A Look at Prophecy #1

What was the biblical gift of prophecy. What was biblical prophecy and who was the biblical prophet. We wanted just make this basic and simple.

If the Holy Spirit is no longer bestowing the same healing in times as were evident in the first century church.

What about the gift of prophecy is God still speak through individuals today. Pastor John Green will answer that question here on the truth pulpit today as he continues teaching God's people. God's word hello again, I feel right removing further into our series, the Holy Spirit today with part one of a message titled a look at prophecy and done what's in store for us in this message will bill it seems like every question that we face in this series the Holy Spirit today is has an element of controversy to it.

It certainly very consequential. My friend we must know the answer to this question. Where does God speak to us. Where is his word in his authoritative truth to be found to know the truth you need to know where to look forward were going to answer that question with clarity on this broadcast. If you'll stay with us on the truthful. Thanks Don and Fred.

Let's get started right now in the truthful today we come to our third and final aspect of dealing with signs and wonders as we take a look at prophecy as we take a look at prophecy and what we want to do today is to examine the gift of prophecy in light of Scripture were going to follow the same pattern that we have in these prior messages. We looked at the nature of healing and the nature of times and then we looked at the biblical limitations on them. The things that would restrict and guide our understanding of them were going to follow that exact same pattern as we look at prophecy now as we done all along in the series in these types of message you look at healing a look at times. Now we take a look at prophecy want to follow a three-part outline here. First of all we want to consider the nature of biblical prophecy, the nature of biblical prophecy and is important is the issue of healings and tongues are there there.

It's critical for us to have looked at those the case can be made. The argument can be made that this issue of prophecy is even more critical than those two combined because they deal with the issue of where does God speak and who are we to listen to and what are we to follow, so we want to ask this question to start out with what was the biblical gift of prophecy. What was biblical prophecy and who was the biblical prophet and we want to just make this basic end and simple, and as I say that it reminds me to just make this point to you. There are many books written on all of these issues and so as I said in the past. We realize that were just dealing with an introduction over dealing with things we believe that if you take some of these basic principles and apply them. They can guide you through anything else that you might see and resolve. In other words, we we know that were not being exhaustive in this to be exhaustive and it would take many more months of messages on the same themes but we believe that there is clarity and there is simple simplicity that can guide us in our understanding. So who was what was the office of the biblical prophet, the biblical prophet.

In simple terms was a spokesman for God. He was a spokesman for God. He was a man on whose lives were the very words of God, and you can see this as we go into Scripture.

Now we can see the concept laid out for us in the book of Exodus chapter 4 and I invite you to turn their as we just see the nature of what a prophet did and how a prophet was speaking for someone else. The words of someone else were on his lips. Exodus chapter 4 beginning in verse 14 says this you will recall that God had called Moses to speak on his behalf.

Moses says, Lord, are not up to the task.

I'm I'm not an eloquent man. I'm slow of speech and slow of time.

It says in chapter 4 verse 10 and the Lord said to him in verse 11, who has made man's mouth or who makes him mute or deaf are seeing are blind is it not I the Lord now then go, even I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to say, but he said please Lord, now send the message by whomever you will now look at verse 14.

Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses and he said, is there not your brother Aaron the Levite. I know that he speaks fluently and, moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. I watch this. You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth and I even I will be with your mouth, and his mouth and I will teach you what you are to do. Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God.

To him.

Aaron was going to be the mouthpiece for Moses in these encounters, Moses was going to put his words onto Aaron's lips as it were, and Aaron would speak on behalf of Moses so that Aaron and speaking was representing what Moses himself would have said if he had simply done it if he had the eloquence to do it. Aaron was going to be a mouthpiece for him. Now keep that in mind and look over at chapter 7 verse one and you'll see this clenched with the idea of the office of a prophet. In Exodus chapter 7 verse one the Lord said to Moses, see I make you as God to Pharaoh and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. Aaron will be your prophet. Aaron will speak your words on your behalf. What Aaron says will be a reflection of what you are saying and so the idea of a prophet is that he is one who has the words of someone else on it in his mouth.

In true biblical prophecy, God put his words in a man's mouth when a prophet was speaking on behalf of God. He was speaking God's words for him. That's the simplicity of the idea that we're addressing here and so biblical prophecy, beloved was the accurate proclamation of in errant revelation received directly from God.

Biblical prophecy was the accurate proclamation of in errant revelation received directly from God.

Biblical prophecy was the accurate proclamation of in errant revelation received directly from God and were going to develop this here.

Now God has left for us today. We have the writings of several biblical prophets Force in Scripture Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, and the rest of the 12 Minor Prophets. What were these prophets doing they were speaking to contemporary issues of their times. They were calling people to repent of their sin and they warned them of coming judgment if they refused. And so, in this era before the completion of the Canon God had his spokesman proclaiming his word and they were the mouthpiece of God to God's people in that day, as they did that they also spoke beyond their times and spoke of the coming Messiah, and gave the prophecies that predicted centuries in advance. The arrival of Christ in his first AdVent and spoke beyond that to his second advent, which is still future to us today. They had a lofty office. They had a lofty task and God spoke through them in order to give revelation to his people in order to guide, instruct and exhort, and rebuke his people through these men who are acting as his mouthpiece and so that's what the prophet did. They spoke the words of God. God put his words in their mouth and they spoke them. Now that comes with a challenge.

The challenge back then slightly different challenge for us today. The challenge was that there were false prophets as well. There were men who claim to speak on behalf of God, but who really didn't they would say, thus saith the Lord, with their mouth was filled with lies.

God had not spoken to them, and this was a problem throughout the history of Israel.

Let me just give you a couple of passages from one of the later prophets in the book of Jeremiah, just to give you a sense of the problem and the danger that was present during the ministry of the Old Testament prophets, Jeremiah chapter 6 Jeremiah chapter 6 in Jeremiah chapter 6 verse 13 we see that there was an ongoing problem of men claiming to speak for God when they really didn't let me say that again because it's the same problem today men claiming to speak forth the words of God when in fact they really didn't in chapter 6, verse 13, you see God saying Jeremiah 6 verse 13 from the least of them even to the greatest of them.

Everyone is greedy for gain, and from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely they have healed the brokenness of my people superficially saying peace. Peace.

But there is no peace. You have men claiming to be prophets dealing with the people falsely you have men speaking falsely saying there will be peace from God. There is peace with God.

All is well, when in fact all was not well. God's judgment was coming, but they were saying that there was peace and that all was fine with Jeremiah chapter 14 also in verses 13 and 14. You can just make note of that little parallelism. Jeremiah 6 Jeremiah 14 verses 13 and 14 to give you just a couple of reference points about false prophets in the problem of false prophets among the people of God. In Old Testament times.

Jeremiah chapter 14 beginning in verse 13 Jeremiah 14 beginning in verse 13 says Jeremiah speaking, but Lord God, I said look, the prophets are telling them you will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place. Jeremiah says Lord you're giving me a message of judgment, but there are these others claiming to be prophets who are saying this, what's the answer in the midst of this confusion.

Verse 14 then the Lord said to me, the prophets are prophesying falsehood in my name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds. The people who needed to follow who wanted to follow God needed to know. Who are we to follow how we to discern the true from the false. When you have two different groups of men that are both claiming to speak for the Lord but saying contradictory and mutually exclusive things.

How are we to know and the problem of confusion.

There leads us to realize that we need something we need an external standard by which to judge these things because we can't simply take the man's word for it. We can't simply take a man's word for all God spoke to me all really let me write it down and what did he say were not meant to be that gullible because people speak in claim falsely as were going to see more New Testament passages in just a moment it was going to be a reality that there would always be men claiming to speak for God, whom God had not spoken to at all and it is so vital for you to recognize and to make that distinction in your mind. The people in the Old Testament needed to know who to follow and what had God done, God had given them. Sure standards for discernment God had provided them with what was necessary to discern the truth. That brings us to our second point is we look at the limitation on biblical prophecy. The limitation on biblical prophecy. The limitation on biblical prophecy, beloved, as you read Scripture you see that early on, even in the days of Moses, God gave clear tests to verify claims to prophetic authority. First of all, he required the messages to have complete theological accuracy complete conformity with prior revelation and for this I want you to turn back to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 13 Deuteronomy chapter 13 were just going to look at going to look at three discernment tests were going to look at one passage each and look at the way that God had laid down requirements to help the people know Deuteronomy chapter 13 verse one it says if a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or wonder in the sign of the wonder comes true concerning which he spoke to you not stop right there. Stop right there and realize realize how vulnerable the situation was with the condition, the God is laying down here man rises up and claims to be a prophet, and he does assign the wonder and it comes true concerning which he had spoken on the prophet boom and assigned takes place and you would think, especially in today's charismatic circles something like that as a guide to be believed, that's a guy the following proven it with a sign right but go on to keep reading. What does he then say what then is his instruction to the people of God, saying, let us go after other gods whom you have not known, and let us serve them. Although he's introducing falsehood. He's introducing false worship. He's got the sign, but he's teaching error.

He's teaching and pulling them away from the true God. What's the response to be verse three you shall not listen to the words of that Prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul. The greatest commandment, part of which is going to be shown the way the pit is people exercise discernment will you follow false teachers just because they show you assign being tested. When that happens, God said to Israel, back then. It's the same today. Verse four.

He says you shall follow the Lord your God and fear him, you shall keep his commandments listen to his voice serve him and cling to him but that Prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk so you shall purge the evil from among you. Even if a so-called prophet gave assign he could not contradict Moses if he did if he called people away from God and to idols. He was to be put to death. This idea of theological accuracy of biblical orthodoxy was to be enforced upon pain of the death penalty. Beloved God is not messing around on these issues of who his true spokesman are and what the standard is to be and so that even assign was not proof that a man spoke for God if his teaching was aberrant. If you lead people away from the true God who had revealed himself in the Exodus from Egypt. Upon beloved, let this way on you. Upon pain of the death penalty.

That is how seriously God views it all and so there is this there is this test of theological accuracy.

Secondly, God required of prophets complete prosthetic accuracy when they said this will happen in the future. There was a standard of 100% accuracy that would verify them. And one mistake would be the end of it all.

Look at Deuteronomy chapter 18 Deuteronomy chapter 18 beginning in verse 18 God says in Deuteronomy 18 verse 18 I will raise up a Prophet from among their countrymen like you and I will put my words in his mouth.

See the theme again. Just the clarity in the simplicity of what the prophet was to be and do and he shall speak to them all that I commanded him it shall come about that whoever will not listen to my words which you sell speak in my name, I myself will require it of him, but the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name which I have not commanded him to speak or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.

You may say in your heart.

How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken. How do we know God. When a prophet hasn't spoken from you because he claims to speak in your name. How are we going to be able to distinguish the true from the false. It was a critical question 3500 years ago. How are we going to know verse 22.

When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord.

If the thing does not come about or come true.

That is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him. Verse 20 that prophet will die.

Verse 22. You don't need to be afraid of him.

Don't follow him. No matter how he threatens you with his words.

Don't be afraid of him. Don't listen to him because the fact that his prophecy did not come true which he offered in my name is surefire proof that he does not speak on my behalf.

So God required complete prosthetic accuracy.

Any failure of fulfillment showed the man to be a false prophet market upon pain of the death penalty complete theological orthodoxy theological accuracy upon pain of the death penalty complete prosthetic accuracy.

Upon pain of the death penalty. Beloved got more to say here, but I want you to just kind of step back with me. Take a deep breath with me here and realize how from the very beginning how seriously and how sacred the boundaries were that God placed around his prophets to ensure that only his true spokesman would be the ones of his people listen to people were to die over violations over this God is not messing around to this claim to speak in the name of the God of the Bible is a matter of great severe consequence that is not to be done lightly. That is not a casual thing like to know how should we go to waffle house or diopter breakfast today. By the way, God told me this, no, no, no, no, there is a sacred separate holy realm established in which a smoke from which a small circle of men and within a very small and circumscribed circle men would speak in Bible times and no one else was to go there. It should fear that God's standards here in the holiness with which he treats his revelation, the holiness with which he takes and the severity with which he looks upon men who would presume to speak new revelation in his name to cause everyone to fear and trembling quake. We do not lightly sell the Lord told me such and such, no, no life-and-death matters are at stake here. According to God himself. It's important to know just how seriously God takes obedience to his word. If someone speaks a word in God's name without 100% fidelity to prior Revelation and 100% prophetic accuracy.

Death is prescribed. Pastor Don Greene will complete his message a look at prophecy on our next broadcast as he continues our series, the Holy Spirit today.

Join us then you're on the truth pulpit right now though your game is done in studio with some closing thoughts while I hope that the truth pulpit is a source of strength to you as you live for Christ and if it is would you do us a favor would you return the blessing by dropping us a note at the truth. Pulpit.com look for the contact us link in the upper right-hand corner of your brief greeting can assure that we keep the broadcast on this outlet as we continue to minister to.

Thank you so much and God bless you my bill right inviting you back next time. As Don Greene continues teaching God's people. God's word