8. PROPHETIC ODDS & ENDS
Either you are God appointed or Self appointed. And if you are a Self appointed Prophet, then you are a False Prophet. It doesn`t make any difference how much desire you have for that position. It`s Entirely up to YHVH to give that position to someone or not.Anyone thinks of themself, or calls themself a prophet, you need to take that person SERIOUSLY. To find out if it`s True or not. By allowing a person to possibly give False prophecies, and not dealing with it. You`re possibly placing the entire local body of believers under God`s Judgement! Some people are playing with Fire. God`s Holiness Fire! And if person plays long enough, you will get burned!Speaking of false prophecies, that is to say they are not from God. I`d like to give an example of an older man I witnessed doing this. Giving exhortations and treating them as if they were prophecies. This is what the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) told me word for word. You can judge for yourself. "If a person wants to give an exhortation from their soul, or say something to encourage people, that`s fine. Just Don`t say 'Thus Saith the Lord'. Because it`s not a prophecy from Me. An exhortation from a person`s soul or feelings is not a prophecy from Me - God! That`s what False Prophets do, 'prophesy' their own personal thoughts, feelings, and opinions." Prophecy is not "normal" preaching a minister would do for example. True prophecy is a Supernatural Utterance from God what HE wants to say through a human vessel! He may use that person`s thought processes and language, but it`s still what HE wants to say! Finally giving prophecies is a Byproduct of my relationship with Yahweh. MY primary focus is God Himself. His thoughts, feelings, Him personally. So many people get wrapped up in the position and title of 'prophet'. Instead of focusing on the purpose and function of being a Man of God! With them it`s EGO talking. A true man of God would not act like that! As for 1 Cor. 14:3 ...prophecy for edification, exhortation and comfort. First of all, you don`t focus on ONE verse out of entire bible and make a doctrine out of it. You need to find at least 3 or more different passages to make a doctrine. Then all prophecy would include ALL the prophecies given by all the Old and New Covenant Prophets. Some were Strong! This verse deals with the manifestation of prophecy. The office of prophet, is broader in its scope & function.
"Shall we only accept Good things from Yahweh? Shall we only accept good things from Yahweh? [Positive, feel good prophecies?] And not the Other? His Discipline, Correction, even Rebuke if and when necessary? [Heb.12:5-11, Rev. 3:14-21] Shall we only accept Good things from Yahweh?"
There will be no Substance/Spiritual Growth or Maturity to a local church that only wants to hear positive, feel good prophecies.Some people say "I don`t like the prophecy, therefore it`s not from God." Or, "The message upsets me therefore it`s not from God!" That`s NOT proper spiritual biblical discernment. Going on your personal, subjective thoughts and feelings! So how can you tell if a prophecy is from God? Scripturally and Spiritually! 1. Scripturally it will line up with the word of God. 2.If it is a message from God, the Holy Spirit`s presence, power will be in it, and there will His peace deep inside you. There will be spiritual life and power to the words, to the message. If not, He will not bear witness to it. "My words they are Spirit and they are Life." There`s the Manifestation of prophecy 1 Cor. 12:10, where God can use anybody to give a message. There`s the Gift of prophecy Rom. 12:6, where God uses that person on a regular basis. Then there`s the Ministry Office of prophet Eph. 4:11. Just because a person gives a message, doesn`t mean they have the gift of prophecy. And if a person has the Gift of prophecy, doesn`t mean they have Ministry Office of prophet. 1 Cor. 12:29. Different Greek words and passages! Also, this is what the Holy Spirit told me, "Yes there is a distinction. The biggest difference between the Gift of prophecy [someone who gives prophecies from time to time in the church], and the Ministry Office of prophet is, the Office of prophet is a FULL time position of Authority, a Full time position of Leadership in the Body of Christ!"
Some wrongly teach "attitude is more important than accuracy". And they misquote Acts 21:4, which is actually a "Word of Knowledge" NOT a [false] Prophecy from the Holy Spirit! Read the language Carefully. The disciples just infered that. God will forgive someone giving false prophecies if they repent and acknowledge it as sin. But to teach someone can be right only 15%, or 35% of the time, or whatever [less than 100%], is NOT biblical. If you`re not sure it`s a prophecy from God, JUST DON`T SAY IT! And for those who think they can on demand give prophetic words to anyone, anywhere, anyplace, anytime. Better read 1 Cor. 12:11 and 2 Pet. 1:21. WE are Subject to God, the Holy Spirit is not subject to us! This also applies to gifts of healing, gift of miracles, whatever! What about 1 Cor. 14:32? "The spirits of the prophets, are subject to the prophets." Read it in the NLT version. "Remember people that prophesy are in control of their spirit and can wait their turn." Finally, we are told to "judge" prophecies/prophets. Read 1 Cor. 14:29; 1 Jn. 4:1.
"Shall we only accept Good things from Yahweh? Shall we only accept good things from Yahweh? [Positive, feel good prophecies?] And not the Other? His Discipline, Correction, even Rebuke if and when necessary? [Heb.12:5-11, Rev. 3:14-21] Shall we only accept Good things from Yahweh?"
There will be no Substance/Spiritual Growth or Maturity to a local church that only wants to hear positive, feel good prophecies.Some people say "I don`t like the prophecy, therefore it`s not from God." Or, "The message upsets me therefore it`s not from God!" That`s NOT proper spiritual biblical discernment. Going on your personal, subjective thoughts and feelings! So how can you tell if a prophecy is from God? Scripturally and Spiritually! 1. Scripturally it will line up with the word of God. 2.If it is a message from God, the Holy Spirit`s presence, power will be in it, and there will His peace deep inside you. There will be spiritual life and power to the words, to the message. If not, He will not bear witness to it. "My words they are Spirit and they are Life." There`s the Manifestation of prophecy 1 Cor. 12:10, where God can use anybody to give a message. There`s the Gift of prophecy Rom. 12:6, where God uses that person on a regular basis. Then there`s the Ministry Office of prophet Eph. 4:11. Just because a person gives a message, doesn`t mean they have the gift of prophecy. And if a person has the Gift of prophecy, doesn`t mean they have Ministry Office of prophet. 1 Cor. 12:29. Different Greek words and passages! Also, this is what the Holy Spirit told me, "Yes there is a distinction. The biggest difference between the Gift of prophecy [someone who gives prophecies from time to time in the church], and the Ministry Office of prophet is, the Office of prophet is a FULL time position of Authority, a Full time position of Leadership in the Body of Christ!"
Some wrongly teach "attitude is more important than accuracy". And they misquote Acts 21:4, which is actually a "Word of Knowledge" NOT a [false] Prophecy from the Holy Spirit! Read the language Carefully. The disciples just infered that. God will forgive someone giving false prophecies if they repent and acknowledge it as sin. But to teach someone can be right only 15%, or 35% of the time, or whatever [less than 100%], is NOT biblical. If you`re not sure it`s a prophecy from God, JUST DON`T SAY IT! And for those who think they can on demand give prophetic words to anyone, anywhere, anyplace, anytime. Better read 1 Cor. 12:11 and 2 Pet. 1:21. WE are Subject to God, the Holy Spirit is not subject to us! This also applies to gifts of healing, gift of miracles, whatever! What about 1 Cor. 14:32? "The spirits of the prophets, are subject to the prophets." Read it in the NLT version. "Remember people that prophesy are in control of their spirit and can wait their turn." Finally, we are told to "judge" prophecies/prophets. Read 1 Cor. 14:29; 1 Jn. 4:1.
posted by tomjworkman at 2:19 PM
3 Comments:
In Deut 13: 1-5, the scriptures talk about if the prophecy does NOT come to pass, you are a false prophet. OR, even if the prophecy does come to pass, but the prophet leads people into Idolatry [other gods - false gods], they are a false prophet.This would include someone like the false prophet William Branham. He gave prophecies & teachings denying the trinity. On that point alone makes him a false prophet, let alone his other false teachings. A True Prophet will not be promoting False Doctrine. Let me explain, someone like that was talking about another type of Yahweh, NOT the biblical God. Not the God of the bible. Mr. Branham was promoting another corrupted version of God. Not the God that the bible teaches! He was leading people in to Idolatry - false gods - other gods, NOT the God of the bible! This is just one example on how to apply that passage in Deut 13: 1-5. Just like the God of the Mormons is Not the God of the bible, but a false god, another type of god(s). Which makes Joseph Smith a false prophet as well! I hope that helps to understand that point! William Branham also taught, he was Elijah, he was around when John the Baptist & Moses lived. That the Pyramids, and the Zodiac are equal in authority to the scriptures. That Jesus did not claim to be the Son of God, and the list goes on...
Prophet Misconceptions
1. A prophet has all the answers about the bible.
Like you`re supposed to be a walking, talking bible encyclopedia or something! Not! A True Prophet will put a great deal of importance on Bible Study "...and rightly dividing, interpretating and applying the word of truth..." 2 Tim 2: 15. I`m the first one in line to acknowledge that I don`t have all the answers about the bible or Yahweh. Some of you might say "That`s just common sense"! Yeah, to you and me perhaps, but not to some of these prophet "wannabees" goofballs out there! Puffed up, Arrogant, & Self -Deceived.
2. A prophet knows everything about peoples` personal lives. Some of these false prophets claim to know personal things about people around them everyday. I cry foul! I wouldn`t want to know personal stuff about peoples` personal lives every place I go every day! I have enough stuff to deal with in my Own life! And anyways, it`s none of my business to know everyone`s personal stuff! Or, these puffed up prophet wannabees out there! There is just no good biblical basis for people making such a claim. Even in the story of Elisha & the pagan king. That was the exception, not the rule in the bible. That pagan king was an enemy of the nation Israel. So there was a very practical reason for that to happen.
3. Every prophet or prophetess has to deliver there prophecy right now, or "on the spot". Yahweh gave his prophecies to the prophet Jeremiah for example, had his scribe Baruch write his prophecies down and then deliver them to the religious authorities. Because he was not allowed to prophesy directly in Jerusalem! I know in my own life, when I was going to one pentecostal church. I asked Yahweh to give me, especially any strong prophecies in advance. At least a week or two, in advance, so I could test & prove that I was really hearing from God! To "test" & "prove" for myself first, that these were really prophecies from God. God has always honored me in this, because He knows I take this stuff very seriously! And not screw up!
Prophets are called to be preachers. Preachers of sin and righteousness and call the people to repentance. In fact, there is a saying, "prophets preach to the preachers"! Sometimes they need it most of all! Preachers like to preach to others, sometimes they need it themselves! Hey!
False Prophets will tell people what they WANT to hear. And a True Prophet will tell people what they NEED to hear! Even a rebuke. You might want to check out my other blog teaching posts, PROPHETIC ODDS & ENDS, FALSE PROPHETS / PREACHERS, and the PROPHETS post at the top of my mychurch page for more info. Blessings in Y`shua, Tom.
Shalom. One of the greatest prophets in the Tanakh [O.T.], unquestionably was Yirmeyahu [Jeremiah]. Not just because of the prophecies he gave, but more importantly, the kind of person he was personally.
He was called when he was 18-20 years old. Sensitive and Sympathetic by nature. God did not choose someone like Eliyahu [Elijah], a strong tough preacher that would preach "hellfire & brimstone". Rather, Yahweh chose Jeremiah, who was a sensitive young prophet to deliver some of His strongest prophetic rebukes and warnings of judgement!
Jeremiah represents the Heart of God!
The messenger was part of God`s message!
He is called the "weeping prophet", "prophet of sorrows", or "the prophet of lonliness", because of his tender heart.These things is how Yahweh Himself feels about Jeremiah.
I know the scriptures, I know Yahweh, I know what I`m telling you is true. Yahweh is my life.
Blessings, Tom.
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