False prophets are very dangerous to the souls of men and to the cause of Christ. The word beware means, “to turn the mind to, to be attentive, to devote thought and effort to” (Thayer). In other words, the danger of false prophets is such that it cannot be ignored. Why are false prophets so dangerous? One reason is because they do not always appear to be what they really are. False prophets do not arrive on the scene saying, “I am a here to deceive you.” No, they come in disguise. Jesus says, “they come in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”

Since all teachers are not what they appear to be, we must determine whether they are of God or not. If we are ever led away by the error of false teachers, we will not be able to stand before Jesus on the day of judgment and cite our sincerity as a reason why we should be justified. Jesus once said, “…And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matthew 15:14). This is why we are warned in the scriptures to examine the teachings of those who claim to be revealing the Word of God. Error leads to hell just as sure as truth leads to heaven, and if we find ourselves under the condemnation of God because we follow the destructive teachings of false teachers, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Paul warns us not to run after every wind of doctrine.

Ephesians 4:14 (ESV)
¹⁴ So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

How Do We Identify False Prophets?

In vers. 16-20, Jesus tells us that we recognize false prophets by their fruit. Now, what is the fruit under consideration here? Well, for one thing, the fruit of the false teacher may be a corrupt character, especially demonstrated by a lying spirit. However, this is not the case with all false prophets or teachers. Some of them are merely self-deceived; however, most of the time when the Bible talks about a false prophet, it is talking about someone who is either a liar or an imposter.

The Greek noun for lie or lying is pseudos. Generally speaking, when that word appears in the form of an adjective, it is referring to a person pretending to be something he is not. A false prophet is one who claims to be a prophet but really is not. In other words, he lies about being a prophet. This is how the word pseudo is used in the Bible when it is connected with a person (false apostles, false witnesses, false christs, etc.).

Now, it is important to understand that character is not the only way to identify a false prophet or teacher. In fact, it is not even the primary way. The primary way to identify a false teacher is by what he teaches. This is his or her primary fruit. I say this because even if a false teacher is dishonest, that dishonesty is not always discernable. There have been false teachers whose true character has never been revealed. Remember, false prophets come in sheep’s clothing. That means that they do not look like what they really are because they are in disguise. So then, if a false prophet looks like a true prophet, how do we know they are false? We know by what they teach. That is the sign to look for first. Since we do not want to fall into the ditch of damnation with the false teacher, it is important that we put every teacher to the test.

1 John 4:1 (ESV)
¹ Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

As you wind down for the night, think on these things.