Who are the true prophets of God?
 Dear Reader,
Introduction: These days, we observe that quite
a lot of people are arrogating to themselves the title of
“Prophet” as with several other titles, hither-to reverend, but which is now bastardised. Many of these self-styled “prophets” are even misbehaving in such ways as to soil the good name of the true prophets. But who really is a true prophet of God? What are his functions, duties and responsibilities? And how can we identify the true prophets of God from the fake or false ones?
Definition and functions: In the Old Testament, Prophets were known as the seers: they had the special ability to see in the special realm and foresee future events. The prophets were not deceived by the external appearance of things, and that they really saw spiritual realities of God Himself. The prophets received dreams, visions, and revelations from God that enabled them to convey spiritual realities to God’s people.
The Greek word prophetes from where the English word, prophet is derived, means “one who speaks on behalf of another.” The prophets spoke for God to the covenant people, based on what they heard, saw and received from God. The prophet of Old Testament was designated by such terms as “a man of God” (II Kings 4:21); “a man who has the Spirit of God on him” (Isaiah 61:1-3); “A watchman on behalf of God’s people” (Ezek. 3:17); “The Lord’s messenger for His people” (Haggai 1:13).
The prophets were responsible for explaining obscure dreams, visions and messages to the people or the nation, e.g. Joseph and Daniel, and thereby unveiled the glory of the invisible God. The prophets were holy messengers of God, they were always between God and the people. God used them for warning His people about their evil deeds to their neighbours and the violation of His covenants, and finally to pronounce judgements upon the unrepentant people in the nation, as it was done to Judah, who were eventually carried as captives to Babylon.
The prophets of old were responsible for revealing God’s future goodwill of the Messiah to save the world, and also foretell the chaotic events that would terminate this age after 1,000 year millennial reign of Christ on earth. It was also revealed to both the prophets and the apostles of Christ the evil end of the unbelievers from the beginning of the world to the end of this age in the Lake of Fire (Rev.20:11-15). The prophets of old together with the New Testament apostles and saints gave us the holy scriptures we use today, for keeping the Kingdom of heaven on earth through their disciplined and dedicated lives.
The common characteristics of the Old Testament Prophets and the New Testament Apostles.
(1) When the priests, kings and the society around them were terribly corrupt and turned to idol worshipping, the prophets remained holy to God in order to keep the presence and remembrance of God on earth.
(2) When their kings and other religious leaders threatened to kill them, they continued preaching repentance to them in love and in hot pronouncement of judgement if they refused to repent. This preserved God’s presence in their midst.
(3) Through the Prophets of the Old Testament and the Apostles of the New Testament, God’s holy living and faithfulness were demonstrated to the communities where they lived: this usually kept the people holy to God.
(4) These religious leaders, Prophets and Apostles, had a deep sensitivity against sin and evil, crime, cruelty, immorality and injustice, even though the secular authorities did not support them, yet they fought gallantly to preserve godliness, and the gospel of Christ on earth.
(5) Finally, the prophets of old and the apostles of the New Testament did not toy with money, immorality, or with the gospel entrusted to them. They rather preferred to die for justice than to tell lies about God and be alive.
The New Testament, in I Peter 2.9, says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (N.I.V).
In Ephesians 4:11-12, the Bible says, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, (12) to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (N.I.V.).
With the scripture above, we Christian ministers and the entire Christendom will really admit that we are the New Testament age prophets and prophetesses responsible for keeping the Christian faith and the unity of the Church on earth alive.
And we must, through the power of the Holy Spirit, live the life declaring the praises of Christ who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light. Otherwise, we must be prepared for the judgements that await the unbelievers and the violators of the covenant. May God give us the grace to repent and show forth the fruits worthy of His Kingdom, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
False Prophets: These are the self-appointed, self-acclaimed, bogus or fake prophets (devil’s disciples), who have bastardised the holy divine calling. Often they employ satanic means and also compromise and/or commercialise the scriptural standards of Christ’s Gospel.
Finally, God is hereby warning once again all false prophets/false teachers to repent today from all their hypocritical, pretentious and devilish ways of doing God’s work.
For further information, counselling, prayer and other help, please contact me at once, on telephone numbers 02-8100301, 8100248 and 08037878711.
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