of iron verse 14 for thus says the lord of hosts the god of israel i have
21:33put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations that they may serve nebuchadnezzar king of babylon
21:38and they shall serve him i have given him the beasts of the field also then the prophet jeremiah
21:44said to hananiah the prophet here now hananiah the lord has not sent you but you make this people trust
21:51the lie therefore thus says the lord behold i will cast you from the face of the earth this year you shall
21:58die because you have taught rebellion against the lord so the so hananiah the prophet died the same
22:05year in the seventh month so jeremiah says you have prophesied a lie and because you have prophesied
22:11a lie you are going to die within a year and of course it happened what hananiah said didn't happen
22:16what jeremiah said did happen and that shows us that jeremiah is the true prophet of god who is speaking
22:22from god and hananiah is the false prophet who god has not sent or spoken to again very clear and
22:28straightforward isn't it and even in the time after jeremiah when the book of lamentations was
22:35written by jeremiah himself in lamentations chapter 2 verse 14 your prophets have seen for you false and
22:41deceptive visions they have not uncovered your iniquity to bring you back to your captives but have
22:46envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions delusions i like that word they're describing
22:52these false prophecies they're delusions they're not from god they're from the imagination of their
22:57own hearts so of course jeremiah is the one who has to tell the people they don't want to hear
23:01when all the false prophets are telling people what they want to hear it's a very very difficult job
23:06that jeremiah had and that's why god particularly chose him for this role
23:10now that's of course how you understand false prophets we look back to the example that
23:17peter was talking about i think there's no better example than the era of jeremiah
23:21there were false prophets among the people and it's the same problem today it's not a new problem
23:29we have people running around claiming that the lord has spoken to them people prophesying in the
23:35name of the lord when the lord hasn't spoken to them at all what did peter say there were false
23:41prophets among the people even as there will be so future tense now even as there will be false
23:46teachers among you who will bring in destructive heresies and how many times does the bible warn
23:52against false prophets in the last days not in israel's past but in the days we're living in now
23:57matthew 24 verse 11 then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many so jesus warns there in the
24:04olivate discourse about false prophets specific to the last days don't forget in the olivate discourse
24:10jesus warned about deception four times everything else he warned about once wars famines pestilence
24:17things like this but deception he warned against four times because deception is something that is
24:24going to come even stronger in these last days we're seeing it already and it's only going to get worse
24:28so people going around saying god has spoken to them they've heard a voice they've had a vision
24:34but then it's proven that actually no that wasn't true whatsoever how does god speak to
24:39us today how does god speak to us now well hebrews chapter one in verse one says god at various
24:46times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets so that was how god
24:54spoke to the people don't forget the word navi means spokesman god spoke to the people by the
25:00prophets in times past but verse two says in these last days he has spoken to us by his son
25:06so his son jesus christ is how god has spoken to the people but what does it say in john chapter one
25:14about the word the word in verse 14 the word who became flesh the word is jesus whenever you see word
25:21capital w in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god capital w is
25:27talking about jesus isn't it so the word became flesh so we have the word we have it in a form of a book
25:35we have the holy bible as the word of god which is literally jesus in print and jesus is the living
25:42embodiment of the word so the word is jesus and jesus is the word the bible is how god speaks to us
25:48the bible is god's revelation to mankind this is how we hear from god we hear from god through the word
25:55of god the holy bible which of course is jesus himself that's not to say of course that the gift of
26:01prophecy is not real because it's one of those gifts lifted in it listed in first corinthians
26:06chapter 12 the gift of prophecy of course there is prophecy first thessalonians chapter 5 in verse 19
26:13says do not quench the spirit do not despise prophecies but test all things and hold fast to what is good
26:20so we are to test prophecies we're not to despise them but we're to test them in other words any prophet
26:26who claims to speak in the name of the lord will be speaking by the word of god they'll be speaking
26:32the word of god this is how god has spoken to us there is no further revelation god has spoken to
26:38us by his word and therefore any prophet who is hearing from god will be speaking the word of god
26:43and any false prophet who is claiming to speak by god will prophesy things that don't happen and again
26:52we see it all the time today in 1990 you had the kansas city prophets visiting the uk
27:00and they prophesied that in the near future there'll be a great revival coming to the uk this is what
27:06they said in 1990 i've only been eight years old myself but in 1990 they came to the uk and said a
27:12great revival is coming to the uk and they predicted this time specific as well well two years after that
27:20the church of england began ordaining women as priests look at the state of the church in england
27:25now once you start compromising once you start making small compromises it's a very slippery slope
27:31and that was only just over 30 years ago they began ordaining women because of pressure to please
27:38people and now look at the state of the church in england now look at the mess that it's in now
27:42because when you begin compromising it's a very very downward slope it's a slippery slope which is
27:47difficult to recover from since 1990 has there been a great revival come to the uk no four thousand
27:55churches have closed since 1990 and 1500 mosques have opened some revival eh you want to see a true
28:04revival you look at second kings chapter 23 the revival which took place under king josiah just before
28:10the time of jeremiah that we're speaking of here the time under josiah was a true revival if you want to
28:15see what a true revival looks like you read second kings chapter 23 and it all began with one thing
28:21it began with repentance revival always begins with repentance there will never be a revival in this
28:27country until it repents until it acknowledges that it has gone away from the word of god and comes back
28:33to the one true god the christian roots that this founded this country was founded upon until it comes
28:38back to that and wholeheartedly repents there will be no revival whatsoever
28:41but the major difference that we have today is that we have these people calling themselves prophets
28:50making predictions like these guys from kansas who came in 1990 to the uk they make these predictions
28:56they say god has spoken to them but then it doesn't happen there's never any repentance is there all they
29:01do is continue making more false predictions when you see these people on facebook who call themselves
29:07prophet this or prophet that they're very quick to call themselves prophets aren't they well that's
29:13actually very different to what we see in the bible when we look at examples such as amos amos was sent
29:18up from the south he was a southern boy but he was sent up to the northern kingdom because god couldn't
29:24find one prophet of god in the northern kingdom at this time he eventually found hosea which i spoke about
29:29last time i was here but amos had to go up to the north to prophesy for god and they said to him in
29:36amos chapter 7 they said go back to judah where you come from we don't want to hear what you've got to
29:39say we don't want to hear your words go back and amos says look i'm not a prophet i'm not a son of a
29:45prophet i'm a tender of sheep and a keeper of sycamore fruit all i can tell you is is that the lord
29:51told me to come here to tell you these words so what we have is we have a true prophet of god who's
29:56actually denying being a prophet he's actually saying i'm no prophet i'm not a prophet at all
30:01i'm just i'm just a shepherd and a keeper of sycamore fruit we have a true prophet of god
30:05denying he's a prophet and then today we have false prophets going around saying they're prophets
30:11you see the difference the old saying is if someone claims to be a prophet it's because
30:15they're trying to make a prophet verse three by covetousness they would exploit you what did
30:25peter say by covetousness they would exploit you with deceptive words it's because they're after
30:30their people's money this is why these false prophets make these predictions and this is why
30:35they're always running around telling people what they want to hear it's because they're after your
30:39money again any prophet today normally they're trying to make a profit that's why they're doing it
30:44and unfortunately it's the gullible people who throw their money at them who are keeping them
30:48going this is the very different situation that we have today in comparison to the bible isn't it
30:53we often hear people say this god has laid this on my heart we hear people say that a lot don't we
31:02god has laid this on my heart he's told me to tell you this i've had it strongly laid on my heart
31:07now if you say that there's nothing wrong with saying that only don't say if god hasn't laid
31:11anything on your heart i've been through the bible many times and i've tried to pick out how many
31:16times this term laid on my heart or put on my heart occurs i can only find two if someone else has found
31:23a third one please let me know but the first one that i found was in nehemiah in chapter 2 verse 12
31:28then i arose in the night and i and a few men with me i told no one what god had put in my heart to do
31:35at jerusalem so no problem there nehemiah says god has put this on my heart to rebuild this wall
31:40in jerusalem the second time that i found this term put on someone's heart or laid on someone's
31:46heart was in john chapter 13 from verse 1 now before the feast of passover when jesus knew that
31:52his hour had come that he should depart from this world to the father having loved his own and who were
31:58in the world he loved them to the end and supper being ended the devil having already put it into
32:04the heart of judas iscariot simon's son to betray him you see that it's not just god who lays things
32:10on people's hearts it's also the devil so when someone walks around saying god has laid this on
32:15my heart god has laid this on my heart has he is it your own imagination or worse still is it another
32:21spirit god is not the only one who lays things on people's hearts it is also the devil and we hear
32:28people running around using this term quite a lot because normally it's just a way of getting their
32:33own way that's normally why people say god has laid this on my heart because they want their own way
32:38and you can't really argue back against that you can't really say well no you have to go along with
32:43it you have to believe them you have to take them at their word it's not until we see evidence later
32:47on that actually god never laid anything on your heart and then there's never any repentance or
32:51comeback is there so this term god has laid this on my heart we're not discouraging people from
32:56using that term just discouraging people from saying it if god hasn't laid anything on your
33:01heart at all if it's just you if it's just your imagination
33:03as i said sometimes it's people's own imagination sometimes it's another spirit
33:11that's worse that's worse still
33:14now of course god does speak to people god does lay things on people's hearts but what is it like
33:21when god actually speaks to someone we've seen what it's like when god doesn't speak we've seen what
33:25it's like when people prophesy from their own imagination or from a different spirit maybe but
33:30when god does actually speak when god does actually lay something strongly on people's heart
33:35what is that normally like there's a few characteristics three characteristics that i want
33:40you to take note of as to detecting when god is speaking to you or when god maybe has spoken to
33:47someone else who is speaking to you on his behalf or as they're claiming the first thing is when god
33:54speaks to us when god actually lays something on our heart if it is genuinely from god it's not
33:59normally something we want to hear it's not normally something that makes us comfortable
34:03now god does speak to us in an encouraging and comforting way of course he will comfort us he will
34:10encourage us a lot of the psalms are about that of course but when we have for example a decision to
34:15make a really difficult decision you feel inclined one way but then god is dragging you in the other
34:22direction the conviction of the holy spirit is taking you the opposite way to what you want to
34:27go in other words you're not comfortable going that way that's normally a good sign that god is
34:33speaking to you or laying something on your heart my wife and i have faced many decisions before
34:37what do we do which way do we go we've prayed about it we've fasted and then we've had an answer but
34:44it's not the answer we wanted it's an answer actually which made us fairly uncomfortable
34:48and brought us under a lot of conviction well that's a good sign that it is god speaking to
34:53you if it's something that you like or that you're comfortable with or that you feel good about that
34:58could just be your own feelings or your own heart or your own imagination or worse still another spirit
35:02so when god speaks to us and does genuinely lay something on our heart
35:07then it's normally something that will make you uncomfortable and something you don't really want to hear
35:12look at amos amos didn't want to travel all the way from tokoa in the south in the southern kingdom
35:18all the way up to the northern kingdom to tell these people to repent he didn't want to do that
35:21but god sent him god told him to go so that is normally a good sign that is god speaking to you it's when
35:28you have something laid on your heart which actually doesn't feel comfortable something which
35:33takes you out your comfort zone and something which you don't want to hear again not always because
35:38god will comfort us and encourage us but nine times out of ten it will be something we don't
35:43really want to hear the second point the second characteristic of god's voice is that when that
35:51decision has been made let's say again you have a decision to make a very very important life decision
35:55and god has brought you in a certain direction different to what you initially thought
36:00once that decision has been made there will be a certain peace about it you will have an inner peace
36:06even though you've made a decision which goes against what you initially thought you will have
36:11a certain peace an inner peace from god he will give you peace about it even though it's not what you
36:17wanted to hear or do there will be peace there will be comfort about it and secondly or thirdly
36:24beg your pardon thirdly there will be confirmation there'll be fruit in other words there will be proof
36:30that the decision that you've made is the right one there will always be the confirmation there will
36:34always be some fruit that will come that it might be negative fruit and that means it was the wrong
36:39decision that means it wasn't god speaking to you it was actually yourself your own imagination or your
36:44own heart but when it is god when he has given you that peace about whatever decision it is
36:50you will then have the confirmation come down the line and that won't come maybe straight away it could
36:55come much further down the line you might have to wait for it but at some point there will be
36:59confirmation there will be fruit which proves that actually that was the right decision and that was
37:05god speaking to us all along there will be some sort of confirmation so don't go along with the false
37:11prophets who are telling you what you want to hear this is all what we hear these days they tell you what
37:16you want to hear because they're after your money what god normally speaks to us about is normally what we
37:22don't want to hear what makes us uncomfortable there will be a conviction there will be a a um
37:29certain discomfort about what god is telling you i don't really want to do this but i know that god
37:34wants me to there will then be peace once that decision has been made again my wife and i've experienced
37:40this many times there will be a certain peace that comes with it there will be comfort and then there
37:47will be fruit there will be confirmation there will be some sort of proof or evidence that actually
37:52god was speaking to you and you obeyed his voice so hearing from god is one thing but obeying the voice
37:58of god is another quite some time ago well about a year and uh three or four months ago our ministry was
38:05faced with a big decision our ministry was faced with the decision do we sever ties with the ministry that
38:10we currently come under very very big decision that we was eventually forced to make we didn't want to do
38:16it we didn't want to do it whatsoever but we knew that we had to make that difficult decision it wasn't
38:22a decision we wanted to make but we knew that god was putting us in that direction we had to make that
38:28decision and we did once it had been done despite backlash despite opposition there was a peace there
38:35was a certain peace that came with it there was comfort and then since that time our church has over
38:41trebled in size praise the lord so that is how you know god has spoken to you there will be
38:47conviction there will be peace and then there'll be the confirmation the fruit that will come from
38:54listening to the true voice of god not to the false prophets who are trying to deceive you
38:59praise the lord let us have a time of prayer and thanks
39:03heavenly father we do thank you for this day we thank you lord for bringing us together
39:11we thank you lord for your word we thank you that your word is always true we thank you lord that your
39:18word is inspired by your holy spirit and that we can trust every word of it lord we thank you lord
39:25for the spirit of truth that lives in us we thank you lord for the holy spirit that you've given us
39:29not just to seal us and save us but also to lead us and to teach us we thank you lord for these
39:37warnings against false teachers and false prophets and we pray lord that every single one of us will
39:42heed them and put into practice the instructions you've given us lord in terms of detecting those
39:48who have been sent in by the enemy we pray for more discernment we pray you'll sharpen this gift lord
39:54in us we thank you for this church lord for the bridge christian fellowship we thank you for tony
39:59and for his team and we thank you lord that there is a sharp gift of the sermon taking place here
40:04lord we thank you lord for the men and women of god you are raising up who are refusing to go along
40:10with the lies of this world we thank you lord that there are faithful brothers and sisters who are
40:14standing firm upon the word of god and we thank you heavenly father that you are continuing to build
40:21your church not just here in north london but all over this country and all over the world
40:26that you are building a faithful remnant to shine the light of yeshua in these last days
40:31and as we get closer to the end lord as we get closer to your return we pray lord that you will
40:36sharpen our discernment sharpen our boldness sharpen our anointing
40:41and enable us lord to keep our eyes fixed firmly upon you
40:45and as we see all this darkness creeping in more and more lord like this assisted dying bill
40:51we pray heavenly father against the forces of hell now in the name of jesus we come against that now
40:57in the name of jesus christ and we destroy the works of the enemy now in his name we ask lord that you
41:04continue to enable us to shine your light as the darkness gets darker and darker help us to shine the
41:11light of jesus brighter and brighter help us to discern when false prophets are speaking to us
41:16and help us to discern when it's you speaking to us lord and lord we give you all the praise and glory
41:22we thank you for yeshua our savior we thank you that he shed his blood for us to forgive us of our sins
41:29and thank you lord that he rose from the dead on the third day that he is alive that we too will share
41:34in that resurrection his resurrection will be our resurrection when we receive our glorified bodies
41:39in the kingdom of god lord we look forward to that day and we pray lord maranatha that that will come
41:44very very soon and thank you lord for our salvation for our everlasting life thank you above all for
41:52the king of kings the lord of lords our shepherd our high priest our redeemer our savior yeshua
41:59hamashiach jesus christ of nazareth in whose name we pray amen praise the lord it's been great being
42:05here brothers and sisters thank you very much
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