falseprophets

False Prophets are people who claim to know the future. The worst are those who claim to prophesy in the name of the Lord. They do NOT necessarily claim to be the Messiah or the returned Jesus Christ. A true prophet who is lead by the Holy Spirit will ALWAYS be correct and specific in their predictions. False prophets may appear be correct some of the time, but there will always be times when their predictions are not accurate. This is what makes them convincing to so many people. For example, Nostradamus foretold some things that eventually did come to pass (or something close to it), but he also vaguely predicted that Christ would return in 1999 and that obviously did NOT happen. This makes him a false prophet. On the other hand ALL of the prophets in the Bible were true prophets because all of their specific predictions have or will come true. For examples, please visit the Messiah page for prophecies about the Messiah that were fulfilled completely with the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 7:15-20 - Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

The Bible tells us that in the last days many will prophesy through the power of the Holy Spirit:

But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

(Acts 2:16-21)

However, the Bible also makes clear that there will be many FALSE prophets during these last days and it is our responsibility to discern between them, lest we be mislead. Like the verse found in Matthew above, the Bible gives us ways to tell if a prophet is of God or not. By their fruits we will know them. The Bible goes on in Galatians to explain the fruits of the Spirit. If a prophet does not display these, than what they say is not of the Spirit:

Benjamin Creme - has been proclaiming the emergence of a "World Teacher" named Maitreya for years.

According to Benjamin Creme, Maitreya appears to people according to their own expectations. If you are a Christian, for example, Maitreya would appear to you as Jesus. If you are Hindu, Maitreya would appear to you as Krishna, etc.

According to Mr. Creme the Maitreya never says who he is when he appears, but leaves it up to the audience to decide.

Maitreya was claimed to have first appeared to a group of nearly 6,000 Christians in Kenya, Nairobi on June 11, 1988. Share International admits that those who saw this person thought he was Jesus Christ. The crowd greeted him as "Jesus of Nazareth". Although witnesses claim that the man "appeared from nowhere," he left in a car.

Since this initial "sighting" Maitreya has supposedly appeared 238 times around the world to mostly Christians, Buddhists and Muslims. Interestingly, out of all these sightings there are only a handful of photographs of the person Mr. Creme claims is the Maitreya, most of which were taken during the initial sighting in Kenya. These pictures were taken by the editor of the Swahili edition of the Kenya Times, Job Mutungi.

Before appearing Maitreya supposedly "magnetizes" a fresh water supply near the site of the appearance. Creme says that: "In the case of the healing waters Maitreya has magnetized all over the world, the water itself is imbued with energy from the constellation Aquarius." This claim itself should prove to most that whoever this person is, they are not of God. For Jesus himself gave all the glory to God the Father and clearly stated that everything He did was under the authority of the Father.

On Benjamin Creme's foundation web site, Share International, it is clearly stated that: "Maitreya's appearances have been halted temporarily." According to Share Int'l. the last reported sighting was on February 24, 2002.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

(1 John 4:1-4).