Good to see you here this week. Tonight we're looking at a rather important subject... how to identify a true messenger of Christ and the Gospel. With the various denominations, schools of thought, methods of Biblical criticism and so on and so forth; with all the various voices claiming to be speaking the "truth," how do you know who to listen to?

Do tonight we're going to look through the Bible and see if we can find a formula, or perhaps more accurately, a set of steps for determining whether or not a speaker is a true "prophet." Now, I use that term in the most loose sense of the word, for a prophet is not always someone who predicts the future, even though this is the most common denotation of the meaning. A Biblical prophet CAN predict events: "'And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob,' saith the Lord." (Isa 59:20)

But he may also speak of past events, for the purpose of providing hearers with some insight from history: "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven." (Rev 12:7,8)

And as you all know, this had occured ages before John wrote this down. Christ said during His ministry beforehand: "And He said unto them, 'I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.'" (Luke 10:18)

But in truth, a prophet is merely one who speaks for Yahweh. The message may not consist of some revelation of the future or past, but it is often most effective when it is a set of statements about the present time: "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, 'Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" (Mat 3:1,2)

It is for this reason that Paul wrote, "Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy." (1Cor 14:1)

This was, in Paul's opinion, the most valuable of the Spirit's supernatural gifts, for it was the one that could most directly, most clearly, edify the church.

This is actually a good place to begin looking at the characteristics of Prophets, with that above mention of John the Baptist. What you may have noticed, in your own studies through the Bible, is that prophets are perpetually calling for reform, for repentance.

It may seem counter-intutive at first, but to the areas that were the most rebellious, the most prophets have been sent. In the days of the kings of Israel and Judah, we find that mention is made of the prophets in the northern kingdom much more often: "For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)" (1Kings 18:4)

When Elijah was making that last journey with Elisha before he was to be taken up to heaven, we find that in more than one place: "And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, 'Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day?' And he said, 'Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.'" (2Kings 2:3)

These things all came to pass in the northern kingdom of Israel... and as it turns out, this was the first of the two to be taken captive because of it's idolatry: "For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; Until the Lord removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day." (2Kings 17:22,23)

So we find that there is a direct relationship between a nation's prosperity, and it's willingness to heed these calls for reform from Yahweh's messengers. That is even spelled out in the history of Judah: "And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, 'Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper.'" (2Ch 20:20)

Conversely, we certainly know what happened to those who did not heed Noah's warning in the beginning. "Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died." (Gen 7:20-22)

So we find that we can apply this to our lives even today. It is written of false teachers: "For when they shall say, 'Peace and safety;' then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." (1Th 5:3)

Those who desire not to offend, or to keep their congregations "happy," at the expense of truth are doing them a great disservice. As you read through Paul's letters, you find that he never lets the statement that we are "under grace" dissuade him from pointing out errors he has heard about in the Body of the believers. In fact, he writes: "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid." (Rom 6:15) "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." (Gal 5:25)

It is because we are under grace that we should act accordingly, as a people not "shut in" by regulations, but rendering intelligent service and using our freedom wisely to give others a proper impression of the Father we have. Those who do not wish to be corrected, as I've pointed out in earlier studies, love this verse: "Judge not, that ye be not judged." (Mat 7:1)

But they do not even let our Messiah finish His thought, else they would see that He is in perfect agreement with the Scripture which says: "Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish." (Pro 12:1) And again: "A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent." (Pro 15:5)

Christ's entire thought, as you find from reading Mat 7, is not that we should not judge each other, but that we do it in love, first making sure there is no log in our own eyes, that we may see the speck in another's.

Paul also wrote in response to certain overt sins in the members of the Corinthian church: "But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person." (1 Cor 5:11-13)

Now truly, in certain matters of conscience we are not to judge each other - whether to fast certain days, food and drink and when and so on.. as Paul discusses in Romans 14 and 15, but look at this list above: fornication, idolatry, and these openly enough so others could know about it. Those are serious matters.

So then (not to go on too long with this first point) in summary we see that a true messenger has this characteristic primarily - he will honestly and lovingly lead others to a better and purer walk with our Lord. If he (or she) is not constantly challenging the hearers, if the congregation is not finding things in their lives to put away by the grace delivered unto them, we know one of two things is true. Either: 1) That congregation is already fully mature in Christ, and perfect in every way... ready to meet the Lord in the air, or 2) That teacher is seeking to give a smooth message, because he is either out of touch with his church's members/needs, or he does not wish to lose those who do not wish to grow.

Apart from calling for repentance, a true messenger will always speak from the authority of the Bible. Many are they who, after finding themselves in a certain position, begin to use the Word less and less. But Christ, who had the "new nature" from His first birth, used this argument primarily to overcome temptations: "Jesus said unto him, 'It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.'" (Mat 4:7)

You'll find a lot of "it is written"s thereabouts. And not from Christ only, but also Luke the Gentile: "(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)" (Luke 2:23)

Peter was known to quote a Psalm or two: "For it is written in the book of Psalms, 'Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.'" (Acts 1:20)

Certainly Paul: "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'" (Rom 1:17)

And all the other New Testament writers as well. In this way, they could rely on the wisdom of those who had gone before them: "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2Pet 1:21)

And in this way, they could not only reach out with this wisdom to the Gentiles, who were perhaps hearing it for the first time; but also, by showing the continuity between the two Testaments, they could reason with the Israelites according to the things they already knew. Consider how Christ dealt with Nicodemus, a Pharisee of the ruling class in Jerusalem: "Jesus answered and said unto him, 'Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.'" (John 3:10,14,15)

He talked to him about the story from Numbers, where Moses made a brass serpent to cure the Israelites of snake venom... and showed him a mental picture of the snake being "lifted up" for the salvation of others. Now, when Nicodemus later saw Christ crucified, this image again came into his mind, and took root at some point, for we find: "And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight." (John 19:38,39)

We have therefore found a beautiful change in the life of this individual, and this because our great Teacher met him where he was.

In the last "formal" study we had before last week's open-forum, we were talking about the Gates of Jerusalem. At one point, when discussing this very matter - the authority of the Scriptures - we looked at the reason why Christ disguised Himself on the road to Emmaus with His disciples.

Whereas at any time He could have revealed His true form and said, "Here I am... resurrected," instead it is written: "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself." (Luke 24:27)

Even in His new, resurrected self, whereas His very presence would have been positive proof of who He was, instead He fell back on the technique He had been using all along - explaining things by the Scriptures. But then again, although we left the story there last time, the Bible speaks more about this incident.

"And it came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, 'Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?'" (Luke 24:30-32)

So then, He did use the supernatural to drive the point home, but not until He had led them to a faith based firmly where ours should be... in the Word.

This leads naturally into our third characteristic of a true messenger. We have seen so far that a servant of the Most High will teach repentance, and that his testimony will be based upon that which the inspired writers have given us before. The third thing is that they will not rely on miracles. Now... let's be clear here :) I don't say there won't BE miracles, but if they follow the example of Christ, they will not say, "believe us because of the signs."

Here's what I mean. Our Father will occasionally resort to miracles, particularly when dealing with a people who have ears closed already to the Spirits' power. For example the king of Egypt. But then again, did that really work? "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments." (Exo 7:3,4)

Of course, our Father knew it would happen - the miracles were just to show clearly what it was that Pharaoh was rejecting. But even with His own people, He would occasionally "thunder from Sinai." "And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly." (Exo 19:18)

But then again... did THAT work? Not really... 40 days later: "They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, 'These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'" (Exo 32:8)

They had the miracles, the signs and wonders... but what did they truly need?

The Pharisees were always asking for miracles of the Messiah: "Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, 'Master, we would see a sign from thee.'" (Mat 12:38)

But the common people seemed to have known better, for they compared Him to John the Baptist, whom we spoke of before: "And many resorted unto Him, and said, 'John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true.'" (John 10:41)

And of course, we know what happened when Christ DID give them an irrefutable evidence of His divinity: "And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth.' And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, 'Loose him, and let him go.' Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on Him. But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put Him to death." (John 11:43-46,53)

Now, sometimes the signs and miracles did help in convincing some that His teachings were true, as we see from above, but the difference is that these cannot in themselves be proof. Paul wrote to us in warning: "But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." (2 Cor 11:12-14)

Some may even copy the miracles, for in the last days we know that: "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Mat 24:24)

This was the danger in the Pharisees' way of thinking; because they were awaiting a powerful Messiah would would come and establish a kingdom on earth, and they certainly had enough "proof texts" to back it up: "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." (Dan 2:44)

But because these teachers did not know the true Character of the Father... they did not know how to understand these prophecies the right way.

So let's look at what we have so far: A true messenger teaches the sometimes hard truth, he will stand on the Bible for authority, and while signs and wonders may be apparent in his ministry, he will not claim that those things are the "proof" of his divine approval. After all, even in Christ's on mission to earth, He said: "Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake." (John 14:11)

The word there for "works" is the Greek "ergon," which means exactly that: works, the things He did in view of the people. The words for signs or miracles are "semeion" and "dunamis," literally "signs and mighty works," these having a connotation of the supernatural element involved.

But we know that even if a person comes with miracles: "If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, 'Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;' Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." (Deu 13:1-3)

Even from the earliest books, the people were taught to regard the "it is written" above the miraculous, which could be counterfeited easily by men and devils.

But not this leads again into the fourth thing. The prophet will know the Almighty personally. John wrote, being a true teacher: "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (1John 1:3)

I love that verse, and I've used it in several studies :) It's so clearly set forth there, that a "witness," even in the world's sytem, can only testify of what he/she has seen personally, or else it's inadmissible in court. A true teacher, therefore, must know the Lord, and in more than just an intellectual knowledge of His Book. That verse above from 2 Cor about false apostles acting like ministers of Christ has another relevant verse after it: "Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." (2Cor 11:15)

Now if their end shall be according to their works, we can assume that Paul means their "works" aren't exactly worthy of heaven. And he says like things in another place: "If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself." (1 Tim 6:3-5)

A rather stern warning, but I think a necessary one. Those who would teach about the fruits of the Spirit ought to show a few themselves, I'd think :) Remember what Christ said concerning the Pharisees: "All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not." (Mat 23:3)

But that was only a temporary "fix" until the churches would later be established by the Apostles. After that, they had proper teachers after the leadings of the Holy Spirit. "And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." (Jer 3:15) In this line of work, practicing what one preaches is a must :)

Well, we are just about out of time, but I hope this study helps with the ability to locate honest-hearted seekers after Heaven's wisdom, who are willing to teach others the same. Let us pray that many be raised up in these last days who are able to speak of repentance without fear, who have their authority in the words of the Bible, who seek to lead us into an intelligent faith based solely upon that Written Word, and who themselves follow after the things they teach to others. As it is written: "Therefore said He unto them, 'The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into His harvest.'" (Luke 10:2)

David.