Prophets and Prophecy
there are different types of prophecy
“When the Lord called me to preach at age 10, hands were laid on me and they asked the Lord to make me His prophet. I never knew until the late 90’s that this had occurred. I knew I was called to preach and evangelize but never to operate in the prophetic office as well.” Jeremy Brown
Generally, prophecy refers to what has been written in the Bible concerning Jesus and future end time events. Prophecies of the Messiah, the end of time, and conditional prophecies.
Examples of a conditional prophecy are:
If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
Any person who proclaims the three scriptures above, or equivalent, are proclaiming prophecy. A prophet and preacher are much the same. All prophets preach because prophets are proclaimers of truth. Prophets continually utter conditional, as well as unconditional, prophecies.
Prophecy can come to an individual at any time. During preaching, teaching, shopping, resting, walking, visiting, worshipping, or even working. Prophecy can come directly through you from God or it may come through the individual as He operates under the anointing. When the latter happens, the individual is given permission to “speak things that are not as though they were.” This sort of prophecy is referred to as “prophesying to the wind” (Ezekiel 37:9). Many times when God does not give exact wording, you are permitted to speak and move in appropriate ways which will change your surroundings or even the spiritual atmosphere.
Prophets do not only prophesy, preach, and teach. Prophets expose hidden sins. For instance, Nathan went to David and exposed how David had Bathsheba’s husband eliminated. Many of the other Old Testament prophets were known for exposing hidden sin as well.
Many times, people get the other gifts of the spirit like word of wisdom, word of knowledge, and interpretation of tongues mixed up with the gift of prophecy. Go here to view the distinctions: http://www.geocities.com/dexlox/gifts.html
Now what do we do with false prophecies and or false prophets?
I must offer this event to be applied for the same type of situation or person:
Breaking things down, truly all sin is worthy of death but Jesus came and took the penalty of death upon Himself. Let's look at what Jesus thinks about these types of sins:
Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."
Jesus didn't deliver the death penalty for "sexual sin" but gave the woman space, time, and opportunity to change. The woman knew she sinned. Jesus informed her that she sinned, that he didn't condemn her, and told her to "go and sin no more." Let's apply Jesus' method in dealing with people's sexual sins.
Under grace, we can apply the same opportunity for reconciliation and forgiveness to those who are in prophetic error. There are several good Christians who believe the book of Revelation has already been fulfilled. In my past, I believed that these same people were automatically condemned due to Revelation 22:19. Though these persons are in error of their interpretations of prophecy, it is not necessary to believe or disbelieve end time doctrine to gain access to Heaven.
I encourage all readers to do their best to extend grace and forgiveness to all persons who are in prophetic error.
DWJD (Do What Jesus Did)
Things that should cause such a person to be totally avoided:
1) Saying that Jesus is not the Messiah
2) Saying that someone besides Jesus is the Messiah
3) Saying the Bible is not God’s word
4) Saying the Bible is not the only Word of God
5) Saying that rapture has already occurred
And so on...
Remember that you can be forgiven for any type of sin before you die. If your dead, then hope is lost because your last opportunity will have passed.
Jeremy Brown 2003