“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.” – Revelation 2:29 (NLT).
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. – Galatians 1:8.
Paul is applying a spiritual principle concerning the Word of God and that the Church (at that time the Galatians, today all of us) must evaluate the source of the teaching they had (we have) received. Ultimately the human source does not matter, nor would it matter even if the source were an “angelic” one. Satan can disguise himself as “an angel of light,” as can his ministers (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). So the Church must learn to evaluate their teachers, and they must learn that any attempt to alter the true Gospel and thus the whole Word of God is culpable and that any who go about teaching another teaching than what the Bible says will be condemned. The Bible tells us all we need to know to have faith in Christ Jesus and His Holy Spirit AND to have an intimate relationship with God, our Heavenly Father. We get to KNOW the Father, not through man or angels, but through the Holy Spirit of Christ. Something to remember and ponder when you hear talk of angels rather than the Holy Spirit.
Now what, you may ask, prompted this? The “prophets,” as I have said plenty of times before are coming out of the woodwork! Oh don’t get me wrong, I’ll say it again, I believe in the ministry gift of the Prophet, though as such I’m not much into titles. You have probably read that I believe a person, concerning ministry gifts, is what they do, not what they call themselves.
However, a modern-day Prophet, first and foremost exhorts, preaches (not necessarily teaches) the Word of God with authority; the Word of God that has already been given to us in the Bible. Today, however, we have so many that would rather give you fortune-telling predictions. All will be well, evil will be vanquished, you have nothing to fear (that part is true IF you are a born-again Christian), you will be prosperous and the troubles you see in your Nation (any Nation) will soon disappear as God blesses you once again and so on and so forth.
Again, HOWEVER, those “predictions” do not take into consideration the prophesies already given in the Word of God, and they do not take into consideration the plans that God has already shared with His children in the Word about things that MUST come about yet. No, no, no, those that are preaching judgment are just fear-mongering and God does not spread fear, but peace and love, blah, blah, blah.
Yes, I know, rather rude and there is a lot of people who swallow that hogwash! The prophet Amos wrote concerning God’s true servants, “If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it? Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy?” – Amos 3:6-8. (Bold emphasis added).
I know what you’re thinking; see, the Lord does show events to His prophets. Of course He does and I’m not denying that, but what is Amos saying in that context? If a trumpet sounds, people will fear not knowing what to expect! If catastrophe strikes, it must be the Lord! A lion is roaming the streets! Fear, fear, fear! But Amos through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote it the way he did for a reason.
Don’t be afraid because God always reveals through His prophets what He is about to do. Hear a trumpet, a clamor? Don’t fear because God already knows about it. Catastrophe? Don’t fear especially if God says He IS in it, for He gives His anointed ones, warning so they won’t be afraid. You aren’t afraid of what isn’t a surprise, so God doesn’t surprise His loved ones! God does NOT leave His people in the dark. BUT, He also let’s them know when judgment is coming upon the evil and the wicked and especially when it is a Nation, any Nation that outright rejects Him and then goes about sinning abominably. He is unbelievably patient, and the Bible calls it longsuffering, but His longsuffering and patience is NOT eternal in the face of outright rebellion and sin.
God warns His chosen, His anointed, those surrendered to Him when judgment around them is coming and He does it because nothing will stop it, but He doesn’t want His children to be afraid and fearful. Like in the days of Moses and Pharoah, God WILL use that judgment to demonstrate to ALL nations around the world that He and He alone is God almighty! (see Exodus chapters 7-12).
Yet, for some reason, we have those that call themselves God’s prophets, ignoring the warning signs about the judgments to come. It reminds me of several instances where the very same thing has been recorded:
This is what the LORD Almighty says:
“Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. . . . I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? . . . Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully.”
“Therefore,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. Yes,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The LORD declares.’ Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the LORD. “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the LORD. (NIV) Please read all of Jeremiah 23:20-32 for context.
They say the evil will get their due but they go on to state that the Nation itself (made up of those evil people, by the way) will rejoice in peace and prosperity once again! God’s judgment on the Nation will not be yet, for we will have a reprieve before the real judgment comes.
I ask this simple question; are they trusting in a righteous and holy God or in the Nation they live in, to care for them? The answer seems to be simple enough by what they say. I will tell anyone this; if you are a Christian, a true disciple of Jesus Christ, born-again and filled and sealed with the Holy Spirit of Christ, the ONLY Kingdom you are now a citizen of, is God’s Heavenly Kingdom. We are foreigners on this earth no matter WHAT Nation we belong too and our help, our needs, everything comes from our Father in His Heavenly Kingdom!
Another example from the Word of God; Jesus had just miraculously fed 4,000 men, which didn’t include the women and children in the count. Then Matthew writes:
Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” – Matthew 16:1-4.
As a child of God, a co-heir with Christ Jesus, why do I need a sign or the future told to me OTHER than to know our Father’s plans so we can be vigilant and aware. We can warn those in the world as Noah did before the flood, but we have already been given God’s plan in advance, why, oh why, are we looking for the minute details in the day to day journey? Is it because we DO fear and thus lack faith? The Word tells us we can’t please our Heavenly Father without faith (Hebrews 11:6). Faith, true faith is believing in God’s Word and His plan and not knowing what might happen in the next moment. This is the reason Jesus was so upset with the Pharisees. They HAD God’s Words yet wanted something SENSATIONAL from the Son of God just to appease their senses.
Here’s the thing; the office of the Prophet was always a very honored and mysterious thing and many in the Old Testament found honor and esteem; as long as they continued to prophesy good things. Those like the Prophet writers of the Bible, those who spoke what God told them to say unembellished and straightforward, were despised, hated and often times in danger for their lives because they spoke God’s truth.
Today, we have the same thing and today, man is especially enamored with titles and labels. The Apostle Paul wrote this to his protégé Timothy:
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. – 2 Timothy 4:3-4.
Sadly, human nature, without the Holy Spirit’s intervention, just does NOT change and what once was in the hearts of unrepentant men is in the hearts of the same today. We have the Word of God to teach, guide and direct and we have the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth in line with the Word of God and yet, man, even so-called “good” men, want what they want and want to give you some NEW revelation they say is from God. To what end, I ask? They WILL amass teachers who will tell them what they want to hear and woe to the man who dares point out to them what God is truly trying to say to the people. But, God, our Creator, and to some, Heavenly Father, only wants what is BEST for mankind. We either accept it, or we accept the lies and deception so many are willing to spread for whatever motive is deep within their hearts.
I trust the Word of God. I trust the Holy Spirit and His direction. God has told us what we need to know to allow us to walk by faith and thus please Him, day by day. I don’t need the minutia of what will happen tomorrow or the next day or next week. Not because I’m not interested mind you, but because I KNOW, I don’t just believe, that MY GOD is in total control and has tomorrow (and thus His children) in His powerful, yet loving hands!
My hope is that you also KNOW this to be true as well and if you don’t as of yet, the Holy Spirit is near, just waiting for you to call out and ask Him for wisdom! Trust God, trust His Word, walk in faith and know that our Heavenly Father is in control and in the process know that you are thus pleasing Him because of your faith.
*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
**Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved.
***Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
John Linton (1888 – 1965) John Linton is not normally listed among the elite of the evangelists in this century: Moody, Sunday, Bob Jones, Sr., Appelman, John Rice. But he was not some lesser light—God mightily moved through his ministry. He left a trail of converts to Christ as well as revived, restored, rejoicing churches.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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