From: jesus_is_lord To: List Member Subject: Are there prophets today? Date: Monday, June 19, 2000 7:56 AM jesus_is_lord [Reminder: This list is not for hellbounds. Repent and get washed in the blood of Jesus and THEN is will be for you. No matter how hard you try you will not understand.] Dear Christian Friends: Greetings in the name of the ONLY wise God and Saviour Jesus Christ. *****I MESSED UP***** You know, when we feel the promptings of the Holy Ghost, we really have to answer them immediately. I wanted to share an experience and an edifying word with you entitled, "Launch out into the deep" (see Luke 5:4). But my human mind said, "I've been sending out a lot of emails lately, let me wait a couple of days." It has been a couple of days and now the fire has cooled off. I tried to write this morning but it didn't go anywhere. When the Lord tells us to do something, we need to do it without delay. I've missed out on a word because I went with human reasoning instead the Spirit. Please forgive me, Lord. *****PROPHESY***** Revelation 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: FOR THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS IS THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. The testimony of Jesus IS the spirit of prophecy. What did the prophets do but say, "Thus saith the Lord"? They received God's word and then, as mouthpieces, spoke the word to their generation. The testimony of Jesus IS the spirit of prophecy. We speak the word of God in the midst of a rebellious, crooked, perverse, disobedient, lawless, profane, unholy, stiffnecked, unclean generation. WE SPEAK THE WORD OF GOD. THAT is prophecy. We can take a short survey of the prophets-- Jeremiah 1:2 TO WHOM THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME in the days of Josiah... Ezekiel 1:3 THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME EXPRESSLY unto Ezekiel the priest... Hosea 1:1 The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea... Joel 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah.. Micah 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite... Zephaniah 1:1 The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah... Haggai 1:1 In the second year of Darius the king...came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel...saying... Zechariah 1:1 ...in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah...saying, Malachi 1:1 The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. Unlike the prophets of old, we do not have to go into the wilderness to receive the word. We do not have to have an angel appear to us with the message. I'm not saying it couldn't happen but if it did it would still have to be consistent with the Bible. Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby SOME HAVE ENTERTAINED ANGELS UNAWARES. The word of the LORD is right here in our King James 1611 Bibles--Genesis to Revelation. [Note: the apocrypha is NOT the word of God. Many nowadays are trying to revive the reading of these spurious books-- http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/apocryph.htm ] The testimony of Jesus IS the spirit of prophecy. Our faith in Jesus came by hearing the word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by THE WORD OF GOD. The word of the Lord came to you, Christian friend, and to me. Now we take that same word and proclaim it to this evil and adulterous generation. That is the spirit of prophecy. *****DON'T CALL ME THAT***** Someone called me a prophetess. I told them not to call me that. Someone else did the same thing. I could not bear to hear that, either. A third person asked me if I was and I had to think about it. 2 Corinthians 13:1 ...In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. Matthew 18:16 ...in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. The Lord gave me Revelation 19:10 and I felt better. The testimony of Jesus IS the spirit of prophecy. I have that testimony and so do many on this list. I've only recently come to embrace the idea that I may have the gift of prophesy. The Lord has told me not to despise His gifts--if prophesy is a gift of mine it is wrong to deny it. Many people in this world go around calling themselves prophet (or as my brother would say, "Profit"). They think that prophecy is telling people that their lusts for material things will come to pass. They are false profits/prophets. A few years ago, we put together a page on spiritual gifts-- http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/gifts.htm This is the entry for prophesy-- 10.PROPHESY A believer who tells God's message. Paul said that the person who prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification (building up), exhortation (encouragement to grow), and comfort (I Cor. 14:3). He also said, desire spiritual gifts, but RATHER THAT YE MAY PROPHESY (I Cor. 14:1). When you look at the prophets of old, God would say something like, "Son of man, prophesy unto this people, 'Thus saith the Lord...'" Prophesy is speaking the word. This person knows the word. We can all read the word, meditate on it and obey it--then we will be able to proclaim it. [Rom. 12:6, I Cor. 12:10, Eph. 4:11] *****WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?***** When we know and embrace our spiritual gifts we can look for opportunities to use/exploit them for the building up of the kingdom of heaven. We should contemplate each gift, despising none of them, and look for which ones belong to us. We also need to know them so that we can identify them in others. When we help folks discover their gifts, then the body at large is blessed, built up, encouraged, exhorted, taught, etc. I recently interviewed an older saint to get her testimony. I asked her "What are you spiritual gifts?" She said, "I don't know." I then asked her about the types of things she has done in church. She told me and it was obvious that she has the gift of helps. When we know the gifts we can help others to discover theirs. The Bible discourses on gifts were not given in vain. They were given so that we could understand and act on them. It is given to us to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. To the world, it is not given. [Note: That is why this list is not for hellbounds. The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. I don't like the idea of casting my pearls before swine. That is why I keep reminding that this list is for Christians.] Yea, it is given to us to know the mysteries--including concerning spiritual gifts. When we want to understand a scripture or anything for that matter, all we have to do is ask the Lord. As Joseph said, Genesis 40:8 ...Do not interpretations belong to God? The Lord is well pleased to tell us the interpretation. He is our Father and the word is our food. He don't withhold it from us-- Luke 11:11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 11:12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? The other week I wanted to understand a scripture (Luke 12:49b) so I fasted specifically for that and the Lord shewed it to me a few days later. Follow after Christ hearkening unto the voice of His word and He will give you more than you can imagine. *****ALL GOD'S CHILDREN HAVE GIFTS***** Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and GAVE GIFTS UNTO MEN. Everyone that has been born again has at least one spiritual gift. Oftentimes someone else will identify your gift(s). Early in my Christian walk, there was a lady in my church who was a little slow in mind. She observed me teaching VBS, said I was good with the kids, and asked if I had considered teaching Sunday School. I hadn't but the idea appealed to me. I began substituting for Sunday School teachers and a few months later one of them asked if I would take over her class--and I was off! I benefited from teaching as much as the students did (or more). A certain measure of fear fell upon me as the following scripture kept going through my mind-- Romans 2:21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? The Lord put fear in me of being a hypocrite. I'm glad about it too. I was scared enough to make sure I was teaching strait and right. As I labored in the word and doctrine for the class, Jesus was teaching me! Here is an excerpt from our Spiritual Gifts page http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/gifts.htm -- Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. i cor. xii:i, iv, vii Every single believer has a spiritual gift. Do you know what yours is and why is it important for you to exercise it? Ephesians 4:12-15 tells us that spiritual gifts are... For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be NO MORE CHILDREN, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may GROW UP into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: Who wants to be a babe in Christ for 25 years? I call it the Baby Huey syndrome. Baby Huey was a six foot tall cartoon duck that wore a diaper. We are to grow up and mature in Jesus Christ and not be babies in understanding and experience. Otherwise, we'll be tossed to and fro being deceived because we lack knowledge and experience in the meat of the word. Peter tells us to gird up the loins of our mind. If you are not using your spiritual gift, you are not only depriving yourself of blessing, but you are depriving Jesus of His fruits and depriving other people who are depending on you to do right. All gifts must be undergirded by charity (I Cor. 13) and love. Jesus said, "A new commandment I give you; that ye love one another." That is a command from the Big Boss. We must be governed by love of God, love of the brethern, and love of our neighbor. ***** "EXERCISE YOUR GIFTS, SONS AND DAUGHTERS AND DO RIGHT" ***** Jesus also made me realize early on that there are people depending on me to do right. People I do not even know. I was in a used bookstore one day looking for volumes. I was on their phone talking to one of their buyers about old Bibles when she asked when she could contact me (or something like that). I said, "You can contact me anytime, I'm just a housewife." When I got off the phone a young man who worked behind the desk looked at me with love in his eyes and said so tenderly, "You're not just a housewife, you are a church mother." I did not and do not know that man (I gave him a Bible and tracts on a subsequent visit) but the Lord let me see some things from this encounter. We are a sweet-smelling savour of Christ in the midst of a pungent, stinkin' world! When we lift up Christ, people will be drawn to Him through our witness. As the Father sent the Son, so the Son sends us. As we witness, and live for Jesus, people must look, just like the hellbounds on this list. They may not get saved, nevertheless, they are drawn like moths to the flame. John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw ALL men unto me. When we cast down this wicked world and take up Christ, people in this world KNOW that there is a holy God in heaven and that there is a holy people that serve Him. Without holiness, NO MAN shall see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which NO MAN shall see the Lord: *****CONCLUSION***** Matthew 5:16 LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE before men, that they may see your good works, and GLORIFY your Father which is in heaven. Luke 12:35 LET YOUR LOINS BE GIRDED ABOUT, AND YOUR LIGHTS BURNING; 12:36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him IMMEDIATELY. 12:37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find WATCHING: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and SERVE THEM. 12:38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 12:39 And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. 12:40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. for Jesus' sake, tracy -- http://www.jesus-is-lord.com ...I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. Ezekiel 2:4, 6 ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to jesus_is_lord-unsubscribe@listbot.com Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb