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Prophecy was an important and primary gift in the Scripture. In
the last issue I explained that the miraculous gifts which were given to the
first century church ceased at the end of that century. Three reasons have been
given and three more are given in the remainder of this article.
God’s Church
The church of Jesus Christ is a unique entity created by Christ for
this age of grace. If we speak of the church as a whole (to which the New
Testament refers perhaps a dozen or so times, e.g., Matt. 16:18) or to the local
church (to which the New Testament speaks mostly, well over a hundred times), we
are speaking of the organism and/or organization which God uses to carry out His
will in this dispensation.
In
this age, Israel is being held in abeyance until Daniel’s seventieth week, known
as the great tribulation, begins. The church was announced by Christ in Matt.
16:18 as His own creation to fulfill His will in this age. It began officially
at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit baptized believers into the body of Christ.
Since that time, each individual believer is so placed upon his/her confession
of faith (1 Cor. 12:13). That church will be raptured out to meet her Lord in
the air at the parousia (John 14:3; 1 Thes. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-58; 2 Thes.
2:1).
The
local church consists of believers in a certain locale who have been regenerated
by the Holy Spirit, baptized by immersion in water as a testimony to that
conversion, and have willingly joined in fellowship with those saints,
voluntarily placing himself/herself under that church’s care. These local
churches, scattered throughout the world, are carrying out the Lord’s commission
for world evangelism, the practice of the ordinances, and the instruction of the
saints in the Word of God. Every believer in this age ought to be joined to
such a church and thereby be fulfilling God’s will as revealed in the
Scriptures.
The
church, whether the entire body of Christ or a local expression of it, cannot be
equated to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. Israel was and is God’s
nation, a kingdom which He redeemed, covenanted with, and ruled as divine King
until its present abeyance. God’s direction for Israel was mediated through
prophets, priests, and kings who represented God to the people or the people to
God. These offices were for Israel alone.
When
the miraculous gifts did appear in the church they were for her maturing process
during the transition between Israel’s dispensation and the church’s. Paul,
speaking of these things, wrote, When I was a
child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but
when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass
darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as
also I am known (1 Cor. 13:11-12). In his second epistle to the
Corinthians, he wrote concerning Scripture, But
we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are
changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the
Lord (2 Cor. 3:18). Similarly, to the Ephesians and later in the first
century, after he lists the temporary offices of apostles and prophets, he
writes, 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 fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13).
The
gift of prophecy and the office of apostle, as well as the sign gifts, were only
needed during the church’s infancy. But once the New Testament was complete and
the church had come to maturity, the temporary (childish) things could be set
aside. Now the church is mature and ministers to the Lord with adult belief in
the completed revelation of God. Paul continued to the Ephesians,
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 (Eph. 4:14-15).
God’s Word
The
most compelling reason why prophecy is not needed today is the all-sufficiency
of the Word of God. Jude exhorted his readers to
earnestly contend for the faith which was once
delivered unto the saints (Jude 3). “The faith” refers to the complete
body of truth contained in the Scripture and Jude assures us that it is
delivered by God to His church once and not continuously. As noted already,
once the New Testament was completed, the revelation of God for the church is
complete and all-sufficient.
Peter
recalled the times when he saw miraculous revelations from God. He heard the
voice of God at the baptism of Jesus (2 Pet. 1:17) and he saw the
transfiguration of Jesus on the mount (vs. 18) but he confessed,
We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark
place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts (vs. 19).
The Baptist Study Bible has a clear note on this,
Making use of a comparative, Peter declares that there exists a more sure
prophetic word. Understanding that he is comparing the experiences of sensory
verification (vv. 16, 17) with “prophecy” (vv. 19-21), one may observe that
Peter is claiming a degree of certainty for the Scriptures unmatched by anything
else in man’s experience. Peter knows the Scriptures to be infallible and
inerrant.1
By
this also, Peter has assured his readers that in the Scriptures God
hath given unto us all things that pertain unto
life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory
and virtue (2 Pet. 1:3).
Paul
assured Timothy not only that the Scriptures were inspired of God but that the
Scriptures themselves were profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That
the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works (2 Tim.
3:16-17). These statements from the Biblical authors could not be
serious or true if other revelation were needed for Christian living. If other
revelation has been added to Scripture by (so-called) prophets then we are
obligated to find it, preserve it, and keep every jot and tittle of it. But
this is obviously not the case. To seek more revelation from God through modern
prophets is to be faithless and to treat the Word of God as incomplete and
insufficient.
The
cults always have a way of explaining away John’s final statement in Revelation
but it is there nonetheless, If any man add
unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this
book; and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life (Rev. 22:18-19).
I like what the old Puritan said about it,
This sanction is like a flaming sword, to guard the canon of the scripture from
profane hands. Such a fence as this God set about the law (Deut. iv, 2) and the
whole Old Testament (Mal. iv. 4), and now in a most solemn manner about the
whole Bible, assuring us that it is a book of the most sacred nature, divine
authority, and of the last importance, and therefore the peculiar care of the
great God.2
God’s Commission
Before
Jesus left this earth and ascended back to heaven to sit at the right hand of
God until the restitution of all things, He gave commandments to the disciples
to take the gospel into all the world. These commandments are outlined in
Matthew’s gospel as preaching the gospel to every person, baptizing the
converts, and teaching them all the things Jesus commanded (Matt. 28:19-20). By
the time of Jesus’ ascension He had also instructed the disciples in local
church discipline (Matt. 18:15-18) and in keeping the Lord’s Supper (Matt.
26:26-29). The only requirement for these disciples before they could begin was
to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit thus placing them into the body of
Christ and empowering them for service (Acts 1:8).
The
commission from Christ is fulfilled specifically by a verbal
preaching/witnessing of the gospel as it is explained in the Scripture (1 Cor.
15:1-4). Even the apostles themselves did not use prophecy to fulfill this
commission though they were capable of and occasionally did receive final
prophecies (e.g., John’s Revelation). The power for witnessing comes directly
from the Holy Spirit which now every believer possesses thus enabling each one
to fulfill the commission, and the content of their message is the Word of God
which all believers also now possess. Paul says,
So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by
the word of God (Rom. 10:17). He also wrote that this saving action will
come about through preachers, sent by the churches, preaching that all men
everywhere must call on the name of the Lord (Rom. 10:14-15). A study of the
words for “preacher,” “preaching,” and “preached” will reveal the ministry of a
heralder (kerux) who must speak only what has been given to him by his Master.
Nothing must be added for fear of severe penalty. Thus preachers
preach the word! (2 Tim. 4:2) and
nothing more.
And So . . . .
Modern
day prophecies and prophets are not only unbiblical but are unnecessary,
distracting to the commission of our Lord, and dangerous to the churches as well
as those people who need to hear the gospel clearly. The Scripture is still our
only authority for faith and practice.
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