Applying Deception, Hunger, and False Prophets to Christian Life
Christian discipleship confronts three recurring temptations: deception by false teachers, the pull of bodily appetite, and the distortion of spiritual authority. Scripture addresses each with concrete warnings and practical instruction.
Discerning False Prophets
Jesus warned that "there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones" [3]. The danger lies not in obvious heresy but in plausible counterfeits. Deuteronomy establishes two tests: conformity to God's revealed word and the fulfillment of predictions [10]. Jesus sharpens the first criterion—a prophet's life must align with his message. "Just as the fruit indicates the nature of a tree, so one's life indicates either a regenerate or unregenerate heart" [10]. False prophets "speak what people want to hear rather than calling people to live according to God's will" [10], a pattern the early church recognized when "false prophets shall be multiplied, and such as corrupt the word" [9].
The patristic witness underscores the urgency: when a great prophet appears in the last days to turn men to God, those who refuse him will face judgment—heaven withheld, water turned to blood [6]. This apocalyptic frame reminds believers that discernment is not optional but essential to perseverance.
Controlling Appetite
The discipline of hunger appears throughout Scripture as a test of spiritual priorities. Christ "set an example" of self-denial in the wilderness, refusing bread when tempted [1]. Proverbs models a balanced petition: "Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me" [4]. This prayer rejects both ascetic extremism and gluttony, seeking sufficiency under God's provision.
Gluttony, by contrast, "leads to carnal security" and poverty [2], and Scripture warns that indulgence in appetite can signal deeper rebellion. Israel's craving in the wilderness and Esau's trade of birthright for stew both illustrate how physical hunger, unrestrained, becomes spiritual catastrophe [2]. Paul's exhortation to "abstain from fleshly lusts" and "mortify sinful lusts" [1] places appetite control within the broader call to self-denial necessary "in following Christ" [1].
The Bread of Life
Jesus reframes hunger itself in John 6, declaring "I am the bread of life" [7]. Calvin explains that Christ's body "will be as bread in regard to the spiritual life of the soul, because it was to be delivered to death for our salvation, and that he extends it to us for food when he makes us partakers of it by faith" [5]. To eat this bread is to "receive and appropriate Him as the broken and bleeding sacrifice" [8], the only sustenance that gives and sustains spiritual life [7].
Sources
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Self-Denial — Christ set an example of -- Mt 4:8-10; 8:20; Joh 6:38; Ro 15:3; Php 2:6-8. A test of devotedness to Christ -- Mt 10:37,38; Lu 9:23,24. Necessary In following Christ. -- Lu 14:27-33. In the warfare of saints. -- 2Ti 2:4. To the triumph of saints. -- 1Co 9:25-27. Ministers especially called to exercise -- 2Co 6:4,5. Should be exercised in Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. -- Ro 6:12; Tit 2:12. Controlling the appetite. -- Pr 23:2. Abstaining from fleshly lusts. -- 1Pe 2:11. No longer living to lusts of men. -- 1Pe 4:2. Mortifying sinful lusts. -- Mr ”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Gluttony — Christ was falsely accused of -- Mt 11:19. The wicked addicted to -- Php 3:19; Jude 1:12. Leads to Carnal security. -- Isa 22:13; 1Co 15:32; Lu 12:19. Poverty. -- Pr 23:21. Of princes, ruinous to their people -- Ec 10:16,17. Is inconsistent in saints -- 1Pe 4:3. Caution against -- Pr 23:2,3; Lu 21:34; Ro 13:13,14. Pray against temptations to -- Ps 141:4. Punishment of -- Nu 11:33,34; Ps 78:31; De 21:21; Am 6:4,7. Danger of, illustrated -- Lu 12:45,46. Exemplified Esau. -- Ge 25:30-34; Heb 12:16,17. Israel. -- Nu 11:4; Ps 78:18. Sons of Eli. -- 1Sa 2:12-17.”
- Matthew “For there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones. -- Matthew 24:24”
- Proverbs “Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me; -- Proverbs 30:8”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 99: the efficacy and fruit of his nativity, death, and resurrection, eternal. All this Christ has elegantly expressed in these words, “The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” ( John 6:51 ); doubtless intimating, that his body will be as bread in regard to the spiritual life of the soul, because it was to be delivered to death for our salvation, and that he extends it to us for food when he makes us partakers of it by faith. Wherefore he once gave himself that he might become bread, when he g”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 7: Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius — CHAP. XVII.--OF THE FALSE PROPHET, AND THE HARDSHIPS OF THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS DESTRUCTION. (part 1): But I will more plainly set forth the manner in which this happens. When the close of the times draws nigh, a great prophet shall be sent from God to turn men to the knowledge of God, and he shall receive the power of doing wonderful things.[2] Wherever men shall not hear him, he will shut up the heaven, and cause it to withhold its rains; he will turn their water into blood, and torment them with thirst and hunger; and if any”
- John (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on John 6:34: And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life,.... Christ is so called, because he gives life to dead sinners: men in a state of nature are dead in trespasses and sins; and whatever they feed upon tends to death; Christ, the true bread, only gives life, which is conveyed by the word, and made effectual by the Spirit: and because he supports and maintains the life he gives; it is not in the power of a believer to support the spiritual life he has; nor can he live on anything short of Christ; and there is enough in Christ for him to live upon: and because he quickens, ”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 71: meaning is that it is the indispensable condition of eternal life, that we should receive Christ as He is offered to us in the gospel; and as He is there offered to us as a sacrifice for our sins, his body broken and his blood shed for us, we must receive and appropriate Him in that character. To receive Him as the true bread, and to eat of that bread, is to receive and appropriate Him as being to us the source of eternal life; and to eat his flesh and drink his blood is to receive and appropriate Him as the broken and bleeding sacrifice ”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 7: Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius — I PREDICTION CONCERNING FUTURITIES.: XXXII. For in the last days false prophets shall be multiplied, and such as corrupt the word; and the sheep shall be changed into wolves, and love into hatred: for through the abounding of iniquity the love of many shall wax cold. For men shall hate, and persecute, and betray one another. And then shall appear the deceiver of the world, the enemy of the truth, the prince of lies,(11) whom the Lord Jesus "shall destroy with the spirit of His mouth, who takes away the wicked with His lips; an”
- Matthew (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Matthew 7:15: 7:15-20 False prophets speak what people want to hear rather than calling people to live according to God’s will. Deuteronomy 13:1-5 and 18:21-22 set standards for evaluating a prophet’s truthfulness: His words must conform to God’s word, and his predictions must come true. Jesus unpacks the first requirement: A prophet’s actions must match his words in order to be believable; accordingly, a true prophet’s actions will also match God’s word. Just as the fruit indicates the nature of a tree, so one’s life indicates either a regenerate or unregenerate heart. False ”