Radical Disciples – A Remnant Revolution

The place of watchmen is on the wall, looking out into the direction that he is pointing. The can be lonely, discouraging work. Jesus is pleading with his watchmen to stay on the walls, where he needs them to be.

Many watchmen are down in the city chatting with friends, because they got lonely. Others are on the conference circuit, where the money is better. Some are busy trolling the internet, but that is not the same as listening to the Lord. Others grew tired and have gone to sleep. Others have given up, because they are weary of their warnings being rejected.

The watchman should not be in the city eating and drinking with the town’s folk. He should be out on the watchtower looking into the night (Ron McKenzie – Kingdom Watcher).

Jesus urgently needs his watchmen to get back up on the watchtower where he has appointed them.

I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest (Is 62:6).

Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep. They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, each seeks his own gain (Is 56:10,11).

I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.’ Therefore hear, O nations; observe, O witnesses, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law (Jer 6:17-19).

God is restoring a watchman anointing to His people. In biblical times, though a city had strong walls and double gates, security was not complete without watchmen in their places, shouting, or heralding, anything they saw that was out of the ordinary. Their job was to warn the people of impending danger. They would pay with their lives if they failed to inform the city of an enemy’s approach. If the watchmen were not alert, cities could fall, territories could be lost and many people could be slaughtered or forced into captivity.

A Christian prophet is a watchman. His task upon the walls of the city of God claims him entirely. God acts in and through all that we are. In everything a Prophet is, the Spirit of God lives and moves and acts. The Christian prophet’s very life and breath is intercession within the church (Sanfords.).

However, if we are called to this watchman ministry, let us be patient in waiting for our placement. If we have a true gift, and manifest the fruit of the Spirit, our gift will make a place for us. Our goal must always be first to gain the endorsement of God, not men. If we want the endorsement of God we must be devoted to truth, integrity, and submission to His Spirit. If it takes others a while to acknowledge our calling, while we are waiting we can grow in grace and discernment (Rick Joyner – The Ministry of a Watchman).

Watchmen and Sheep

A watchman was standing on a watchtower. He saw trouble coming and told the shepherds to get the sheep into the safety of the fold. The shepherd asked the watchman to get the sheep into the fold. However, when the watchman tried to round up the sheep, they just scattered. They did not know the voice of the watchman. Only when the shepherds heeded the watchman’s warning and called the sheep did the sheep come into the fold.

Watchmen stand on the walls of the city of God so that they can see what God is doing and call the people to respond. Watchmen look out into the darkness and the distance to see what evil is coming and what God is doing. Good relationships between pastors and the watchman are essential. The watchman should communicate what they see to the pastors. The pastors can then prepare the sheep for what is going to happen. The sheep know their shepherds and they will respond to them. If they do not know the voice of the watchmen, they will not respond to them.

Leaders must allow the watchmen to function as God intends, and watchmen must learn that it is their job only to transmit information, not to dictate policy (Rick Joyner – The Prophetic Ministry).

The prophet is way ahead of the flock of sheep, perhaps five miles beyond the next hill. He is on the lookout. There he hears God’s voice and sees visions, enters the throne-room of God and glimpses something. It may actually be very good that he is often away from the flock, because few really understand him. He is interested not so much in people and what they think of him, but in God’s voice for the situation (Wolfgang Simson – Houses That Changed the World, p.113).

The watchmen were not the elders in the gates, nor did they have the authority to open or close the gates of a city. Neither did they have the authority to mobilize the militia against the enemy. Their job was to communicate what they saw to those who did have the authority. Presently, many pastors and elders are trying to do this job for their congregations, which only distracts them from their true calling. We must begin to recognize, train, and position those who have this calling, and establish effective lines of communication with them (Rick Joyner – The Ministry of a Watchman).

Being on the walls of the city would place one in a position of elevated perspective to see both a distance outside and inside of the city. These were trained to recognize both the enemy and their brethren from a great distance. However, they had no authority to confront either. They simply gave their information to the elders who sat in the gates. Only the elders had the authority to either command that the gates be opened or to sound the alarm (Rick Joyner – The Ministry of a Watchman).

The seer represents the prophetic dimension by means of his ability to observe, by his inclination towards watchfulness. He is the watchman, the protector. He walks the narrow paths of the border areas of the Kingdom, drawing strength for this isolated work of defense from the vivid visions and experiences of the heartlands of God’s domains. The prophet’s home is a Mizpah, a watchtower, a place for proper judgement and discernment, 1 Sam 7:6 (Lars Widerberg – The Seer)

The Church has often lacked in having watchmen. She has had a type of watchman that has watched almost from a position on the floor of the church and not from the wall. The watchman is a prophet and as such is a seer and needs to be up high to see beyond the heights that even the king would see, since the king is not up the wall (Steve Snow – Eagle Watchman Resources).

Though the prophet is one with the church he yet always stands a little apart. The Old Testament prophet would have gone ahead to do all the speaking, or the healing, or whatever was needed. The New Testament prophet bows his spirit to prayer, unbeknownst to the rest of the body, and others find themselves healing or teaching or speaking (John and Paula Sanford – The Elijah Task p. 18,19,20).

Watchman should speak their warnings to the pastors and elders. The latter provide the warning to their sheep. The sheep know their shepherd and they will respond to them. If they do not know the voice of the prophet, they will not respond to them.

The pattern borne out in Scripture shows that a prophet did not go first to the people, but to the king! For it was the king who held the responsibility from God to address and lead the people. The prophet always went directly to the king – not to the people – and God opened the door of access to that realm (John Paul Jackson – Unmasking the Jezebel Spirit p.68).

Unpleasant Task

Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other (1 Cor 12:22-25).

Christians are often embarrassed by God’s watchmen, as they can be intense, opinionated or scruffy. Watchmen maybe the eyes of the body, but they are also the bowels that get rid of the “crap”. If God’s watchmen are not functioning effectively in a church, it will fill up with garbage and become contaminated. So while the watchmen has an unseemly task, they are important for the functioning of the body and deserve equal concern and respect.
Clear Sound

When a watchman receives a dream or vision about a cataclysmic event, they should be very careful about how they give warning. Before speaking, they should find out the status and meaning of the events they have seen.

Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? (1 Cor 14:8).

A cataclysmic vision or dream may have any of the following possible meanings.

a symbolic message with a spiritual interpretation,
a warning of what Satan is planning, so that we can resist him,
a warning event, that is a type of something worse coming,
an event that may happen soon
an event that is a long way into the future,
an event that will only happen, if God’s people do not repent.
a final judgment on a people that has rejected God.

The appropriate response is different for each of these different types.

Modern Christians have a tendency to assume the worst. We generally interpret a vision or dream of awful events literally. We also assume that the event is coming soon and that its coming is certain. This is often not the case.

Sounding the trumpet is not sufficient. Sharing a vision is not enough. Watchmen are required to sound the trumpet clearly. When sharing a vision or dream, they should also explain its meaning. If this does not happen, God’s people will become confused. Too much confusion could lead to Christians being defeated and God’s name being mocked.

During this current season, too many confusing visions are being shared. Many of these visions have come from the Lord, but because their meaning is misunderstood, God’s people are being confused. We need a clear sounding of the trumpet to prepare God’s people for victory.
Gods Perspective

We must keep God’s perspective in mind when interpreting warning visions. Christians often get so focused on the evil that Satan has planned that they fail to notice God’s response. This gives Satan a place he does not deserve. He is a loser and all his schemes and plans will fail. Getting us absorbed in the negative part of a vision is the enemy’s favorite trick for causing us to miss what God is saying and doing.

This is the worst feature of many “prophecy sites” on the internet. The bloggers and discussion boards get so absorbed in the evil being warned against, that they miss what God is saying and promising. We should fear God, not the devil and his schemes. We should listen very carefully to what God is saying through a vision.

The watchman’s task is not to make Christians afraid, but to show them how they can be victorious, if they get ready. Most visions are not about the people of God being defeated, but are a promise that God’s people can be victorious, if the watchmen do their work. We need watchmen who can tell us how to get ready.

In 1982, a visiting English preacher called David Pawson shared a vision of a Commando Army around New Zealand. The vision promised that if New Zealand Christians formed into commando units, they would experience victory when an economic crisis came. Christians immediately focused on the crash and when it would come. The name of the vision was changed to the Coming Bombshell. The challenge to form commando units was ignored and the promise of victory was lost as Christians became absorbed with the negative aspect of the word.

I believe that the same problem applies to our interpretation of Daniel and Revelation. All the negative passages are applied to the current age. All the promises of victory are pushed to after the second coming. This gives a total distorted view of God’s plan and produces Pessimistic Christianity.When interpreting visions from God, we should take off our dark glasses and listen carefully to God’s promises of victory and hope in the light of his word.

They do not want to build ‘a church’, they want the whole city or nation! They live in the future, for the future, from the future, constantly pregnant with future developments, and they can prevent it from becoming a traditional institution only celebrating the past, or a fossilized monument of history long gone (Wolfgang Simson – Houses That Changed the World, p.119).

Purpose

The watchmen are not there to boost the name of the enemy and paralyze God’s people with fear. Their purpose is to warn the people of danger, while it is still a long way off. This gives the people living outside the city time to get behind the walls where they will be safe. The watchman’s warning also gives the city leaders time to prepare their defenses, so they can repel the enemy when he comes.

The safety of a city depends on the watchmen being on the watchtower. It also depends on the leaders at the gate heeding their warning. If the watchmen and the leaders at the gate of the city each do their task, the enemy’s plans should be defeated and the city kept safe.
Exposing Evil Plans

Satan generally uses stealth and deception. The success of his plans depends on Christians not waking up to what is happening until it is too late to respond. God counters by revealing Satan’s plan’s to the watchmen. They can then expose his plans and blow his cover. God reveals the attacks of the enemy in advance, so that he can be exposed and defeated.

God’s response to one of Daniel’s visions was to send watchers (Dan 4:13-17). The scriptures do not tell us much about them, but they are clearly very powerful angels. They were able to bring down Nebuchadnezzar, one of the most powerful rulers that the world has ever known. Compared to Nebuchadnezzar, Saddam Hussein was a midget, yet the watchers brought Nebuchadnezzar down from his throne. Watchers are capable of foiling the worst plans of the enemy. I think that they might be released by the prayers of the watchmen on the watchtowers.

The role of the watchmen is important. God responds to the attacks of the enemy by exposing his plans, and countering with something even more powerful.

Today’s spiritual watchmen are just as important to the kingdom of God. But the Church has become so familiar and comfortable with the world that our watchmen may not notice when adverse conditions enter our boundaries. In this hour God is saying, “Watch the boundaries I have set for you, so that the enemy does not gain access to your inheritance.” (Chuck Pierce – The Future War of the Church).

These watchmen were especially trained to be able to distinguish the enemy from their brethren. Only those with the best vision and judgement were given these Posts. They could not be overly prone to sound the alarm, or to request that the gates be opened. They had to be accurate in their discernment. If there were too many false alarms the people would begin to disregard them. If they were careless and let an enemy in the gate, they could jeopardize the entire city. This was an extremely crucial position for which accuracy and dependability were required (Rick Joyner – The Ministry of a Watchman).

Prophetic Excellence

The widespread acceptance of the prophetic ministry that emerged out of the Charismatic Renewal during the 1970s was a huge step forward for the church, but there is still a long way to go. An emphasis on quantity, rather than quality, was okay while the gifting was re-emerging, but now that it is well established, we should be focusing more on quality.

Daniel and his mates did not just make a splash on Jewish bulletin boards, their insight and ability were recognized by a tough anti-god king.

The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom (Dan 1:19-20).

Daniel was recognized by worldly leaders as being ten times as good as the other wise men of his times. That is why he was asked to serve three different kings in two world empires.

That is what the Christian prophetic ministry should be aspiring to. Where are the Christian prophets who are recognized by the world as being ten times as discerning as Thomas Friedman and Paul Krugman. Provided we do not become complacent about the quality of prophecy, that level of gifting could emerge.

God has much more to give than we have seen so far. In the future we will see much more tactical and strategic guidance coming from clear prophetic voices.

The Old Testament prophets did not just predict calamities. They gave tactical advise to local and national leaders (1 Chron 20:13-30). They also revealed God’s long–term plans and strategy and what his people should be doing to participate with God in his work. Moses was a great prophet. He announced God’s plan and timing for establishing his people in the promised land. He also explained what Israel must do to enter in the land.

We have the fullness of the Holy Spirit, whereas in Old Testament times, the activity of the Holy Spirit was intermittent. Therefore, Christian prophets should be at least twice as effective as Old Testament prophets.

We have a long way to go. We must not be satisfied with what we have now, but press in to receive all that God has for us through the prophetic ministry.

The book of Revelation foretells that at the time of the end, in the last few years of Satan’s dominion over the earth, a religious personality will arise and deceive the whole world by means of miraculous signs. This individual is referred to as “another beast” (Revelation 13:11), as well as “the false prophet” (Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10). The False Prophet is given supernatural power to do things like calling fire down from heaven (Revelation 13:13), and the signs he performs, combined with the demonic words he speaks (Revelation 16:13-14), will cause people to give their allegiance to—and even worship—the Beast (Revelation 13:14). This man will wield tremendous religious influence, and inspired by the Dragon, he will successfully convince most of the world to commit idolatry (Revelation 13:12).

The Bible does not reveal the False Prophet’s name or even the number of his name, as it does for the Beast. Instead, we will have to recognize him by his fruits—by what he says and does (Matthew 7:15-20). Yet, even this is a tricky proposition. For instance, the False Prophet will be able to call down fire from heaven, and yet Elijah, a true prophet of God, did the same (I Kings 18:36-38). If we see a man calling fire down from heaven, how do we know whether he is true or false?

The end time is prophesied to be full of deceptions (Matthew 24:11), and the elect will not be totally immune to having the wool pulled over their eyes (Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22). It will take careful evaluation to see through the façade and to recognize Satan’s servants for what they are, rather than what they appear to be (II Corinthians 11:14-15).

The details given about the False Prophet are few. However, if we understand the patterns and motivations that the Bible reveals about the class of people called “false prophets,” we will be better equipped to recognize the general mold that the end-time False Prophet will fit. Both Testaments describe false prophets, and Peter, John, and Jesus Christ specifically warn of false prophets that affect church members.

Defining Prophet

Because of the way “prophet” is commonly used, there is a misconception that its basic definition is “someone who foretells the future,” but this definition is too narrow. Prophet is better defined as “one who speaks for another.” A true prophet, then, is a person who speaks for God, delivering a message that God has ordained him to give. In Exodus 7:1, God tells Moses that Aaron, his brother, would be his (Moses’) prophet, even as Moses was God’s prophet. Because of Moses’ unbelief in God’s ability to speak through him, God would speak to Moses, who would tell Aaron what to say to others—Pharaoh in particular (verse 2). It is the function of speaking for another, rather than the miracles they performed or their foretelling of what would befall Egypt, which defined Moses and Aaron as prophets.

Frequently, the words a prophet spoke on God’s behalf were, in fact, foretelling what would happen later. However, the prophet’s essential role was to speak for God, regardless of whether he did any predicting of the future. A prophet expresses the will of God in words, and sometimes he uses signs to back up what he says and to demonstrate God’s power behind it.

In a similar way, a false prophet also may not be in the business of foretelling the future. A false prophet is simply someone who speaks for another but falsely. False prophets either speak for the wrong god, or they claim to have heard from the true God but do not accurately represent Him or His words. At the very least, they speak out of their own human hearts, but more likely, the “god” they are speaking for is really a demon.

It is true that, if a prophet foretells something that fails to come to pass, he is a false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:20-22), but foretelling the future correctly is not the determining factor when looking at false prophets. The real issue is whether one who claims to be representing God and speaking for Him, is doing so accurately or falsely. A prophet may accurately predict an event or demonstrate supernatural power, but if he is leading people away from the true worship of the true God, he is a false prophet.

If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, “Let us go after other gods”—which you have not known—”and let us serve them,” you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5)

This passage begins with the assumption that the prophet does foretell the future accurately or perform some other, humanly impossible work. Nevertheless, if that prophet’s central message is to follow after a different god or to take a spiritual path that the true God has not said to take, that person is a false prophet. God states unequivocally that misrepresenting Him incurs the death penalty, and Revelation 19:20 says that this is exactly what happens to the False Prophet: He is thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Dodging Moral Teaching

The message of the false prophet is contrasted in Deuteronomy 13:3-4 with loving the true God with all of our heart and soul (life), walking after Him, fearing Him, keeping His commandments, obeying His voice, serving Him, and holding fast to Him. These elements indicate what God wants His people to be focused on, helping to define whether a man claiming to speak for God is truly doing so or not.

Verse 4 mentions obeying God’s voice and keeping His commandments. This is a regular theme with God’s true prophets: They always have God’s law undergirding their messages. When the Old Testament prophets were sent to warn or inform Israel and Judah, they always pointed out the grievous ways in which the people had transgressed God’s law.

False prophets, on the other hand, will not hold the moral line that God requires. Lamentations 2:14 says that the false prophets “have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back your captives, but have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions.” False prophets will not connect the dots between the sinfulness of a nation and national calamity. They instead focus on something other than God’s standard of righteousness.

This same principle appears in Isaiah 8:19-20. Both houses of Israel were guilty of seeking out mediums and wizards for spiritual guidance, and God’s response is very telling:

And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

God gives us a standard by which to measure the words of a prophet: the law and testimony—His Word. If the prophet’s message contradicts what is already established as God’s Word, it is evidence that he lacks spiritual understanding. If his words do not line up with God’s law and testimony, he is not speaking the truth.

In summary, the hallmark of a true prophet is his upholding of the law of God, while false prophets dodge moral teaching and instead preach a message that appeals to the masses. God’s truth is abhorrent to the natural mind (Romans 8:7), and thus it is quite common for God’s prophets to be killed, while the false prophets enjoy widespread popularity and support.

The current trend of outcome-based churches serves as a good example. Their leaders preach a widely popular message, and thousands of people follow them. Yet, Jesus says in Luke 6:26, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” Popularity is not a good measurement of God’s pleasure with a leader!

Jesus Christ, the most perfect Spokesman for God who has ever lived, only had about 120 true followers when His ministry ended (Acts 1:15). This was not due to failure on His part, but because His Father’s message could be wholeheartedly believed only by those whose minds God had already prepared to accept it.

“Purpose-Driven” church leaders will not preach the unadulterated Word of God because they know it is divisive. It would also thwart their goals of a large following and a large income. Thus, their messages do not involve repentance, sound doctrine, or God’s law, except where it may serve to further whatever purpose is driving them. Their messages do not remind people of their moral responsibilities to God and brother, and thus if they claim to speak for God or say that God sent them, we can know from biblical patterns that they are, in fact, false prophets. Their large churches, as amazing as they might seem, are not accurate indicators of God’s involvement or blessing.

Fruits of False Prophets

The apostle Peter, in warning against false prophets, illuminates their characteristics. The entirety of II Peter 2 is about false prophets and false teachers. What sort of message would these men preach? What would be one’s impression of God—whom they allegedly spoke for—after watching and listening to such men?

» “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction” (II Peter 2:1). The King James Version calls their heresies damnable, implying that their words—their messages—are destructive to one’s faith and relationship with God. “Denying the Lord” does not mean they deny that He lived or died or that He is God, but that their words and conduct are opposed to His fundamental nature. Their lives deny any close contact with Him.

» “By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber” (II Peter 2:3). False prophets use human nature’s proclivity toward covetousness to make inroads to a person’s heart.

» “. . . and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord” (II Peter 2:10-11). False prophets “walk according to the flesh”; their minds are primarily on physical things rather than the true things of God. God is not in all their thoughts (Psalm 10:4). They also despise authority—other than their own—and apparently think themselves superior even to God’s angels. They are presumptuous and self-willed, acting out of the dictates of their own hearts (or the influence of a demon) rather than following God with humility and trusting Him to bring His will to pass.

» “. . . having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness . . .” (II Peter 2:14-15). The apostle says false prophets have “eyes full of adultery.” While this may apply literally, it can also more generally describe unfaithfulness—a willingness to abandon an agreement if they feel it is in their interest to do so. They also worry little about resisting sin. Their hearts are especially trained in covetousness, and like Balaam, they are willing to do just about anything for personal gain.

» “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage” (II Peter 2:19). They promise liberty—freedom, perhaps, from keeping God’s law or from persecution or tribulation—but they are themselves enslaved to sin.

Not every false prophet will have each of these characteristics, but as generalities, they describe men who are much more concerned about their own situation, well-being, reputation, autonomy, and position than about accurately representing God. We will know these men to be false by the overall fruits they produce, even as they speak clever words that may even contain a degree of truth. This is seen in Jesus’ warning in Matthew 7:15-20:

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (emphasis ours)

Jesus does not spell out what “fruits” to look for, although in the Olivet Prophecy, He does link the deceptions of false prophets with the lawlessness and lack of love that abounds at the end time (Matthew 24:11-13). However, the rest of the Bible elucidates God’s character and nature, so we already have the tools to evaluate whether a message allegedly coming from God fits with what His Word reveals about Him. God is not double-minded; He will not contradict Himself.

“By Their Words . . .”

A false prophet, then, can be anyone who claims to be speaking for God, but whose message is contrary to God. False prophets will not convict people of sin, for they themselves do not feel convicted. While true prophets speak according to God’s law and testimony, false prophets speak soft, easy things to make them more popular. They will tell people what they want to hear.

A true prophet expresses the will of God with words. Sometimes signs, wonders, and foretelling are involved to add additional weight, but the most important part is the message. A true prophet points people to God and shows people their sins. False prophets point people to almost anything else. If they do try to point people to a god, it will be a different god from the God of the Bible. Whoever they point to, they do it for their own benefit.

Many false prophets simply point people to themselves. Their covetousness manifests itself in a desire for power, influence, control, prestige, or importance—the antithesis of being poor in spirit, meek, pure in heart, and mourning over their ungodly weaknesses. The true prophet does not draw attention to himself but to God. If a prophet or teacher spends a great deal of time talking about himself, it is a good indication just who his god is!

John the Baptist, the last Old Testament prophet, serves as a positive contrast. He undoubtedly knew what the angel Gabriel told his father, Zacharias (Luke 1:13-17), but there is no record of John promoting this remarkable story. His focus was not on proclaiming who he was, but on doing the work that God had given him to do. The fruit of his life and teaching reveals that he fulfilled the role of Elijah, which Jesus confirms. A false prophet, though, with his covetousness, presumption, and self-will, is more likely to end up spending a good deal of time talking about himself.

Other false prophets, like Balaam, are essentially in it only for the money, and so they will do what is necessary to ensure that the gold rolls in. The False Prophet in Revelation points the whole world to another man—the Beast. A true prophet would never suggest that a man be worshiped, with the exception of John the Baptist pointing the people to God’s Son, Jesus Christ. John pointed people to a Man who was also God, and thus worthy of worship.

Prophets are false when they fail to express God’s will accurately, and they fail because they are not in contact with the true God. The fruits of their lives and the meaning behind their words will indicate the source of their teaching. To paraphrase Jesus Christ, by their words they will be justified, or by their words they will be condemned (Matthew 12:37). If the words of a prophet are contrary to Scripture, contrary to God’s law, the prophet is false, and worthy of condemnation for leading people astray.

by David C. Grabbe

There is a rising tide of interest in the phenomena of “signs and wonders” in the church today. With the resurgence of the occult and its powers in our society, there is indeed a crying need for the exhibition of the power of God through His people.

We must, however, be careful to discern the Biblical context for signs and wonders, and to see that these supernatural demonstrations of the power of God are only released when certain conditions are fulfilled.. They are not at our command. They are the sovereign prerogative of the Holy Spirit. Nor are they to be sought in and for themselves. Indeed, there is mortal danger in pursuing these things apart from the other and more important things of which signs and wonders are the marks of Divine confirmation. The danger is that in seeking signs and wonders in isolation, we may expose ourselves to the deception of the enemy. “The coming of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders and with all wicked deception.” ( 2 Thess.2:9-10.) ” False Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” (Matthew 24:24.) See also Revelation 13:13-14.

We are also in peril of deceiving ourselves if we imagine that signs and wonders will, of themselves, always result in people being convicted and converted. The miracles of Jesus did not convince the Jewish leaders of the truth of His claims. Indeed so hardened were their hearts, that when they were witnesses of the healing of the man with the withered hand, they immediately held consultations about destroying Jesus. ( Mark 3: 1-6.)

The testimony of Jesus Himself confirms that He was not placing confidence in His miracles as such to convince men. In John 2: 23-24 it tells of many who, “believed in His name when they saw His signs which He did.” But, here is something of great significance, “Jesus did not trust Himself to them, because He knew all men and needed no one to bear witness of man, for He Himself knew what was in Man.”

In the story of Dives and Lazarus, the rich man in torment pleads with Abraham to send someone from the dead to his five brothers and says, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.”The reply is, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.” (Luke 16:30-31)

Again in John 6:26 we find Jesus remonstrating with the people who had followed Him after the feeding of the five thousand, “Truly, truly I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” In other words, they had not perceived the true spiritual significance of the signs, but were only concerned with the physical satisfaction they had obtained through them.

There are many today who seek the same soulish excitement from signs and wonders, and who will rush from one place to another, and from one advertised miracle worker to another in order to satisfy wholly carnal desires.

By the end of John 6. those same seekers-after-miracles have drifted away, and Jesus, turning to His own chosen men asks them if they too will go away.

Peter’s answer is supremely illuminating. “Lord to whom shall we go ? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy one of God.” It was not, you see, the signs and wonders which held these men, but rather the words of eternal life. Nor must we forget the reply of Jesus to some of the Scribes and Pharisees who said to Him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” Jesus replied, “An evil and adulterous generation seek a sign.”

With these cautions in mind we can go on to the positive aspects of the subject and declare with the utmost conviction that signs and wonders are an integral part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The whole of Jesus’ ministry recorded in the Gospels, the account of the early church in Acts, and the subsequent history of the church bear eloquent testimony that the Gospel is to be made known both in word and deed, and that those who hear the Gospel should also see marvelous things. The Gospel was never, never meant to be

“In word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit.” (1 Thess. 1:5.) We could multiply Scriptures which fully confirm this, but our purpose here is more to examine the conditions for the release of true Divine signs and wonders.

From the New Testament it is abundantly plain that signs and wonders which are from God are the accompaniments of the preaching of the word of God. The word is the prior thing. The signs and wonders follow.

The preaching of the word is attested, confirmed, endorsed and underwritten by the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the miraculous. So, the priority must be given to the declaration of the word, the truth of God. We must seriously question the kind of publicity which advertises “Healing and Miracles” and draws attention to the names of men. There is no evidence that the Apostles followed such a policy, nor that they gave the kind of need-centred messages so popular today. Their number-one-objective was to declare the good news of Jesus, to preach the word of God, and they knew that, as they were faithful in this, God, in His sovereignty, would act by the Holy Spirit to attest His truth.

They expected and looked for that, believed it would happen, and it did!

Look at some Scriptures: Mark 16:20. “They went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it.”

First, the word proclaimed; then the signs granted by the Lord. They preached and the Lord worked.

Acts 4;29-30. “And now Lord look upon their threats and grant Thy servants to speak Thy word with all boldness, while THOU stretchest forth THY hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of Thy Holy Servant Jesus.” Note again the human responsibility to declare the word with boldness and the Divine affirmation which they sought. Mark also that the signs and wonders are seen, not as coming from man, but the Lord.

Acts 14:3. “They remained for a long time speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.” Here again is the same sequence. First the word, then the power of the Lord granted in His sovereign good pleasure to confirm it. There was none of our modern drawing attention to men as miracle workers. Rather attention was directed only to the Lord, and the glory was His alone.

Hebrews 2:3-4 “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard Him, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to His own will.” Once more we see that the miraculous is the sole prerogative of God. It is His to give or to withhold as He wills, and the signs and wonders are released upon and through those declaring the message of salvation.

Acts 5:30-32. “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted Him at His right hand as Leader and Saviour to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things and so is the Holy Spirit who God has given to those who obey Him.” These verses, while not speaking directly of signs and wonders do disclose some of the key things in the declaration of the word to which the Holy Spirit bears witness. The other passages we have looked at reveal that one aspect of this witness of the Holy Spirit is the release of the miraculous.

To What Will the Holy Spirit Bear Witness ?
What are the things proclaimed to which the Holy Spirit will bear witness?

a) The death of Jesus on the Cross. “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” was the central theme of Paul’s preaching in Corinth, and it was such a message that was accompanied by the “demonstration of the Spirit and power.” (see 1 Corinthians 2:1-5.)

b) The resurrection of Jesus. “The God of our fathers raised Jesus.” This too was right at the heart of apostolic preaching. The power at work in those who believe was recognized as the same power which raised Jesus from the dead.

c) The exaltation of the Lord Jesus to the right hand of the Father. The early Christians were totally assured of this because they had received “the promise of the Father”, the outpoured Holy Spirit. To them this was the incontrovertible evidence that Jesus had indeed been exalted to the Throne in
heaven.

All of these were God’s acts. The Father sent the Son to give His life a ransom for many. God gave Him up for us all.(Romans 8:32.) God raised Jesus from the dead. Again and again that note sounds throughout the New Testament. It was God also who highly exalted Him. This was the word of God which the apostles preached. It concerned first and foremost what God had done in Christ. It was centered in what God had done and not primarily on the need of man. From these acts of God there flowed glorious consequences for those who believed the witness concerning them. They were granted repentance and the forgiveness of sins, thus dealing with the root causes of a man’s subsidiary needs.

It is to the preaching and exposition of these things that the Holy Spirit will continue to bear witness: The Cross of Jesus in all its New Testament dimensions and significance as a substitutionary death, a sacrifice once and for all, acceptable to God, a bearing of the wrath of God against sin, a vindication of the righteousness of God, and a death blow to both the power and guilt of sin.

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead, His physical rising from the grave in a glorious transformed body, Jesus Himself, this same Jesus who had been crucified; all the spiritual significance of resurrection life imparted to believers.

The exaltation of Jesus and all that means in relation to victory over all the powers of darkness; Jesus exalted to the supreme place of power an authority, with all things under His feet. Jesus is Lord!

Repentance and the forgiveness of sins as the gifts of God’s grace. The Holy Spirit will assuredly testify to the declaration of this full-orbed New Testament Gospel, and where signs and wonders occur in such a context, we need not fear that they are the deceptive counterfeits of a very cunning and powerful enemy, but we will know God is confirming His word. But where the order is reversed, and the emphasis is on the signs more than the word, let the Christian beware, and where the focus is on man rather than on the Lord, let him be doubly careful.

Through Whom Will God Work ?

We have looked briefly and concentratedly at the kind of proclamation to which we may expect the Holy Spirit to bear witness with signs and wonders.

What of the caliber of the men through whom He will work? We cannot ignore that signs and wonders were wrought “through the apostles.” (Acts 2:43.), that they were done “among the people by the hands of the apostles.”

(Acts 5:12.) Stephen, we read, “Full of grace and power did great wonders and signs among the people.” (Acts 6:8.) The people in Samaria heard Philip “and saw the signs which he did.” (Acts 8:6.) “God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul.” (Acts 9:11.) It must be worth noting the qualities of these men, for the release of signs and wonders through them had some relationship to the kind of men they were.

Here are some of the qualities that fitted them to be entrusted as the vehicles of such power ministry:

1) They were Spirit filled men. Without exception they were men who had known the overwhelming experience of being baptised in the Holy Spirit, and they were living in His fullness.

2) They were humble men, wholly intent on the glory of God. They were not seeking a name or glory for themselves. “Why do you stare at us, as though by our power or piety we had made him walk?” So said Peter after the amazing healing of the lame man. Their heart intention was that the name of
Jesus be glorified. They did not seek publicity. They did not advertise their healing ministry. Philip did not hesitate, when the Lord commanded him, to lay down a powerful ministry of evangelism and signs and wonders in Samaria to go to the desert road to share the word of the Gospel with one seeker. Paul’s very first preaching concerned Jesus, “That He is the Son of God.”(Acts 9:20)
He was ever more eager to proclaim that than to exercise a ministry of signs and wonders. These signs were there, but never as the primary focus of his work.

3) They were men of utter submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Their message was, “Jesus is Lord.” And they were living testimony to the message. They were His willing bond slaves.

It was through such wholly obedient men that God was pleased to grant that signs and wonders be done in the name of His Holy Servant Jesus.

4) They were men bound together by the Spirit in one Church, the living body of Christ. None worked in lonely isolation, but always in relationship. The picture of the early church community is one of vibrant togetherness. Peter and John were together when the lame man at the beautiful gate of the temple was healed. Paul always worked in team with others.

The signs and wonders flowed from men living in true and loving relationships in the undivided Church.

5) They were men of holy character. Their lives were exemplary. Paul could say to the believers in Thessalonica, “You are witnesses and God also how holy, righteous and blameless was our behavior to you believers.” (1 Thess. 2:10.) Peter could make an urgent plea for holiness because he himself walked in holiness. (See 1 Peter 1:15-16.) Stephen was “full of grace and power”, and he had the glory and beauty of the Lord even on his face. (Acts 6:8.) Holiness is in fact the sum of all the other qualities we have noted and their holiness sprang from their intense love relationship with their Lord.

We are now in a position to draw together what we have been saying and to highlight some of the critical issues for the church today in relation to signs and wonders.

The New Testament knows nothing of a Gospel devoid of the
confirmatory evidence of signs and wonders. The miraculous is
everywhere in the scriptural accounts of the ministry of Jesus, of the apostles and of the early church. It is equally clear, however, that the signs and wonders were not the focus of the life of the early believers. They did not measure success in terms of the frequency or magnitude of the signs following the word, but rather in the victories of the good news in bringing repentance and faith to those who had previously been in darkness. Lives changed into the likeness of Christ was the supreme aim of their mission. “My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you.”

(Galatians 4:19.) Such was the burning desire in the heart of Paul. The apostles “devoted themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.”, while the people “devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” They discovered that, as they walked in these ways, God sovereignly stood with them and of His grace and by His power He granted signs and wonders to affirm His own witness to the truth.

The Dangers of Seeking Signs and Wonders

There is a danger today that we may pursue signs and wonders apart from their New Testament context. In modern parlance we may be tempted to a signs and wonders “trip”, giving these phenomena a priority and attention which the Scripture does not accord them. Such a course is fraught with the hazards of deception and confusion. There is reason to fear that some are already ensnared in this trap. We see men glorified as healers and miracle workers and publicly advertised as such. This inevitably puts tremendous pressure on these men to perform each time they appear.

Seekers after phenomena eagerly rush to wherever such are reported to be occurring, and some seem to revel in repeated highly charged emotional experiences which produce little of long-term observable changes in character. Such scenarios provide fruitful ground both for self-deception and Satanic deception, and are far removed from the New Testament pattern of the priority of the word, and the gracious release of signs and wonders by the sovereign will of God.

Why The Lack of True Signs and Wonders ?

If we lament the lack of genuine signs and wonders among us today, the first place to look is at the word being preached. Is it the New Testament Gospel in its fullness? Is it the Gospel expounded in Paul’s letter to the Romans or the Galatians, or is it a watered-down and sugar-coated man-centred substitute eliminating the terrible facts of man’s sin and lostness, the need for radical repentance, the power of the atoning blood of Christ, and the absolute necessity of a Holy Spirit birth from above ?

The second place to look is at the quality of our lives. Are we the kind of people to whom the Lord will entrust the working of signs and wonders? How do our lives compare with those of Peter, Stephen, Philip, Paul? Do we know the fullness of the Spirit? Are we truly humbled under the mighty hand of God, neither seeking or receiving glory for ourselves? Are we sold out to Jesus Christ as Lord? Are we united in bonds of love and loyalty with brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ? Are we, like Paul, holy in all our conduct?

Thirdly, we need to look at the level of our faith and expectancy. Does it match that of those who prayed in that urgent time of calling on the Lord in Acts ch. 4:24-30? Are we looking and believing for the Lord to stretch out His hand and heal?

Fourthly, we need to see the crippling effects of division within the Church. The New Testament signs and wonders took place in an undivided Church, which knew nothing of institutionalism or denominationalism.

Perhaps this is the greatest barrier to the true power of God being released in
our day.

In the New Testament church they had no need for teaching seminars on signs and wonders. There were no techniques to be learnt. Rather, a sincere and pure devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ, the unity of the Spirit and a fearless commitment to declare the whole counsel of God provided the environment in which God was pleased to add His witness by granting the release of these miracles. As it was then, so it may be today.

Jack Gray,