My longtime friend Mario Murillo is providing a critical role in the body of Christ in speaking up against the wolves in sheep clothing. Matthew Henry said, “A traitor inside the camp is more dangerous than 1,000 persecutors outside the camp.”
Christians want to be nice. Christianity is all about love and the gifts of the Spirit, but there is a biblical reality in speaking the truth in love. There are clear warnings in the Bible that there will be wolves in sheep’s clothing hiding among us.
Sometimes it’s a false prophet leading multitudes astray, other times it’s an honorable man or woman of God who just got a prophetic word wrong.
I sat down with Murillo for an in-depth conversation on my “Strang Report” podcast. After stepping away from prominent ministries, Murillo broke the streak of a silence with a blog post that shouted “beware” from the rooftops and sent the church into a frenzy.
If you haven’t seen that post yet, it’s talking about a few individuals that have been operating in the church for years, who he believes are leading people astray.
I wanted to know from Murillo; why speak up now?
“As clearly as I have heard God tell me about sickness, healing, salvation and miracles, He said, ‘I asked someone else to confront this imbalance and they wouldn’t. So I want you to do it.'”
Many Christian leaders have no problem pointing the finger at politicians blatantly going against moral and biblical truth, but what about the enemies within? There is a misconception in the body of Christ that God is the one to deal with false prophets and teachers, not us.
“See, this is where the biblical illiteracy problem is. If we were to remove confrontation with false doctrine, we would render virtually 60% of the New Testament irrelevant, because that’s how it was written,” Murillo says.
Second Peter 4:3-4 says, “For the time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine, but they will gather to themselves teachers in accordance with their own desire, having itching ears, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn to myths.”
How do you make the delineation between someone who is a false prophet and someone who got a prophetic word wrong?
- The Bible calls them wolves and the first thing they do is try to draw the sheep to themselves. A prophet from God will submit himself to church leadership. They should be transparent, team players.
- A false prophet will tell you if you doubt their prophecies you are doubting God’s prophets and He will judge you.
- Often false prophets will tell you that if you don’t obey what they are saying you are going to come under severe correction from God.
Prophets should allow people to evaluate what they have said. False prophets today do not admit any error.
“One of them, with a strange color hair, says she does not sin. So the Bible says if we say we have no sin, then we are a liar and the truth is not in us,” Murillo says.
Murillo references so-called “prophesies” today about jello mountains, roller coasters, Chris Reeves giving flying lessons in heaven and Santa Claus having his own city.
The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat. The earth also and the works that are in it will be burned up.”
“I’m concerned about the average Joe out there that walks into my tent and doesn’t know the difference between me and them,” Murillo says.
False prophets today use superstition to try and scare people into submitting to them. People need to be warned. Stop giving your money to these people and stop watching them on YouTube.
Murillo highlights two crucial events the Bible says we need to be weary of. The first is in 2 Timothy 3 where there is a warning about false preachers. The second caution is 2 Timothy 4 where the Bible talks about false audiences.
The impatient, selfish ways of the world have rubbed off on the church. This movement of a daily prophetic word is a huge problem.
“One of the criticism I received online was, well, if these aren’t real prophets, who are? I answered a question this way: ‘Why do you need one?’ There isn’t a capability for people to survive without a personal prophetic word,” Murillo says.
Who is to blame for this pandemic? The church at large in the west has strayed away from teaching the congregation the essential doctrines. People no longer know the purpose of the blood, the cross, sanctification, the inerrancy of Scripture and the return of Christ. This was the strength of the early church.
Cults start from false words. After the Azuza Street revival had waned, a lot of adults were wanting to go back to that era. If they didn’t have a move of God in the services, they would create some kind of emotionalism.
“I do believe there are going to be casualties,” Murillo says.
So, how can you stand on guard?
A real prophet will share the word and ask leadership around them to test it. They won’t isolate themselves and seek after the following of a crowd.
In the 90’s, John Bevere, a respected leader in the church had seen some extremes in the prophetic movement. He wrote a book I published called “Thus Saith The Lord: How to Know When God is Speaking to You Through Another.” He warned people who said “thus saith the Lord” to be very careful.
We are in extreme spiritual warfare. The enemy is trying to attack us from all angles, but the attacks from within are much worse.
“I want everyone to feel hope that truth is going to prevail. My prayer is the two individuals that I have called out will go to reputable leadership outside their circle of their fan base,” Murillo says. {eoa}
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