1 Thessalonians 5:16-22; 1 Corinthians 3:8-10; Jude 1:3. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 15. 2020.
Last week, we looked at how the real battle for believers today is a spiritual one, and how we must make sure that our character is shaped by Jesus, rather than the culture.
Today, we will look at the issue of prophecy.
There are some Christians and Christian groups that do not want anything to do with the idea of prophecy about the future, whether in the Bible or via a modern prophet. Our church has always believed that God is not revealing new Scripture, but that He does gift some people to serve as prophets in His Church. Let’s take a moment to remind ourselves some of what Scripture says on this matter.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22, it is clear that the apostle does not advocate despising, or looking down on, prophecy. He equates this to quenching the Holy Spirit, or putting out the Spirit’s fire. Instead, believers are called upon to test everything and only hold on to that which is good. To those voices that reject the reality of prophets and prophecy today, I would ask you to consider how you treat prophecy far different than the things that Paul mentioned before it. He tells us to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in everything. No Church that I am aware of says that those things ended with the apostles of Jesus and the arrival of the completed written word of God. No, rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks continue on in the Church Age. Why is prophecy pulled out of this list? Doesn’t it seem strange that the Apostle Paul would give strong instruction on how to deal with prophets and prophecy, if he knew that God would no longer use them after the first century? Let’s look at another passage on this.
1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14 are within a larger section in which Paul deals with problems in the worship assemblies of the church in Corinth. Chapter 12 and 14 talk about the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit has given them and the proper use of those gifts. Chapter 13 is given as a parenthetical instruction within this area of spiritual gifts. Paul’s point is that all spiritual gifts must be operated out of love and the goal to build up God’s people.
Near the end of chapter 13, we have one of the foundational passages used by those who believe that true prophets and true prophecy ended with the death of the first century Apostles. This passage speaks of love never failing (this is better understood as “coming to an end”). The point is that when Christ comes back and we enter into the next age, love will still be practiced by God’s people. However, things like prophecy and knowledge (i.e. receiving it) will come to an end because the perfect will have come. “That which is perfect” is usually connected to the writing down of the First Century Apostolic witness in the Bible. They believe Paul to be saying that prophecy will cease when the Bible is completed. This cannot be what the Apostle was teaching.
Paul never gives the idea throughout chapters 12 to 14 that these instructions are only needed while he and the apostles are alive, and then will become irrelevant. Rather, he tells the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:29,
“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.”
When the apostles were gone, it was going to be even more perilous and believers would definitely need the writings of the Apostles. However, some of that writing is about spiritual gifts. To believe that 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, and other such passages on spiritual gifts, were only relevant for 20 to 50 years of the Church seems to be special pleading.
Paul points out that we have prophecy because we are in a condition of having a partial knowledge of God’s mind. The perfect has to be pointing forward to that time when not only Christ has returned, but we have entered into the New Heavens and the New Earth, where there will be no unrighteousness, and where God will dwell directly with us. That seems to be a better “perfect.” That perfected environment and perfected relationship with God will preclude the need of prophets and prophesy, like we have in this age.
Finally, I would state that the Olivet Prophecy (that Jesus gave in Mark 13, Matthew 24, and Luke 21) warns of false prophets in the Church Age, both at the beginning and at the end in the Great Tribulation. The presence of the false implies the presence of the true. In fact, Revelation 11 has two witnesses who are clearly two prophets of God.
Thus, Christians should recognize that prophecy did not cease with the Apostles of Jesus, and believers are called to the spiritual maturity of testing anyone who claims to have a word from the Lord.
This does not mean that such prophets can add new doctrine to the Gospel. How can I limit it in this way? Well, I can’t, but God’s Word itself states in Jude 1:3 (Yes, I know that there is only one chapter) “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”
Jesus had revealed the faith, or teaching we are to believe, to his apostles. It was their job to establish this teaching in the Church. They did this by establishing Churches, teaching them the Gospel, defending against false teachers, false prophets, and heretics, and writing all of this down so that we can have an accurate account of their teaching. This Gospel content is God’s “once for all” instruction to His Church. Yes, we could want more, but we are told that this is enough, and that we must contend for it. This does not cancel out prophets and prophecy. Rather, it becomes the rule or means by which we can judge whether a prophecy contradicts Scripture, or not. The Gospel becomes the grounds upon which we wrestle internally to take in God’s Word and trust it, and we wrestle externally with those who would pervert and twist its meaning, or add to it.
Not all are prophets who claim to be. We are to use God’s Word to judge them as well as the character of their life and the success of the prophecy.
That brings us back to the question, “What about those prophetic voices on TV and on the internet, who are talking about the 2020 USA Presidential election?
There are some prophets who are saying that President Trump was God’s judgment on America and now that we are making the right choice of Vice President Joe Biden, we can move forward in healing. Other voices are saying that President Trump is God’s help to America in order to get us back on the path of freedom. Obviously, one of these sides is clearly wrong by the rules of logic. God either wanted Christians to vote for Trump or not, and the same is true for Biden.
This kind of confusion should be expected. Throughout the Bible, we are warned against false prophets. In fact, there are far more false prophets in the Bible than true prophets. I actually believe that both sides have false prophets. A prophet is not a prophet because they say that something will happen, and it does. They are a godly prophet because they have actually stood in the presence of God and received a message from Him for His Church.
Let me just warn us all against surfing the internet looking for the latest prophecy about this election and the future. Some are doing this because they are afraid and have no relationship with the Lord themselves. If God thinks that you need a prophet then He will send one to you, but be careful of going out to look for a prophet, or prophets. That is not something that we are ever told to do in the Bible, and it will most likely get you into trouble. However, over time, prophetic voices have risen up with a platform that became noticed by the Church at large. To me, David Wilkerson is an example of a guy who was used to speak prophetically to the American Church beyond the church that he pastored.
These are chaotic times, and in chaotic times, you have to turn off the sea of voices and lean into Jesus through prayer and God’s Word. We are not simply seeing a political divide, but there is also a huge division within the Church, and maybe even a division inside of you. Too many voices in our heads are not good. We have to learn to tune out the talking heads in the news media, the talking heads in the blogosphere, whether they are secular or Christian. This is a time to go back into your prayer closet and seek Jesus. This is a time to seek His wisdom.
It is not enough to come to church and have a pastor dish up a plate of God’s Word for you. You have to want to know God and His wisdom enough that you are prayerfully reading through what His word says to you.
Scripture tells us that the end times will be perilous times, and we can see that happening today. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 tells us,
“1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”
Does this not describe many on either side of this political divide? This is a time that calls for those who will rise up and fight the battles of the Lord in the midst of great deception. It is the Spirit of God who blows the trumpet across our land, even this world, in order to follow Jesus, not a man or a political party. What will we do?