Moses issued this warning: “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass.” Then Moses delivered the discerning moment. If along with the sign and the wonder that they perform, if they also say, “Let us go after other Gods”, do not follow that one, because they are false prophets. Note the point that Moses made. When someone comes in the name of Jesus and instructs you to follow his/her teachings, examine not only the supernatural demonstrations, but also the actual teachings of this person.
Do the teachings lead you to Christ? Does he develop the doctrinal truths of Scripture and point out to you what the Bible says? Does he give another gospel, something not presented in Scripture? Isaiah the prophet counseled God’s people on this issue, too. He said, “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? For the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony.”
When Isaiah mentioned the “law and the testimony”, he meant the Scriptures, referred to as the law and the testimony in that day. In essence, Isaiah instructed the people of God to go to the Scriptures. “If they (the false prophets) speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” The Word of God becomes the final authority. Take the message proclaimed by the attractive false prophets of our day and evaluate whether it agrees with Scripture.
