The Signs of the Times

Prayer for Wisdom and the Need for the Spirit

Pray and we're gonna get started. We got a lot of ground that we're gonna cover. We have some pretty challenging questions. Great questions by the way. I came in on the on the chat so let's a let's pray and then we will get started.

Lord Jesus as we again open up your word we recognize that apart from you we we cannot do anything so we cannot rightly understand your word apart from the spirit so we ask that you would send the spirit so that we may rightly believe confess and walk according to what you've revealed.

There we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen. Let's try that again. Try what again? I don't know I don't have to pray over. You know sometimes like herding cats the people here at Kongsvinger are very happy to be able to see each other in person and I'm not about to be a total killjoy so just a partial one.

Slipsy-doopsies. It's a slipsy-doopsie. Okay so here was one of the questions that came in and I do not know who galaxy A715G is but wow what a name. You're an entire galaxy. Congratulations. I you know I can't even be a small planet but that's a different story.

Altogether.

But the question was how do you interpret the verse that we know in part and we prophesy in part but that which is perfect comes and the partial will be set aside. Fantastic question. So here's how I will walk you through the exegetical conflict in this one and show you that there is a another way of understanding this text and I think that is actually the right.

One.

And we'll take a look at it in context. So when we read first Corinthians chapters 12, 13, and 14 there's a discussion of the gifts of the Spirit. Little historical note here the first Corinthians is one of the first books of the New Testament written is one of the very first.

It's written in 50 AD so less than 20 years from the time of Christ's death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Less than 20 years and as far as the Pauline epistles go we know it's his absolute first one and here's the issue is that I'm gonna ask kind of a like a procedure question and as a pastor I'm keenly aware of this issue.

If I were a pastor in a congregation during the year 50 AD what Bible do I have? I have only the Old Testament period. I only have the Old Testament but here's the thing is the Old Testament sufficient to teach to a New Testament congregation?

No because in the Old Testament we have the types and shadows and so we see a phenomenon in the book of Acts and that is that the apostles have the authority given to them by Christ that they can impart spiritual gifts to people via the laying on of hands and one of the gifts that was in play in what we're gonna basically say this in-between period from the time of Christ's ascension until the completion in the New Testament one of the things that was in play was the idea that there were gifts of prophecy given and the prophets then were the ones who gave how should we say it new covenant sermons in a time when the New Testament wasn't finished and with the death of the apostles we see the disappearing of the prophetic gifts and there's a very simple reason for that and that is.

Is because.

With the completed New Testament we have the full counsel of the Word of God from Genesis all the way to the book of Revelation we have everything that we need for life and godliness in Christ. That being the case you'll note that that historically the ancient church recognized that the gift of prophecy as they see in the book of Acts disappeared really with the final of the disciples of the apostles.

I'll give you an example. So there's a fellow by the name of Polycarp. He was martyred in his eighties and he was a disciple of the Apostle John. And from Polycarp's writing there's a very strong case that can be made that Polycarp was probably baptized as a child by the Apostle John and so he was taught and catechized in the city of Ephesus by the Apostle John and had received really a prophetic gift given to him by the laying on of hands of the Apostle John who after Paul had left doing his missionary work and establishing the congregations in the city of Ephesus it was the Apostle.

John.

Who took Jesus's mother Mary and the two of them moved to Ephesus. Her tomb is not that far from the city of Ephesus. They've actually found it in.

The last.

Couple of decades. But all that being said you know what's going on here is that they are being taught and Polycarp near the end of his life he had a legitimate prophetic vision basically warning him of how he was going to be martyred.

He had a vision of his pillow catching on fire and knew from that point that he was going to be arrested and that he would be martyred by being burnt at the stake. He was going to be immolated. So it's a fascinating thing that's recorded here.

But really with the death with Polycarp having received that gift directly from the Apostle John through the laying on of hands on Polycarp totally to be expected. But with the death of Polycarp we really see a complete diminishing of the prophetic operation in the sense of people receiving direct revelation from God.

In the second century you see the rise of what's called the Martinist which I think are a prototype of today's Pentecostals. But Martinism was eventually deemed to be a heresy. That being the case all of the charismatics and I've noted this in the writings of the people who were present at Azusa Street all of the charismatics at the time of the early 20th century who talk about God's renewal of the Pentecostal gifts.

They do not talk about them in continuationist terms they always talk about them in terms of those gifts being restored. And those people historically who were present and part.

Of the leadership.

And participated in at the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles in the early 20th century. They all in their writings of the events that they witnessed write about it as God restoring these things which begs the question if they were necessary for the church to be operating in why did they disappear for 19 centuries.

It makes no sense. So that being the case when we consider this passage in first Corinthians 13 which is always cracks me up when a couple getting married says we'd like this to be one of the passages read in our wedding.

And it's like alright we'll just ignore the context and we'll focus on the love part. But wow okay so as a pastor I'm always cracking that thing cracking up about that. You girls over here when you're getting married we'll have to talk about the passages you pick for your yeah.

But all that being said let's take a look at it in context. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels and I have not love I'm a noisy.

Gong.

Or a clanging cymbal. If I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but I have not love I'm nothing. If I give away all that I have.

If I deliver my body to be burned but I have not love I gain nothing. So note here combine this with the sermon that we heard today. So first John for warning us about antichrist and false prophets admonishes us to what love Christ admonishing us to abide in his word and bear fruit.

We know from scripture that the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace patience kindness. The purpose of the gifts is not to glorify you. In the purpose of gifts is to glorify and exalt Christ and to build up the body of Christ.

And and you'll note that those who are obsessed with surfing the latest wave the Holy Spirit they're not operating in love. I at their their it's more or less kind of a you know an excitement lust. I don't know.

You've you've heard of. Like the people who have to travel the world. They call it a wander lust. You know so modern-day charismatics. And I was a charismatic I was in the movement. They are like the surfers that I would see in San Clemente where I raised my.

Kids.

They would be up before the crack of dawn beyond their surfboards out there scanning the horizon looking for the next swell to come in. And then they would catch it and go. Dude. That was totally gnarly.

I did. Caught a tubular wave. Man. Oh man. That was gnarly dude. And that the charismatics are just like that. They're absolutely like that. They're out there scanning the horizon waiting for the next wave of the Spirit to surf in so they can have some amazing experience.

But the thing is the gifts of the Spirit are designed for the edifying of the church and the whole point here is if you're not operating in them for the purpose of producing the fruit of the Spirit which is love.

It's doo-doo. I don't wanna hear about how you raise people from the dead. Or you interpreted someone's tattoo and gave him a prophetic reading and told him how awesome they were. Or you you went on some kind of a spirit quest.

Nonsense. What I wanna see is what the Holy Spirit has said. And that is that the Holy Spirit produces in us. What? Love for God. Love for others. Love so love is patient. Love is kind. It doesn't envy or boast.

It's not arrogant or rude. Does not insist on its own way. It's not irritable or resentful. It doesn't rejoice at wrongdoing it but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things.

Theme of the book of Revelation. Patient endurance. How so? Love of God. Love for others. Love never ends. And now here comes the part that that modern-day charismatics utterly biff and I'll explain how it from from from the Greek itself.

As for prophecies they will pass away here we have a prophecy from the Apostle Paul by the Holy Spirit. The prophecy will end. The church is historically understood this to be well prophecies ended with the completion the New Testament and moving on from the second century forward.

The emphasis has always been on the preaching at the apostolic faith. We believe in one holy Catholic an apostolic church Catholic universal apostolic meaning. It's built on the message of the Apostles Christ himself has said in the in the Great Commission.

Make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit. Teaching all that I have commanded. I'm with you always to the end of the age. The church is authorized only to teach what Christ has commanded.

Period. Full stop. Okay. As for prophecies they will pass away. As for tongues they will cease. As for knowledge it will pass away here. This is talking about prophetic knowledge. For we know in part and we prophesy in part.

But when the perfect and here's where I'm gonna take issue with the ESV in some of our modern English translations as somebody who reads Greek and also can also take a look at the cross reference that's one chapter over in its context.

I would not translate teleos here as.

Perfect.

I would translate it as mature and so let's take a look at this at this word. But when the mature comes so the word is teleos in Greek. And oh man that small text. Hang on a second. Here my eyes. Okay I'm so here your options for how to translate this.

I'm you know there there's many what. And so your your context is gonna dictate this. It could mean perfect by the way a meeting of a highest standard pertaining to the meeting of a high of things that are perfect.

I'm talking about goodness. You know as at is the acne a badness of persons who are full are fully up to a standard in a certain respect and not satisfied with half measures complete the expert. But here's the main second one the mature the fully grown the adult.

Okay so let's take a look. Let's trip. Let's take teleos and plug in this different meaning and see how this works and see if it fits with the greater context. Alright. So when I was so I'm I'm in chapters.

So here we go. We know in part we prophesy in part when.

The.

But when the teleos comes let's say the mature or the complete when the complete comes the partial will pass away. When I was a child I spoke like a child I thought like a child I reasoned like a child.

When I became a man I gave up childish ways. Here in the immediate context I think you can argue wait a second he's saying he's arguing against childish thinking and talking about being mature teleos.

Here if you translate it when the mature comes the partial will pass away. This is talking about the immaturity that exists as a result of having only the Old Testament and not the new now having the completed word of God.

So when I became a man I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face. Now I know in part but then I shall know fully even as I has been fully known. And here what the charismatic argues is that this is talking about the perfect coming and talking about the return of Christ.

And they're saying the prophecy has to continue until Jesus returns. It's already historical fact that it didn't and that tongues did not either continue in the church. This is a historical fact. So the idea here is is that they they've got the wrong antecedent.

They think that the perfect is referring to Jesus but it's referring to the mature in the complete which is what the finished word of God until the end of the writing of the New Testament. And that I think the correct way to understand this.

And then also in that context then I would show that in chapter 14 and close that then chapter 14 we have the same talk about being mature being mature. 1st Corinthians 1420. Brothers do not be children in your thinking be infants in evil.

But in your thinking be mature. And here we go. What's the word teleos. The same word as when the you know when the perfect arrives it's it's when the teleos you know be teleos be mature in in the law it is written by people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people even then they will not listen to me says the Lord.

Thus tongues are a sign not for believers for but for unbelievers while prophecy is a sign for not for unbelievers but for believers. And so we're gonna note then something here that here it prophecy is said to be a sign.

This is one of the signs that the apostles were really sent by Christ. When we talk about signs that's a that's language that comes out of the Old Testament. Moses says what sign shall I show the people that you've sent me.

God says I want you to take your hand put it in your coat and pull it out. It'll be leprous put it back in and the leprosy will be gone. And then I want you to take your staff and throw it on the ground and it'll become a serpent.

These are the signs that God gave Moses to give him the you know the the idea here. And the apostle Paul then talks about the fact that those we preach the gospel to he performed the signs of the apostles.

So you'll note signs then are a way validating the messenger. The apostle Paul performed the signs of an apostle and prophecy was a sign gift at the time of the apostles validating that they were sent by Christ.

So the long and the short of it is is that the person who takes first Corinthians 13 and says that that prophecy must continue until until the return of Christ is not only historically incorrect because it didn't and they're being duplicitous because every one of the historical Pentecostals claim that the gifts and prophecy were restored.

In fact I can speak to this historically myself my wife and I after getting married actually before we got married in a large part of the first year of our marriage we were in the latter rain and in the latter rain movement.

That's what be that was the antecedent to today's new apostolic reformation. And we were under a prophetess in our charismatic church. And we were told with joy and glee of the good news that God had restored prophets to the church in our lifetime when in the late 1980s.

And then you'll note in the early 2000s that the NAR claims that God not only restored prophets but they also God also restored apostles. I even have Patricia King and teachings of hers in the early 2000s where she talks about the restoration of prophets and the restoration of apostles.

But now the charismatic movement in the NAR say the five-fold ministry has continued throughout the entire history of the church. Well let me tell you about the shortest book I ever read. The shortest book I ever read is titled the great prophets of the 15th 16th and 17th centuries.

Every page was blank. Okay. And then this even shorter. Well it was just a little bit longer because it was more of a time frame all the great prophets from Augustine until Emperor Charlemagne name them who were the prophets of the 5th century the 6th century the 7th 8th 9th 10th.

There were no prophets until wingnut wackerdoodle showed up in Kansas. Right. That's the truth. I seem a little impassioned about it. But you know. So somebody's gonna make it and send it to me. And I it'll be a it.

Yeah anyone wants to make that book and send me the blank pages. I.

I can.

That'd be great we can use it for birdlining but anyway yeah if I was a.

Prophet.

And then we're gonna note then here somebody had mentioned this. And I believe that they're absolutely right when they do this. And let me explain at the end of the book a revelation by the way do you think that God was surprised that the book revelation ends up as the last book of the New Testament not only is the last book of the New Testament chronologically it is also the last book in the New Testament canonically.

And God the Holy Spirit then basically gives an extreme warning. All right. And let's see here. Um did you do. There's let me find this real quick. Hang on. I may be in the wrong chapter. Hang on a second here.

Yeah there we go. Um revolution 22. I warn everyone who hears the words the prophecy of this book. Which book. Which one. The Bible. If anyone adds to them God will add to him the plagues described in this book.

If anyone takes away from the words of the book this prophecy God will take away his share in the tree of life in the holy city which are described in this book. I think God is very clear. The scriptures are done.

And in the very last chapter of the very last book ever written in the Bible the very words of God are if you add to this you well how do they say it. You're in deep kimchi. That's how this works out.

It's not gonna go well for you on the day of judgment. And so um yeah Victor says in the maligned NIV the NIV says when the complete comes at least the NIV what I think has a better translation in the ESV there.

And this by the way is the reason why pastors need to read the original biblical languages. Your pastor could not doesn't know what the Greek alphabet is and couldn't tell the difference between a Yod and a Yoda.

Then you need to send back to seminary and make him study. Because we're required to bring God's word forward accurately. Which means you have to be able to read it and catch these nuances. Because if you don't it's easy just to go along with the general consensus.

So okay. So that's the answer to question number one. Hopefully you found that helpful. So the answer is is that it's not referring to the return of Christ and it is actually prophesying that prophecies in tongues and words of knowledge would come to an end.

We know historically when that took place it happened to be when the completed New Testament arrived. That's just that's just the facts. But here's the other bit and this is the part that a lot of people do not know and one that I think is worth at least an examination in this context and I have never heard a charismatic being able to overturn this one in the book of Daniel I think it's chapter 9.

Let's see here there's a prophecy regarding the 70 weeks. And if you've ever heard of Daniel's prophecy regarding the 70 weeks this is the one that you'd really need to pay attention to. Let's see here here we go.

Alright so this is this is an interpretation of his vision that he had an interpretation given by an angel to Daniel. And here's the thing this is a time prophecy regarding when the Messiah would appear.

And the 70 weeks is a symbolic number of time and it describes exactly what's going to happen up to Christ's return to his death, his resurrection and then a little bit past his ascension. You can actually see it when you consider it.

So here's the interpretation Daniel 29 24 70 weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city to finish the transgression to put an end to sin and to atone for iniquity to bring in everlasting righteousness and watch this to seal both vision and profit to seal it and to anoint a most holy place.

Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming up an anointed one a Messiah Mashiach in Hebrew a prince there shall be seven weeks. Then for 62 weeks it shall be built again with squares and a moat but in a troubled time.

And after 62 weeks an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. So 62 weeks into this what's gonna happen is is that the Messiah will be cut off and then there's a little bit of time afterwards.

And then the prince who is to come shall destroy the city in the sanctuary that's fulfilled in 70 AD and shall come with a flood and to the end shall be war. Desolations are decreed and shall make a strong covenant with many for one week and for half of the.

Week.

He shall put an end to sacrifice and offering and on the wing of abomination shall come one who makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. So here's what ends up. If you basically take the 70 weeks you know in its fullness here it's talking about the time from when Daniel heard this was gonna happen until Jesus returns.

That 62 weeks in the notice is a period of time and what's what's happened in between. The temple is utterly destroyed the desolator comes and you'll note that after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD there was a period of time from 70 to about 120 when the Jews were not totally kicked out of Judea and there was a just a small period of time when things could they could still kind of sort of get along.

They were a conquered people but.

They.

Started rising up again and revolting and so in the early part of the second century the Roman Empire said enough is enough and they kicked all of the Jews out of Israel. You are gone. If you're a Jew in Israel disperse them throughout the Roman Empire and they change the name of Israel to Syria-Palestinian.

Okay kind of an interesting thing. And so all of the things that took place historically in the 70 weeks are completed within the 70 weeks which then means this. This means that if Jesus isn't the Messiah ain't nobody the Messiah.

The 70 weeks are fulfilled. And you'll note that then part of the details here is not only the atoning for iniquity but in the 70 weeks themselves with at the very end both vision and prophecy are sealed.

The end kaput. In other words if somebody comes to you and says I'm a prophet of God say to that person be gone to the devil who you belong to. I don't wanna hear a word that you have to say. Prophecy is sealed.

It's done. We have everything we need. And all that being said consider then the Apostle Paul as he's getting ready to finish his course and finishing his course requires that his head be taken off his neck by a Roman centurion.

So the Apostle Paul at the end of his life talks about what's coming in the future. He says this in second Timothy 3. Understand this. In the last days there will come times of difficulty. People will be lovers of self.

Oh before there was the term narcissism. Narcissists are prophesied as the first thing to look for in the immediate days before the return of Christ. Is that a problem today? Yeah epidemic right? They'll be lovers of money you know like Ken Copeland moneyyyy come out to me now COVID -19.

I blow the window guard on you okay proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal not loving good treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, basically TBN.

Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having an appearance of godliness but denying its power, avoid such people. Among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins, led astray by various passions.

Isn't it fascinating that some of the most notable people claiming to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit, let's talk about a couple of them, shall we? You ever heard of Amy Semple McPherson? She's the creator of the four square gospel churches, Amy Semple McPherson.

Do you know that she disappeared for a bit of time because she was having an adulterous affair? You aware of this? All right, then let's talk about the other one, Catherine Kuhlman, one of the creepiest ladies who ever walked planet Earth.

She claimed that she can operate in healing gifts and signs and wonders. And she also notoriously had, well, an adulterous sexual affair and never repented of it. Never repented of it, ever. Had an adulterous affair with a married fellow.

Then I think of Todd Bentley, okay? Of the so-called outpouring that happened in Lakewood, or Lakeland, Florida, right? One of the most sexually perverse people I've ever heard of, right? And then you have Benny Hinn.

He had a tryst with Paula White, and it was made public, never acknowledged it, never repented of it. And Benny Hinn himself famously, a couple years ago, said that when the anointing of God comes on people, it excites their sexual desires.

And it's one of the effects of the anointing. It's utter blasphemy, okay? Utter blasphemy. And then you just look at guys like Ken Copeland. I mean, he's as greedy as greedy gets. And yet, Dr. Michael Brown cannot bring himself to say that, well, Ken Copeland is an actual heretic and a teacher of the prosperity heresy.

He can't stomach the fact, and refuses to claim that he's a false prophet, right? So among them are those who creep into household, they capture weak women, burdened with sin, led astray by various passions, always learning, never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

Just as Janice and John Brees opposed Moses, so these men also opposed the truth. And boy, do the charismatics oppose the truth. Now, holy smokes.

Yeah, Barb.

Yeah, by the way, this is a description of people in the church, in the visible church, not outside of it, okay? Because you're gonna sit there and go, wait a second. Unbelievers have always opposed the word of God.

Yeah, this is taking place in the church. And by the way, we'll talk about this as we start to unpack the concept of Jezebel, and how she's a type and shadow of the whore of Babylon. All right, these are men who are corrupted in mind, disqualified regarding the faith.

They will not get very far. Their folly will be plain to all. Isn't it sad that the unbelieving world sees the folly of these false prophets, but we don't? It's unbelievable. But you, however, you have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and Lystra, which persecutions I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me.

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters, and we have those aplenty, will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned, and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you've been acquainted with the what? Sacred writings.

By the way, this is the last letter Paul writes, the very, very last one. He's writing this from prison. He's writing it to a pastor, and he notes, where does he focus him? Not on signs and wonders, not on direct revelation, not on receiving a prophetic gift, or operating in the prophetic.

He points him to the book, the Bible, that you may be acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ. All scripture, graphe, writing, is breathed out by God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.

And here, complete is a different word than teleos. All right, it's arteos, and that's the Greek word here. All right, so the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work. In other words, there is nothing that God is gonna have you do in the good works that were prepared in advance for you to do that God's word will not actually outfit you for.

Full stop. And then you'll note, then, kind of the ominous next bit, is that I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word, the word.

Be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.

And as somebody who's listened to far too many modern sermons from evangelical stages, I mean, are they even pulpits anymore? Over and again, the one thing that is common among them is almost a complete lack of the word of God.

You will get one to three, on a good sermon, four or five, sentences from the Bible taken out of context, mm-hmm. Sentences taken out of context, and you will get a metric ton of stories about the pastor.

Yeah, see, I was at the grocery store the other day, and wouldn't you know, I felt the Holy Spirit come upon me, and he asked me to prophetically interpret the vomit that was on the bib of the baby in her basket.

Get out of the broccoli aisle.

Yeah, here's the thing, I make fun of it now, but it's gonna happen next week, okay? Somebody on YouTube is gonna say that they were at the store, and they saw a pattern of vomit on a kid's clothing, and they knew that that was the voice of God speaking.

It's nuts, okay? And then you'll note then, Peter, in his last epistle, this is not a coincidence, in his last epistle, as he's getting ready to finish his course, and his course is a little more gruesome in the end than Paul's.

Paul, at least as a Roman citizen, had the ability to have a clean and quick death, had his head taken off. But Peter, on the other hand, he didn't even consider himself worthy to be crucified, because that's the way Christ died, and so when he threw a fit and said he wasn't worthy to die on the cross, the same way Jesus did, the Roman soldiers obliged him, and they crucified him upside down, and it took him three days to die.

Just horrifying. But note what he says as he's getting ready to finish his course, last of the epistles from Peter. We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. When he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. What's he referencing here?

He's referencing the Mount of Transfiguration, and I'm absolutely of the belief that Patricia King and people in the NAR are so lusting after signs and wonders and glory experiences like this, they'd be willing to sell their mothers into slavery just to spend five minutes on the Mount of Transfiguration.

But what does Peter point us to? Does he say, just like we had that experience, you go look for that? He says, no. He says, we ourselves, we heard this very voice born from heaven, we were with him on the holy mountain, and we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you will do well to pay attention.

The prophetic word more fully confirmed than the voice he heard from the Father? As a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart. Now notice what he says here.

That this lamp will be shining until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart, that's referring to the end. The thing that Peter points the church to as the thing we should be looking for is not a prophetic word, but the prophetic word in the scriptures.

Knowing this, first of all, no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

This is the prophetic word that we are to be listening to, and then he immediately launches into a warning about false prophets. The false prophets also arose among the people just as there will be false teachers among you.

Important to note, out of all of the books of the New Testament, only one, only one fails to warn us about false teachers and false prophets, and that's the epistle of Philemon. Every other book of the New Testament gives strong, stern, and very exacting warnings as it relates to false teachers and false prophets.

And yet, in today's charismatic movement, their so-called prophetic standard, there's no such thing as a false prophet. As long as the person is sincere, they're true.

Right.

So, yeah, you get the idea here. Yeah. Okay, so let's keep going with the questions. The NAR seems like the so-called prophets are willing to modify God's word in order to explain why their prophetic messages did not happen as they proclaimed.