Introduction
The Missio Dei is apparently also the mission of the
Church in the New Testament as the result of Christ’s incarnational ministry.
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Pentecost was the seal of the official
“sending” of the church not just for the Jews but to the Gentiles as well. The
gifts of the Holy Spirit were upon every believer: apostles, prophets,
teachers, healers, and pastors. The power of God was just so strong and obvious
then. The question now is, are these gifts and power still strong today? Have
these continued or ceased? Apostleship (church planters) still exist as well as
teachers. Pastors are around the world and Healing and other miracles are still
happening. But prophets, are they still needed here? Some names today like
Jeremiah Johnson or Sadhu and so forth, are they true prophets?
Gift of
Prophecy: Continued or Ceased?
Cessasionists
like Richard Gaffin[1] and
Daniel Wallace believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit have expired and
are not expected to appear today. Two of the known reformists Martin Luther and
John Calvin also supported this position along with others like the 20th
century John Gresham Machen and B.B. Warfield. The Sola Scriptura, originated
from Luther, was among the strong standpoints of this group. For them, the
charismatic groups technically violate this whenever the claim for the Holy
Spirit gifts' existence is proclaimed and practiced. Nonetheless, the Bible
tells nothing about the gifts being stopped or expired although nothing was
mentioned about these being continued either. Some Cessasionists like John
McArthur balance it out by agreeing with the Continuationist’s interpretation
that “prophecy” and revelatory gifts exist in
natural terms.[2]
Modern theologians like Sam Storms, in the Strange Fire Conference, say that it
is important to consider “the explicit and oft-repeated purpose of the
charismata: namely, the edification of Christ's body”.[3]
For Storms, this is not possible if the gifts of the Holy Spirit were just made
available to the New Testament apostles only. Thomas Schreiner responded to this by emphasizing that only the
apostolic church had the gifts and all we have now are their teachings until
Jesus returns.[4]
I personally do not believe
that the gift of prophecy or any of the apostolic gifts have ceased but I say
this with particular reservations. We cannot deny the fact though that the Holy
Spirit’s operation changed from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Today’s
operation of the Holy Spirit is also different from those two periods. When the
Old Testament prophets say “Thus says the Lord…”, it should be infallible. When
the New Testament prophets say the same, Paul warned that the church should
judge the prophecy.[5]
At this point, the New Testament prophets never erred except those false
prophets whose prophecies did not come into effect. Today’s prophets, on the
other hand, are said to function differently. Schreiner said that what we have
today are prophecies that are actually the impressions from God.[6]
These impressions are used by God to lead us.[7]
These are infallible and should be judged according to the Scriptures. I would
agree with Schreiner that we receive impressions from God but we should be
careful about how we view these impressions. The Holy Spirit is indwelling us
so the prophetic impressions would be possible for every believer. Even so, we
cannot walk blinded of the experiences and evidences that God still speaks to
prophets today for the purpose of warning and rebuking of hearts. This may be
the least reason to establish for the standpoint of supporting the prophecies
we receive today but we cannot question God when the Holy Spirit Himself
inspires a servant to go to a place or proclaim an impending event for a
nation, a church, or an individual. Christians have to be wise and be led by
the Spirit. They have the Old Testament and New Testament truth and
testimonies. More knowledge and responsibilities are given today. It is
therefore important that Christians should judge according to what God has
provided in history.
How the HS operates Today Through the “Modern Prophets”
“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans
8:16, NIV
God came down from heaven to earth and torn
the veil so that we can have direct communication and relationship with Him. Therefore,
it can be said that all Christians can actually prophesy.[8] The Holy
Spirit is already in every believer and on and on, the impressions are received
by a servant and child of God. These impressions[9] refer to the voice
of the God speaking to a Christian through the Holy Spirit. Nonetheless, this
standpoint can be really dangerous to some as God said through the prophet
Ezekiel that the false prophets who prophesy from their own inspiration will be
rebuked and punished.[10]
Technically, the viewpoint that all Christians can
prophesy can be rejected as based on Luther’s Sola Scriptura. Nothing in the
Bible that says all believers can prophesy. Some though will receive the gift
of prophecy while others’ gifts will be in line with apostleship, teaching,
healing, miracles, and pastoring. We cannot limit the Holy Spirit but the gift
of prophecy is such a heavy and critical task or office to take.
The Holy Spirit directs the prophecies for
the waking up of people for the ultimate purpose of deliverance. He uses the
prophet to carry the Word. From the very mouth of God, the prophet receives the
Word and begins to be the mouthpiece of the most High God. The phrase “Thus
says the Lord” is among the heaviest and most important phrases in the Bible.
When this is said, the power of God is upon it. A false prophet who says this
phrase has an immeasurable responsibility to God because of using His name.
Uttering this phrase without the truth that God really spoke to him will mean
blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Hence, since that what we have today are just
impressions from the Lord, we cannot say the phrases: “God revealed to me” or
“Thus says the Lord..” so to speak. It may be more appropriate to say “The Lord
impressed to me that..” and so on and so forth.
Jesus As a
Prophet Has to Be Imitated
Jesus
spoke and taught in parables, which are in line with the Old Testament and more
importantly with the Old Testament prophets.[11]
Though it may sound artistic, the parables of Jesus were not primarily intended
to draw people closer. “The parables are not nice stories, mere clever
illustrations, or nice pedagogical tools: they are part of a prophetic agenda.”[12]
Jesus used parables to bring the message of the Father and to confront the
hearts of people. It was still His agenda to reconcile and reconstitute Israel
(and later the other nations) under His leadership. He was prophet, teacher,
discipler, and everything to fulfill His purpose for humankind. And we are to
imitate His example during His three-year ministry, including such prophetic
ministry.
Functions of the New Testament Prophets Were Limited Though
Some
theologians say that the prophets and teachers in 1 Corinthians 12:28 were the
same.[13]
Nonetheless, προφήτης and διδάσκαλος are different. The reason why the former
was second and the latter was third in the list is that, Paul was talking about
two different offices. Even so, there is a relation between these two as Jesus
did both. His forerunner, John the Baptist, also did. They both gave predictive
prophecies and taught people about the prophecies. Judas and Silas in Acts 15
also were prophets and at the same time teachers in the church. Not all did the
same though. Some of the prophets mentioned above were plainly prophets, who
predicted future events. An example was Agabus who predicted the famine and
Paul’s arrest by the Jews and handing over to the Romans. Some apostles
(apostolos) were also prophets at the same time like John the beloved. In spite
of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Pentecost, there were limitations
in the functions of the prophets in the New Testament as the early church
developed.[14] Why did
the prophetic ministry changed and narrowed down the functions? Harold said:
First, it is to be observed that in essence Christ's
apostles, as in the case of the savior himself, are prophets as far as functions
are concerned: they are God's spokesman guided by the Holy Spirit (1
Corinthians 7:40); predictors of the future (1 and 2 Thessalonians; 2 Peter 3,
Revelation); teachers (1 Timothy 2:7); and workers of miracles (Matthew 10:8;
Acts 3:1-8; 13:8-11; 20:9-10). Secondly, as the New Testament Church develops
under the leadership of the apostles, the concentration of these gifts which
they themselves possessed and continued to exercise are seen, at least in part,
to be shared among the members of the church for its better functioning…[15]
Note that in the Old Testament, God spoke to the prophets
to send the message to the people. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ came so
that by the power of the Holy Spirit, the church will speak to all the nations.
It is therefore not usual to have direct revelation from God from the Apostolic
Church period on, because of the incarnational ministry of Jesus. Otherwise,
when the need arose, God handpicked prophets in the New Testament like Agabus,
Anna, and others to speak of predictive prophecies.
Conclusion
The gift of prophecy
has not ceased but this office functions in a different way. It is distinct from
the office of the prophets in the Old Testament and the New Testament. What the
believers have today are impressions from the Lord. There is no direct WORD
from the Lord to man except from what He has already written in the Scriptures.
The Scripture itself is the Lord’s prophecy for the believers. Hence today, no
believer can say “Thus says the Lord” to certain group of people. It is more
appropriate to say “the Scripture says..”. Nonetheless, we cannot limit the
Holy Spirit. He can show Himself to people if He wants to, just like how some
believers say in their testimonies. But again, saying that the Lord Himself
appeared to them and directly utter the words so they can tell the people, this
takes a lot of accountabilities before the Lord.
[1]
Richard B. Gaffin have agreed with some Continuationist interpretation of the
gifts today but he did not consider the idea about the natural character of
these gifts. See more about this in Gaffin’s Perspectives on Pentecost (NJ: Presbyterian and Rformed Company,
1979), 109.
[2] John F. MacArthur, Charismatic Chaos (MI: Zondervan, 1992), 389. http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=TnVj53uZVjkC&printsec=frontcover&hl=fil#v=onepage&q&f=false (viewed August 25, 2014)
[3] http://thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-i-am-a-continuationist/ (viewed on August 25, 2014)
[4] http://thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-i-am-a-cessationist/ (viewed on August 25, 2014)
[5] 1 Corinthians 14:29-31, “Let
two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 30 If
a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. 31 For
you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, 32 and
the spirits of prophets are subject.”
[7] Wayne Grudem sees
these impressions as prophecy. See also Grudem’s Stanley Gundry’s compilation
of views in “Are Miraculous Gifts For Today”? (MI: Zondervan, 2011).
[8] Some writers like Steve Thompson and Robert Benjamin
Hall produced books about these. See Thompson Steve's "You may all
prophesy!" Morning star publications (2000) and Rober B. Hall's Anyone can
Prophesy (NY:Seabury Press, 1977).
[9] “Impressions” term used by Schreiner above and referred
to as prophecy itself by W. Grudem.
[10] NIV,
Ezekiel 13:1-4, “The word of the Lord came to me: 2“Son of man,
prophesy against the prophets of Israel who
are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word
of the Lord! 3 This is what
the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to
the foolish[a] prophets who follow their
own spirit and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets,
Israel, are like jackals among ruins.”
[11]
Klyne Snodgrass, “Parables, Prophets and Theologians” Bulletin for Biblical Research 18.1 (2008), 45–77.
[12]
Snodgrass, 54.
[13] C. Rabin, The
Zadokite Documents (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954), 28.
[14]
Mare Harold says that “The
prophet function, as the Church developed, seems to be limited to that of
inspired utterances of some sort given under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
( I Cor. 14:29-32 ).” See his, “Prophet and teacher in the New Testament
period” Bulletin of the Evangelical
Theological Society 9 no 3 (Sum 1966), 139-148. Prophets
actually function also as teachers and/or apostles at the same time. It really
depends on the need and the direction of the Holy Spirit for the minister.
[15] M.Harold, 147-148.
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