Prophets
PROPHETS
New Testament Prophets?Who are they?Are they welcome today?
When we neglect the directives in the New Testament, the church degrades.
The Old Testament had prophets, sent by God,
to prophesy the future, according to Israels obedience or rebellion,
to advise kings
and apparently to rebuke church leaders.
Jesus spoke about them in Matthew 23, the chapter which was a complete condemnation
of the practices of those current religious leaders. Matthew 23 ended with this:
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how often I have longed to gather your children together,
as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.
39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say,
‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
And this list of prophets to the right was only those who wrote Books in the Old Testament.
Nathan never wrote a book that made it into the OT but was recorded as rebuking King David.
Old Testament prophets were spiritual leaders when the Aaronic family priesthood failed to lead.
(I don't use the term Aaronic Priesthood; the LDS church has taken that label into their mess.)
God had a use for prophets.
What about prophets today?
PROPHETS
New Testament ProphetsEphesians 4
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God
and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
When I look across the various denominations that seem to be pursuing God,
I don't see a clearly defined league of prophets.
There is no prophet school, as Elijah had.
I know of no 'Prophet Certification' by any bible college.
Yet prophets are the 2nd leadership position listed in this scripture.
So... where are they?
Art: augustin hirschvogel
What is the role of the Prophet?
The Old Testament prophet seemed to have two distinct roles,
condemning sin and predicting Israel's future.
But those two roles blended into a greater purpose.
And that greater purpose was always pushing Israel toward holiness.
Sometimes prophets confronted leaders about their sins.
Sometimes prophets told about things to come.
When prophets prophesied about disasters to come,
the disasters were caused by sins
which forced God to punished Israel.
When prophets prophesied acts of relief, redemption or salvation,
these were God's acts of mercy in response to Israel's repentance of sin.
So, what is the role of New Testament Prophets?
Does any Evangelical denomination have guidelines for this office
explicitly outline in the New Testament?
A Position Paper, perhaps?
PROPHETS
Self-governing...?
When I hear of completely self-governing churches,
I think of the history of sexual abuse in various religions, and denominations,
where the abuse is overlooked by 'self-governing professionals' -
who are wicked minions of Satan if they overlook sexual abuse.
I speak of them in my website
iDontWantGod.com
(I pray for these sexual abusers to be turned over to Satan,
for their bodies to literally rot from the inside-out
so they will become too ill to do any more damage,
and perhaps repent in the process and receive undeserved mercy from God.)
[As Paul did, in 1 Cor. 5.]
All service-bent organizations use outside-audits to measure themselves
to professional standards. And not just with finances.
What does your denomination do with this facet of governance?
PROPHETS
Prophets act like a Supreme Court,as a voice of God, condemning false religious practices, as illustrated below, by Jesus.
and this doesn't set well with church leaders who believe in complete self-governance.
Jesus spoke harshly of these people.
Here is all of Matthew 23, where Jesus spoke at the Lord of Prophets:
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 14 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 14 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’
17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin.
But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’
