“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Joel 2:28-31
My most frequent memorable dream is of our house. Well it is our house but it has a secret passage upstairs which leads to a whole hidden floor. Sometimes when I go there, there are people living there, whole families and I realise it is a massive opportunity that so far we have missed. A variation of this dream is that there is another section or even house which we have long forgotten actually belongs to us. The point of the dream, it seems to me, is to tell me there is a much greater wealth which I’ve somehow not realised despite it belonging to me.
The first dream I had was more of a revelation of the way things are. The second dream was prophetic. Both were and are useful.
Today I want to talk about prophecy so that we can learn how to know when God is speaking to us. We live in a world of many voices and of fake news and we need to be able to discern the true from the false. Especially if we are living in the last days before the Day of the Lord that the prophet Joel described.
At our last Elders Meeting, Dean brought a devotion about prophecy and some of the dangers in relying on prophetic words spoken to us. It is not uncommon as we move in Church circles to hear a person say that God has said this or that and it is always interesting to hear predictions about the future. But don’t forget that people of the world are also interested in the future, that is why they read horoscopes and go to fortune tellers and we know those are no good !
Dean’s main point is we need to be discerning, we need to recognise when a word is from God by testing and proving it is true. All prophecy is to be tested. An instant reaction to it, whether positive or a negative may not be the right response.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2
- First it shows us that the will of God must be “proved,” that is, it must be examined and verified and embraced. “that you may prove what the will of God is. . . .”
- The second thing it shows us is that this examining and verifying and accepting is done by the Christian mind: “Be transformed in the renewal of your mind, that you may prove. . . .” It is the mind of the Christian that does the proving of the will of God.
- Third, it shows us that for this to happen the mind must be renewed. “Be transformed in the renewal of your mind, that you may prove. . . .” Ordinary human thinking will not be able to examine and verify and embrace the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
There are 2 connected words - hind and fore. Be-fore Be-hind
To have “foresight” - to see something “before” it happens.
The opposite is “hindsight” - to look “behind” and to understand.
But the 2 are connected. In a simple illustration, think of a horse with its hind legs and it’s fore legs.
What does a prophet look like and do?
⁃ Speaks or writes the word of God which is truth. By that definition, all the Gospel writers were prophets of God and you are too when you witness
⁃ Speaks on behalf of God and in the Old Testament spoke to the King counselling how to lead the people
⁃ Speaks in advance of an event as a warning or exhortation ⁃ Produces good fruit
Who is a prophet ?
⁃ A heavyweight in God’s Kingdom. Not a lightweight giving off nice words here and there like a lolly scramble but giving a strong, dependable message with a consistent theme
⁃ Very humble, a servant of all. Not wearing fancy clothes or living in a palatial home
John the Baptist
When John’s disciples had gone, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “When you went out into the barren wilderness to see John, what did you expect him to be like? Grass blowing in the wind? Or were you expecting to see a man dressed as a prince in a palace? Or a prophet of God? Yes, and he is more than just a prophet. For John is the man mentioned in the Scriptures—a messenger to precede me, to announce my coming, and prepare people to receive me. “Truly, of all men ever born, none shines more brightly than John the Baptist. And yet, even the lesser lights in the Kingdom of Heaven will be greater than he is! And from the time John the Baptist began preaching and baptizing until now, ardent multitudes have been crowding toward the Kingdom of Heaven, for all the laws and prophets looked forward to the Messiah. Then John appeared, and if you are willing to understand what I mean, he is Elijah, the one the prophets said would come at the time the Kingdom begins. If ever you were willing to listen, listen now!
Matthew 11:7-15
The message a prophet brings is called a prophecy. His message is the good seed as in the Parable of the Sower.
“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed...”
Mark 4:3
God has promised that his Word will produce fruit ! And it is always good fruit 😊
As the rain and snow come down from heaven and stay upon the ground to water the earth, and cause the grain to grow and to produce seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry, so also is my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It shall accomplish all I want it to and prosper everywhere I send it.
Isaiah 55:10-11
Sometimes I worry that the Gospel seed that I have planted has come to nothing. This week I was on a Budgeting course and the trainer said something very profound. She said that often people come looking for help with their finances because they've gotten in trouble with debt and can't make ends meet. So you do the work with them and they are soon back on track and because everything is going well they abandon the budget you have helped them set up. She said, "Don't worry, the rain will come and then the seed you've planted will grow." That is God's promise. His seed always bears fruit but sometimes it has to wait a long time for the rain to come in the person's life.
Remember God is our Father. Sometimes God’s word to us will be convicting, sometimes approving, sometimes encouraging, sometimes stern, sometimes instructive but always given in love. Finally we know our parents love us and have our best interests at heart even if we don’t always agree with them!
But we know there are false prophets who bring false prophecies; ⁃ Do you know anyone who said they’ve spoken a message from God that never came true ? A false prophet is very dangerous because they mislead people against God. They sow weeds into our lives !
Here is another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer sowing good seed in his field; but one night as he slept, his enemy came and sowed thistles among the wheat. When the crop began to grow, the thistles grew too. “The farmer’s men came and told him, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that choice seed is full of thistles!’ “‘An enemy has done it,’ he exclaimed. “‘Shall we pull out the thistles?’ they asked. “‘No,’ he replied. ‘You’ll hurt the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest, and I will tell the reapers to sort out the thistles and burn them, and put the wheat in the barn.’”
Matthew 13:24-30
The wheat is on the left in the picture, the tares are on the right. They look the same but one is worthless and produces nothing.
Here are a few examples of weed seed;
“Do What You Want (as long as you don’t hurt anyone)”
“All roads lead to Rome”
“All religions are the same”
“Live and let live”
“All you need is love”
“Beware of false teachers who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are wolves and will tear you apart. You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You need never confuse grapevines with thorn bushes or figs with thistles. Different kinds of fruit trees can quickly be identified by examining their fruit. A variety that produces delicious fruit never produces an inedible kind. And a tree producing an inedible kind can’t produce what is good. So the trees having the inedible fruit are chopped down and thrown on the fire. Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit produced.
Matthew 7:15-20
What is wrong with this picture ?
We can detect a false prophet by the way they live and the fruit they produce.
Without condemning any particular musician, we can ask if the musician is living a godly life and producing good fruit. They are very wealthy because their message is so popular. We like the sound of their songs and we sing along to their messages daily but the message needs to be checked because it is seed and will have an impact as we subscribe to it and inevitably act on it.
Same with the movies and TV. The most popular TV series involve murder, people sleeping around, living together without being married. People have subscribed to that thinking, now we have a society where more than 50% of people live together before getting married. We are not far off the last days prophecy when people will say it is wrong to get married. Programmes like “Love at First Sight” are only encouraging short term marriages.
But we are children of God; that is why only those who have walked and talked with God will listen to us. Others won’t. That is another way to know whether a message is really from God; for if it is, the world won’t listen to it.
1 John 4:6
A popular message will attract a lot of money because people like to hear it. A true prophet of God is unlikely to have a lot of money, it is an unpopular message that the World won’t listen to. I am not saying that all wealthy musicians, actors and even preachers are false prophets. But I am saying their messages need to be checked carefully because wealth = popularity = of the world and not of God
We are told to test the prophets.
Dearly loved friends, don’t always believe everything you hear just because someone says it is a message from God: test it first to see if it really is. For there are many false teachers around, and the way to find out if their message is from the Holy Spirit is to ask: Does it really agree that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, actually became man with a human body? If so, then the message is from God. If not, the message is not from God but from one who is against Christ, like the “Antichrist” you have heard about who is going to come, and his attitude of enmity against Christ is already abroad in the world.
1 John 4:1-3
The Old Testament law said a false prophet must be put to death. We don’t do that literally but we can do that by stopping listening to false prophets. It is to be taken very seriously.
If there is a prophet among you, or one who claims to foretell the future by dreams, and if his predictions come true but he says, ‘Come, let us worship the gods of the other nations,’ don’t listen to him. For the Lord is testing you to find out whether or not you really love him with all your heart and soul. You must never worship any God but Jehovah; obey only his commands and cling to him. “The prophet who tries to lead you astray must be executed, for he has attempted to foment rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of slavery in the land of Egypt. By executing him you will clear out the evil from among you.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5
Finally, “the proof is in the pudding” - By the way the prophet lives and the fruit produced, the truth of the person, and their agreement that Jesus is God in the flesh we can confirm the person is a true prophet.
But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; and here there is no conflict with Jewish laws.
Galatians 5:22-23
Logic!" said the Professor half to himself. "Why don't they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn't tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth.
The Professor to Peter and Susan in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
Horse and Rider - Revelation
Jesus - Rider Horse - head, front and rear. The horse goes where the rider wants, but the rear legs follow the front and gives power. The power comes from the back. Same with a boat or a car. The exception is a car with front wheel drive.
Then I saw heaven opened and a white horse standing there; and the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True—the one who justly punishes and makes war. His eyes were like flames, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on his forehead, and only he knew its meaning. He was clothed with garments dipped in blood, and his title was “The Word of God.” The armies of heaven, dressed in finest linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. In his mouth he held a sharp sword to strike down the nations; he ruled them with an iron grip; and he trod the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. On his robe and thigh was written this title: “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” Revelation 19:11-16
Above all else we have Jesus and what he said.
Long ago God spoke in many different ways to our fathers through the prophets, in visions, dreams, and even face to face, telling them little by little about his plans. But now in these days he has spoken to us through his Son to whom he has given everything and through whom he made the world and everything there is.
Hebrews 1:1-2
