Who are the false prophets among us today?

Answer:

If you are looking for names of specific people, I'm afraid the list would be too large and ever-changing to appropriately answer. The Bible warns us that there will always be false prophets. "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (I John 4:1). Peter also mentions this: "But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed" (II Peter 2:1-2).

Under the Old Law, two tests were given to detect a false prophet. Since prophets speak the words of God to people, any time they speak of future events, they will always be correct. "And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?' when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him" (Deuteronomy 18:21-22). The second test is related. God never contradicts Himself. Therefore, any prophet speaking on behalf of God will deliver messages that are consistent with previous messages. "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods' -which you have not known-'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy 13:1-3).

When John said to test the spirits of the prophets, it was to this later test that he was referring. If a man comes claiming that Jesus did not come in the flesh, we know that he is a false prophet because it contradicts what the Bible already states (I John 4:2-3). This is the test that Mormonism and Muslims fail. Both claim to follow prophets who brought newer revelations to the world. The problem is that those revelations flatly contradict what is found in the Bible. They cannot be prophets from God.

Another point should also be considered which has given modern-day prophets no end of trouble. God's Word stated that prophecies would come to an end. ""In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. It shall be in that day," says the LORD of hosts, "that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. It shall come to pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will say to him, 'You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the LORD.' And his father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies"" (Zechariah 13:1-3). Zechariah states that when forgiveness of sins comes (referring to the sacrifice of Jesus), unclean spirits and prophets would disappear. When this happens, even a so-called prophet's parents would reject him because any claim of having a new revelation would obviously be false. Paul mentions this same event. "But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away" (I Corinthians 13:8). Paul tells us that it would happen when the complete revelation of the Bible was done. "For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known" (I Corinthians 13:9-12). In other words, prophecy and the other miraculous gifts were given to jump-start the church, but once the God's Holy Word was complete and the church had its full instructions, the miraculous gifts would no longer be needed.

"Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). Jude is very clear that the message was delivered once for all. There is no continuing revelation in the church. This is, in part, the reason Paul made the strong claim: "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:6-9). Notice that the same standard is being applied to the writings of the Apostles that was used for the Old Testament prophets. God does not change His message.

A person claiming that God is continuing to reveal new information is a false prophet. A person claiming to teach God's word, but contradicts what is in the Bible is a false teacher. It should be clear that there are many such false teachers in the world today.