How do you know if a person is true prophet or a false prophet?

It seems many people believe in prophets- people that are inspired by and speak the word of the Lord.


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How do YOU decide if a person is a true prophet or a false prophet.





It seems like the whole wait and see aproach is probably not the best- so How do you, personally, find out if the person is telling the truth or not?How do you know if a person is true prophet or a false prophet?
People get confused with the definition of a prophet to start with. Most of the people and most of the people answering here, have this picture in his mind that a prophet is a fortune teller, or a person that predicts the future. Not all the prophets predicted the future in the scriptures. You can check in the Bible and there is a section mostly for prophecy (with prophets that performed that function) but there are prophets that were sent mostly to call the people to repentance. So, the measurement is not if a person can tell the future with precision that makes him a prophet, you have to see what the person is teaching.





With that in mind, we also have to check if the people in general believe that anyone can be a prophet. Most of the people here rule out prophets all together because they believe God went mute sometime back when. Because some scripture warns about false prophets they think pretty much like the Jews in the time of Jesus and even before him and cling to the Bible and refuse to even think that any man in the modern time can possibly be a prophet.





The people that lived in the time of Jesus, or any time thought they were moderns. They never saw themselves as ancient and so they would consider the ancient prophets to them true prophets and would stone anyone God would send them that were ';modern'; regardless of the teaching. Actually the teaching of something slightly ';new'; would be crazy and reason for death. John the Baptist is an example of someone the Jews just hated very badly. Jesus another example.





Can a prophet say something that is not in the scriptures and be considered a prophet? Well, Peter had a revelation that they should teach to the gentiles but Jesus refused to do that. He in some rare exception blessed some because of their great faith but was very specific that he came for his own (the Jews.) -- check out the story of the lady who wanted a blessing and he would not give it to her... the ';dog eat the crubmbles from the master table'; lady. So, by the measurements of today based on scriptures quoted here about false prophets Peter should be stoned. Peter went even further, after the Council of Jerusalem, and with the apostles have a revelation that circumcision is not required anymore. That was a big concern for a break off of Judaism that had most members coming from that faith. Did some people label them false prophets at the time? Sure!





So, today we have this book, the Bible, who people use to preach that there should be no more prophets (based on a warning for people to be careful with false prophets and it does not mean at all that there should be no one.) It is a false interpretation that closes the door to God, and negates its power to send revelation. They expect a man that will tell them exactly what they read (like the Jews did in the time of Jesus) and who will show them a sign (like the Jews did in the time of Jesus) and who will tell the future (our modern concept of a prophet, the future teller)





The only way you can tell that a man is a prophet is first to not deny the power of God to give revelation and not expect that he will repeat the words of a Book that probably has bad translations in it. You cannot ever come to the conclusion that a man is a prophet if you don't believe in the Bible tradition and characterization of a prophet. Not all were John the beloved in the isle of Patmos.





1. We must first check if we have faith that God will ever talk again or we will be biased and not recognize a prophet when we meet one.





2. We must realize that prophets are not future teller.





3. We must pray to God and ask Him to tell us if the man is a prophet. If you ask your pastor who is making money out of teaching you the Gospel he will quickly dismiss the holy man.





I can think of more ways to find out if a man is a prophet but I would not be limited to believe God is mute or that we modern people are less entitled to prophets than the ancients because we will be ancient one day, and void of prophets to put in a book like our fellow old folks had. I think we can generate good men who can receive revelations from God not to tell us that we need to build an ark because it is going to rain a lot but to tell us that we need to repent and turn to Christ... and if they say we don't need circumcision then so be it.


How do you know if a person is true prophet or a false prophet?
A revealing characteristic of a true prophet is that he declares a message from God. He makes no apology for the message, nor does he fear for any social repercussions which may lead to derision and persecution.





The ultimate test of a true prophet is that when he speaks in the name of the Lord his words come to pass. That standard was explained by the Lord to Moses in these words: “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously” (Deut. 18:22).





Another test of a true prophet was established by the Savior Himself. True prophets should be distinguished from false prophets by the standard, “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:20).
If an individual has developed there psyche well enough, they will get a 'feel' for when the truth is being spoken and when it is not.


If one has not developed their psyche; then such individuals pertaining to be prophets can be known by adhering to the following piece of scripture, although it would apply in both cases anyway.-


'You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?'


Matthew: 7.16.


One must give it time and pray about it in order to seek conformation. It does not solve the 'wait' approach, but you must remember there are some very convincing people out there in the big wide world, and so it pays not to jump the gun.


If what a so-called prophet says does not stand up, then reject it and them.
I agree with those that say the prophesies have to come true. Only God can predict the future 100% of the time. If that doesn't happen, obviously, they aren't getting it from God.





Deuteronomy 18:21-22 You may say to yourselves, ';How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?'; (22) If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.





P.S. I keep hearing about Jonah 3:4 not coming to pass saying I have a double standard. There is also a promise from God that needs to be taken into account in cases like this.





Jeremiah 18:7-10 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, (8) and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. (9) And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, (10) and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
';But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death. You may say to yourselves, 'How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?' If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.'; Deuteronomy 18:20-22
Matthew teaches in conjuction with a warning to beware of false prophets:


';By their fruits ye shall know them.'; Meaning what they say. What they do. Do they teach the Gospel of Christ in a way that helps you feel the spirit of the lord? In Revelation we're told that ';the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.';





This is a funny thing to teach if there were to be no more prophets after Christ don't you think?
Simple: do their prophecies come true?





And by prophecies, one has to weigh the risk/reward... I can ';prophecy'; that the sun will rise tomorrow. That doesn't make me a prophet, that makes me a proud graduate of the University of Stating the Blatantly Obvious.
Simple. Since the future is only knowable in terms of probabilities, anyone claiming to be a prophet is a charlatan. Anyone who thinks they are a prophet, wether they declare it or not, is delusional.
Many people are inspired to shoot their mouths off about something, but it doesn't mean they are prophets, or even that they are sane. Personally, I think they're all false or, at the very least, sincere but totally wrong.
only time can tell..... until then stay clear... most prophets end up being demonic creations only concievable by the imagination or completely and utterly ignorant your pick
If a person says he is a prophet, I know he's lying.
A testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy
the last prophet was Mohamed sws!


the truth is in the QURAN!
You can't know. Maybe visit a mental institution? There are lots of people claiming to be prophets there!
there will be no prophets these days, the prophet were around 500 years ago