Good Man.Agreed my friend. The practice of "subliminal subjections" has been the main instrument of the "Name it and Claim It " society.
Now to shock some, I am not one who believes that the office of Prophet and Apostle exists today.
WHY?
Because an Apostle must have had a personal, face to face calling from the Lord Jesus Christ. Since He was crucified 2000 years ago, no one today can claim such an event.
Then....IMO, we do not have prophets because we have the completed Word of God. If anyone says that "God told him" anything at all, then that information must then be found in the written Word of God.
Isn't it interesting that absolutely NO so called prophet saw the 9-11-2001 event coming.
Also....NOT ONE prophet saw the Corona Virus pandemic coming.
The author of Hebrews also said the prophets of the Old Testament were no longer needed because now we have the words of the Son of God himself in Hebrews 1:1-3...…...
" In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe."
How does God speak to you
- Thread starter Peki
- Start date
Good Man.
Thanks David. I appreciate your flowers but really.....I am not very good. My dog is really good except when he chews the carpet and furniture and doesn't make it to the back yard in time.
I hear you brother. My first thought however is that if we give "any" space to words spoken in time and season, when do we draw the line at such things?
Deut. 18:20 gives a pretty sobering direction...….
"But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’
I would also say that ALL born again believers sit often with God and the Scriptures tell us that God is not a respecter of persons. That means there is NO ONE who has an exclusive audience with God in order to say …"God told ME".
When I hear anyone say...…"God just spoke to ME and said"...….I am on my way out the door, UNLESS I can find what he just said in the written Word of God.
You see my brother, we have people all around us who in their heart of hearts WANT to believe that there are people who have their needs and thoughts on their mind. Those people just can not believe that a man would lie to them just to get a dollar bill from them. HOWEVER, that is something that has been going on since man was created...…"RELIGIOUSE DECEPTION for person gain".
Religious Deception is Satan's best weapon. You may not agree with me but at least think about what have been seeing in the last 50 years...…...
1. The peoples of the world are being conditioned to accept miracles. We are told that if we do not accept miracles there is something wrong with us.
2. Popular Movies portray various invasions from outer space.
3. Various forms of alien life have become common place on our television and movie screens.
4. Star Trek, to “Touched by an Angel,” television producers are portraying supernatural characters and supernatural phenomena in their productions.
5. Several of the new movie releases portray apocalyptic events and NONE of them match what Scriptures tell us.
6. Psychic hot lines abound.
7. Now, most in the scientific community tell us that life exists beyond our planet earth.
8. More and more people regularly consult various spiritual mediums in their quest to cope with the postmodern world.
Now that is just me so I have to ask.....when and where do we draw the line?
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Yes, no-one has an exclusive conduit with God.
If one would have a special, meaning intimate, rather than exclusive, they must cultivate that relationship by coming before Him and opening one's heart to Him. They should forthrightly submit their thoughts and deeds to God for evaluation (I was going to say for judgement, but that word carries much freight that I do not wish to assert).
One must learn how to listen to how God speaks to them, check it against scripture, meditate on what He says, and follow His guidance. This is how a dialog develops. Trust makes prayer more effective, which in turn increases trust, making a virtuous circle that greatly edifies the believer.
Agreed!
Major, has the word of God, spoken in Sermon, never touched your heart. I'm not asking for the whole story. However it is Gods word speaking to me, that keeps me going. Today Psalm 31.
Major. Im saying people who claim to be prophets. And I dont want to give them an elevated place. I just recognise that God uses people to speak to me, its the joy of following a living God. It means testing. I agree and give a wide birth when people claim to be prophets, but sermons often speak to me. Books as well. The bible first and foremost. I'm not prepared to say God has stopped speaking. A person who does this, should never take credit, but pastors accross the globe, preach that we may hear! Hope I never go deaf.
Good question David. I probably was not through enough in my response.
The Word of God....Yes.
Preaching and teaching and expounding from the Word of God is of course being touched and growing in faith.
If you are asking me if a preacher giving a sermon and all of a sudden says...."God just spoke to ME and said".... then NO.
That would be the words of a MAN.
You see.....IF that was the case then how do you explain Romans 2:11...…….." For there is no respect of persons with God. "
IF God did speak directly to that one person who said he did......then God Himself just showed RESPECT to that person which would in essence make God a liar. In other words, God said something to someone instead of all of us which is SHOWING RESPECT TO A MAN.
That is what is referred to in some circles as "A Word of Knowledge". That is strictly a denominational teaching which is not found in the Scriptures.
I have personally seen this action used to get what someone wanted especially money from people in the audience.
"God Just said to ME".........some in this room right now has $100 in their pocket and the church needs a new chair in the nursery.
That kind of action is just one heartbeat away from this....."God just told ME" that someone here is able to pay my car payment this month.
Now I personally have no problem with a Pastor saying those things to his congreation, but when the words...."GOD TOLD ME" is used, then as you can see we have entered the arena of religious conersion.
It sounds like God is speaking to you through occurrences in your life. This is real, but it is different in nature from God speaking through an Old Testament or early church prophet.
This is more a case of the Lord guiding your thoughts and providing interpretation of events. So it is not really a case of those persons being prophets as much as it is the Lord's interaction with you.
The biggest difference is that it could be wrong to view that as applying directly to others. The prophets of old were speaking to God's people in general, while you may be experiencing a more personal message.
Agree in that sermons, books, songs are tools of the Lord to speak to us. Above all of those is the Written Word of God.
All I am saying is that the office of "Profit" and "Apostle" are no longer valid today. They were in times past but not today.
Profits spoke for God to the people. Today God speaks to us through His Written Word.
I say this because of what "Prophet" means. There is a difference between the "gift" of prophecy which is defending and speaking forth the ESTABLISHED Word of God and the "Office" of Prophet which was in times past speaking forth NEW revelations from God and establishing scripture. The gift is still in effect, but not the office.
Agree, and the one thing modern prophets and Apostles miss. Is that one was sent to correct and erring church (Prophets) and Apostles to establish Churches who had only the OT, and also a corrective role. Modern day charismatics have no view on this, They look for Praise, God does not need to be clapped in church. So why do people seek it out, answer to paraphrase, if thats the praise you want as leader, its probably all your going to get.
David......the "modern prophets and Apostles" are that only in name by the denominations that they belong to.
Biblically speaking, which is the only way I work, says that NO ONE today can be an Apostle. It is Biblically impossible.
Apostles were to bear witness to the fact that Jesus had risen from the dead. In order to do this, they had to have seen him after He was resurrected.
Luke 24:46-48 …….
"And Jesus said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.
Acts 1:22 ……...…….
"Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection."
Now as for "why do people seek it out (Praise).
One answer is EMOTIONALISM. We crave excitement and the contemporary music we see in worship and praise in modern church's seems to be more focused on making people excited and emotional than it is toward the praise of a holy God. But that is from an old fashioned country boy and not a modern thinker and I am sure there will be some who dismiss this idea quickly as coming from exactly what I just said I am.
I wasn't actually saying there are modern Apostles. Just commenting on how those who deem themselves apostles, usually get that title, through playing to the church not correcting it. The last one I came accross actually preached on John 8, and said the crowd dispersed because of what Jesus wrote on the ground, and he wanted to know what it was. As would we all, but he neglected to say the reason the crowd dispersed is that he said, he without sin cast the first stone. His words dispersed the crowd that is biblical, so why would he want to point to the speculative. Answer the bible, is dangerous for false apostles, they need for themselves to be the arbiter of truth not the bible. Which is why I dont worry about apostles, If they continue they become Heretics.
Now don't take this as literal truth form me. It is only MY OPINION. In preaching a sermon on that very Scripture many years ago, I made the "educated guess" that as the old Jewish men stood around condemning this woman for adultry, Jesus bent down and began to wite..............
Fred, October 1st, at 3:00 at the Holiday Inn with Donna.
George, July 6, at 8:00 at the Soper 8 Motel with Sandra.
When the old men realized that Jesus that they were condemning this woman of exactly what they had been doing.....they ALL just slinked away knowing that they are just as guilty as the woman.
Is that what Jesus was writing. I have NO clue. That is NOT God speaking to me. NO! It was my reasoning of the Scriptures as they are.
Why else would they all have disappeared????
Through the Bible mainly, and also thru godly persons and circumstances!