Self Proclaimed Prophets Make a Mockery of Gods Gift

Everyone is a prophet nowadays. Men and women from all over the world stand before their Youtube channel and blurt out predictions for the next year and beyond and claim that God revealed to them things that are to come. This form of prophesy is not in line with the gift of prophesy nor the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

The mockery comes in when preachers and self-proclaimed prophets begin to predict the future. They speak of the death of certain people that coming year, (people die every year), the fall of certain ministries, predictions of election outcomes they would like to see, and engage in celebrity gossip. Any many times none of the predictions come to pass. The purpose of the gift of prophesy in the New Testament is not meant to foretell of tragedy or political futures. It is for the exhortation and uplifting of the church.

Nor is it to make promises of a financial harvest the next year and promised breakthroughs and deliverances from sufferings, trials and tribulations. These are all generalizations that will happen anyway to certain people during their personal season. “Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:16.

True prophesies may not come to pass for years so it is a mockery to place God on a time table to do His will. No one knows what God’s time is and cannot predict what he is going to do. When true prophesy happens, it is confirmed by two or three witnesses and manifest at the time He says it will.

The false prophets of today try to imitate the prophets of the Old Testament with doom prophesies that were spoken against the children of Israel and other Gentile nations. Many times, God would choose a man to speak through and warn the nations about the things they will suffer if they continued down the path they were on. Usually, it was disobeying God’s commands and warnings to nations that attempted to fight against God and His chosen people. That was Old Testament prophesy through chosen men of God who were molded through years of sufferings.

Other Old Testament prophesies included proclamations about the coming Massiah and the end times. They consisted of promises and forewarnings of the last days on earth. But the concept and purpose behind prophecy changed under the inspiration of the New Testament and is different from in the Old.
For New Testament prophecy, God distinctly commands the prophets of the church to prophesy as an exhortation to the church, not condemnation to the world. “But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.” 1 Corinthians 14:3.

The Old Testament prophesies have either already come forth or will soon come to pass as the last days are fulfilled. Nothing can be added to it and nothing taken away. Men of today will see visions and have dreams of coming events in the world but they must be confirmed by another prophet standing by before being taken seriously or considered a Word from God.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul told the church, “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge." 1 Corinthians 14:29. And “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord,” in 14:37.

There is a correct order to the gift of prophesy today and any prophesies that fall out of that order must be judged accordingly. Preachers today have no knowledge of how the order works through the spirit and prophesy false divinations out of their own hearts and what they would like to see come forth and not from the will of God.

The purpose of New Testament prophesy is for the edification of the church, not for the condemnation of the world or for financial blessings. Church leaders today are more like the Pharisees of Jesus’ time than what men of God supposed to be today. In Jesus’ time, the people perceived prophesy as a type of magician’s trick, for example when they were in the process of crucifying Christ.

“And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?” Luke 22:64. “And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.” Mark 14:65.

They wanted Jesus to perform a magician’s trick, thus mocking His powers and authority as the Son of God. This is what preachers do today. They use the gift of prophesy as a magician’s tool more than for the edification of the church. They generalize events of the day in current news. They study data like any other research process to predict what will possibly happen. This is not the gift of prophesy. It is not a prophesy if only two people are in a race and a preacher chooses one of the runners, who happens to win. That is all by chance. A true revelation would be if the preacher was the only one who said the race would not be run at all.

Not to say that men of God are not used to prophesy today. The scriptures read: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:” Joel 2:29.

People will prophesy, and have visions and revelations of the Lord, but they prophesy only part of the whole, and only according to the measure of faith of the prophet. “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.” And “whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;” Romans 12:6. Meaning, not all prophesies are complete or interpretable to the full extent, and the prophet himself does not know the full meaning of the prophesy and must have faith that what comes through as prophesy is from the Lord, and not from his own heart.

“…but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.” 1 Corinthians 14:22. This confirms that prophesy is primarily for the church, not the world and neither does all prophesy pertain to world events. But the message is for the church and what they must do pertaining to the mission from the Lord. Whatever that message is, it must exhort the church, and give inspiration and encouragement to the body of Christ.

Many times, men will prophesy that God is sending strength to the body of Christ. The reason may not be clear as to why strength is needed, but something will come to pass that will try the hearts of the church. There may be a season of hardship in the land or an illness coming through the city or town. God will strengthen some with the gift and understanding of healing when they are needed. But at no time will the whole prophesy be revealed until due season.

In addition, many times prophesy will come only after the other gifts have been brought forth, such as a reading of the Word or a song in praise. “How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.” 1 Corinthians 14:26. This is how prophesy works in part.

“If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.” 1 Corinthians 14:30, 31. Prophesy does not have to be a huge event or natural disaster, but if it affects the church, God will reveal that message to the church through the gifts of the Spirit, and only in the correct order of worship.

These false prophets of today have made a mockery of the gift of God and some have even used it for their own personal financial gain. To those who do, God’s wrath will be revealed. Believers must first understand the reasons and how prophesy works before they go yelling about the deaths of people, the fall of ministries and especially worldly events that can be predicted by basic research.

“…for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10.