GENUINENESS OF A MINISTER
1 “IF THERE ARISES AMONG YOU A PROPHET OR A DREAMER OF DREAMS, AND HE GIVES YOU A SIGN OR A WONDER,
2 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,’
3 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.
4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him."
Deuteronomy 13:1-4 (NKJV)
A number of things needed to be learnt from the above passage of the Bible. We could see through the passage that a genuine and credible minister or prophet could be known through what he said or asked that one should do. A minister, prophet, pastor or whoever who says you should do contrary to the Word of God should not be listened to nor heeded (Deuteronomy 13:3; Galatians 1:8,9).
What attested that a minister or prophet is of God is not the fulfillment of his prophecies or signs or wonders but what he instructed or asked you to do. If he said you should do anything that is not in line with the Bible, especially the new testament, such should not be listened to nor heeded, he is not of God. You may want to say, but what he said, his prophecy, came to fulfillment. The Bible says, his prophecy or sign or wonder came to pass because:" . . . 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 13:3 NKJV).
A young woman
A young woman shared sometime ago that she went to a prophet about the problem she was having on her business. When she got there, the prophet told her that with what he saw about her problem, it would require that he, the prophet, has a carnal affair with her; and she obliged! She was testifying that after the carnal affair, there was a change and turnaround on her business!
Now, in this case, there was a miracle so to speak. But what the so-called prophet or whatever demanded to do with the young woman is a sin and contrary to the Bible (1 Corinthians 7:1,2). But because her own desperation to get her need met, even when what the man told her to do is contrary to the Bible, she did it.
Such a prophet could not have been from God! He was operating with a demonic anointing, even though a miracle was believed to have taken place or occurred, but a number of other things took place in the spiritual realm through the carnal affair he had with the young woman:
a. That young woman would have been initiated through that affair.
b. She would be under the spell, control and manipulation, of the so-called minister or prophet, just through that single act of immorality. She would be at the beck and call of the so-called prophet or minister whenever he needed to have an illicit affair with her, she would not be able to turn him down—she was already under a yoke.
c. The demon(s) operating in the man's life would have an easy access to her life, the young woman's life, because they are already yoked together; they have become one according to the Bible (1 Corinthians 6:16).
Thus, signs and wonders are not the only major ways to proof the genuineness or authenticity of a minister or prophet, but the solutions he proffers to your problems and the fruit which he himself bears:
15 “BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS, WHO COME TO YOU IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING, BUT INWARDLY THEY ARE RAVENOUS WOLVES. 16 YOU WILL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS. DO MEN GATHER grapes FROM THORNBUSHES OR FIGS FROM THISTLES? 17 EVEN SO, EVERY GOOD TREE BEARS GOOD FRUIT, BUT A BAD TREE BEARS BAD FRUIT. 18 A GOOD TREE CANNOT BEAR BAD FRUIT, NOR CAN A BAD TREE BEAR GOOD FRUIT. 19 EVERY TREE THAT DOES NOT BEAR GOOD FRUIT IS CUT DOWN AND THROWN INTO THE FIRE. 20 THEREFORE BY THEIR FRUITS YOU WILL KNOW THEM" (Matthew 7:15-20 NKJV).
A Damsel
A young damsel who attended one of our training programmes after the classes one day said she had not been up to par spiritually, that is, be as good as what was expected as a believer, since a minister in her neighborhood prayed for her. I then asked her, What does she know about the minister, that is, Is he genuine or not? She said she cannot really know. I asked again, how about the minister's life compared to the Bible. She said it is like the man is still struggling with immorality. Then I told her, the man is not of God and he is not operating with the anointing of God. I told her she had been contaminated spiritually that was the reason why she had not been up to par spiritually since her encounter with the man, the so-called minister.
Note: not being up to par spiritually means when you are struggling to do your spiritual exercise; reading of the Bible, praying, fasting and a number of other spiritual exercises.
Now, in the incident cited above, without seeing or meeting the so-called minister, we got to know who he is through the fruit test. The man did not pass the fruit test! When I asked about the man's life and she said he was still struggling with immorality, then, I knew he could not be genuine or be of God. Jesus said: " . . . BY THEIR FRUITS YOU WILL KNOW THEM" (Matthew 7:20).
In conclusion, the fact that what a minister or prophet said would happen happens or comes to pass, It does not mean the person is automatically genuine. The minister or prophet must also pass the fruit test. What type of fruit is he bearing? Is his life being lived in line with the Bible? In other words, Is he a Doer or practicer of the Bible?
If a minister does not pass some of the tests mentioned in this piece, such should not be accepted as a genuine believer or minister of God.
Peace.