Have you been wondering what have become of prophets today? Are you wondering if prophets still exist? Do not panic about this matter. We’ll guide you through our writings to better understand what the Bible says about today’s prophets. This is one of the most complex subject matters in the modern Church. In short, a lot of Churches always avoid bringing it on table for discussion. Perhaps this is because it is one of the most complex office in the body of Christ. It is without doubt that many people have abused this powerful office. But is it sufficient for us to eliminate it as most churches have done? I don’t think so because it is there for a powerful purpose when it comes to building the managing the Body of Christ.
Are Prophets today real or false? You can be certain to always have spiritual leaders, friends, and family members who will tell you that prophets today are no more. And that everyone speaking as a prophet is false. This reminds me of Jesus’s words when he said “they are neither going to heaven nor allowing others to go there”. This is to say that you’ll always have people who are not living the truth because they do not know it neither do they want to know it. And for sure, they’ll strive to convince you to follow them. They’ve told you that modern day prophets do not exist. So what next? Are you going to blind-fully follow them or open your Bible to seek God’s opinion about this matter.
Prophets today in the modern Church
Many Christians in the modern Church have been misled by their spiritual leaders concerning the prophetic office. Might be they’ve successfully convinced you that prophets these todays are no more. In order words, they’ve pushed you into believing that everyone who claims to be a modern day prophet is fake. Whatever the case, we are not trying to argue with them. For everyone is able to achieve in the body of Christ only what he/she has first believed in their heart (2 Corinthians 4:13). You might be asking yourself what we mean by this saying? We are simply saying here that Jesus Christ is who you take him to be in your life.
That is, if you believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He’ll obviously do in your life all the things promised in the Bible (Hebrews 13:8). If you take Him for a healer, He will heal you. If you take Him for a savoir, He will save you. Those who take Him for one who had stopped performing wonders and miracles, He won’t perform any in their lives. So what’s the message we are trying to pass here? It’s very clear and simple; faith. Without faith we cannot please God. And you can only receive from God according to your proportion of faith or ability to believe in Him. Many spiritual leaders say that there are no prophets these today because they do not believe in the mighty working power of God.
Was John the Baptist the last prophet?
In my Christian journey, I’ve heard many spiritual leaders say that John the Baptist was the last prophet. They use this saying to convince their followers that prophets today are all fake. As followers of Jesus Christ, the Bible is our chief tool in winning the Christian race. There is no spiritual leader on Earth, Heaven, or below the Earth who will say the contrary. The teachings of Jesus Christ which represent everlasting life are found in the Bible. That’s why we should fully depend on our Bibles and the inspirations of the Holy Spirit rather than inclining towards men who call themselves spiritual leaders.
Are we trying to say here that you are not to respect your spiritual leaders? No, this is not our message. Spiritual leaders have always had their place in the midst of God’s children since creation. That’s why we must respect them just as they are called upon to respect all the teachings of Jesus Christ. But the moment they live the Holy Gospel to teach their own doctrines or those of men, I don’t think they are still considered our guides. Jesus Christ is the one and only True teacher. Hence, everyone who claims to be a spiritual leader must teach only what he heard Jesus and his immediate Apostles in the Bible teach.
Biblical proof that John the Baptist was not the last prophet
Coming back on the saying that John the Baptist was the last prophet and that all prophets today are fake, let’s find out what the Bible says. The Bible clearly denies this saying through the following verses.
Acts 11:27-28 – “About that time some prophets went from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and by the power of the Holy Spirit predicted that a severe famine was about to come over all the earth. (It came when Claudius was emperor.)”, Acts 21:10 – “We had been there for several days when a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea” and Act 15:32 – “Judas and Silas who were themselves prophets, spoke a long time with them, giving them courage and strength.”
All the prophets mentioned above are New Testament prophets who came after the death of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. It is without doubt that Jesus Christ upon sending the Holy Spirit on Earth eventually shared Prophetic powers to those whom he has chosen to contribute in preparing his people for the last day. The above passages in the Bible are sufficient enough to proof the fact that John the Baptist was not the last prophet. And that many more came after him for the sake of the gospel being preached by Jesus Christ.
Did the gift of prophecy end after the foundation of the Church
Many spiritual leaders and folks turn to say that the gift of prophecy ended immediately after the foundation of the Church by the 12 Apostles. In short, they say that this gift was sent and available only during the times of the 12 Apostles for the spreading of he gospel of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Church. Truly speaking, this really sounds suspicious and incomplete. Just as we said, it is not our role to judge what has been said neither argue with those who have said it. We are rather struggling to point out what the Bible is saying. And that’s what we’ll do at this point which is obviously the duty of every Christian. We out to test every teaching through those of Christ in order to remain on the safe side of wining the Christian race (1 Thessalonians 5:20).
Biblical Support
When we read from Revelations 19:10, we are made to know that the revealed truth by Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy. In other words, we’ll say that the testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of prophecy. Hence, saying that the spirit of prophecy is no longer dwelling in the modern Church implies that the testimony of Jesus Christ is not in the modern Church. Yes, you heard me right. If we should base ourselves on that scripture, it’s very obvious to say that a Church that lack the spirit of prophecy is one that lacks the revealed truth of Jesus Christ.
Still in the same spirit of pouring more light on the existence of prophets today, let’s read from 1 Corinthians 12:28 – “In the Church, God has put all in place: in the first place Apostles, in the second place Prophets, and in the third place Teachers; then those who perform miracles, followed by those who are given the power to heal or to hep others or to direct them or to speak in strange tongues.” If we are truly the Church which was established by the Apostles, why then do we suppress, neglect, or reject the above Church setting which was given to Apostle Paul by God.
Could it be that we’ve become more better and important that the early Apostles? I guess not. In 1 Corinthians 14:26, Apostle Paul encourages us to ask and share inspired messages in Church. But today, we prefer to suppress the power of the Holy Spirit and do as it pleases us. May God have mercy on us for abandoning His teachings to teach and follow those of men. For additional information, read our article on the Gift of Prophecy.
Difference between Old and New Testament Prophets
Until we clearly get the difference between Old and New Testament prophets, we’ll continuously have a tendency of saying that prophets today are no more. For many people, it is their first time to hear that there is a difference between the Old and the New Testament prophets. This difference is not from our imaginations, you can clearly read and figure it out from your Bible. The Old Testament Prophets where more of people whom God dictated his laws and teachings through. But the New Testament prophets are more of people who testify the revealed truth of Jesus Christ using the mighty Power of the Holy Spirit (Revelations 19:10).
That’s why you’ll realize that the Old Testament Prophets use to give out their message with a beginning like “Thus, says the Lord your God……….” They were more of people who were chosen and ordained by God to speak out His authoritative message through an authoritative voice. That’s why their message was registered and preserved as Holy teachings in the Synagogues. On the other hand, New Testament Prophets have already received the authoritative message of God that brings eternal life through Jesus Christ. Hence, they can only proclaim or testify it with the evidence of power from the Holy Spirit through miracles and wonders just as Jesus Christ had promised (Mark 16).
The Holy Spirit and New Testament Prophets
We must also add here that the New Testament prophets are moved as the Holy Spirit leads them. They are highly sensitive to God’s inspired messages through the Holy Spirit. That’s why Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:26 and 1 Thessalonians 5:20 that we should not suppress or despise inspired messages from the Holy Spirit. That’s why prophets today are able to receive God’s mind or Godly messages through the Holy Spirit for a Church member or members, the whole Church, a City or Nation. There is no boundary, it depends on God to let His heart known by His servants.
The Prophetic Office in the modern Church
Prophets today are in our midst speaking God’s message, but we are too stubborn and stone-hearten to hear them. We are more interested in finding out their mistakes to shout at the top of our voices. Many are more interested in persecuting and blackmailing them. We prefer to condemn these men and women from God without first listening and testing their teachings with our reference being Jesus’s teachings. Instead of reading our Bibles and knowing the truth, we depend on others who will tel us that don’t go to that man or woman of God, they are fake. The Scripture s say that we should test every teach before concluding that it comes from God or not.
Let’s open our Bibles to Ephesians 4:11-12 -“It was he who “gave gifts”; He Appointed some Apostles, others to be Prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors, and teachers. He did this to prepare all God’s people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ.” The whole chapter makes it clear that Jesus Christ upon raising up from death shared gifts to the rest of mankind including you and me.
These gifts were shared in order for those who have been saved through him to lead the unsaved to salvation as well. They were shared in order to equip God’s people for the Christian service till the next coming of Jesus Christ. Rejecting these gifts is another way of saying that the Christian service is over. And unto my knowledge, it is not yet over. It shall be over when Jesus Christ shall come for the second time. Hence, the prophetic office still has its place in the church today. For additional information, read our article on Prophets today are there.
Importance of the Prophetic Office in today’s Church
Prophets today are of great importance in Church. They play a fundamental and vital role in encouraging, exhorting, and comforting God’s people (1 Corinthians 14:3). In addition, they can be directed by the Holy Spirit to bring correction and direction in the Church as well as sound counseling. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, they can speak forth future events as well as display a greater understanding of past events. They can disclose secrets as well as bring solutions as to problems as the Spirit of God leads them.
An Example of today’s prophet
T.B. Joshua is one of the prophets today that we have in the body of Christ. He is the founder and general overseer of the Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN). Through him, much glory has been directed to God the Father through Jesus Christ. He has been in ministry for over 30 years today. God has been using him mightily to heal all kinds of sicknesses (eve incurable diseases), give sight to the blind, open the ears of the deaf, give speech to the dumb, strengthen the legs of the lame to walk, deliver those under satanic bondage, feed the orphans, widows, and above all preach the true gospel of salvation.
Warning
Our tongues are usually in blaspheming and saying evil against men of God even when we have not tangible proof for our words. We base ourselves on what we here from spiritual leaders, friends, and neighbors to condemn prophets today. But is this the right approach? Let’s be very careful as Jesus Christ said that those who blaspheme, say evil things against the Holy Spirit, or attribute the works and deeds of the Holy Spirit to Satan will never be forgiven (Mark 3:28-30). That’s why I’ll advice you not to hurriedly use your tongue to say evil things against a servant of God who is operating under the power of the Holy Spirit. It is true that Jesus Christ warned us against false prophets who will arise and devour the children of God. They’ll bring new and contradictory doctrines to those of Jesus Christ.
Most will even hide in white cloths and habits yet having evil motives and intentions. Some will use Satanic powers to perform great miracles and turn the hearts of men from Jesus Christ. Yes, they’ll do all these. And they are already doing it. So what’s the right approach to know where you are standing or going? Let’s read from the book of 1 John 4:1-6 were we are told not to believe every spirit without first testing to see if it comes from God. You can only test a spirit by knowing the teachings and voice of Jesus Christ. Whoever teaches contrary to his teachings or uses a different voice is not of God. Gain more knowledge by reading our article on Prophets today are there and the Gift of Prophecy.
Conclusion
This brings us to the conclusion of our article on Prophets today and the existence of God’s messengers in our modern world. Just remember to always pray and call on God to lead you to the right spiritual leaders whom he has chosen. And our heavenly Father who is so good won’t offer you a stone when you ask for bread. He’ll certainly lead you to the right people who will assist you in deeply growing your faith and smoothly running the Christian race.
