Today we want to continue our study in
the subject that we started yesterday, the truth
about prophecy.
And we want to look at the Old
Testament today, what we're going to do is
we'll look at the New Testament tomorrow and
then on the last day we'll have a
time of questions and answers.
So if you remember what I said yesterday,
in the Old Testament there were seven words
that described the seven ministries that a prophet
was supposed to have.
Now, the only reason we look at that
is so that we get a background understanding
of what the prophetic ministry was all about.
Now it's very easy if you look up
a concordance, you'll discover something that in the
Old Testament, prophesying, the word prophesying is mentioned
very little, but prophet comes very often.
But when you come to the New Testament,
you hardly read the word prophet, especially after
the day of Pentecost where the New Covenant
begins, but you read more about prophesying.
And there are hardly any prophets mentioned in
the New Testament.
This is an amazing thing, that you just
need a concordance to discover that, but hundreds
of them in the Old Testament.
So the emphasis in the New Testament is
on prophesying and the ministry, but in the
Old Testament it was the person of the
prophet.
Now whenever people have not understood the New
Covenant, like most Christians have not understood the
New Covenant at all, they tend to go
back to the Old Testament for everything.
One of the clearest proofs is that when
Christians don't live a life of victory over
sin, it's a clear proof that they are
back under the Old Covenant, because victory over
sin was not promised under the Old Covenant,
it's a New Covenant promise.
It's just one example, I could go to
many others, but just that much as an
introduction.
So we look at the Old Testament to
provide us a background, because in a sense
it's these ministries that should characterize all of
us, to a greater or lesser measure.
We saw yesterday that the New Covenant promises
that God will pour out His Spirit on
all mankind, that includes you and me.
It's not on a special person here or
a special person there.
My dear brothers and sisters, young brothers and
sisters, you must seek God with all your
heart, that the Spirit of God is poured
out upon you.
You'll never be able to serve God effectively
with Bible knowledge.
No matter how much you study the Bible,
you can spend a hundred years studying the
Bible, you will not be able to serve
God if the Spirit of God is not
poured out upon you.
And you must claim this, that when the
Spirit of God is poured out, you, being
a son and a daughter of God, will
prophesy.
So it's with that in the background that
we study the subject.
It's not theoretical.
Nothing in the Bible is meant to be
theoretical.
It's practical, intensely practical.
So everything I say does not apply to
some full-time workers or pastors or missionaries,
but for every child of God in the
New Covenant.
So what were those seven ministries I mentioned
yesterday?
First, a prophet is a seer.
That's mentioned in 1 Samuel 9 verse 18.
He was one who could see, because God
gave him discernment.
We need that today, to see the dangers
there are if we go in a particular
direction.
And a prophet needs to warn a church
about that.
And the second word we saw was a
mystic or a man with vision, one who
is a worshipper, who lives close to God,
who sees the glory of God.
And because he lives in God's presence, his
spiritual faculties are sharpened to see and have
vision concerning the future.
And therefore he can direct God's people in
the right direction.
So these first two words relate to a
man's connection with God.
And then the third word was a burden
bearer.
Prophets carried a burden, a burden which God
put upon their heart, and they stuck to
that burden till the end of their life.
And nobody could remove it.
And when God calls us also, he gives
us a particular burden.
The fourth word we saw was a herald
or one who proclaims something.
And the fifth was one who is a
spokesman or a mouthpiece of God.
These two relate to speaking forth God's word.
And then the last two we saw was
a watchman, who stands on the wall and
watches for the enemy.
And the last one was a shepherd.
So all these ministries were there in the
ministry of a prophet to a greater or
lesser extent.
And as we seek to prophesy to a
greater or lesser extent, these things must characterize.
All seven must be found in us to
some extent.
It's not only a pastor who is a
shepherd.
Even a young 15-year-old wholehearted Christian
can be a shepherd to a 7-year
-old child.
So all these ministries can be found in
us.
Now we go to the study of the
prophets and prophecy in the Old Testament.
And I want to show you something that
the first two people who prophesied in the
Old Testament, the very first two, were Enoch
and Noah.
Now the prophecy of Enoch is not mentioned
in the Old Testament, but it is mentioned
in the book of Jude, in verse 14
and 15, where it says about Enoch prophesying
the second coming of Christ.
In Jude, verse 14 and 15, about Christ
coming to judge sinners.
So Enoch spoke about judgment upon the ungodly.
Now it's very interesting to see this, that
the first prophecy mentioned in scripture by a
man was a prophecy concerning Jude 15, judgment
on the ungodly for all their ungodly deeds
which they have done in their ungodly ways
and the things which ungodly sinners have spoken
against him.
So in Enoch's prophecy, four times he's speaking
about ungodly people.
Now that is generally speaking the emphasis of
all the prophets in the Old Testament and
the New Testament.
They are hitting out against ungodliness and sin.
Please remember this.
The second prophecy is from Noah concerning his
son.
You know the story where his son Ham
came and spoke about his father lying naked
and Noah made a prophecy there in Genesis
9 and verse 25 saying, Cursed be Canaan,
who was Ham's son.
A servant of servants will he be to
his brothers and blessed be the Lord of
Shem and Japheth.
And that prophecy was literally fulfilled showing that
Noah was also a prophet.
Again, notice this.
The prophecy was concerning judgment against sin.
The sin of a disrespectful attitude towards his
father.
So it's very interesting to see this, that
prophecy begins in the Old Testament with this
warning to sinners, not to play the fool
with God, but that God would judge them
severely for sin.
The other thing that we notice about both
these men, Enoch and Noah, I don't know
whether you've noticed it, that both of them
walked with God.
It says in Genesis 5 verse 24 that
Enoch walked with God and it says in
Genesis 6 verse 9 that Noah walked with
God.
The first two people who prophesied and who
were prophets in the Old Testament were also
people who walked with God.
Now that's also significant, that prophecy comes out
of a walk with God.
This is how prophecy began in the Old
Testament and that's how God intended that it
should continue all the way through.
That's not, unfortunately, how it's gone.
But if we want to come back to
God's original pattern and plan for prophesying, remember
it doesn't begin with predicting the future.
No, it begins with walking with God.
Prophecy is a gift of the Holy Spirit
and we can compare it to a vessel,
say a beautiful glass, but the life which
the prophet has as a result of his
walk with God is what is inside the
glass.
So a person can have a fantastic gift
of prophecy.
It's like a beautiful glass and if he
doesn't have life, it's empty, there's no water
in it.
It doesn't satisfy the thirst of somebody who
is needy, even though the glass is beautiful.
And another person may not have such a
fantastic gift of prophecy, but he's got water
in the glass, he's got the life of
Christ in him, and that man can actually
bless people more with an inferior gift of
prophecy than the other person with a superior
gift of prophecy but who doesn't walk with
God.
So that's why these two things must always
be balanced.
And that's why we see right at the
beginning of scripture, the two first prophets walking
with God and prophesying.
And if you want to do it God's
way, that is the way.
And that's what we should look for, first
of all, in any person who calls himself
a prophet.
Do I sense that this man is walking
with God?
Do I sense that this man is walking
with Jesus Christ?
Now how do we know?
The more you walk with Christ, the more
you become like him.
And that is the thing that we should
look for.
Now having said that, we go to Genesis
chapter 20 where we read about the first
reference to the word prophet in the Bible.
And there it's God himself saying concerning Abraham,
God saying about Abraham, Abraham is a prophet.
Again, what do we see?
Abraham was a man of faith.
He didn't predict the future, but he was
a prophet.
So we see that a prophet does not
necessarily have to predict the future, but he
could be a spokesman for God, speaking forth
God's word without necessarily predicting the future.
It's very important to see that.
Abraham is called here a prophet.
We go now to Exodus chapter 7 verse
1 where we read the second time the
word prophet comes in the Bible.
And here is where we can really understand
what prophet really means.
Because when we think of prophesying, remember this
applies to us according to Acts chapter 2
verse 17 and 18 if the Spirit is
poured upon us.
Here is what it means to prophesy.
Here is what it means to be a
prophet.
It's interesting, this is not referring to a
prophet of God, but a prophet of Moses.
Exodus chapter 7 verse 1, the Lord said
to Moses, I am going to make you
like God to Pharaoh and your brother Aaron
shall be your prophet.
And there we understand what the meaning of
prophet is.
You shall speak all that I command you,
in other words he would tell Aaron, and
your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh.
So you see a prophet is someone who
is a spokesman for somebody else.
Because Moses went up to God and said,
oh I can't speak God, I don't have
any ability, he said that in chapter 4.
And God said okay, Aaron will be your
prophet.
He will speak, you tell him what to
speak.
So what is a prophet?
A prophet is not necessarily somebody predicting the
future.
It's a wrong understanding that a lot of
people have.
That the only person who is a prophet
is someone who predicts the future.
It's someone who is speaking forth on behalf
of somebody else.
And we will see that more when we
come into the New Testament, where there is
very little of predicting the future.
99% of New Testament prophecy relates to
speaking forth the word of God.
Telling people what God is saying, not predicting
the future.
A lot of Old Testament prophecy was predicting
the future, concerning the coming of Christ, concerning
the judgment of the nations, etc.
But not all.
In fact the greatest prophet of all, do
you know who that was in the Old
Testament period?
It was John the Baptist.
He lived under the old covenant.
Remember the new covenant began in the day
of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2.
And up until that time the greatest prophet,
Jesus himself said, born of women, was John
the Baptist.
The greatest prophet of all time.
He did not predict one thing about the
future.
But he spoke forth God's word.
And what was the message of the greatest
prophet of all time?
John the Baptist.
Repentance.
Do you see that?
How in the Old Testament began with Enoch
preaching to ungodly sinners to repent lest God
judge them.
And ends with John the Baptist preaching repentance
to sinners so that they can turn to
him.
The burden of the prophets throughout the Old
Testament was holiness, holiness, holiness.
Not prosperity.
Prosperity was promised to the Israelites in the
new old covenant.
It's not promised to the Christians in the
new covenant.
But it was promised to the Israelites under
the old covenant.
But it was contingent on their repenting and
turning to God.
And the false prophets were the ones who
offered Israel peace and prosperity without their being
holy.
That's one of the ways we can distinguish
a false prophet from a true prophet.
A true prophet emphasizes holiness, repentance, turning from
sin, God's judgment on ungodliness.
A false prophet emphasizes prosperity and doesn't really
matter how you live.
God wants to bless you materially.
It's right through the Old Testament.
And that's why if we see this clearly
in the Old Testament we'll be protected from
the multitudes of false prophets that are roaming
around in Christendom today.
Now let's turn to Numbers chapter 22.
What I'm going to do is take you
through the Old Testament and show you some
of the important things in relation to prophecy
that we find in the Old Testament.
In Numbers chapter 22 we read of another
prophet.
And this is Balaam.
It's interesting.
Balaam was a prophet and if you read
his prophecy in Numbers chapter 23 and 24.
You know Balaam, I told you yesterday, predicted
the coming of Jesus Christ.
You read that in Numbers 24, 17.
A star will come from Jacob.
Balaam was a man who predicted the coming
of Christ.
One of the first prophets in the Old
Testament to predict the coming of Christ was
a man who went after money.
So just because a man says something which
is going to be fulfilled, it does not
mean he's a man who's accepted by God.
Isaiah predicted the coming of Christ.
Balaam predicted the coming of Christ.
Isaiah went to heaven, Balaam went to hell.
If you needed advice, whom would you go
to?
Isaiah or Balaam?
There are Isaiahs and Balaams in the world
today.
Be careful, just because something happens, everything that
Balaam said about Israel was true.
But notice what it says about him in
Numbers chapter 22 and verse 7.
When Balak, the king of Moab, wanted Balaam
to come and prophesy against Israel, it says
he sent the elders of Moab and the
elders of Midian, and notice this, with the
fees for divination.
Divination is another word for witchcraft.
A lot of people who were involved in
Old Testament prophesying, the false prophets especially, were
very closely linked with witchcraft.
They didn't know which spirit was operating on
them.
You see, it's not just the Holy Spirit
who knows about your past life.
The devil knows every detail about your past
life.
He's got enough demons floating around the world
to know the exact details of someone's past
life.
So someone possessed with a demon could tell
you every detail about your past life, not
knowing anything about you, and you'd think that
man is a prophet.
He's not a prophet.
He could be possessed with a demon.
In fact, some years ago I read in
the newspaper about a small baby born somewhere
in North India, and when she began to
speak, she spoke, speaking about her past life
as an old lady who died in some
other part of India the same day when
she was born.
And there were people who, she was a
Hindu girl, and they said this is the
proof of reincarnation, that when a soul dies,
it's born back into the world, and they
said here is the proof.
This little girl says every little detail about
a thousand miles away where some old lady
who died when she was over 80 years
old, every little detail of that life.
Now a person who doesn't know about demons
and about the devil would be absolutely surprised.
And that sounds like a real proof of
reincarnation.
I mean, as soon as I read it,
I knew that's just a demon.
A demon got into that girl, and knowing
all the details of that other person's life,
describes it.
Now I'm surprised that Christians are fooled by
this type of people coming forth and saying
something about your past or some detail about
your life, and you wonder how in the
world did that person know.
Don't imagine that that's always from God.
So that's just a warning.
Divination.
The point I want you to notice here
is, King knew that if I want to
get Balaam to prophesy, I've got to give
him money.
Notice how money comes in straight away, right
at the beginning of the Bible, with false
prophets.
That's why I told you yesterday, it's by
a person's attitude to money that you discover
whether he's a true prophet or not.
It's a fundamental point.
And that's why the early apostles warned people
that if a man is interested in money,
he can never be a true prophet of
God.
I have followed that rule literally, totally, and
I have never once in my life been
deceived or disappointed.
It's absolutely true because Jesus said there are
only two masters in the world, Luke 16,
13, God and money.
A true prophet serves God, a false prophet
is interested in money.
And haven't you seen pastors and prophets claiming
to be Christians, quoting the Bible, interested in
money?
I'm amazed that people who read the Bible
can be fooled by such people.
Remember, Balaam prophesied everything correctly, including the coming
of Christ.
But he wanted a salary for his services.
And the king knew that.
And when he didn't come first, the king
knew, well, if I offer him a higher
salary, he will come.
And he went with more money.
And that's exactly how a lot of people,
Christian organizations, are drawing people.
Well, I'll offer you a higher salary if
you don't come for the first salary I
offer.
Where did it start?
Balaam is the first example of it in
the Old Testament.
And he was a false prophet.
That's not Christianity.
Jesus didn't offer a salary to Peter and
James and John when he called them to
serve him.
There's tremendous amount of deception, but if you
can keep this one thing in mind, is
this guy interested in money?
Then he's a false prophet.
As far as I'm concerned, I would write
him off immediately as a false prophet.
So we see, they recognize that.
In fact, in the Old Testament, we read
another example in the book of Judges, chapter
17, where a man wanted a priest.
And he said, come and be a priest
in my house, and I'll give you so
much salary, I'll give you a change of
clothes, and the guy came.
Examples of this in the Old Testament.
In the New Testament, Balaam is mentioned a
number of times.
Peter says in 2 Peter 2.15 about
the madness of Balaam.
What is the madness of Balaam?
This man who prophesied about the coming of
Christ.
His madness was that he ran after money.
And it also says in 2 Peter 2
.15-16.
In the book of Judges, we read about
the error of Balaam.
In Revelation 2.14 we read about the
doctrine of Balaam.
So we see, Balaam is mentioned in the
New Testament as a warning to New Testament
people who seek to prophesy.
Yes, you can prophesy when the Spirit comes
upon you.
But remember Balaam.
And don't become spiritually mad like he was.
Now we go to Deuteronomy chapter 13.
In Deuteronomy chapter 13 and verse 2, let's
start with verse 1.
If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams
arises among you and gives you a sign
or a wonder, and the sign or the
wonder comes true.
Now you see, as soon as that happens,
a sign or a wonder comes true, most
Christians would immediately swallow it, provided the man
calls himself a Christian.
Now this is not talking about some heathen
religion.
It says here, arises among you.
That means there's a man there who accepts
the law of Moses, he was an Israelite,
worshipping the true God, and he speaks of
a sign and a wonder.
Now if a non-Christian man did it,
we would all reject him.
But what if a Christian came and did
a miracle in the name of Jesus, prophesied
in the name of Jesus.
This is referring to such a case.
And gives you a sign or a wonder.
And the sign or the wonder comes true,
concerning which he spoke to you, but he
says, let us go after other gods and
let us serve them.
You shall not listen to the words of
that prophet or that dreamer of dreams.
I told you there are only two gods.
God and money.
So when you have a prophet arising among
you, saying something and it works, the sign
comes true or the miracle takes place, or
the words he speaks comes true, and then
you find he's interested in money.
Or he tells you how you can make
more money, how you can get a better
car or a better house.
That's another god.
That's not what Jesus came.
Jesus came to lead us to worship the
true and living God, our Father in heaven.
But when he leads you in another direction,
remember always this, what Jesus said, there are
only two masters in the world, Luke 16,
13.
God and money.
Nobody will ask you to serve the devil.
Jesus did not say the two masters were
God and Satan.
That's the mistake we make and that's why
we go astray.
Babylon that you read off in the Old
Testament, you read chapter 17 and chapter 18
of Revelation together, you find that Babylon is
not serving the devil.
Babylon is an economic religious system.
Chapter 18 is describing Babylon as an economic
system and 17 as a religious system, and
it's the combination of the two.
It's the combination of Christianity plus money that
produces Babylon.
Jerusalem.
That's why Babylon is called great 11 times
in the book of Revelation and Jerusalem is
called holy.
The true church is holy.
It's not rich.
It's holy.
And that's the primary characteristic of true Christianity.
So here we see a prophet leads us
to be interested in materialism, in material things,
and how we can get this and how
we can get that.
And the devil knows that everybody in the
world loves money, unless Jesus delivers us from
it.
You shall not listen to the words of
that prophet.
How many Christians obey that?
Why does God allow such a false prophet
to come into the midst of his people?
Listen to this.
This is the verse that tells us why
God permits it.
It's exactly like the tree of knowledge of
good and evil in the Garden of Eden.
Why did God place that tree of knowledge
of good and evil in the Garden of
Eden?
You know the answer.
To test.
Even Jesus needed to be tested in the
wilderness.
How much more you and I.
Do you know how God, he tests us
through many ways.
One of the ways he tests Christians today
and he tested the Israelites in the Old
Testament was by allowing false prophets to come
into their midst.
To see what are these people really interested
in.
Are they interested in me or are they
interested in money?
And so the false prophet comes and it
says here in verse 3, The Lord your
God is testing you to find out whether
you love the Lord your God with all
your heart and all your soul or whether
you love the Lord your God in a
little corner of your heart and most of
your heart is interested in a comfortable life
and in money and things like that.
I tell you there's nobody who can find
that out in your life like a false
prophet.
He comes along and he prophesies some material
gain for you and God immediately finds out
the condition of your heart.
So there we are told Christianity is a
supernatural religion.
I believe that.
We have to experience supernatural answers to prayer
in our life.
Particularly after we are filled with the Holy
Spirit.
We enter the realm of the supernatural.
But everything supernatural is not from God.
Please remember that.
Here is an example where it is shown
that the miraculous is often used by God
to test his people.
People who come in the name of Jesus
can do miracles.
But they may be workers of iniquity as
I said yesterday.
Now we go to Deuteronomy chapter 18 and
verse This is speaking about a true prophet.
In verse 20 and 22.
The prophet who shall speak a word presumptuously
in my name which I have not commanded
him to speak or which he shall speak
in the name of other gods that prophet
shall die.
A prophet may speak in the name of
Jehovah or Yahweh.
In the name of the Lord.
But if he speaks what the Lord has
not told him to speak.
It was such a serious sin in the
Old Testament that the prophet had to be
killed.
You couldn't play the fool.
You couldn't say well I think what I
am saying is from the Lord.
There are a whole lot of people today
trying to learn how to prophesy.
There are a lot of people going around
teaching people how to prophesy.
I heard recently of a meeting where people
sit together and they are told whatever comes
into your mind just say it.
That's a prophecy.
Imagine if you were in the Old Testament
they'd kill you.
It's a good thing you are not in
the Old Testament.
It says imagine if a prophet presumptuously seeks
to speak in my name saying thus said
the Lord and you say whatever comes into
your mind.
According to that Old Testament law you got
to be killed.
You know the trouble today is God's people
don't fear him.
I don't believe in saying thus said the
Lord.
Unless it's a word from scripture.
That I can say.
Thus said the Lord.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll
be saved.
Sure.
We can be absolutely clear when we are
quoting scripture.
Which is the word of God.
But if you are presumptuous to say something
which God Almighty has not commanded you to
say.
My brother, sister, you better be careful.
We are supposed to fear God in the
New Covenant more than in the Old Covenant.
Why?
Because we have a greater revelation of God
in Christ than they had in the Old
Covenant.
And so here is something that should bring
a real fear into our heart.
About presuming to speak something.
In the New Testament the Apostle Paul says
in 1 Corinthians chapter 7.
Number of places he says concerning this matter.
I have no commandment from the Lord but
I give my opinion.
And at the end of the chapter in
the last verse of 1 Corinthians 7 he
says.
I think I have the spirit of God.
I would any day trust such a man.
Then all these multitudes of people going around
saying thus said the Lord.
Humbuds.
Be careful.
Don't be deceived.
The other thing we read about a prophet
here is verse 22.
You may say in your heart verse 21.
How shall we know the word which the
Lord has not spoken?
How do we know whether this man.
This is a very real question.
Lot of people have today.
How do I know whether this man is
from the Lord or not?
Ok.
Here is the answer.
When a prophet speaks in the name of
the Lord.
If the thing does not come about or
come true.
That is the thing which the Lord has
not spoken.
The prophet has spoken it presumptuously.
You shall not be afraid of him.
Now you know what that means in practical
terms.
Now if I say.
It's going to rain tomorrow.
That doesn't make me a prophet.
I hope you know that.
Or if I say there will be sunshine
day after tomorrow.
That doesn't make me a prophet.
Just because the sun shines.
I mean there is a high degree of
probability that might rain tomorrow.
It may shine.
Sun may shine day after tomorrow.
You know we got to be.
Not be deceived by people who say generalized
things like that.
But the meaning of this is.
If a man says a hundred things.
In the name of the Lord.
And if one of them.
Does not come to pass.
He is a false prophet.
You got it?
If one out of the hundred things he
said.
Did not come to pass.
As far as I am concerned.
He is a totally false prophet.
Why do I say that?
Every true prophet in the Old Testament.
They said so many things.
Think of the things they said concerning Jesus
Christ.
The prophecies.
Every one of them was fulfilled.
They lived right down to the last detail.
There is not a single thing that was
not fulfilled.
There are verses in the Bible that say
that.
Not one thing which the Lord promised.
Was not fulfilled.
Moses was a true prophet.
Isaiah was a true prophet.
Every single jot and tittle.
Of everything they said was fulfilled.
That is the mark of a true prophet.
Please remember that.
I am absolutely amazed.
At the number of Christians.
Who either have not studied the Bible.
Or they have no respect for the Bible.
Who just swallow what people say.
And imagine that people who.
Say things which are not fulfilled.
Are still true prophets of God.
Be careful.
About what you say.
You know we cannot afford to be.
In error in prophecy.
It is not like the gift of healing.
In the gift of healing.
If you pray for a hundred people.
And one of them only is healed.
Like in many.
Many people with healing ministries.
They pray for a hundred people.
Percentage success rate is about one percent.
One person is healed.
Okay.
But he has not done any harm to
the other ninety nine percent.
I mean they did not get more sick.
After he prayed for them.
Okay he prayed for a hundred people.
One person was healed.
Thank God at least one person was healed.
Ninety nine percent were not healed.
But think of prophecy.
Supposing a man goes around prophesying to a
hundred people.
Now thus said the Lord.
You must marry so and so.
Or thus said the Lord.
You must leave your job and go here.
Or thus said the Lord.
This is what the Lord is supposed to
do.
And a hundred cases.
Ninety nine times he is wrong.
Can you imagine the confusion and chaos.
And destruction he has brought into.
Ninety nine percent of people.
It is not in the same category as
healing.
In prophecy.
You got to be.
The success rate has got to be one
hundred percent.
It is very very important.
And that is why.
In the beginning I would say.
Stick to the word of God.
I am amazed that so many people.
Who want to prophesy.
I do not read the Bible carefully.
How in the world.
Can you prophesy.
If you do not read the scriptures.
Here is something.
Which is definitely God's word.
Okay.
We move on to.
1 Samuel chapter 3.
Here we read of.
Samuel as a little boy.
You know it is amazing.
In the Old Testament there were little boys
who were prophets.
There were farmers.
There were kings.
All types of people and prophets.
And here we read.
That in those days.
1 Samuel 3.
The word from the Lord was rare.
And visions were.
Visions of God.
Were infrequent.
That means there was no man.
Who was living close enough to God.
Who was interested in God.
It says in the book of Judges.
There was no king in Israel.
Everybody did what was right in his own
eyes.
But in the midst of it.
There was this little boy who grew up.
Who had a very young age.
He began to have a hunger for God.
And the Lord spoke to him.
And he said.
Speak Lord.
Your servant is listening.
Speak Lord.
Your servant is listening.
1 Samuel 3.9. This is the attitude.
Of a true prophet.
He lives before God's face.
Every day.
And he's listening.
Listening.
It says about Jesus in Isaiah 50 verse
4.
The Lord God has opened my ear.
To listen.
Every morning.
Every day God woke him up.
To listen.
This is how a true prophet must be.
Listening.
And then he says.
Because I got a word from my father.
Isaiah 50 verse 4.
I could give a word to the weary
person.
Who came across my path that day.
Who needed that word.
You know what a tremendous privilege it is.
To prophesy like this.
Who knows that tomorrow.
Some weary person.
And the world is full of weary people.
May come to you.
You may never stand in a pulpit in
all your life.
But some weary person may come to you.
And if you have had the habit of
listening.
Listening.
You can be a one who prophesies.
You may not be a prophet or a
prophetess.
But you can prophesy.
To that person.
What does that mean?
Like Aaron spoke what Moses told him.
That's what the Hebrew Nabi.
Which is used in our.
Some Indian languages too.
Prophet.
Speaks forth what God spoke to you.
And that's exactly the word.
That he needs to encourage him.
And lift his spirit.
I believe all of us can develop this
habit.
And if we allow the spirit of God.
To rest upon us and fill us.
We can prophesy.
Almost every day of our life.
Okay.
So we read here of Samuel.
And one amazing word.
I remember this word challenged me tremendously.
When I was a young man.
In my early twenties.
And I started preaching God's word.
And I read this verse in.
One Samuel 3.19. Where it says Samuel
grew.
And the Lord was with him.
This is the mark.
Of a person who is listening to God.
God is with him.
And God.
Did not allow.
Any of Samuel's words.
To fall to the ground.
That means if Samuel spoke.
25 words in a sentence.
To somebody.
Only 25 words.
What's that?
One sentence.
All 25 words went straight home.
To the person's heart.
My brothers and sisters.
That's how we should speak.
Let your conversation.
Be always with grace.
That you know.
Colossians 4.6. That you know exactly how
to give an answer.
To everyone who comes to you.
I believe that's how we should preach from
the pulpit.
When not a single word.
Is wasted.
Every word goes straight home.
To people's hearts.
Whether you speak for 5 minutes.
Or 50 minutes.
That it must go home to people's hearts.
We must.
Seek to prophesy like that.
In personal conversation.
In the pulpit.
Everywhere.
Because in this new covenant age.
God's sons and daughters.
Are called to prophesy.
Make this your goal.
I want to show you another verse.
In chapter 9.
Chapter 9.
And verse.
Here we read about Saul.
Looking for his donkeys.
And he couldn't find them.
Then his servant said.
We read here in verse 6.
He said to him.
Behold now there's a man of God in
this city.
And he's referring to Samuel.
He said let's go to Samuel.
And he'll probably tell us where the donkeys
are.
And then Saul said in verse 7.
How can we go and see this man
of God.
Because verse 7.
Last part.
We don't have any gifts.
To give him.
See this is the concept people had in
the mind.
If I go to a prophet.
I must give him money.
If a pastor comes to my house.
I must have my envelope ready.
With some money inside.
To give it to him.
This is Balaam.
This is all the doctrine of Balaam.
Don't be deceived by it.
Anyway.
He said okay.
We'll take something and go to him.
And notice what happened.
When they went with this gift.
There's no record that Samuel ever took this
gift.
From Saul.
But when Samuel came.
When Saul met Samuel.
Samuel anointed him.
We read there.
And then.
What did Samuel do?
It says here.
Samuel.
Gave him a gift.
He said in verse 23.
Bring the portion.
Which I said to you to set aside.
And the king took up the big leg.
Which is there and set it before Saul.
And said here this is reserved for you.
I have come to give you a gift.
This is how these Old Testament prophets were.
They gave a gift to the person.
Whom they served.
You read how Elisha.
When Naaman wanted to give him a gift.
Elisha said no I don't want any gift
from you.
Their attitude to money.
And to gifts.
Identified the true men of God.
In these Old Testament times.
And that's a very very important.
Principle to bear in mind.
Now.
Another example I want to show you.
Is concerning.
Musical ministry.
In prophecy.
In 2nd Kings.
Chapter 3.
When Elisha.
Was called by the king.
To.
Prophesy concerning.
A difficult situation they were facing.
In relation to the enemy.
Elisha said.
Bring me a minstrel.
2nd Kings 3.15. And it says when
the minstrel played.
The hand of the Lord came upon him.
There we see the tremendous.
Power of.
Spiritual music.
There is music which is worldly.
Which has also come into the church.
And there is music.
Which lifts.
The congregation.
Into the presence of God.
And a man.
Who stands there and has to prophesy.
Gets a word from the Lord.
This has happened to me.
Numerous times.
I cannot even count the number of times.
Where spiritually inspired music.
Has lifted me into the presence of God.
And given me a word.
For his people.
And I want to show you another verse.
In 1 Chronicles chapter 25.
In this connection so that.
People who have the gift of music.
Need not feel.
That prophecy is only through speaking.
1 Chronicles chapter 25.
Verse 1.
It says David and the commanders.
Of the army.
Set apart for the service of God.
Some of the sons of Esau.
Who wrote some of the songs.
And Heman.
Who were to prophesy with lyres.
And harps and cymbals.
Now how do you prophesy with guitars.
And musical instruments.
It's amazing.
That's how they were to prophesy.
They were to sing prophecies.
Encouraging God's people.
So it's not just.
You know.
Talking about the future.
There's a lovely verse.
In 1 Samuel chapter 10.
Which I often quote to people.
As a word which can happen.
To you in this new covenant age.
In it's fuller fulfillment.
When the spirit of God comes upon you.
1 Samuel 10 verse 6.
It says the spirit of the Lord.
Will come upon you mightily.
Samuel told Saul.
And you will prophesy.
That means you'll have a gift.
To serve God.
And secondly.
You will be changed into another man.
Your whole outlook on life.
Will become different.
The things of eternity.
Will become more important to you.
Than the things of time.
This is what the baptism in the Holy
Spirit does.
And then thirdly.
Verse 7.
God will be with you.
So when the spirit of God comes upon
me.
His purpose is.
To change me into another man.
His purpose is.
That God's presence will be with me.
And then.
I prophesy.
Now.
I want to show you an example of
how.
The same King Saul.
Who had that experience.
See what happened to him later on in
life.
When he back slipped.
At that time the spirit of God came
upon him.
He began to prophesy.
God was with him.
He was changed into another man.
But years later.
You read in 1 Samuel chapter 19.
The same book.
1 Samuel chapter 19.
And verse 23 and 24.
Saul is in a very back slidden state
now.
And evil spirit has gone into him.
But he still prophesies.
And it says here.
That Saul went.
In 1 Samuel 19.23. And the spirit
of God came upon him.
And he went along prophesying.
And he stripped off.
This is King Saul.
Stripped off his clothes.
Verse 24.
And he lay down naked.
All day and all night.
You know.
It's possible for a man to have a
gift.
And not have grace.
A gift that God gave him at a
time.
When he was walking with God.
But which he loses.
When he stops walking with God.
And the number one example of that.
Is Satan.
You know that Satan has got supernatural gifts.
When did he get it?
Definitely not after he became Satan.
He got it.
When he was a pure angel.
God gave him.
Certain supernatural abilities.
But at that time.
He also had the anointing and grace.
When he fell away from God.
He lost the anointing.
He lost the grace.
But he still had the gifts.
You need to distinguish it in gifts.
And anointing.
Jesus had anointing.
And supernatural gifts.
And grace.
Satan has supernatural gifts.
But no anointing.
No grace.
Here we see Saul.
An example of that.
A man who once had grace.
Not grace.
But God walked with him.
And now.
He is still prophesying.
And doing stupid things.
Like taking off his clothes.
And lying down naked.
Proving that God was not with him.
At all.
The Old Testament prophets were people who lived
before God's face.
Like Elijah said.
I stand before God.
Some of them had miraculous power.
Like Elijah.
Elisha.
Some of them.
Never did a single miracle.
We read in John's Gospel.
In chapter 10.
In verse 41.
That John the Baptist.
The greatest prophet of the entire Old Covenant
period.
John 10 verse 41 says.
He did not do a single miracle.
Is it possible that there can be a
prophet who never does a miracle in his
whole life?
Well the greatest prophet of Old Testament times.
Greater than Moses.
Greater than Elijah.
Greater than Elisha.
Elijah never did a miracle.
All he did was preach repentance.
Jesus had discernment to know that a man
who preached repentance was greater than a man
who did miracles.
The question is whether you and I have
that discernment.
That's why Jesus called John the Baptist.
The man who never did a miracle.
The greatest prophet of Old Testament times.
But there was one thing characteristic of all
prophets.
True prophets.
They had a very simple lifestyle.
Whether it was Elisha or Elijah or John
the Baptist or anyone or Jesus himself or
Paul or Peter.
One thing that was characteristic of all the
prophets in Old Testament and New Testament.
Their lifestyle was very simple.
Concerning food.
Concerning clothing.
They knew how to fast.
It's not that they didn't enjoy a good
meal.
But they were not slaves to food.
They were not slaves to particular type of
clothing.
They were not slaves to comfort.
They lived disciplined lives.
That is God's will for everyone of us
if we want to be effective in God's
service.
So that's something else that we must bear
in mind.
Then I want to show you another verse
in Jeremiah which shows us something which we
can understand in the New Covenant too.
Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 5.
The Lord said to Jeremiah before you were
born I appointed you a prophet.
Do all of you know that before you
were born God knew that one day many
years later you would accept Christ.
And what you would do.
Whether you would surrender everything to Him.
Or whether you would be half-hearted like
many other Christians.
God knew that.
And if He saw that you would love
Him with all your heart and you would
be a student of His word and you
would give yourself to Him completely He would
have a plan for your life.
In Jeremiah's case it was to be a
prophet.
In Paul's case it was to be an
apostle.
But it's a tremendous encouragement to know that
God the gift that God has for me
in the body of Christ is not something
He decides on after I'm grown up.
Before I was conceived in my mother's womb
God had a plan for me.
The Bible it says in Ephesians before the
foundation of the world.
It's a wonderful thing to know that.
So you just need to enter into that.
Now I'll tell you what is God's plan
for all of you.
That the Holy Spirit should be poured out
upon you.
On all mankind.
On all those who will be open.
So that we can prophesy.
We can speak forth what God wants us
to speak forth.
Just one or two things more before I
close.
There are a number of examples in the
New Testament where we read about I'll just
show you one of them about false prophets
who would preach according to whether people gave
them money or not.
Micah in the Old Testament, Micah chapter 3
verse 5 Thus says the Lord concerning the
prophets who lead my people astray when they
are given something to eat they say peace
upon you God bless you.
But those who don't put anything in their
mouths they declare holy war.
Have you met prophets like that?
Or like another paraphrase says those who give
them something to eat they say God bless
you and those who don't give them something
they say God damn you.
So we see if you read through the
Old Testament and these passages, there are some
wonderful passages let me suggest to you two
passages in the Old Testament that particularly speak
about true prophets and false prophets.
Jeremiah chapter 23 I don't have time to
go through it in detail but that's a
chapter really worth reading and Ezekiel chapter 13
Jeremiah chapter 23 and Ezekiel chapter 13 where
we read about how prophets committed adultery how
does a prophet commit adultery?
By getting power over a woman through his
preaching and the woman begins to admire this
great man of God who is preaching so
powerfully and then this prophet begins to realize
that this woman is admiring him and he
begins to get close to her and maybe
goes to her and says I've got a
prophecy for you and it ends up in
it ends up in adultery you read there
about Old Testament prophets who did that in
Jeremiah 23 in fact the Lord says you
prophets are committing adultery your prophets are running
after money it's all there in the Old
Testament so that's why I say be careful
be careful about a man who is not
preaching holiness, who is not preaching repentance, be
careful about someone who wants to get close
to you physically or sexually, sisters be extremely
careful there are many many false prophets who
go around telling you that they've got private
prophecies for you and all they want to
do is take advantage over you take advantage
of you and grab something from you in
Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 4, that's the last
verse I'll read, Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 4,
there's a new paraphrase of the Bible called
the Message Bible and that translates Zephaniah chapter
3 verse 4 like this these prophets are
opportunists who are out for what they can
get from you be careful of prophets who
are opportunists who are out to see what
they can get from you it could be
money, it could be sex usually one of
these two things, or some power over you,
be careful these are not new this is
not something that is new to Christendom today
it's all there in the Old Testament we
could go through a study of this for
many hours but we don't have time be
warned God has given us His word to
guide us and protect us he who has
ears to hear, let him hear let's pray
Heavenly Father think of the amount of deception
going on in Christendom today thank you for
the light of your word that is so
clear and bright that can protect all those
who want to be protected it gives us
light on that which is true and that
which is false we pray that we shall
be protected ourselves and we shall be able
to give that light to others that others
may be protected too pray in Jesus name