Discerning True Ministers from False Ones

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Jesus Christ spoke and taught with the authority of God. The fruit of His ministry, all the prophecies He fulfilled that applied to His First Coming, and the fact that He obeyed and pleased God, and did God’s will, not His own, are evidence—PROOF—of Christ’s authority and power.

And, just as Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, He authorized His faithful ministers to do the same (Matt. 28:19-20). They are to be found doing so right up to the final days just prior to His Return.

Yet who are Christ’s ministers?

Jesus warned, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matt. 24:4-5)—many through the 2,000 years leading to His Return would claim to represent Christ’s message, saying, “Jesus was the Messiah,” yet preaching “another gospel,” because they actually serve “another Jesus” (II Cor. 11:4).

But of those who preach “any other gospel”—a message other than the one Christ preached—Scripture pronounces a double curse! (Read Galatians 1:6-9.)

Jesus did not take authority to Himself—He received it from God, confirmed by fruit, miracles, the fulfilment of prophecies, His perfect obedience, and the truth He taught and lived by, all reflecting His Father’s will.

Likewise, true ministers of Jesus Christ are faithful servants of God. They OBEY Him, teaching others to do the same. They preach the same gospel Christ preached, the very same message Jesus delivered and taught His disciples to “teach all nations…to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”

A glowing personality or awe-inspiring speaking and writing skills are not, by themselves, the only proof that Christ is working through a man. A true minister of Christ also teaches and conducts His personal life with the same voice of truth with which Jesus spoke.

It is up to the Bible student to follow the examples of the Bereans, who “were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).

Jesus Christ was the Word; He always spoke and expressed the truth and will of God. The Bible—God’s Word in written form—is truth (John 17:17). So is God’s Law (Psa. 119:142). Any minister who preaches that the Law of God is “done away” or “done for you, so there’s no need to keep it,” or who preaches a gospel other than the kingdom of God, DOES NOT speak with the voice of truth!

They speak with authority from “another Jesus” (II Cor. 11:4), who influences and uses “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ” (II Cor 11:13). God neither sent nor authorized them to speak in His name. They authorized themselves!

God calls such false leaders “prophets” who “prophesy lies in My name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their heart” (Jer. 14:14); and “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied” (Jer. 23:21).

Incredibly, BILLIONS happily follow religious leaders on the basis of personality, appearance and speaking ability. They allow themselves to fall under the spell of theological rhetoric masquerading as “truth.” Of such leaders, the Bible plainly states, “Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers”—speaking of Satan—“also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness” (II Cor. 11:15).

However, Jesus’ sheep “follow Him: for they know His voice” (John 10:4). Christ’s shepherds—His ministers—speak with His “voice.” Only these hold authority to preach in Christ’s name!

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