False Prophets

1 Kings 22 vs 19-23

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁹ And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
²⁰ And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
²¹ And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him.
²² And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
²³ Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.

This is a very interesting chapter. Please take the time to read all the chapter because it is still relevant in our times. King Ahab (Queen Jezebel's husband) was planning to go to war at Ramothgilead. He called Jehoshaphat the King of Judah to accompany him. King Jehoshaphat asked Ahab to enquire of the Lord via His prophets if it was OK to go to battle.
King Ahab called about 400 of his prophets and all the prophets prophesied that The Lord has given him the victory. Jehoshaphat was still not really convinced, but asked if he had any other prophet left to enquire of the Lord. King Ahab said there was one prophet left Micaiah, but he hates Micaiah, because all he prophesies about him is evil and not good.
 Micaiah was eventually called due to Jehoshaphat persistence. The messenger sent to call Micaiah told him to please prophesy "positively", to the king, just like the other prophets were doing. Prophet Micaiah said he will ONLY prophesy what God tells him to. When Micaiah was brought before Ahab vs 15-18 said ¹⁵ So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
¹⁶ And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord?
¹⁷ And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.
¹⁸ And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
Micaiah was slapped for telling king Ahab what the LORD told him to say. King Ahab still went to battle despite what the man of God told him and was killed. Nothing has changed since then. The church is being prophesied to by MANY false prophet, because these prophets tell them things they want to here and so God has again sent them a lying spirit.
How long will people love falsehood?. Things that are bad for us usually taste good e.g chocolate, candy, ice cream, fast food, etc, but in the end what do they cause us? toothache, cavity, upset stomach, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc. Learn to love the good and hate the bad. No matter how much God warns His people, they will not stop listening to lying spirits. They do not see anything wrong with it.
God's elect will always turn away from lying prophets, they can easily spot them a mile away. As a rule when a man of God prophesy good things to people always, it is most likely false. We have so many pastors telling you " you can have your best life now" as oppose to what Jesus said "He that does not hate his life will not enter into the kingdom of God. The bible also said that with Much tribulation shall we enter the kingdom of God". So how can it be your best life now?.
God WILL always send true men of God to warn His people of the rampant false prophets and you will not have any excuses to give on the day of judgement if you never heeded His warning. Jesus said in His word "My sheep here my voice", The true sheep of God hear his warning and take heed.
Never forget that you may never be able to spot a false prophet by his outward appearance. Most of them are so well groomed, they dress the right way in PUBLIC, talk the right way in PUBLIC, very subtle in PUBLIC, pray very well in PUBLIC, but when you look more closely at their personal lives, and closely compare their words with the bible they fail miserable.
Go ahead do your research on any man of God of your choosing. Ask yourself this question: Are they teaching the true word of God, are they adding or subtracting from the word of God, are they not touching some part of the bible e.g the book of Revelation, are they warning you of the end time, tribulation, are they always encouraging you to read the bible in order to find God's truth for yourself.
Do they pray always, in season and out of season, do they encourage you to pursue holiness and life of purity, do they strongly teach against fornication, adultery, pornography, homosexuality, do they bear godly fruits. For the bible said "By their fruit you shall know them". Take heed that no man deceive you.May God bless you.