Prophecy Today
Is prophecy just for bible days or is prophecy still valid today?
What Does the bible say?
Luke 1:70
As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
Amos 3:7-8
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
God has communicated with people by prophets since the beginning of the world. Jesus himself said he would send prophets. We know Jesus was speaking of New Testament times (the here and now).
Matthew 23:34
Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
To reject prophets is to reject what Jesus said he would do in these New Testament times. As the verse says, you are not in good company when you reject prophets. The people who rejected the prophets were the same people who crucified Jesus. It was the murderers and God-haters who rejected the prophets. What you need to reject is all the false prophets and false teachers.
2Peter 2:1-2
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
The covetous false prophets who preach damnable heresies cause people to reject the true prophets. You should reject only the false preachers and false prophets.
The Gift of Prophesy and Office of Prophet
Everyone who prophesies is not a prophet. A man or woman can speak by the spiritual gift of prophesy (1Corinthians 12:10) to edify, exhort, and comfort. This sometimes contains mild rebuke and minor elements of future telling.
1Corinthians 14:3
But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
The office of a prophet would have more future telling and stronger rebuke against any sin in the church or nation and correct errors in doctrine with authority.
How to tell True prophecy from False prophecy
1. You must know the bible. You will be deceived if you don’t know the bible. You also need the Holy Spirit to guide you in the truth (John 16:13). Any prophecy must agree in general with the bible. For example, when someone prophesies of coming judgment on a sinful nation, you know that agrees in general with the bible. The bible says God will destroy all the sinful nations that forsake Him. When someone prophesies peace and prosperity to a sinful nation, you know that is a false prophet. And since we know the United States of America is a sinful nation, then prophecies of judgment coming to America agree in general with the bible. Prophecies of peace and prosperity to America are false prophecies.
2. If you know the person, the person must be holy, as Luke 1:70 says, "As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets." Reject any prophecy coming from a person you know to be a sinner. If you only know the person by radio or television or the internet, then you don’t know the person. If you don’t know the person, then you have only the prophecy and other things they write or say to judge. Remember, people should not believe or preach heresy, therefore you should reject prophecies from people that preach heresies. If a preacher or prophet was really hearing from God, then I think it is reasonable to think that God would straighten out their doctrine first before trying to correct the rest of us. 2Peter 2:1 says false prophets will preach heresies. The bible says you should attempt to correct heresy and then reject that person, ministry, or denomination (and any prophecy) if they don’t correct their doctrine (Titus 3:10).
Read about some popular heresies:
Rapture Heresy, Eternal Security Heresy, Oneness Heresy, and Sabbath Question
3. Don’t be fooled by seemingly spiritual things that don’t agree with the bible. If someone says he fasted 40 days and had a great vision or visitation from an angel and then proceeds to share something unscriptural, you know he’s not hearing from God. It also doesn’t matter how many radio or television stations someone is on or how many people believe in him or how many churches he has or how much money he receives in offerings. None of that matters a bit when judging the things of God.
4. The final test of any prophecy is if it comes to pass. If a prophecy never comes to pass, you know that person did not hear from God, but sometimes it can be years before something comes to pass. The bible prophecies were written very long ago and many have not yet come to pass. When people put dates on prophecies and the date comes and nothing happens, then you know they didn’t hear from God. God very rarely attaches dates to anything he warns us of. Sometimes God gives a prophecy with no date but the person puts a date according to their own estimation. We know that the person is just estimating a time for the fulfillment of the prophecy. Dates of this sort don't mean much. But when a person says "Thus says the Lord," such and such will happen by such and such a date. When it doesn't happen, the only explanation is they did not hear from God.