We need to test prophecies (Part 4)
It is important to know that God wants to speak to his children. God wants to communicate with us and He does it constantly even if we do not realize it. If you have the Holy Spirit, God wants to speak to you constantly through his Spirit. But if you fail to understand his message, he sometimes sends a prophet. God normally prefers to talk to you directly without intermediaries and the prophet will come only to confirm what God has already said. A believer of the New Testament should not be guided by a prophet but by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8: 14). If God is always obliged to seek an intermediary (a prophet) in order to communicate with you, it means that there is a communication problem between you and your God. Being always in search of the prophets is a sign of spiritual childhood or poor relationship with the Lord.
Concerning the prophecies, when God says something, the thing must absolutely happens because God will orchestrate the circumstances for His Word to be fulfilled (Jer 1: 12). No human being can block the fulfillment of God's Word but in some cases, a sin can be an obstacle. I can pick a case in the Bible: God promised to bless forever the house of Eli the priest but because of the sins of his sons, he said: “I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before me forever.’ But now the Lord says: ‘Far be it from me; for those who honor me I will honor and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed”. (1 Sam 2:30). It is sin that ruined everything despite the good promise. God has good plans for us but we have to walk in his Word to facilitate their achievement. Sometimes we make mistakes or commit sins but if the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, we must repent immediately (1 John 1: 9).
Let us continue with the indicators to test prophecies.
Second indicator: Compliance with the Word of God
False prophets often take advantage of the Christian lack of knowledge of the Word by manipulating them. This is why I totally give myself in the Ministry of Teaching in order to equip God's children in the knowledge of God's Word. You cannot be sure to test a prophet if you do not have the knowledge of the Word of God.
For example, if a prophet tells you that God is going to judge a country and those who are not sanctified (sinners) will perish but the holy ones shall be saved, you would need to have read the Bible and remember that in 2 Peter 3: 9, it is written: " The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance ". If a prophet tells you that God wants to kill sinners as we just read that He is not willing that any sinner should perish, it is clear that this is a false prophet.
All prophecies must be scanned (tested) in the light of the Word of God. Never accept a prophecy that is contrary to God's Word.
In the fifth part I will give you more indicators
Chris Ndikumana
