Identifying God-sent preachers

The only ones who can unravel the mystery of God’s words and preach them are those “commissioned and sent”—that is, God’s “messengers.” They have God’s approval and can therefore “teach the message of truth correctly.”

By DENNIS C. LOVENDINO

IN ANY GIVEN PROFESSION or field of expertise, a credential is usually required for anyone to lawfully and ethically discharge his tasks. No sensible person would hire the services of, say, a lawyer or a physician, without ensuring that they have the proper qualifications, competence, and authority to perform service to a client or patient.

Sad to say, many people are not as meticulous and discriminating when it comes to the religious preachers they listen to. Nowadays, evangelists are a “dime a dozen,” and the bar has been set too low that any Bible-thumping, decently attired, silver-tongued individual purporting to be a preacher is readily taken at face value. And proliferate they do—in churches, on sidewalks, in public transports, and anywhere there are prospective listeners.

Some may retort: “Well, what’s the big deal? As long as they are preaching from the Bible, isn’t that all that matters?”

Apostle Peter explained the major ramifications of listening to anyone bereft of “credentials” and authority to preach the gospel:

“… Speaking about these things as he does in all of his letters. In which there are some things that are difficult to understand, which the untaught and unstable [who have fallen into error] twist and misinterpret, just as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (II Pet. 3:16 Amplified Bible)

Those who are “untaught”—the apostles pointed out—twist and give erroneous interpretation to the Scriptures, leading to their own destruction as well as that of their undiscerning listeners.

Naturally, some preachers would reject the notion that they are untaught or unlearned when it comes to the Scriptures, having devoted quite a few years in exhaustive biblical research and studies—some even brandishing their doctorate degrees in Theology or Divinity. But can one attain knowledge of the truth by mere human efforts and perception? Apostle Paul testified:

“Always learning and listening to anybody who will teach them, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (II Tim. 3:7 amp)

This is because the gospel is hidden in mystery: “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began” (Rom. 16:25 New King James Version).

““… Speaking about these things as he does in all of his letters. In which there are some things that are difficult to understand, which the untaught and unstable [who have fallen into error] twist and misinterpret, just as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”

II Peter 3:16

Amplified Bible

The only ones who can unravel the mystery of God’s words and preach them are those to whom “it has been given to know the mystery” (Mark 4:11-12 nkjv) or those “commissioned and sent [for that purpose]” (Rom. 10:15 amp)—that is, God’s “messengers” (Good News Bible). They have God’s approval and can therefore “teach the message of truth correctly” (II Tim. 2:15 New International Reader’s Version). Everyone else is considered untaught or unlearned and will only lead people toward eternal damnation.

How can God-sent preachers be identified? In Isaiah 8:20, this is written: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (nkjv).

There are two attributes that we must look for in a preacher to determine whether he is indeed God-sent. First, he preaches the pristine laws of God for “the one whom God has sent speaks God’s words” (John 3:34 gnb). Second, he has a testimony, which is the “spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10 nkjv). Without these two “credentials”, “there is no light in them”—meaning, they are in darkness and are not God-sent.

The greatest messenger of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, cited the prophecies of Isaiah as testimony or proof that He was God-sent (Luke 4:14-19, 21; Isa. 61:1-3). So did John the Baptist (John 1:19-23; Isa. 40:3) and Apostle Paul (Acts 13:37; Isa. 49:6).

By the same token, God’s messenger in these last days, Brother Felix Y. Manalo, whose 139th birth anniversary on May 10, 2025, the members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) commemorate, did not simply claim he was God-sent. He presented as his “credentials” the prophecies in the Bible—about God’s servant “from the ends of the earth” (Isa. 41:9–10) or when the world’s end is near (Matt. 24:3, 33, 6–8); the man whose work is likened to a “bird of prey” from a far country in the east or Far East (Isa. 46:11–13; Isa. 43:5–6, Moffatt Translation); the angel or messenger “ascending from the east” (Rev. 7:2–3)—which all found fulfillment in Brother Manalo and the work of salvation he preached.

Insofar as Brother Felix Manalo’s educational attainment, moral influence and social standing are concerned, others might think that he did not have adequate qualifications as a Bible preacher. But in God’s benchmark, Brother Felix Manalo is no doubt a God-sent preacher.

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