PROPHETS AND PROPHECIES
In North America in Pentecostalism most so called prophets and prophecies are nothing but deceivers and lies! The so called men of God fail to preach and pray Ephesians 1:15-23,3:14-21 and 4:11-16. Their anointing is so miniscule if not nonexistent. So in reality they have nothing of value to offer people.
True men of God measure things against the word of God and not the lies of others. The simplicity of the Word, the Bible, should be enough for any believer, and all additional 'revelation' should be examined BY the Word.
Ephesians 1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height ---
19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 4:7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.
8 Therefore He says: " When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men."
9 (Now this, "He ascended" --- what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head --- Christ ---
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
True men of God measure things against the word of God and not the lies of others. The simplicity of the Word, the Bible, should be enough for any believer, and all additional 'revelation' should be examined BY the Word.
Ephesians 1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height ---
19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 4:7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.
8 Therefore He says: " When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men."
9 (Now this, "He ascended" --- what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head --- Christ ---
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
How Long Will We Be Satisfied With Happy, Shallow Revivals?
Many of our so called modern revivals are happy but shallow. This is of deep concern to me for I am not seeing the old anointings any more. My heart grieves especially for the young people who have never witnessed the real power of God.
Honestly, some things I see today are appalling. That old teaching that we are free from the Law has raised its ugly head again. Certainly, we are free from the Law written on stone, but we are not free from the Law that is written in our hearts.
In a time when repentance is needed the most, we have teachings sweeping the land that tell Christians they don't need to repent. In a day when there is a deplorable lack of holiness in the church, we are being told that we are already holy enough through Christ's sacrifice (2 Cor. 7:1). In an hour when we sadly lack God's power, we are oversaturated with church conferences that focus on numbers. Whatever it takes to grow numbers seems to be the cry of every powerless pastor.
Call me old school if you want to, but I see far too much irreverence, levity, frivolous behavior, an obvious lack of holiness and sanctification, and a far too easy backsliding in the modern church, which frankly is coming from hearing another gospel.
For the Pentecostal and charismatic, our baptisms of the Holy Ghost are also too shallow. And we don't even speak in tongues any more, or we designate it to the back room. Pentecostals seem to be growing in number but where is the power?
Things have got to change, and it starts with ministers. If enough of us do not change, people will go underground and find another way. We will have more nones and dones, unchurched and de-churched among the multitudes.
Since this magazine is a Pentecostal/charismatic publication let's talk about our movement.
Is it still a movement or have we been grounded? Are we really in revival or in a rut? Is it a mighty flowing river that brings refreshing or has it become a swamp full of stagnancy and stench?
There was a time when Pentecostal meant something. In old-fashioned Pentecostal meetings you weren't supposed to know what was going to happen next. When led by seasoned mature men of spiritual stature there was order but there was also power and life. Today, it's 5 songs, a prayer, an offering, announcements, and a sermon—dismiss, rinse, repeat. Such routine and predictability!
Thus the reason many are leaving our local churches. Oh, they're not leaving God; they're only leaving the church to find God. Ouch! I know it hurts to hear that.
At one time Pentecostal meetings were nothing less than the gate of heaven. It was a meeting with God.
Repentance is our deepest need. Without repentance men's hearts are not touched, broken, melted or moved. The result is superficiality. There are many who still receive the word with joy, but they lack depth or have no root. And so they are not fit for the day of tribulation or persecution (Matt. 13:5, 20-21). Through soft and non-repentance preaching many pastors are grooming their people to miss the Lord's coming and be martyrs in the great day of tribulation. Ouch! I know that hurts too.
You can easily tell where there has been true repentance. The one great characteristic is a love for the Word. "Great peace have those who love Your Law, and nothing causes them to stumble" (Ps. 119:165). If you're still easily offended you have never repented as you should.
"Then He began to reprimand the cities where most of His mighty works were done, because they did not repent" (Matt. 11:20).
And let's get one thing straight. We desperately need miracles and the power of God, but that alone does not produce repentance. Neither is it in what we say or don't say. We can say the sweetest things or the most terrible things with still no guarantee of repentance. Some will still remain indifferent and never be affected. It is the Spirit that we need to produce repentance in men's hearts.
The call is to pray and to preach with the Spirit, and to let Him move.
Jesus wept over the cities who had not repented because He knew of the judgment that was coming. When is the last time you heard a message on judgment. Most preachers today have never been to the judgment Seat. They will never preach it until they've trembled before it themselves. Today religion is happier to speak of universal salvation and a pie in the sky for each of us regardless of the road we traveled to get there.
Without the Holy Spirit you will make men hard. That was my most common mistake as a young preacher. Crusty, dry soil needs a fresh shower of rain to be broken up. The great need is to see the holy, spotless King in His glory and then you will understand the universality and gravity of sin and the deep need of repentance.
A fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit will not only produce repentance, but it will keep us humble, broken and softened before Him to whom all things are open and naked (Heb. 4:13).
The true anointing of the Spirit is what is clearly missing from preachers and our gatherings today. Many are gifted and can dazzle audiences with their charisma and knowledge, but they lack the dew of heaven.
Many are like Samson, who did not know that the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him (Judg. 16:20). And just as Samson, we have lost our way.
May God have mercy on us and grant us repentance, and lead us back to the gate of heaven.
Bert M. Farias, revivalist and founder of Holy Fire Ministries, is the author of several books including the newly released My Son, My Son—a beautiful father-son book co-written with his son Daniel for the purpose of training up a holy generation. He is also the co-host of the New England Holy Ghost Forum, a school of the Spirit. Follow him at Bert Farias and Holy Fire Ministries on Facebook or @Bertfarias1 on Twitter.
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