Prophecy XII

 Another misconception regarding prophecy is that it’s somehow ruled by democratic fiat. More people agree than disagree with the word; therefore, it must be true. One lone voice against a chorus of voices saying the opposite is suspect, especially if that lone voice is saying things that scour the heart or bring warning of God’s displeasure against an individual or a nation that knows itself to have surrendered to rebellion and hypocrisy.

If a prophecy originates from God and is faithfully delivered by a chosen servant, how many give it a thumbs up versus a thumbs down is as irrelevant as how many Instagram followers you have, or how many people hearted your latest hot take on topics you know nothing about but feel as though you must expound upon because it’s the newest thing to go mega viral and you want to be part of it.

When you're burdened with delivering a prophetic warning or message, nothing matters except delivering it without adding to it, taking away from it, or letting your biases color it in any way. I can promise you none of the Old Testament prophets who had to deliver words of warning or judgment felt good about it. They did not revel in the idea of their people being subjugated, mistreated, taken into bondage, or vanquished by worshippers of strange gods or idols.

They were likely cognizant enough to realize that the prophecy they were delivering would affect them in some form or fashion, whether directly or indirectly, whether through retaliation from those they were tasked with prophesying to, or the effects of the fulfillment of the word they spoke.

It’s not as though, when Jeremiah prophesied about the coming Babylonian destruction and exile, he thought himself exempt from it, or that he would be spared and left to live out his days in peace and harmony on a plot of land somewhere. He was among them and knew full well that if the word came to pass, he would suffer along with his countrymen.

That his countrymen chose to persecute him for the words he delivered was likewise unsurprising because all one needed to do was look to those who came before and see how they fared to get an idea of what was coming.

Acts 7:51-53, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

Stephen’s words were not only an indictment that made those who heard them gnash their teeth at him, but also a synopsis of how the prophets were treated throughout the centuries. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? This wasn’t a question that demanded an answer; it was rhetorical. Stephen wasn’t trying to test their knowledge of the prophets, but to point out the reality that not one prophet of God had escaped persecution.

The only ones to escape persecution were the false prophets, and those always outnumbered the true prophets of God.

One of the most one-sided examples in the Bible occurred when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah and Ahab was king of Israel. Three years without war seemed a bit of a stretch, so when Jehoshaphat came to visit the king of Israel, the first item on the agenda was whether they should go to war against Syria and take Ramoth in Gilead.

Given that Jehoshaphat was a man of faith who believed and obeyed God, before agreeing to go to war, he asked the king of Israel to inquire of the word of the Lord.

After gathering the prophets together, some four hundred, all told, and asking whether he should go to war or refrain, the answer was unanimous: “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”

That should have settled it. Four hundred voices insisted that victory was theirs, no one dissenting, and Ahab was likely all smiles by this point. Then Jehoshaphat asked something that reveals how discerning he truly was. Men often confuse skepticism with discernment, and the two are not the same.

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve always been naturally skeptical, but not to the degree I’m at currently. Life’s hard lessons have not only made skepticism necessary, but have grown it. That said, I don’t rely on skepticism; rather, I rely on discernment when it comes to spiritual matters, words of prophecy, or the proclamations of individuals insisting they are prophets of the Lord and should be heard and obeyed.

If you have discernment, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s that sense that even though the individual is saying all the right things, something you can’t quite put your finger on, or momentarily identify, is off, ringing hollow, or striking a discordant note somehow.

Jehoshaphat was sensitive enough to give his discernment a voice, and even though the words of the prophets were in line, unanimous, and harmonious, something felt wrong. And so, he asked a simple question, to which he received an unexpectedly vitriolic answer: “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?”

The one whom Jehoshaphat wanted to inquire of was not the prophet, but God. He wasn’t looking for a four hundred and first opinion. He was looking for a true word from the Lord, whatever that might be.

If you want to hear a word from the Lord, a true word, and not some general affirmation or validation of your lukewarmness, you cannot dictate terms as to what that word should be, or how it will frame you in the eyes of those you hope to impress with God’s praise of you.

1 Kings 22:8, “So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.’”

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Prophecy XI

 If you were working a nine-to-five for ten bucks an hour and someone handed you a hundred-dollar bill, sure, you might hold it up to the light as most people do, but if you had the money marker pen handy, you wouldn’t risk it being a counterfeit; you would use it and know with certainty. That’s ten hours of your pay that would get docked if it turned out it wasn’t authentic, and you failed to use the thing that would’ve proven it conclusively, one way or the other.

How much more cautious should we be with prophecy? Some people don’t just lose ten hours of their time, but years upon years, believing something someone said to be a word from the Lord, and building their entire future around it, only to discover that, no, Jesus isn’t contractually obligated to return on the date they said He would, just because they said it. What could they have done with the time they squandered, had they gone to Scripture and believed what it said: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”

Likewise, just because someone says they have a word from the Lord for you doesn’t guarantee it is, in fact, from the Lord. Just because the words someone spoke over you make you feel warm and fuzzy, promising prosperity, influence, blessing, and all manner of earthly things, doesn’t mean they came from God. We tend to reject true, corrective words of prophecy and embrace those that praise and elevate us, because human nature is predisposed to receiving accolades rather than chastening.

Lamentations 2:14, “Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; They have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back your captives, but have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions.”

It’s not a new thing. Men have always gravitated toward praise rather than correction, even when correction was necessary. God doesn’t mince words when it comes to those who take it upon themselves to speak glowing words to those hungering for affirmation or validation. He doesn’t call them His prophets or the prophets; the distinction is made clear that it’s their prophets, the people’s prophets, those to whom they lent their ears because they prophesied good things. What they spoke was not of divine origin, but from their own bellies. The words they gave were of their own making rather than a message from God, and because they were neither challenged nor chastened, the people loved it.  

Your prophets have seen false and deceptive visions for you, so when the opposite of what they promised happens, don’t blame God or shake your fist at Him. It’s not God who lied; it’s the men you ran to hoping they would tell you something contrary to Scripture or give you liberties the Word does not.

Why does every word of prophecy nowadays have to do with how great you are, how great you’re doing, and how great the calling on your life is? Everyone and their pet pug is either called to be an evangelist to the nations or a prophet to the nations because being a servant in your local congregation just doesn’t cut it anymore. We want the big titles, the big callings, and the privileges we’ve been duped into believing come along with them. Who duped us into believing that the title of prophet affords you exclusive benefits? The same people who claim these titles and insist you should treat them with the same reverence you would Jesus. It’s almost euphoric having people defer to you, treat you like royalty, call you prophet or apostle, and you seem not to mind that it’s become about you rather than Jesus.

It is the snare the countless souls have fallen into, one that not only ensures a shameful downfall for the man or woman who sees themselves as something more than a servant, but also wounds the souls and shipwrecks the faith of those who bought into the lie that by claiming a title the individual was more special than the rest.

No one questions why modern-day prophecy doesn’t call anyone to repentance or uncover their iniquity because it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie. Why rock the boat or kick over a hornet’s nest when all you’ll have to show for it is angry letters about how you’re not supposed to touch God’s anointed?

But are they God’s anointed? Are they His prophets if they haven't heard from Him, yet speak flattering things in His name to lukewarm people who lap up the slop as though it were a fine feast?

Don’t blame God for things He didn’t do or expect Him to keep words He’s never given.

As God warned through Jeremiah, the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power, and His people love to have it so. Why, I wonder? Because a true word from God will address the pressing issues of your life, and humble you to your core. Because a true word of God is not a pep session where He praises you while you’re sitting on His lap braiding His beard.

Any promise of future national glory without addressing the iniquity among God’s people is, at best, wishful thinking and, at worst, a flagrant lie, knowingly disseminated because telling people it’s going to be all right is likelier to get them to open their wallets than telling them judgment is at the door is ever going to. Either way, God is not in it. He did not speak it, and the message did not originate from Him!

But it sounds so good, and hopeful, and full of promise. Even so, it’s still a lie. And because you put your trust in men’s words and believed them to be God’s words, when they don't materialize, your faith will be shaken, and your conviction will wane.

Even if it gives you hope in the moment, it’s artificial, a bubble that will eventually burst, and what you have left is less than what you had before you took the bait and believed your prophets over what the Word of God says.

The message of the hour is still repentance, as it has always been, and anyone insisting that we can have God's favor, blessing, and protection while bypassing repentance, whether as individuals or a nation, is lying to your face while you’re elevating him to sainthood for it.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Prophecy X

 The validity or veracity of a prophecy doesn’t hinge on peer reviews, how many bear witness to it in their spirit, or how popular the individual delivering it is, but only on whether it’s in harmony with God’s Word. Does it do what prophecy is meant to do, which is to edify, exhort, comfort, warn, foretell some future event, correct, rebuke, and draw the individual toward repentance, righteousness, and sanctification?

Any supposed prophetic word that doesn’t fall into one of these categories can be dismissed outright, no matter who insists that they are hearing from the Lord. How does someone knowing my dog’s name edify, exhort, comfort, warn, correct, rebuke, or stir repentance in my heart? How does their knowing the name of the street I live on, or my long-dead great-grandmother’s name, do any of the aforementioned things we know, biblically, prophecy is supposed to do?

If you’re looking for parlor tricks, plenty of mentalist shows in Vegas do that. If you want to be impressed by someone’s knowledge of your family tree, plenty of websites will tell you where your people originate from, how they migrated to where they ended up, and everything in between.

On the conservative end, the Old Testament contains over three hundred prophecies about the birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Other, more generous estimates number closer to 550. It took over four hundred years for the last prophecy regarding the birth of Jesus to be fulfilled, and close to a thousand years from the first.

It boggles the mind and humbles the soul of man to consider such a thing, but what gets overlooked in the grandeur of some 48 prophecies being fulfilled by His birth alone, and over 300 throughout His life, is that those contemporary with the generation in which Jesus was born knew the scriptures well enough to identify them, harken back to them, and acknowledge their fulfillment.

Know your Bible. Know what it says for yourself, not what others say the Bible says, whether regarding prophecy, the end times, the supremacy of Christ, the last days, or how a believer ought to conduct themselves as strangers in a strange land, because in knowing what Scripture says, you will more readily be able to identify when someone speaks a thing which the Scripture does not say, trying to pass it off as the truth.

Those who claimed to be prophets of the Lord had the bona fides to back up their claims, from possessing the authority granted to them to prophesying events that came to pass, to living lives honoring to the God they served.

It was never about image, popularity, or consensus; it was about faithfully delivering the message they were tasked with delivering, and more often than not, to their own personal detriment. If you stood before a king or someone of great authority, it doesn’t take a genius to deduce that you would more readily be received and honored if you were to prophesy that their kingdom would grow and flourish rather than that God would snatch it out of their hand and all that they’d built would come to ruin.

The men of courage and boldness whom God called to prophesy in the Old Testament knew full well that they would stir the ire of individuals who had the authority to make their lives miserable, and even end them violently if they were to deliver the words they received unredacted and unfiltered, yet they did it nonetheless.

We often refer to the words of prophecy Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Amos, Zechariah, or any of the others delivered, but rarely consider what it personally cost them to do so. For faithfully delivering the word of the Lord, Isaiah was placed in a hollow tree and sawed in two at the order of King Manasseh. For speaking the word of the Lord as instructed, Jeremiah was put in stocks, publicly humiliated, beaten, and thrown into a muddy dungeon, only to be stoned to death in Egypt. Zechariah was stoned to death by King Joash for his unflinching faithfulness, and Amos had to flee for his life for preaching against Israel’s idolatry, meeting his end when he was tortured to death by a priest of Bethel.

If you want to prophesy thinking it will bring you honor and accolades, look back on those who came before you and realize the only ones that were esteemed, honored, elevated, and praised by the people were the false prophets who tickled ears and promised all would be well even though the people had strayed from God and gave themselves over to idols.

Those who delivered a true word from the Lord, whether a word of warning, judgment, or the insistence that they must repent and cast aside their idols lest the wrath of God come upon them, were not as readily embraced, because killing the messenger, thinking it would invalidate the message, has always been a viable option for those unwilling to submit themselves to the will, purpose, and authority of God.

By using the Biblical litmus test, and seeing how true men of God were treated throughout, we can rightly deduce that most of what passes for prophecy today isn’t, and most of those insisting they are prophets aren’t.

That’s not to say true prophecy does not exist. Wherever the counterfeit, or the false, exists, the true, authentic, and real will also exist; if there wasn’t true prophecy, there would be no need for false prophecy. The US dollar is counterfeited because it exists, is real, and serves as legal tender. If it didn’t, then anyone could point to it, laugh, and conclude that it was funny money.

The purpose of a counterfeit is to create something almost identical to the real thing, so much so that you could pass it off for the real thing. If you’ve held enough dollars, whatever the denominations, you will know the counterfeit by feel. Those in doubt can always avail themselves of the counterfeit detector pens, those things that grocery stores are fond of checking large bills with, because even if you might have been tricked by the feel of it, the pen doesn’t lie.

The Bible works like the money marker pen. It is the counterfeit detector. You may feel something is authentic or true, but if the pen tells you it isn’t, then it isn’t, no matter how close it may be to the real thing. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Prophecy IX

Chances are there were individuals in Joel’s time who rolled their eyes and proceeded to say something snarky about how what Joel had prophesied was nothing more than wishful thinking. Everyone knows God doesn’t do that; I mean, could you imagine sons and daughters, men and women, old and young, prophesying, having visions, and having dreams? Why, that’s unheard of. We know how things work. Whenever needed, God raises up a prophet; they prophesy, we ignore it because we don’t like what they have to say, and inevitably what they prophesy comes to pass because we refuse to heed the warning. That’s what we’re used to, and God can only do what we are comfortable with. Anything beyond that is suspect. Sound familiar? It should. People are people, and the way they react to new information that takes them out of their comfort zone doesn’t change from generation to generation.

There were likely scoffers in Joel’s day who became more vocal and belligerent the more time passed, and there was no evident outpouring. Sons and daughters weren’t prophesying, young men weren’t seeing visions, the old weren’t having dreams, there was no increase in prophecy, and the passing of time only emboldened them in their renunciations. Five centuries is a long time to wait for the fulfillment of a prophecy, at least to man, but to God it’s mere moments. To put it in context, the least time that could have passed between Joel’s prophecy and its fulfillment was twice as long as America has been a nation.

Another thing that few take into account is that the prophecy itself survived and was circulated by word of mouth for all that time, so that when it was fulfilled, Peter could harken back to it and confirm its fulfillment. There was no database with all the prophecies prophets had uttered over time; no mass pamphlets were printed; you couldn’t just log on to a website and access it for a small fee. Joel’s prophecy survived through the centuries because God willed it.

Nathan the prophet wrote an entire book that has been lost to time. It’s mentioned twice in First Chronicles and Second Chronicles, but as far as what it contained, we will never know. We can debate whether Joel was a more prominent figure than Nathan, and when allowing for their influence during the time they lived, it’s not a stretch to conclude they were on equal footing, even though Nathan had access to the king, while Joel never mentions any.

What’s the point? The point is simple, really, that God, in His sovereignty, established what would remain and be remembered from generation to generation, and what would be lost to time. He established what would be included within the canon of Scripture, and what would be left out. For anyone to insist that something that shouldn’t be within the pages of Scripture somehow made its way in, or that something which should be included was somehow left out, is to question both the sovereignty and omnipotence of the God we serve.

1 Corinthians 14:1-5, “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks in tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.”

Does this mean that everyone who desires to prophesy will prophesy? It is, after all, what Paul instructed: to desire spiritual gifts, especially that we might prophesy. The short answer is no. Not everyone who desires to prophesy will prophesy, because, ultimately, God is the gift-giver, and He chooses whom He endows with that specific gift. In modern terms, you don’t get every job you apply for, and you may not get the position you desire even if you get hired.

Desiring to prophesy is biblical, and Paul even encourages it, but we must ask ourselves why we desire it. Is it to speak edification, exhortation, and comfort, or because the one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues? God already knows the answer. He knows the intent behind the desire, and if it is to glorify self rather than Him, if it is to see ourselves superior in some way, though we may desire it, because it will be detrimental to our spiritual growth, God will say no.

You can’t bribe, coerce, threaten, or purchase your way to prophecy. It is God, via the Holy Spirit, who chooses specific servants for specific tasks, then equips them with the gifting necessary to carry out said task. The one thing incumbent upon us is to keep ourselves pure and undefiled, walk humbly with our Lord, serve Him in spirit and in truth, and be willing to serve in a greater capacity if He so chooses.

What we must likewise be aware of is that with a greater calling comes greater responsibility, as well as a bigger bullseye painted on our back. The devil doesn’t bother those already doing his will. He leaves those spreading deception, false doctrine, or false prophecy to their devices, knowing that they’re doing his bidding. He targets those who desire to serve, obey, and follow Jesus, not out of ulterior motives or vested interests, but because they’ve surrendered their lives to Him in their entirety. The enemy attempts to disspirit, dishearten, and destroy the faithful, not those who sow division and confusion, because they help achieve his end goal: a weakened, divided, distracted, and compromised church.  

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Prophecy VIII

 One thing that cannot be overstated, which also baffles the agnostics and atheists who study Scripture from a purely intellectual standpoint, is the interconnectedness of a book that spans and covers over 4000 years of human history, written by approximately 40 human authors, over a span of 1500 years. It is something they cannot explain because they refuse to allow for the possibility of divine inspiration, or that God had a hand in the authorship of this divine text, if not literally putting quill to parchment, then guiding the hands of those who did.

From the first book to the last, the Bible is a prophetic book. When the Holy Spirit descended in the upper room, it didn’t blindside those present; it was not a surprise, nor did they question what they had experienced, because it was the genesis of the fulfillment of what they knew had been prophesied by the prophet Joel, and reiterated by Jesus Himself when He promised that He would not leave them orphans, but would pray to the Father to give them another Helper.

John 14:15-18, “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

Those gathered in the upper room, about 120 people, may not have known the specifics of how or when this would happen, but they believed it would. They were commanded not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, and rather than debate and go back and forth as to how this would happen, or what the signs would be, they continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.

No further insight was offered, no timeline was given; roughly ten days had passed since Jesus had ascended, yet they were all still there in fellowship, in prayer, because they understood a fundamental truth that few today understand: when God promises a thing, He will bring it to pass in His time, in His way, and for His purpose.

It is also worth noting that the promise of the Helper was not presented as some stopgap, but as something permanent. In Christ’s own words, the Helper the Father would send would abide not for a season, or for an allotted time, but forever.  

Contextually, depending on which expert you ask, at least 400 years passed between when the book of Joel was written and when the events of the day of Pentecost took place, and at most 900. It’s a big window, but let’s be generous and err on the side of caution. Almost half a millennium passed between the prophecy itself and the beginning of its fulfillment.

We know that this was the beginning of the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy because Peter himself harkened back to it when addressing the people of Judea and all who dwelt in Jerusalem, as some were amazed and marveled at hearing their native tongues spoken to them by Galileans while others mocked them, saying they were full of new wine.

As is the case with those who use Scripture to confirm their bias, rather than approach it with a sincere desire for understanding, more often than not what Joel writes is never presented in its full context, because it would undermine the presupposition of those insisting that what was no longer is, and was to be for a limited time and within a limited context.

Joel 2:28-32, “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.”

Contrary to popular belief, Joel’s prophecy contains more than a foretelling of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. While Pentecost marked the beginning of its fulfillment, it was by no means the end. Since we, as men and women, are tethered to linear time, it’s difficult to wrap our minds around the idea that within the span of a handful of sentences, Joel prophesied something that would stretch beyond a singular event and into a millennia-long fulfillment.

God is outside of time. He knows the end from the beginning, and to Him a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day. While the day of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit marked the beginning of Joel’s prophecy being fulfilled, we have yet to see its fulfillment in its entirety. After God promised that He would pour out His Spirit on all flesh, wherein sons and daughters would prophesy, the old men would dream dreams, and the young men would see visions, he also goes on to prophesy about the sun being turned into darkness, the moon into blood, all these things serving as mile markers on mankind’s way to the great and awesome day of the Lord.

Although, in hindsight, the promise that what was once reserved for a handful of individuals throughout history known as prophets would be granted to a far broader swath of servants, both young and old, men and women, menservants and maidservants, seems inconsequential, when factoring in the historical context of when this prophecy was recorded, it would have been earth-shattering.

Given that the Old Testament covers roughly 4,000 years of history, from Genesis to Malachi, the number of those called to be prophets of God throughout this time was minuscule. Suddenly, here’s Joel prophesying that the day would come when sons and daughters would prophesy, old men would dream dreams, and young men would see visions. What was once exclusive and rarely witnessed would be broadened to the point that it would become, if not commonplace, exponentially more frequent.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Prophecy VII

 Now to the big question, the one that must be answered, and biblically so, because it will frame the rest of this study: Is prophecy still for today, and if so, what does it look like? By now you already know where I stand. I haven’t been coy or subtle; I’ve shown my hand and made my position clear. For those who may have missed it, yes, I believe God still speaks to His children, engages with His creation, and is intimately aware of all who serve Him in spirit and truth. For Him to keep a running count of the hairs on your head while withholding something as profound as speaking to us through His chosen servants, something He has done since the beginning of creation, is both illogical and contrary to His nature.

It’s one thing to believe something; it’s another to prove it biblically. I’m not here to present you with experientially derived doctrine that was passed down from past generations, nor am I going to lean on anecdotal evidence and personal experience as proof of why I believe what I believe. As always, we will go to the Word, for it has the final say; it is the final authority, and as long as we submit to it, we will know the truth that will make us free.

Since it is one of the most divisive topics within Christendom, I will approach it as lovingly as I am able, while remaining true to Scripture, not taking one verse out of context and pinning all my hopes upon it, but by rightly dividing the Word, studying the entirety of often misquoted passages in context, and using the light of Scripture to guide our path.

It’s not that rational arguments shouldn’t be presented or have a say; one of the strongest is this: if there is no longer true prophecy or prophetic utterance, why is so much of the New Testament focused on warning against false prophets and false prophecy? Would it not have been clearer to declare that these things have ceased, are no more, so any prophecy is, by default, false and should not be weighed, measured, or contrasted with the Word to see if it is of the Lord?

Why would Paul the Apostle encourage the church at Corinth to desire spiritual gifts, especially that they might prophesy, if, by the time the letter reached the church, there would be a window of a handful of years in which they could do as he instructed? It’s not as though Paul finished his letter, clicked send, and the e-mail was delivered to the church staff. There was no FedEx or DHL, so after writing his first letter to the Corinthians, it had to travel from Ephesus to the church at Corinth, about 300 miles away, not by any modern convenience, but by ship and horse; then only after arriving could it be read to the congregation. All told, there was about a ten-year window between Paul writing his first letter to the Corinthians and his death. 

Why is so much time devoted to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the operation of the gifts, and the insistence that we should earnestly desire to prophesy, and not forbid speaking in tongues, if that was done away with within a generation and never to be seen again?

Did Peter mispeak on the day of Pentecost when he declared that the promise was to them, to their children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call? If so, that calls into question the notion of divine inspiration with regard to Scripture itself, does it not? If something as monumentally relevant as the day in which the Holy Spirit was poured out can be muddled by the added opinions of men, wherein Peter declared that this was now the standard, and not a temporary exception to the rule, from generation to generation, a promise God had fulfilled to those who were His, and it was not the case but his added two cents, what does that infer about the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture?

I believe Scripture is divinely inspired. Therefore, I believe that the Holy Spirit superintended human authors to write His exact message without ambiguity or opacity. It is only when men attempt to inject their opinions and superimpose their doctrinal leanings upon the written text that confusion reigns and everyone ends up doing what is right in their own eyes.

It may come as a surprise, but the doctrine of cessationism is only roughly five hundred years old. For fifteen hundred years after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, no one even debated whether the gifts of the Holy Spirit were still active and present. As those with a fondness for musty tomes and the writings of the early church fathers can attest, the presence of spiritual gifts was testified to as early as 165 AD, wherein Justin Martyr wrote, “For the prophetical gifts remain with us, even to this present time,” some fifty years after the death of John the Apostle, in 100 AD.

Some people like to pretend there was no church history BC – Before Calvin – but anyone with a willingness to take the time and diligently study it will soon come to realize that there were many notable individuals who devoted their lives to The Way, and throughout the years wrote extensively about brethren in the church who possess prophetic gifting, speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light the secret things of men.

You may recognize some of the names, even after millennia due to the impact they had in leading the early church, from Irenaeus, to Tertullian, Origen, Augustine of Hippo, Francis of Assisi, John Knox, or George Fox, all wrote about ongoing gifts, prophecy, and healing. The presence of the Holy Spirit was never disputed by any of these men, nor were the gifts of the Spirit denounced or censured.

Again, ancient writings and the testimonies of the early church fathers are not evidence in and of themselves. It’s easy to get into the endless back-and-forth of he said, we say, they said, I say, but what is paramount is what the Bible says. What we are doing with this study is building a house, brick by brick, using the Word of God as the foundation. Likewise, at the risk of ruffling some feathers, I do not believe the words of Calvin to be sacrosanct; his words are not gospel; his words are not divine; therefore, I lend them as much weight as I do the words of the aforementioned men who affirmed the spiritual gifts well into the sixteenth century.

One piece of evidence may not sway anyone or convince them beyond a shadow of a doubt, but piece by piece, we are building a body of evidence. Eventually, all the evidence will be presented, the body thereof will be complete, and once it is, my job will be done. What you do with it is on you.  

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Prophecy VI

 Even when God calls out a hidden sin or vice through prophecy, it’s not to wow the crowd or elevate the status of the person delivering it, but to stir repentance in the heart of the individual being addressed. It’s not so much about getting a word from the Lord or receiving a prophecy; it’s about how you respond, and whether it compels you to humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and repent of what He has pointed out.

On occasion, I’ve been present when someone has received a word of rebuke or correction, and rather than acknowledge that what was contained in the word of prophecy couldn’t be known by anyone else except for God, allowed their feelings to dictate how they responded to it, and, in the vernacular of the modern-day buffet-style prophecy template where you pick and choose the ones you like and leave the rest under a heat lamp for some other soul to poke at, they did not bear witness with the word.

They allowed their pride and their feelings to dictate how they responded to a word of prophecy instructing them to turn from their lukewarmness, repent of their misdeeds, and correct the error of their ways because it did not praise them, honor them, or lift them to a place or position they knew full well that they weren’t ready to ascend to.

From a practical standpoint, a good rule of thumb for prophecy is that a false prophet, and by extension a false prophecy, will never steer you toward drawing closer to God, denying yourself, repenting, or seeking a deeper relationship with Jesus. Chances are, it will pander to you, stroke your ego, and attempt to placate you, insisting that you are righteousness personified even though you know there are areas in your life that need tending to.

If one filters prophecy through the prism of whether it made them feel good about themselves, it leaves the door open for the enemy to exploit the individual’s predisposition to reacting positively to praise and adulation, and given that the devil is ever on the prowl, he will inevitably facilitate a meeting between the individual and one of his minions to do just that. Once that seed is planted, if, perchance, in His love and mercy God sends a servant with a word of correction, they will be shunned and ignored because the individual will cling to the word of praise rather than the word of correction, due to their biases and how they view themselves.

The attitude of our heart should echo the words of David if our desire is to grow in the likeness of the One we serve, and not desire to be showered with undeserved praise, or told that we’re so special that the standard God has established in His Word does not apply to us.

Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Just because a word of prophecy brings correction does not make it false, and just because a word of prophecy praises you does not make it true. Usually it’s the reverse, and if we attempt to attach feelings and emotions to prophecies, we’re likely to reject the true men of God, whom He sent to deliver a word, and embrace those who were never sent but saw an opportunity to exploit our sensibilities.

God will not coddle someone in their sin just to spare their feelings, and someone whose attitude is that of being an open book, and desiring for God to know their heart and see if there is any wicked way in them, shouldn’t expect Him to.

God chastens those He loves. As any good father would, He corrects those in need of correction, encourages those in need of encouragement, strengthens those in need of strength, and comforts those in need of comfort if His presence is their heart’s desire. God knows what we need better than we do, and while we might want something that would offer a temporary respite, His remedies are permanent.

God will not be put in a box, give in to men’s demands, nor will He offer counsel via prophecy that undermines the ultimate goal of becoming more like Jesus. God will not send a word of comfort when what we need is correction, nor will He send a word of correction when we need encouragement. Above all, God is good! He is a good Father, who is not too busy to know what you need, nor is He stingy in providing it. Whether we receive it as a gift from a loving God, even when the flesh protests, is another question altogether.

A true word of prophecy can just as easily lift you up from the darkest pit of despair as bring you so low as to humble you into the dust, depending on what God knows you need. Yes, I want correction if correction is called for. I want God to tell me if I’m getting ahead of Him, if I’m allowing my flesh to dictate my plans rather than His Spirit, even subconsciously and unbeknownst to my rational self.

My desire is to be pleasing in His sight, and if chastening is required for me to do so, then that chastening is an expression of love and affection.

Proverbs 3: 11-12, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.”

Never correcting your child, even when you see them doing something they ought not to be doing, isn’t love; it’s indifference. I would rather God correct me every day if warranted, when warranted, than feel as though He is indifferent or unaware.

God’s silence is not consent. If you know that the path you’re walking is leading you further away from Him, if you know that the things which you occupy your time or pine over are contrary to His Word and no correction is forthcoming, it is not a reason to breathe a sigh of relief, but one for grave concern.

Knowledge and responsibility go hand in hand.

James 4:17, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.