The Need For Discernment, of the Coming of False Prophets in our LifeTime. by Dallas Roberts on Friday, October 14, 2011 at 8:57am

To those who are called, beloved in Yah the Father and kept for His Anointed: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Beloved, being very eager to write to you of our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the discernment which was once delivered to the saints.

Anointing does not guarantee we will always speak the truth. Yah anoints people, but people can twist the Scriptures to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16). The false Messiahs that Yeshua warned of will come close to deceiving even Yah's elect. This is not because their anointing is false, but because they are false. It is not judgmental to insist on seeing fruit. Paul was certainly an anointed man of Yah; yet when he wrote to Yah’s people, he said nothing about how anointed he was but instead reminded them of His Christlike character, writing, “You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:10).

There are plenty of people who speak in tongues and demonstrate great spiritual giftings, but the people of Berean are commended, not because they recognized Paul’s anointing, but because they were skeptical of it. For even though they received Paul’s preaching with all readiness, they nevertheless “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). They studied the scriptures.

In His instructions to Israel concerning the holy anointing oil, the Lord warned, “It shall not be poured on man’s flesh” (Exodus 30:32). The purpose of Yah’s Spirit is never the exaltation of man. It is never to make the preacher seem great. It is rather to set Yah’s people apart from the world for His exclusive use, which is to exalt the Anointed Ones and manifest His presence in the earth.

In addition to the warning of Yeshua Himself concerning the coming of false anointed ones in the end-times, Jude wrote that certain men had crept in unnoticed, who turn the truth of Yah into lewdness and deny Yah and and his Anointed (Jude 4). Paul warned that in the last days, “evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13). Peter stated flatly, “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.” He warned that “many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.” He explained that “by covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words” (2 Peter 2:1-3). These are all descriptions of the false anointed ones.

We are dangerously naive to think that such men are not among us today and that everyone who preaches or teaches the Word of Yah is a true witness of Yah's true anointed. When preachers of the gospel exaggerate, distort, or embellish the truth, they are lying and making themselves false messiahs. When they are consumed with lust for material possessions, they are deceiving themselves and making themselves false messiahs. When they deride and condemn Yah’s people with harsh words and a bitter spirit, they are accusing the brethren and making themselves false messiahs. They may be anointed, but they are false and their anointing is being misused.

Paul explained that “in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor” (2 Timothy 2:20). All Spirit-filled believers have been brought into the Lord’s house as anointed vessels set apart for His exclusive use. But some do not live up to the responsibilities that their anointing brings with it. Paul therefore wrote, “If anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work” (v.21). This shows that it is up to each one of us to determine which kind of vessel we will be. Will we be true and honest anointed ones, or the kind of false and deceptive anointed ones Yeshua warned about?

Paul concluded by telling Timothy, “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (v.22). Those who allow themselves to be dominated by lust are destined to fall into error, but those who pursue the things of Yah and associate themselves with others who call on the Lord out of a pure heart are destined for eternal glory.

Today the emphasis is often on power and the operation of gifts rather than a man’s character. May our discernment be sharp and clear. And may we not be fooled by those who can move us emotionally but whose character is manifestly deficient. Paul not only allowed himself to be observed up close, he encouraged such observation, knowing that in the end it would not be his anointing that gave him credibility as much as his devotion and Yah character.

In connection with the days surrounding the coming of the Anointed, Malachi the prophet declared, “Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves Yah and one who does not serve Him” (Malachi 3:18).

My prayer is, that Yah would grant His people this power of discernment today.

Selah

Your Brother and fellow servant of Yah!