Do You Know The Source?
~ Jesse Eyestone ~
6/22/2025
// Intro
1 John 4:1-4 Try the spirits
4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
4:5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
// A Contrast In Views
- I saw an advertisement poster this last Friday at a gas station
- [Describe poster]
- Family standing by the car, all happy
- Husband and wife; She was at HIS side
- The daughter wearing a dress
- Their oldest son standing out front, holding up his gas card and smiling
- You can make some fairly safe assumptions about the mind of the designer, from his/her designs
- The picture content did NOT promote the loud and obnoxious proclamations about gay marriage, transgender stuff, abortion, etc.
- The picture was showing the NATURALLY wholesome image of a happy family buying gasoline
- I'm quite certain that the designer chose what was NATURAL
- Because NATURAL is comfortable and feels right
- So the question you should be asking is, "Do you know the source?"
- Because when you know the source, you have everything you need to know...
Matthew 7:17
7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
- You're not gonna get a good message from a bad source
- ... but neither will you get a bad message from a GOOD source
// Spirit of the Prophet
- Now, this is not going to be a message against all that stuff
- We're going to look at something different
- I'm going to do a little teaching with my preaching
- Prophesies
- Prophesies are interesting
- I've often wondered how you can tell if a modern-day prophesy is right or not?
- Two definitives: They don't contradict the Bible and they actually come to pass.
- Footnote A logical conclusion, drawn from facts, that comes to pass is not a prophecy
- Car wreck example
- Before I continue, let's look at Jeremiah...
Jeremiah 14:10-16
14:10 Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
14:11 Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for [their] good.
Wat? Did He just say NOT to pray for someone?
14:12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
14:13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
14:14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
- Please note that throughout this passage, God does not refer to them as FALSE prophets
- He never makes that distinction
- That's important
14:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
- Remember that we read, "spirit of the prophet"
- Even if someone is a prophet, it doesn't mean that they will only utter truth
- Prophets are flesh, too!
- God doesn't FORCE the prophet to say things
- If they're not careful, they'll get their prophecies from the wrong SOURCE
- In Jeremiah 23:13-14, God DOES make a distinction in the prophets...
- 23:13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
- 23:14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
- Back to Jeremiah 14:16...
14:16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.
- In other words, the people that believed the false prophecies are no less guilty.
- Why?
- The prophets prophesied what they WANTED to and the people believed it because they WANTED to!
- They KNEW they were in iniquity!
- And yet they believed what they WANTED to believe!
- They intentionally believed the prophets' lies, so they're going to die from the collateral damage of the punishment the prophets receive.
- Remember, God doesn't change...
- You think that God's going to listen to their excuses?
- Human: "But we thought those preachers and prophets were of You!"
- God: "Didn't you read in My Word where that what they were saying couldn't possibly be true?"
- God: "I DID tell you to try the spirits to see if they were of Me."
- God: "You DID read My Word, right? Oh wait... you didn't..."
- God: "Depart from me, worker of iniquity. I never knew you... because you never wanted to know Me."
- How do we know if someone is giving a real prophesy?
- Paul said...
1st Corinthians 14:37
14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
- A prophet has to fully acknowledge God's Word as the ultimate authority in everything
- Not just what they like.
- A person HEARING a prophesy has to fully acknowledge God's Word as the ultimate authority in everything.
- Not just what they like...
- Consider the source...
Matthew 7:17
- 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
- False prophecies can have a negative effect on the hearer
Jeremiah 23:16-32
23:16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, [and] not out of the mouth of the LORD.
23:17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
23:19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
23:20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
23:21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
23:22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
- A real prophesy from God, IF you ever hear one, is going to be one that makes YOU better in HIS sight!
- Regarding 'prosperity preaching'... There are two kinds...
- BAD: The kind that's all about your comfort, riches, and happiness
- GOOD: The kind that preaches scripture regarding OBEDIENCE to the Lord that LEADS to prosperity
- Read Proverbs and you'll see all manner of prosperity promisses and all are connected to being wise in Him
- Of course, you have to actually READ the Bible to see that...
- I don't need a prophet to tell me I'm going to prosper!
- I don't need a prophet to tell me I'll have peace!
- All I have to do is obey God's Word!
- Let's continue...
23:25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
23:26 How long shall [this] be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, [they are] prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
23:27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
- I've about had it with people that think that every dream you have is a prophecy
- If it's a good dream...
- If it's a bad dream...
23:28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What [is] the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
23:29 [Is] not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer [that] breaketh the rock in pieces?
- Just like a real prophecy, a dream from the Lord is going to point something out that STRAIGHTENS you out!
- I had a dream from God one time that...
23:30 Therefore, behold, I [am] against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
23:31 Behold, I [am] against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
23:32 Behold, I [am] against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness"frivolity"; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
- Why would God spend all that time saying "Seek ye first...", but then send a prophecy or dream that focuses on what He said to ignore?!