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This is the second of a three-part edited blog repost celebrating the results of Billy Graham’s ongoing “My Hope America” campaign and more broadly, God’s glorious design of the Church to function through the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts. To my great joy also in this installment, I am led by the Spirit to focus on and give instruction about the demonstrated service of the prophet in the New Testament. So, pastors, elders and others that have tried to figure out what my angle is and who do I think I am (1 Corinthians 1:26-31), I invite you to open your Bible and learn as I had to if you will, what it teaches. Too, of course, I hope you will repent from rejecting God’s Word in favor of leaning on your own understanding up until now if guilty (Proverbs 3:5). Have a great Thanksgiving!
Originally Posted November 17, 2013
How often over the years have I heard the hypocritical call even by what are otherwise serious Christian leaders for God to raise up prophetic voices among the churches to cry out against the unfaithful drift, willful compromise and increasing wickedness of professing Christians in the supposed hope that repentance and revival will break forth? Yet, when such voices as my own cry out from God against the evil in His house, these same men are among the first to resist, reject and renounce us as uncalled critics and troublemakers. As is typical of proud, independent religionists, they want to listen only to those they choose and deem fit (Exodus 2:11-15; Acts 7:22-28, 33-35, 51).
As the Old Testament prophets before and Christ as “the Prophet” in one of His multiple assigned roles by the Father, so, He commented sadly and warned those He would gift and call to follow Him in similar service that they would be without honor among their own countrymen and families; those they were sent to serve who professed to be God’s people (Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Ezekiel 3:1-7; Matthew 13:53-58; John 7:1-5). He spoke the truth! Even so, New Testament prophets are an integral and continuing part of the leadership gifts Christ places in His Body from the first century.
In fact, through the apostle Paul, God ranks the ministry of prophets only behind apostles in functional importance to the Body (1 Corinthians 12:27-30, 14:1-6, 20-25; Ephesians 4:11). In general, the multi-gifted eye witness apostles (and missionaries today as their descendants) preach the Gospel, make disciples and establish churches in areas where Christ has not been named and after a season, move on to another locale (Acts 13:4-14:25). Evangelists, as we saw with Billy Graham, are consumed with preaching the Gospel to whomever, wherever the Spirit leads to make disciples. Pastor/teachers and elders lead and teach an established local assembly of disciples.
Prophets privately or corporately prophesy, teach, preach and/or exhort to reveal, instruct, encourage and build up through revelation, knowledge and wisdom as well as when directed by the Lord, rebuke and warn seeking the repentance of any professed disciples of Christ that are sinning regardless of their position in the Body. If “the righteous are bold as a lion,” the prophets the more so and are all most assuredly aspiring strong men of God in the image of Christ (Proverbs 28:1, NKJV)! They serve as the eyes, ears and mouth of Christ, the Head of His Body (1 Samuel 3:1-18, 9:6-19; Proverbs 29:18; Isaiah 29:9-10; Jeremiah 1:4-19; Ezekiel 3:8-27; Amos 3:7-8) and govern themselves under Him (2 Kings 2:1-18; 1 Corinthians 14:26-33).
Thus, no local church leadership controlled or ruled over the Lord’s prophets as the earliest kings of Israel never did even when they were on the payroll except when persecuting them (2 Samuel 24:10-14; Jeremiah 37:6-21). As those of the Old with godly kings, so, the first century New Testament prophets gladly submitted to the authority of the original eye witness apostles, elders and brethren of the Jerusalem church who even sent them on missions (Acts 15:22-23, 30-35). Clearly, righteous rulers of the churches as again, the kings of Israel had nothing to fear from the Lord’s prophets and welcomed them; the prophets for their part honored and worked cooperatively with godly leadership in the churches which would also be true of me.
The Lord’s original eye witness apostles served to initially fulfill His prophecy that He would send prophets to Israel’s religious establishment since they claimed to have such reverence for them and they would reject, persecute and murder them--though Stephen was actually the first prophet murdered (Matthew 23:29-36; Luke 11:46-51; Acts 3:1-4:22, 5:12-42, 6:1-7:2a, 52-60). After the persecution that scattered the church from Jerusalem, they made disciples of Jews and Gentiles as they traveled and churches formed in places such as Antioch in Syria where Barnabas--a named prophet and teacher--was sent by the Lord and the Jerusalem church to help (Acts 8:1, 11:19-26).
It is at Antioch that we are first shown the service of New Testament prophets beyond the Jewish context at Jerusalem; men that were not pastors or preachers only and whose service was consistent with Old Testament prophets not only as forth tellers, but foretellers of things revealed to them by God and speaking to inform the disciples so that they might respond accordingly (Acts 11:27-30, 21:10-14). These gifted first century prophets were accepted into the churches and their authenticity through their lifestyle and messages, judged by all in accord with already established Old Testament criteria, the instruction of Christ and His eye witness apostles (Deuteronomy 18:20-22; Matthew 7:15-20; 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22).1
Godly women that prophesied did so in honor of God’s order (1 Corinthians 11:2-16, 14:34-40; 1 Timothy 2:11-15). Moved by the Holy Spirit who would never lead them (or any of us) into sin, they exercised their gift primarily with women (Exodus 15:20-21), individuals or in a small group of inquiring or passing individuals with no commanding proclamation involved, but simply, faithfully repeating a word of prophecy, knowledge, wisdom or instruction from the Lord (2 Kings 22:12-20; Luke 1:39-45, 2:36-38; Acts 21:8-9). The prophetess Christ names “Jezebel” and rebukes with the church pastor was clearly out of order and false (Revelation 2:18-29, NKJV). Deborah was exceptional in an exceptional time for Israel unfaithful to God as King and with men of great spiritual weakness (Judges 4:1-10).
1 See the October 30, 2016 repost, No One Speaks For God? under the category, Instruction.
This is the first of a three-part edited blog repost in which the fruitful outcome of the nationally televised Billy Graham broadcast and the man are celebrated. Too, I joyfully pivot to celebrate the Lord’s perfect program plainly laid out in the New Testament that makes a Billy Graham and all of His servants gifted and called to ministries possible--if churches would be obedient. This leads finally to the blog title and content of parts two and three that tragically acknowledges prophets as servants of God being among those historically persecuted in sin by professed Christian church authorities. It is only in repentance from all biblically defined sin that revival will come to those seeking it.
Originally Posted November 10, 2013
I want to follow up my blog, Billy Graham’s “My Hope America,” (reposted November 6, 2016 under the category, Glory To God!) first by commending the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association for a job well done in a broadcast concept that faithfully retains the centrality of the cross in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as did Rev. Graham throughout all of his ministry. For Rev. Graham’s part, in his nineties with an age weakened body, the Gospel message and fire in his belly to preach it is still powerfully seen as every authentic preacher called of God could see and appreciate.
Second, I want to publically commend our Portland area Fox Channel, KPTV 12 for being among those of that secular network to air Graham’s broadcast. I continue to pray that a great harvest will come from this and await the reports in weeks to come.1 Finally, as the Holy Spirit has led, I also want to expand on comments I made in the aforementioned blog about the relationship of the churches with men whose gifts, calling and ministries are clearly intended for them to serve God’s purposes beyond, but with the support of the local church.
Let me begin by making it clear that I fully accept the New Testament instruction that as a genuine manifestation of Christ’s Church, every local church and its governing authorities are to be respected, submitted to and obeyed as they respect, submit to and obey Christ as Head (Matthew 16:18; John 21:15-17; Acts 2:38-42; 1 Corinthians 11:1; Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 13:7-8, 17). This instruction presumes that the local churches and their leaders are in fact, honoring Jesus as Lord and faithfully obeying His will recorded in Scripture as the final authority, not the manmade rules and traditions of religion.
For this reason, with Christ’s leadership, every born again believer is to seek out and become part of a Bible teaching local church. Also, in accord with Christ’s will in those churches, every believer is to be taught His Word, encouraged and given the opportunity to serve Him out of the spiritual gifts and calling He has given them recognizing not all such persons are intended exclusively for service in or to be controlled--even if supported financially--by those assemblies (John 20:19-23; Acts 1:8, 2:1-21, 8:4-8, 26-40, 11:19-26; 2 Corinthians 11:7-9; Philippians 4:10-20; Ephesians 4:7-12).
Now, if any so-called church does not fully recognize the essential biblical doctrine of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit to include all of the spiritual gifts He imparts to believers, then it cannot possibly think legitimately of itself as a church of Jesus Christ (John 3:1-8, 14:15-17; Romans 8:6-9; 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; 1 Peter 4:7-11). And those that refuse to recognize, deploy into or support the service of a gifted and called servant of Christ assembled with them are in willful sin (1 Corinthians 12:12-26; 3 John 5-11).
Biblically, the spiritual understanding and sensitivity of the local church is to be like that of first century Antioch when the Holy Spirit commissioned “Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them,” (Acts 13:1-2, NKJV). The prophets, teachers and all others present in that local church who were fasting and ministering to the Lord concluded their consecrated devotions with the physical laying of their hands on Barnabas and Saul in a tangible expression of submission to and ratification of the Spirit’s directive (no doubt, spoken through one or more of the prophets present--1 Corinthians 14:29-33) to send them forth (Acts 13:3).
Please note that the men in their work as apostles (sent ones, missionaries; Scripture does not say Barnabas was an eye witness of Christ risen like Saul--Acts 4:32-37, 9:26-30) were not under the control of that local church, but the Holy Spirit! Righteously, however, the Lord gave the church the responsibility to joyfully cooperate with Him in authenticating and sanctioning His calling of the men. For their part and also righteously, Barnabas and Saul not only reported back the results of their work in a voluntary accountability of their service to Antioch, but also the mother of all other churches at Jerusalem and the original eye witness apostles (Acts 14:26-15:35; Galatians 2:1-10).
Thank God there were enough godly pastors remaining in the days He raised up Billy Graham as a gifted evangelist that he was supported by his local church and many thousands around the world that came together for the cause of bringing souls to Christ! No one was successful in re-directing him from the work God called him to; no one was successful in controlling him, his biblical message and ministry under the guise of mortal accountability, though godly men surrounded and encouraged him.
Like the apostle Paul, Rev. Graham voluntarily and transparently reported the results of his work. In this media age, his doctrine was examined by all--what person professing to be a Christian could really argue with the simple and pure biblical message of the cross though today, there are many? Rev. Graham’s honor by God and men is well deserved. However, as the Lord Jesus taught, there is a group of His servants that should not expect to be honored at all by those they serve.
1 Visit https://myhopewithbillygraham.org/about/ for campaign results to date.
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