That’s plagiarism!
Monday, 30 November 2015
“Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, and like a hammer which shatters a rock?” (Jeremiah 23:29).
If you attend a Christian fellowship where prophecies are part of public worship-
I wonder if we should expect from God generic messages like, “I love you, My children” or “I never leave; I’m with you always” or “I’m coming soon.”
These statements are certainly true.
But why would they need to be prophesied, since the Bible already clearly asserts God’s love, His presence and Christ’s imminent return?
I have heard “prophecies and oracles” like these given in churches where many people were living in sin, lulling them into an unrighteous complacency.
The voice of a prophet is a consuming fire and a shattering hammer.
A prophetic message should motivate people to righteousness-
– not placate them in their sin (1 Peter 4:17).
God is more concerned about believers’ purity than about church growth.
Comfort only comes to those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake-
– by allowing God’s Word to purge their sin and shatter their self-centeredness.
Jeremiah relates two other evidences of false prophets:
“‘Behold, I am against the prophets,’ declares the LORD, ‘who steal My words from each other'” (Jer 23:30).
That’s plagiarism:
– taking what God gave someone else and using it as if it were your own.
“‘I am against the prophets,’ declares the LORD, ‘who use their tongues and declare, “the Lord declares”‘ (v 31).
Declaring that what you are saying is directly from the Lord when it isn’t is an incredible offense to God.
If someone says to you “God told me to tell you…”-
– that person may be functioning as a medium.
The gift of prophecy should reveal the secrets of the heart so people will fall on their faces and worship God (1 Corinthians 14:25).
Then God will guide them by His Holy Spirit.
(PR)