Prophet or Profit – Pray or Prey – The Bible Speaks the Truth

In the Bible we read where men of faith pray for the sick to be healed. Today we see faith healers who prey on the sick for financial gain and prosperity.

Pray – Prey

In the Bible we read where prophets of God called out to God for blessings, healings and miracles for others that were delivered in His name. Today we see men who use God’s name for their own profit from others, promising blessings and miracles that will be delivered in His name – If you will but give a generous love offering.

Prophet – Gives to You    

Profit – Takes from You

Part of this is the fault of every believer sitting, or not sitting, on a church pew on Sunday morning. We as believers have taken the easy way out allowing snake oil salesmen who moonlight as “Profits of God “ to take main stage in delivering “miracles” to  those in need, when we as the Body of Christ are commanded to be the ones who are His ambassadors, reaching out to a lost and dying world

In the Bible, God never tied healing to money—I’m just saying. We as believers should not support or condone for-profit, non-prophet corporations.

We are all too quick top point out the Jim Joneses and David Koreshes of the world but many times false prophets are a lot closer to home and not as obvious with their false teachings, as Satan is a slick deceiver.

Many false ministers come across as nice people, great communicators, with a good sense of humor. The best deceivers are well liked, thoughtful, seeming very genuine indeed, as they speak thought-provoking things intertwined with Scripture that motivate and inspire the general population. Their words are so captivating that listeners write their ideas to apply to their lives. This is Satan’s greatest deception. They are plentiful and very deceptive. Many believers think that false ministers will have a scowl on their face with heresy dripping from their lips. This is not true, as they preach their own gospel as proclaimers of the truth.

These false prophets act as vacuum cleaners sucking in the weak, taking advantage of those who are not grounded in the faith. They speak mostly of sweet love and never of judgment, preaching their sugar-coated message of what listeners can expect to receive from God if they would but only believe enough to donate to their ministries. These charlatans claim to have a new revelation from God and will share that blessing to those who will believe their words and become their ministry partners by donating money to them. Their goals are to suck the innocent into their lying schemes and into buying their books and attending their conferences. They propagate these lies on their own television and radio shows paid for by their lies. They preach messages of what the world wants to hear – be blessed, be prosperous, feel good and get ahead.

2 Timothy 3:8 – They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith

Many that seem to be Christian ministers are not. They are teaching things that do not line up with God’s word. These so-called ministers are nothing more than carnival barkers—masters of their own three-ring circus—downplaying and removing the doctrines of sin, repentance, and redemption by grace alone through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. They replace God’s gift of salvation with their own listener-friendly grace, propagated by their own good ideas, teaching positive self-esteem and serving God to get ahead.

God has not called them, He has not appointed them, nor has He spoken to them. These preachers are liars, and they use His name to cover their lies and false visions fed by the delusions of their own minds. How many preachers are out there who appear as great ministers before men in their own pulpits? How many writers and other evangelicals are out there with their so-called miracles, teachings, prophecies, and doctrines we so admire, but who are really nothing and worse than nothing before God, because they do not His will, but instead their own? If there’s no fruit, their ministry is moot!

Even as these false prophets speak of God to further themselves, God will still bless His word and the testimonies of the words, preaching and ministry of those who use the Gospel for their own selfish gain: but He will never esteem them. Those who seek their own at the expense of the blood of Christ and precious souls are destitute of the spirit of His Gospel, unholy in their hearts, and unrighteous in their conduct.

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear – 2 Timothy 4:3

Be wary of false preachers who smile too much, faking rehearsed sincerity. Most of these are out to rip you off. We should not be impressed with a person’s charisma in the pulpit, but their character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. At Final Judgment these false prophets will stand before the Lord and proclaim, Master, we preached your Message; we cast out demons; our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking. He will say to them -all you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. Depart from me. I do not know you. And they will be cast into hell.

What an awful consideration that a man or woman of gifts should be only as a way-mark or finger-post in the way to eternal bliss—pointing out the road to others, without walking in it themselves! Depart from me . . . What terrible words! What a dreadful separation! Depart from ME! These words will come from the very Jesus that they claimed to serve and to have proclaimed His death, burial and resurrection.

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but they are ferocious wolves. Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

This scripture is a direct warning that we should pay attention to. There are many false ministries among us and there will be many more. We need to learn to recognize them and to not follow them or give them money.  We need to point out these false prophets as they are a danger to the Body of Christ. We help create these false prophets and perpetuate the lie if we do not call them out, and encourage others not to support them.

In Christ as we minister to the unsaved, we are not to use God, the church, or our faith as a means of personal profit. Grace has been given unto us that we might impart that of which we have partaken and share it with others in need of salvation. Grace has not been so wonderfully poured out in our lives that we use it to seek our own profit. We are not to use our salvation as an instrument to obtain worldly profit and advantage, riches, or wealth. There are those within the Body of Christ who use the grace of our Lord as a tool for their own profit to obtain the rewards of life, ease, rest, and pleasure. That is not the purpose for which the blood of Christ was poured out, and those who in vanity, selfishness and pride misuse and apply God’s grace for their own agendas will be cast out as pure evil at judgment.

Related articles

• The Church (stocktonbiblechapel.org)
• Suggestions for a Young Preacher (justificationbygrace.com)
• The Nigerian Church Is Losing Its Purpose – By Ayobami Oyalowo (igbokwenuradio.wordpress.com)
• Salt & Light (fallanddie.com)
• We by nature bend towards that which is false. (atwistedcrownofthorns.com)
• 2 Timothy 2:11 It is a faithful saying. (trinityspeaks.wordpress.com)
• The Error of the Wicked (2 Peter 3:17) (raymondjclements.wordpress.com)

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Categories: Bible, Body of Christ, Cross, FAITH, Giving, God, Ministry, Preacher, Salvation

Tags: 2 Timothy 3:8, 2 Timothy 4:3, Bible, Body Of Christ, Christ, church, deceivers, faith healers, false preacher, False prophet, God, healings and miracles, Jeremiah 14:14, Matthew 24:24, matthew 7:15, ministers, religion, Satan, snake oil salesmen, theology, TV Ministries, wolves in sheeps clothing