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It is
written: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one
hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of
all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).
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Brothers
in the Lord, when you believed in the name of the Son of God you united
yourselves with the Lord and you became one spirit with Him, thus you became
members of the body of Christ.
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We, as
believers in the Lord, are one body, we have one hope, that is, the hope of
glory to which God called us through Christ Jesus; we have one faith; we have
one Spirit, that is, the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba,
Father!’; we have received one baptism, that is, the water baptism ministered
to us by immersion in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit; we have one Lord, that is, Jesus Christ whom God raised from the dead;
and we have one Father, that is, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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We have
nothing to boast about before God, because we have been saved by the grace of
God, and not by good works which we have done, “but to each one of us grace
was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Ephesians 4:7 - NKJV),
which means that each one of us has his own gift from God and thus, since we
have different gifts, we do not all have the same function in the house of
God.
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It is
written: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of
Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in
love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” (Ephesians
4:11-15).
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The first
thing I want to say about the ministry gifts is that “there are differences
of ministries, but the same Lord” (1 Corinthians 12:5 - NKJV), therefore the
ministries which God has appointed in His Church are different from one
another. However, though their function is different from one another, they
are given by the same Lord to those who have been called by God to the
ministry. The ministers of God know that they have received from the Lord
different gifts and that to each one of them grace was given according to the
measure of Christ’s gift. As you can see, the Scripture calls it ‘the measure
of Christ’s gift’, this because each ministry gift is given by Christ Jesus,
as it is written: “When He ascended on high …. He gave gifts to men” (Ephesians
4:8 – NKJV. Psalm 68:18). The ministry gifts too are from above, as it is
written: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above ….” (James 1:17 – NKJV). No
Bible
School
can give you a ministry because it is God the one who works in us both to
will and to do for His good pleasure, and because it is God Himself, and not
men, who appoints a believer as an apostle, or a prophet, or an evangelist,
or a pastor, or a teacher. Listen, brother in the Lord: ‘If you have received
from the Lord one of the ministry gifts, the other brothers will surely know
that you have received a ministry gift from the Lord, and they will know that
God has worked in you for that particular ministry; they may encourage you to
go on, and they may give you good advices, which you will do well to follow
if they are according to the will of God for you; you may even be taught by
another minister of God, but the fact still remains that it is God who works in
a man to make him complete so that he may fulfil a certain ministry. The
training of a Bible School is not indispensable and I exhort you not to
consider it indispensable; those who think that in order to receive a
ministry gift from God and to fulfil it they must attend a Bible School are
not sound in the faith because they show that for them a ministry gift is not
a supernatural gift, nor an ability that Christ gives to his servant but an
ability which can be obtained by attending a school as any other human
ability, and this is a mistake. So what induces many people to attend a Bible School? It is
evident that many of those who attend a Bible School were not
called by God to fulfil a particular ministry, however the fact is that they attend
it in order to take the diploma of that school. Why do these people consider
this piece of paper, which is called diploma, so important and long for it?
Because in every self-respecting religious organization, the titles and the
acknowledgements given by men to other men (even if those titles and
acknowledgments are not according to the truth of the gospel) are important.
Therefore, it is evident that if the leaders of a denomination affirm: ‘If
you want to become a pastor, you must have the diploma of the Bible School of our
denomination’, many will be led (not by the Lord but by their envy and
vainglory) to attend that school. Today, in many cases if one has a diploma
and a certain number of followers he is considered a pastor. No matter if he
is a hireling, who does not care about the sheep, surely he is a pastor because
the leaders of the religious organization ordained him a pastor! Some people want
to become pastors because to be a pastor means to have a ‘prestigious’
position in the midst of the organization they belong to and of which they
are so proud. There is no doubt that many unscrupulous men, who are corrupt
of minds, through the Bible
School
have received the title of pastor (the title, not the ministry because they
have never received this ministry) by all unrighteous deception, and they
have infiltrated the Church. They have their diploma, they have studied, they
have passed their examinations, they have done their training, and thus they
are in order, they are behind the pulpit, in that place so much envied for
many years; now they are free to show their covetousness because they know
that they are unlikely to be expelled from their organization.
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Paul said
of himself and of his fellow workers, who were ministers of the Gospel: “Not
that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but
our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new
testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but
the spirit giveth life” (2 Corinthians 3:5-6). As you can see, Paul and his
fellow workers had been made able ministers of the New Covenant by God and
not by other men, therefore it is wrong to think that a Bible School can
enable you to preach or teach the Word of the Lord. We have come to the
conclusion, also from experience, that if God does not give the ability to
preach and teach to one of His sons, even if he attends a Bible School he
will continue to be devoid of that ability.
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Now let us
examine the way God worked in Paul, so that we may understand that it is God
who works in those whom He has chosen to fulfil a ministry or more than one
ministry (as in the case of Paul).
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Paul of
Tarsus, according to the flesh, had lived a Pharisee and had been brought up
at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of his fathers’
law. Now one day it came to pass that while he was going to Damascus to
persecute the disciples of the Lord, he had a vision in which Jesus appeared
to him and, among other things, He said to him: “I have appeared to you for this
purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you
have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you” (Acts 26:16 –
NKJV). Before Jesus appeared to Paul on that road, Paul persecuted the Church,
but through that vision he turned to the Lord. In that vision which Paul had,
Jesus said to him: “I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a
minister ….” (Acts 26:26), this means that Paul was made a minister of the Gospel
by the Lord and not by men. Several years later Paul confirmed that he had
received the ministry from the Lord when he said to the elders of the Church of
Ephesus: “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to
myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I
received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God”
(Acts 20:24 – NKJV). After the Lord appeared and spoke to Paul, the men who
journeyed with him led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus where,
after three days - during which he was without sight and did not eat or drink
- God sent to him a certain disciple named Ananias so that Paul might receive
his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. “Then Saul [Paul] spent some
days with the disciples at Damascus.
Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of
God” (Acts 9:19-20
– NKJV). At that time Saul had not yet known the apostles of the Lord, yet he
preached with boldness in the synagogues at Damascus; God had
begun His work in Paul. At this point I need to say two things. The first
thing is this: when God revealed His Son in Paul, Paul did not consult any
man and did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before him, for
he wrote to the Galatians: “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my
mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I
might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh
and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before
me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus” (Galatians
1:15-17). The second thing is this: Paul was not taught the Gospel which he
preached, for he said to the Galatians: “But I make known to you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I
neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the
revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12
– NKJV). All this may seem strange and incomprehensible, yet it is true, and
it shows that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask
or think, according to the power that works in us. Pay attention to this, the
fact that Paul did not receive the Gospel from any man does not mean that
teachers are useless in the Church or that all those who have been called by
God to preach the Gospel have received the Gospel by revelation from Jesus
Christ; I tell you this so that no one may deceive you.
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Paul went
up to Jerusalem only after three years to see Peter and remained with him
fifteen days, but He saw “none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s
brother” (Galatians 1:19 – NKJV). Also at Jerusalem Paul “spoke boldly in the
name of the Lord” (Acts 9:29
- NKJV), and since the Hellenists attempted to kill him, “when the brethren
found out, they brought him down to Caesarea
and sent him out to Tarsus”
(Acts 9:30
– NKJV).
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Paul
stayed at Tarsus
for a certain period of time, then “Barnabas (who had been sent to Antioch) went to Tarsus to look
for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a
whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of
people” (Acts 11:25-26
- NIV). Christ made Paul a teacher of the Gentiles, and a few years after his
conversion Paul, together with Barnabas, already taught the saints at Antioch. After a
long time, Paul went up again to Jerusalem with
Barnabas, and also took Titus with him, and he went up by revelation. When he
went up to Jerusalem,
He was already preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. There he met the
apostles of the Lord. James, Cephas and John, whom Paul calls “those who
seemed to be important” (Galatians 2:6 – NIV), added nothing to Paul’s
message, “but on the contrary – Paul says – when they saw that the gospel for
the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised
was to Peter (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to
the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), and when
James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had
been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship,
that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised” (Galatians
2:7-9 – NKJV). I want you to note that James, Cephas and John, recognized
that God had worked in Paul to make him an apostle to the Gentiles and they
saw the grace of God which was with Paul, so they gave Paul and Barnabas the
right hand of fellowship; those wise and holy apostles could not do
otherwise. What happened to Paul on that occasion, when he met James, Cephas
and John, who were reputed to be pillars, shows us that the wise and sincere
ministers of God recognize another minister of God, even if the Lord has
worked in him in a different way, they receive him (even if he does not have
letters of recommendation nor the ‘identification card’) because they see the
grace of God with him. Reflect upon this: Paul had not been with Jesus for
those three years, no man had taught him anything about the Gospel, yet the
other apostles received him and recognized that God had made him an apostle!
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God still acts
in a particular way (which may seem strange to some and incomprehensible to
others) in some people to make them ministers; do you know why? Because He
wants to show the proud and the vainglorious persons (such as those who think
that unless one attends a Bible
School,
which is recognized by his denomination or even by the Government, he can’t
receive a ministry from the Lord nor fulfill it) that He has not changed but
He is the same. God knows how to humble and to put to shame those who exalt
themselves and at His appointed time He humbles them and puts them to shame. Thanks
be to God for all those brothers who are poor, who are called ‘uneducated and
untrained men’ by those who are wise according to the flesh, who don’t know
what the word ‘homiletics’ means, perhaps the only Greek words they know are
Christos and Paracletos and the only Hebrew word they know is Mashiach, but
they have been appointed ministers of the Gospel by God, they have been
anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and filled with the wisdom of God. They
are an example to the believers in conduct, and when they speak they speak
from God with sincerity; they do not speak like the philosophers, nor do they
speak like those people who expound the things pertaining to the kingdom of God with
words of human wisdom.
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Some
people are called pastors, teachers and evangelists, but unless they have
some sheets of paper before their face or in the midst of their Bible or
unless they have learned by heart their speech to recite it in public, they
are not able to speak about the doctrine of God or to preach the Gospel: only
in this way they manage to deliver a speech, they are so devoid of the Word
of God that if you take away from them their notes they are no longer able to
preach; this, because the word of Christ does not dwell in them richly; they
have a heart trained in covetous practices, their heart is not trained to
receive with meekness the Word. When the Jews heard Jesus they marvelled,
saying: “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?” (John 7:15 – NKJV); instead,
when we hear and see many so called ministers of the Gospel we marvel,
saying: ‘How is it that these men do not know the Scriptures, having studied
so much?’
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A man who
had worked as a carpenter turned Israel upside
down for three years. He had never been taught by any teacher of the law,
rather when He was twelve years old He asked them questions and “all who
heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers” (Luke 2:47 – NKJV);
by contrast we hear many who have been believers for many years who astonish
us for they have no knowledge or little knowledge of the things pertaining to
the Kingdom of God. Yes, brothers, that’s the way things are, and this
shameful spectacle produced by the proud and vainglorious persons is before
our eyes; the people who are responsible for this are those persons who receive
honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from God; who
want to be wise according to the flesh but refuse to be wise according to God;
they are wise by the standards of this age, for they know philosophy, they
know both the Greek and the Hebrew language, they know the laws of physics
and the laws of economics, but they do not know the Scriptures, they do not know
the power of God, they do not know the holy ways of God. These people lord it
over the Church
of God
by their social status and their eloquence, but they are impostors and idle
talkers; they are not able to speak with boldness for they speak with words
of human wisdom or with excellence of speech they love so much and seek in
order to appear intelligent and spiritual to men. Ah! what miserable people:
they think that the more complicated their sermon is, the more artful their
speech is, and the more edifying it will be, but they are greatly mistaken,
they deceive themselves. The churches they shepherd want to hear the Word of
God preached with boldness for they hear from the pulpit only speeches which
are full of excellent words and which are incomprehensible on many points to
those who are not educated; don’t you see these things? Their speeches are in
order, they are subdivided into several points which are called according to
the words they want to comment on (the three A’s, the three B’s and so on), their
speeches are well prepared indeed! But they do not edify the church. May the
Lord work powerfully also in this country as He worked in ancient times in Israel by the
apostles. My prayer and my desire is that He may work powerfully soon,
raising up faithful and holy men full of the Spirit and wisdom, and
stretching out His hand to confirm His word through signs and wonders, so
that His Word may be glorified and anyone who thinks he is wise may become ‘a
fool’ to the glory of God.
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Do you
remember what the people of Nazareth
said about Jesus? It is written: “He began to teach in the synagogue: and
many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these
things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such
mighty works are wrought by his hands?” (Mark 6:2) Jesus got those things
from God; the wisdom He had was given to Him by God and the mighty works
wrought by His hands were the manifestation of the Spirit of God. Did He have
any diploma? Did He hold any flapping sheets of paper while He preached to
the people? No, He did not have any of these things, but He had the things a
minister of God must have, that is, the power of God and the wisdom of God, so
that he may edify the Church
of God.
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God made
men like Peter, Andrew, James and John, who were fishermen, apostles,
ministers of the Gospel; they were not wise according to the world, for when
the chief priests and the elders saw the boldness of Peter and John they
“perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men” (Acts 4:13 – NKJV);
notwithstanding this the Holy Spirit spoke through them and performed mighty
works through them. Consider this: when we read the epistles of Simon Peter
and of John, we read the words written by two fishermen. They were not engineers
or professors who could show their ‘degrees’ but simple fishermen; yet we are
edified when we read their epistles, whereas we are not edified at all when
we hear those persons who are very educated expound the things of God with
words taught by man’s wisdom.
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Brothers,
remember these things: Noah was a farmer but also “a preacher of
righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5 – NKJV); Amos, who was appointed as a prophet by
God, “was among the sheep breeders of Tekoa” (Amos 1:1 – NKJV) and he himself
confirmed this when he said: “I was a sheepbreeder and a tender of sycamore
fruit. Then the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said to
me: ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel” (Amos 7:14-15 – NKJV); when the
prophet Elijah found Elisha (whom Elijah anointed as prophet in his place) he
“was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the
twelfth” (1 Kings 19:19 – NKJV); when Jeremiah was set over the nations and
over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw
down, to build and to plant, he was only a child.
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In this
generation also, God has chosen some farmers, some fishermen, some
carpenters, and even some manurers, some shoemakers, and many others who
haven’t had much schooling (some were even illiterate) and made them
ministers of the Gospel and enabled them to preach with boldness, with power
and with deep conviction (to some of them God gave gifts of healings and the
working of miracles), and this in order to put to shame those who think they
are wise and powerful, so that they cannot boast before God.
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The
apostle is one who is sent forth by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word of God
to a nation (or to unevangelized regions).
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Let us
take for example the twelve disciples of Jesus, who were appointed apostles
and sent forth to preach the Kingdom of God to Israel. Luke
says: “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to
pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he
called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he
named apostles; Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother,
James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of
Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, And Judas the brother of James, and Judas
Iscariot, which also was the traitor” (Luke 6:12-16). As you can see, the
twelve did not become apostles by their own will, for it was Christ Jesus who
appointed them as apostles. Note also that not all those who had become
disciples of Jesus were appointed apostles because this confirms that not all
believers can be called apostles, but only those who have received this
ministry from the Lord. Jesus appointed the twelve apostles to send them to
preach the Kingdom
of God,
to heal all kinds of sickness and to cast out demons, as it is written: “Then
He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority
over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to
heal the sick” (Luke 9:1-2 – NKJV).
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After the
Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost, other men were
appointed as apostles by the Lord; among them were Paul and Barnabas. Here is
how they became apostles. It is written: “Now there were in the church that
was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that
was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up
with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and
fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto
I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands
on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost,
departed unto Seleucia;
and from thence they sailed to Cyprus” (Acts
13:1-4). As you can see, Paul and Barnabas were already fulfilling a ministry
in the Church that was at Antioch, that of teacher, and this is confirmed
also by the Scripture which says that they “taught a great many people” (Acts
11:26 – NKJV). But one day, as Barnabas, and Simeon, and Lucius of Cyrene,
and Manaen, and Saul, ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said
to those who were gathered together with Barnabas and Saul: “Now separate to
Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2 – NKJV),
and they obeyed that order by separating Barnabas and Saul to the Holy
Spirit. So from among those ministers of God, the Holy Spirit chose only
Barnabas and Saul for that specific work, even though all those men were
ministers of God, and that shows us that the Lord makes His choices according
to the counsel of His will, thus He entrusts whom He wills with a specific
task to accomplish. I would like you to note also that Barnabas and Saul are
called apostles (as it is written: “The apostles Barnabas and Paul ….” Acts 14:14) because
they were “sent out by the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:4 – NKJV) to preach the
Gospel. As far as Paul is concerned, it must be said that when Jesus some
time before appeared to him in a vision, while he was praying in the temple, He
had said to him: “Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles”
(Acts 22:21 – NKJV); so it was while Paul was at Antioch that those words,
which the Lord had said to Paul some time before, were fulfilled, for the
Lord sent Paul to the Gentiles through that revelation given by the Holy
Spirit at Antioch. The apostles Paul and Barnabas founded various churches
during that journey (and had elders elected in every church), many people
were saved, many believers were baptized with the Holy Spirit and God bore
witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by
their hands. After a long time they returned to Antioch and when
they had gathered the church together “they reported all that God had done
with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27 – NKJV).
That journey made by Paul and Barnabas, as it was reported by Luke, shows what
kind of work an apostle does.
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Among the
other apostles mentioned by the Scripture are also Silvanus and Timothy, who
were fellow-workers of Paul. We learn that they also were apostles of Christ
from the following words of Paul to the Thessalonians: “Nor did we seek glory
from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as
apostles of Christ ….” (1 Thessalonians 2:6 – NKJV), for when Paul wrote ‘we’
he referred to Him, Silvanus and Timothy, as it is written: “Paul, Silvanus
and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:1 – NKJV).
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Paul wrote
to the saints who were in Rome:
“Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are
of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me” (Romans 16:7 -
NKJV), therefore those brothers also were apostles.
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God “has
appointed these in the church: first apostles …..” (1 Corinthians 12:28 – NKJV),
therefore we must recognize the ministry of apostle.
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I conclude
by saying that just as there are apostles of Christ so there are also false
apostles, who transform themselves into apostles of Christ. Some false
apostles came in among the Corinthians, for Paul said to the Corinthians
about some: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his
ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end
shall be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). The
false apostles are not bondservants of Christ but they are servants of Satan,
therefore they hate righteousness; notwithstanding this, they outwardly appear
righteous to the believers because they transform themselves into ministers
of righteousness. However, their works, being evil works, witness against
them. Know this, that when the false apostles are tested they are found liars
and that the Lord will repay them according to their works.
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As for the
ministry of prophet, Paul wrote that God has appointed in the church: “…..
second prophets ….” (1 Corinthians 12:28
– NKJV).
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Brothers,
know this, that God still appoints some believers as prophets and it could
not be otherwise in that the ministry of prophet also is among the ministry
gifts.
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Now, how
do we know if one was appointed as a prophet by God? He who has received the
ministry of prophet has received the gift of prophecy and some gifts of
revelation as well. According to the Scripture, the gifts of revelation are
the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge and the ability to distinguish
among spirits (or the gift of discerning of spirits).
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A prophet
is one who often has visions and revelations.
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God said
to Aaron and Mary: “Here now my words: If there is a prophet among you, I,
the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision, I speak to him in a dream” (Numbers
12:6 – NKJV). These words show that a prophet receives visions and dreams
from God; bear in mind this thing because it is one of the things that characterize
a prophet.
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Under the Old
Covenant there were many prophets and if we examine carefully their ministry
we clearly see that besides prophesying when the Holy Spirit came upon them
they often received visions and revelations from God, through which God
revealed His word to them.
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Samuel and
Elisha
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Let us
take for example Samuel; it is written: “And all Israel from Dan
even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the
LORD. And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh:
for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh
by the word of the LORD” (1 Samuel 3:20-21).
The Israelites recognized that Samuel, even though was still a young man, had
been established as a prophet by God because what Samuel said in the name of
the Lord came to pass. Samuel grew up and since all the things that he
foretold came true he was mightily respected by the Israelites.
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Let us see
what the Scripture says about the encounter of Saul with Samuel in order to
understand how the gifts of revelation were present in the prophetic ministry
of Samuel. It is written: “And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost. And
Kish
said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go
seek the asses. And he passed through mount Ephraim, and
passed through the land
of Shalisha,
but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and
there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but
they found them not. And when they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said
to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return; lest my father
leave caring for the asses, and take thought for us. And he said unto him,
Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honourable man;
all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure
he can shew us our way that we should go. Then said Saul to his servant, But,
behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our
vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we?
And the servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have here at hand
the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God, to
tell us our way. (Beforetime in Israel, when a
man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer:
for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.) Then said
Saul to his servant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went unto the city
where the man of God was. And as they went up the hill to the city, they
found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the seer
here? And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, he is before you: make
haste now, for he came to day to the city; for there is a sacrifice of the
people to day in the high place: As soon as ye be come into the city, ye
shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the
people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and
afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up; for about this
time ye shall find him. And they went up into the city: and when they were
come into the city, behold, Samuel came out against them, for to go up to the
high place. Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came,
saying, To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin,
and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may
save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my
people, because their cry is come unto me. And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD
said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign
over my people. Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me,
I pray thee, where the seer's house is. And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I
am the seer: go up before me unto the high place; for ye shall eat with me to
day, and to morrow I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in
thine heart. And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not
thy mind on them; for they are found…. “ (1 Samuel 9:3-20). Now, the people
of Israel
had asked for a king, so God sent Saul to the prophet Samuel so that Samuel
might anoint him commander over the people of Israel. And God
used the donkeys of Saul’s father first and secondly one of his servants to
cause Saul to come to Samuel. The donkeys of Kish were lost by the will of
God, and Kish
sent Saul and one of his servants to look for the donkeys. They looked for
them but they did not find them because God did not permit them to find them;
seeing this, Saul thought of returning to his house, but his servant advised
him to go to the man of God for he was convinced that he could show them the
way that they had to go. Saul accepted the advice of his servant and he and
his servants went to the city where Samuel was. The day before Saul came, God
had given Samuel a word of wisdom (the word of wisdom is the revelation of a
fact which will happen) telling him that the following day (about the time he
had received the revelation) He would send him a man from the land of
Benjamin whom he had to anoint commander over the people of Israel. The
following day, at the time appointed by God, Samuel saw Saul coming toward
him and before Saul asked Samuel where the seer’s house was God said to
Samuel: “There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign
over My people” (1 Samuel 9:17
– NKJV). When Samuel met Saul, Samuel told him that the donkeys had been
found; in this case, Samuel received from God a word of knowledge (the word
of knowledge is the revelation of a fact which has taken place or which is
happening while the prophet is speaking). The day after, very early in the
morning, Samuel anointed Saul with oil, kissed him, and foretold him certain
things which would happen to him on that very day; in this case, Samuel had another
word of wisdom. For he said to Saul: “When thou art departed from me to day,
then thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin
at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek
are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth
for you, saying, What shall I do for my son? Then shalt thou go on forward
from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet
thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and
another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of
wine: And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which
thou shalt receive of their hands. After that thou shalt come to the hill of
God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass,
when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of
prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a
pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: And the Spirit of the
LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be
turned into another man” (1 Samuel 10:2-6). That word of wisdom was fulfilled
on that same day, as it is written: “And all those signs came to pass that
day” (1 Samuel 10:9).
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It is
evident from the above mentioned Scriptures that the word of wisdom and the
word of knowledge were operating in the ministry of Samuel. However, besides
these gifts, Samuel had also the gift of prophecy (thus he prophesied, and I
remind you that “he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and
comfort to men” 1 Corinthians 14:3 - NKJV). Samuel stood as leader over the
group of prophets for when Saul sent messengers to take David, who was at
Naioth in Ramah, “they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel
standing as leader over them” (1 Samuel 19:20
- NKJV). This confirms that the prophet Samuel had the gift of prophecy. To
sum up, through the Spirit, Samuel prophesied and often received a word of
wisdom or a word of knowledge. Someone may say: ‘Were the gifts of the Spirit
distributed also under the Old Covenant then?’ Yes, of course, because the
Spirit of God manifested Himself even under the Old Covenant. However I’d
like to make it clear that the gift of different kinds of tongues and the
gift of interpretation of tongues were not operating at that time because they
have been distributed from the day of Pentecost on (on which the Holy Spirit
was poured out on the Church
of God).
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So that
you may understand that the gifts of revelation are present in the prophetic
ministry, I will speak to you about the prophet Elisha as well.
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After
Naaman the Syrian was healed of leprosy, it came to pass that Naaman urged
Elisha to take a gift but the prophet refused to take a gift from Naaman. However,
after Naaman departed from Elisha, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, pursued
Naaman and asked him for silver and garments. So he secretly took gifts from
Naaman. But God revealed Gehazi’s sin to Elisha through a word of knowledge. Here
is what the Scripture says: “But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of
God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving
at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after
him, and take somewhat of him. So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when
Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet
him, and said, Is all well? And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me,
saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men
of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and
two changes of garments. And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And
he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes
of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them
before him. And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and
bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. But he
went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest
thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. And he said unto him,
Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to
meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and
oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and
maidservants? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and
unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as
snow” (2 Kings 5:20-27).
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Now, in
order to show you that Elisha was able to know some incidents which had
happened to other people only if and when God wanted him to know them, I want
to remind you of the following incident. “And it fell on a day, that Elisha
passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat
bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to
eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is
an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little
chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a
table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us,
that he shall turn in thither. And it fell on a day, that he came thither,
and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. And he said to Gehazi his
servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before
him. And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful
for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be
spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I
dwell among mine own people. And he said, What then is to be done for her? And
Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. And he
said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. And he
said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a
son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine
handmaid. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha
had said unto her, according to the time of life. And when the child was
grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And
he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to
his mother. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat
on her knees till noon,
and then died. And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God,
and shut the door upon him, and went out. And she called unto her husband,
and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses,
that I may run to the man of God, and come again. And he said, Wherefore wilt
thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It
shall be well. Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and
go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee. So she went and
came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man
of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder
is that Shunammite: Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is
it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And
she answered, It is well. And when she came to the man of God to the hill,
she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the
man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the
LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me. Then she said, Did I desire a
son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me? Then he said to Gehazi,
Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou
meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again:
and lay my staff upon the face of the child. And the mother of the child
said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And
he arose, and followed her. And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the
staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore
he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked. And
when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid
upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed
unto the LORD. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon
his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he
stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then
he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched
himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his
eyes. And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her.
And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. Then she went
in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her
son, and went out.” (2 Kings 4:8-37). As you can see, the fact that Elisha told
his servant to ask the Shunammite woman if it was well with her child, shows
that Elisha did not know that the child had died, and that is confirmed by
the fact that a short time later he said to Gehazi: “The Lord has hidden it
from me, and has not told me” (2 Kings 4:27 – NKJV). So Elisha came to know hidden
facts in a supernatural way by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, unless the Lord
gave him a word of knowledge, he could not know a certain thing a man had
done or said secretly or what had happened to him at his home or somewhere
else.
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Here is
now a revelation concerning a future event (that is, a word of wisdom) which
Elisha received from the Lord while there was a great famine in Samaria because
the Syrian army was besieging Samaria.
Elisha said in the presence of the elders: “Hear ye the word of the LORD;
Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour
be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of
Samaria”
(2 Kings 7:1). That prediction was fulfilled the following day (2 Kings 7:16).
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The word
of knowledge and of wisdom in the Lord Jesus
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Let us see
now a word of knowledge that Jesus (who was a prophet) spoke while He was talking
with a Samaritan woman. John says: “He [Jesus]
left Judaea, and
departed again into Galilee.
And he must needs go through Samaria.
Then cometh he to a city of Samaria,
which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his
son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with
his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There
cometh a woman of Samaria
to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples
were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him,
How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the
Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her,
If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to
drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living
water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the
well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater
than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and
his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever
drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the
water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall
give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither
come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come
hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her,
Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and
he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The
woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers
worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the
place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me,
the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship
the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for
salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father
seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit [or God is Spirit]: and they
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith
unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is
come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto
thee am he. And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked
with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with
her? The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and
saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did:
is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. In
the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said
unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the
disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith
unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his
work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold,
I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white
already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit
unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice
together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I
sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and
ye are entered into their labours. And many of the Samaritans of that city
believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all
that ever I did” (John 4:3-39). How did Jesus know that woman had had five
husbands and the one she had at that time was not her husband? By the Spirit,
through a word of knowledge. Do not forget that Jesus was a man who fulfilled
His prophetic ministry by the Holy Spirit. Note that when Jesus said to the Samaritan
woman: “Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five
husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou
truly”, she said to Jesus: “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet”; reflect
upon these words. That woman perceived by those words of Jesus that Jesus was
a prophet. She was not mistaken; that woman knew that only a prophet could tell
her all that she had done. After Jesus said to her those words concerning her
former five husbands and the man whom she had (and other words concerning the
worship of God and His messiahship), it came to pass that she left her
waterpot, went her way into the city and said to the men: “Come, see a man,
which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” (John
4:29). As you can see, that word of knowledge had a positive effect because
it led that woman and many Samaritans to believe in Jesus, for it is written
that “many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of
the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did” (John 4:39)
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Here is
now a word of wisdom which Jesus spoke on the night He was betrayed. He said
to Peter: “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows,
you will deny Me three times." (Matthew 26:34 - NKJV). That word was
fulfilled on that same night, as Jesus had said.
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The word
of wisdom in the prophet Agabus
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In the
book of the Acts of the apostles Luke speaks of a certain prophet named
Agabus, who foretold two different events on two different occasions. Let us
look at them. First prediction; it is written: “During this time some
prophets came down from Jerusalem
to Antioch.
One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a
severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during
the reign of Claudius)” (Acts 11:27-28
– NIV). Agabus was a prophet and received a word of wisdom concerning a
severe famine which would spread over the entire Roman world. The words “through
the Spirit predicted” show clearly that it is not through the spirit of man
or through a natural knowledge or by intuition that a prophet predicts what
will happen, but through the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit wills, for
Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “To one is given the word of wisdom through
the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:8 – NKJV). Someone may ask, ‘Was that word of
wisdom profitable? Of course, it was, for all the things revealed by the Holy
Spirit are profitable to the Church, as it is written: “Now to each one the
manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7
– NIV). As for the prediction of the severe famine, it is written that “the
disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the
brothers living in Judea.
This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul” (Acts 11:29-30 – NIV).
As you can see, that revelation led the disciples of Antioch to send relief
to the brethren dwelling in Judea.
Second prediction: while Paul was at Caesarea,
the prophet Agabus predicted through the Spirit what would happen to Paul at Jerusalem. Luke
wrote: “And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea
a certain prophet, named Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's
girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy
Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle,
and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles” (Acts 21:10-11).
Through the prophet Agabus God revealed to Paul that the Jews would seize him
and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. Therefore, when the Jews
seized Paul in the temple and began to beat him in order to kill him, Paul
already knew that the Jews on that occasion would not kill him for they would
deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
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How God
speaks to the prophets
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The
prophets of old often received the word of God in vision; the following
expressions: “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem” (Isaiah
2:1 – NKJV. The IBRV reads “Parola che Isaia, figliuolo d’Amots, ebbe in
visione, relativamente a Giuda e a Gerusalemme,” that is, “The word that
Isaiah the son of Amoz received in a vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem”);
“The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received” (Habakkuk 1:1 – NIV. The IBRV
reads, “Oracolo che il profeta Habacuc ebbe per visione,” that is, “The
oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received through a vision”); “The word of
the Lord given to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and
Hezekiah, kings of Judah – the vision he saw concerning Samaria and
Jerusalem” (Micah 1:1 – NIV), and many other expressions concerning other
prophets show that the prophets had visions, through which the Word of God
was revealed to them.
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However, many
times God revealed His word to His prophets even without visions, that is, by
making them hear His voice. The passages of the Scripture which indicate this
way of revealing the word on the part of God are the following ones: “The
word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying ….” (1 Kings 18:1
– NKJV); “Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the
Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back” (1 Kings 13:20 – NKJV). Please
note in the latter passage that although the prophet was with other people he
alone heard the voice of the Lord.
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God,
through His prophets, still reveals things to the Church and to men
individually. This means that even today, when God wills, He sends a prophet
to bring a specific word to a Church or to a man.
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The gift
of prophecy
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As I said
before, in the prophet are operating the gift of prophecy together with at
least two gifts of revelation (the gifts of revelation are three). In the
manifestation of the gift of prophecy there is no revelation of future events
for “he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men”
(1 Corinthians 14:3 – NKJV). I will give you some examples taken from the
Scripture to show you what the gift of prophecy consists of.
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Isaiah,
who was a prophet of God, through the Spirit, by the gift of prophecy spoke
to men the following words of edification: “Give ye ear, and hear my voice;
hearken, and hear my speech. Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he
open and break the clods of his ground? When he hath made plain the face thereof,
doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the
principal wheat and the appointed barley and rie in their place? For his God
doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. For the fitches are not
threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about
upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin
with a rod. Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it,
nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel,
and excellent in working” (Isaiah 28:23-29).
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Here is an
example of exhortation spoken to men by Isaiah through the gift of prophecy:
“Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye
transgressors. …. Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your
fear, and let him be your dread. ….. Wash you, make you clean; put away the
evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do
well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for
the widow” (Isaiah 46:8; 8:13; 1:16-17).
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Let us see
now an example of comfort spoken to men by Isaiah through the gift of
prophecy: “I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou
shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which
shall be made as grass; …. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the
people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be
ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment,
and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for
ever, and my salvation from generation to generation. …. But now thus saith
the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear
not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the
rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire,
thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee” (Isaiah
51:12; 51:7-8; 43:1-2). Have you noticed that in the above mentioned
prophecies there is not any prediction of a future event, such as a famine, a
war, the birth of someone and the death of someone?
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Warnings
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Know this,
that when God exhorts a man through a prophet, if he accepts the words that
the prophet has spoken in the name of the Lord and he submits to the will of
God, he will prosper; but if he rejects the words of the prophet he will bear
the consequences of his rebellion.
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I want you
to know also that God punishes those prophets who presume to speak in His
name anything He has not commanded them to speak; our God is holy, and thus
falsehood, even if it is practiced by one of His prophets, is an abomination
in His sight. God says in the law: “But the prophet who presumes to speak a
word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in
the name of other gods, that prophet shall die” (Deuteronomy 18:20 – NKJV).
These words written in the law show us clearly how much serious is the sin of
the prophet who uses his tongue and says: ‘Thus says the Lord’.
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How do we
know if the thing predicted by a prophet in the name of the Lord is a word
which God has not spoken? We must wait for its fulfilment because when the prediction
of the prophet does not happen that means that his word was not the word of
God but just a word spoken presumptuously. For God says also: “And if you say
in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ –
‘when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen
or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet
has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him” (Deuteronomy
18:21-22 – NKJV).
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Testing
prophecies and revelations
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The things
which are spoken by a prophet of God in the name of the Lord must be tested
and judged, as it is written: “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the
others judge” (1 Corinthians 14:29
– NKJV), and also: “Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast
what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-22 –
NKJV). Someone will ask: ‘Why?’ Because the prophet could say untrue things
by following his own spirit. So prophecies (both the prophecies spoken by the
prophets and the prophecies spoken by those who are not prophets but they
have only the gift of prophecy) must be tested and if they are scriptural or
agree with what the Scripture teaches must be accepted, but if they contradict
the truth (that is, the Holy Scripture) they must be rejected without hesitation.
Know this, that many among the Churches of God speak prophecies (or tell the
brethren that they have received visions and revelations from God) which are
inconsistent with the Word of God, and those who accept their words are
deceived by their lies. Therefore, brothers, as Paul said: “Test all things;
hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
– NKJV), but as for what is evil, reject and expose it.
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Here is an
incident which happened in the days of Jeremiah which teaches us that a
prophet can speak presumptuously. It is written in the book of Jeremiah: “And
it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king
of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son
of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the
LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, Thus
speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke
of the king of Babylon. Within two full years will I bring again into this
place all the vessels of the LORD's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon: And I will
bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with
all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will
break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto
the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of
all the people that stood in the house of the LORD, Even the prophet Jeremiah
said, Amen: the LORD do so: the LORD perform thy words which thou hast
prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the LORD's house, and all that is
carried away captive, from Babylon into this place. Nevertheless hear thou
now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people;
The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both
against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and
of pestilence. The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the
prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD
hath truly sent him. Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the
prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it. And Hananiah spake in the presence of
all the people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Even so will I break the yoke of
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. And the
prophet Jeremiah went his way. Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah
the prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the
neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus
saith the LORD; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for
them yokes of iron. For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I
have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may
serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have
given him the beasts of the field also. Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto
Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but
thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the LORD;
Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt
die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD. So Hananiah the
prophet died the same year in the seventh month” (Jeremiah 28:1-17). Now the
prophet Hananiah prophesied to the people that God would shortly cause the
vessels of the temple to be brought again from Babylon and he
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