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"God told me...": Modern Prophets and the Authority of Scripture

*"Isaiah (Bible Card)" by the Providence Lithograph Company
There are a lot of Christians who believe that God still speaks today.  I am one of them.  I wholeheartedly concur that God still speaks to His people.  But I must make a qualification here when I say that God still speaks today.  What I mean when I say that God still speaks versus what someone else might mean can be very different.  For instance, some claim that God gives direct revelation to modern-day prophets apart from Scripture.  I reject this claim and find it unbiblical and dangerous.  Yet this idea of modern-day prophecy is extremely popular, not only within the Charismatic movement, but also in non-Charismatic churches.

Examples of those who believe in modern prophecy are many.  One Charismatic, Mark Virkler, in an article entitled 4 Keys to Recognizing God's Voice (posted on charismamag.com, Aug. 20, 2014), says the following:
"It's time for the church to arise and be the church and receive revelation knowledge and divine visions on a daily basis." [1] 
The belief in modern-day prophecy is not relegated to the fringes of the Charismatic movement.  Even well respected Charismatic pastor and author Jack Hayford espouses the idea.  In his article, Preparing for a New "God-Thing" (www.jackhayford.org, accessed September 10, 2014), Pastor Hayford writes:
"God's goal in coming to work in, upon, and through human beings is to fill people with His Holy Spirit and enable them to prophesy.  Still, we must always be careful to differentiate between what God has said in His Word, and whether there is a biblical basis to what a person shares as prophecy." [2]
Hayford states in his article that he was awakened early one morning by the Holy Spirit and then heard the word of the Lord come to his heart saying, "I am preparing to do a new thing in the Earth." [3]  He then went to the Scripture and found the phrase I will do a new thing in Isaiah 43:19.  Pastor Hayford took this passage and tried to figure out what God's revelation to him meant.  What follows in his article is an example of very poor exegesis.  In trying to tie his extra-biblical revelation to the Scripture, Pastor Hayford ends up taking the Isaiah passage out of context and uses it to justify his belief that God has now told him personally that He is about to do something new.  Even though God hasn't told him specifically what the new thing is, Pastor Hayford remains confident that God will do something new.

In his defense, Hayford tries to hold the Scripture as supreme by cautioning that any claimed prophecy should have a "biblical basis".  And he tried to give the prophetic message he received that morning a biblical basis by finding a similar phrase in Isaiah.  He also tried to apply God's message in Isaiah to our lives today as Christians.  But in the end, his prophetic revelation ended up being vague and unnecessary.  The word from the Lord he received added no substantial information that wasn't already in Scripture.  This begs the question: since God's Word is the supreme authority, and since all true prophecy must agree with the Bible, then Why do we need extra-biblical revelation?  In other words, if prophecy is merely a repetition of what is already in the Bible, then why not simply go to the Bible in the first place instead of looking for revelation from modern prophecy?

The answer is because Christians are often lazy, often bored, and often find it easier to walk by sight rather than by faith. We are often too lazy to do the hard work of biblical exegesis.  We are often bored at the thought of having to study the Bible for ourselves.  We would rather hear someone else tell us God's will for us than to meditate on Scripture and let the Holy Spirit apply it to our lives.  Discerning God's message to us through the Bible does not seem nearly as exciting as a supposed supernatural revelation given to a modern-day prophet.  And what could be more exhilarating than to be the prophet who receives direct revelation from God?!

The Scripture stands in opposition to those who spend their energy seeking the latest revelation from modern-day prophets.  Abraham rebuked the rich man who, being in torment, begged Abraham to send someone back from the dead to give his living brothers a new revelation that they need to repent or else end up in torment themselves. Abraham said:
"They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them." Luke 16:29 (NASB)
The suffering man objected to the sufficiency of God's written word.  Instead, he insisted that what his brothers needed was to see a supernatural event (one raised from the dead) in order to believe.  Abraham's reply was:
"...If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead." Luke 16:31 (NASB)
The Bereans were commended because they did not receive Paul's teaching without first checking it out with Scripture (Acts 17:11).  Paul encouraged Timothy to study so that he would be approved by God because of his ability to accurately handle God's word (2 Tim. 2:15).  The Scriptures are God's completed revelation to us. In them we have all that we need for the Christian life.
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Tim. 3:16-17 (NASB)
No, Pastor Hayford, God's goal was not to enable men to prophesy, but rather to sanctify them by the truth of God's word (John 17:17).  And no, Mr. Virkler, it is not time for the church to "receive revelation knowledge and divine visions on a daily basis" [4] Instead, it is time for the church to go back to the divine revelation that it has already received (the Bible) on a daily basis.

While I don't fully agree with John Piper on all theological issues, I think that he has written an excellent article about this subject.  It can be accessed here.

May God anchor us to His written word.  May we have the confidence that it is sufficient for us.  May we make diligent effort to investigate it, study it, think about it, apply it, obey it, honor it, and preach it.  In doing so we will be equipped for every good work.


NOTES:
[1] Mark Virkler, "4 Keys to Recognizing God's Voice", CharismaMag.com, http://www.charismamag.com/spirit/spiritual-growth/21117-4-keys-to-recognize-god-s-voice?shwall=&start=2 , accessed on September 10, 2014
[2] Jack Hayford, "Preparing for a New 'God-Thing'", JackHayford.org, http://www.jackhayford.org/teaching/articles/preparing-for-a-new-god-thing/ , accessed on September 15, 2014
[3] Ibid.
[4] Virkler

* - http://thebiblerevival.com/clipart/1905/isa52.jpg. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isaiah_(Bible_Card).jpg#mediaviewer/File:Isaiah_(Bible_Card).jpg


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