Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person, neither let me give flattering titles unto man.For I know not to give flattering titles; in so doing my maker would soon take me away. - Job 32: 21-22 (KJV)
Twenty-seven year old Lionel Blair calls himself "Chief Apostle" as he tells his followers it is none of their business what he does with their tithes. "General" David E. Taylor, who also fancies himself a prophet and apostle, famously prophesied the Denver Broncos were going to win the Super Bowl and lost that prophecy by 35 points. "Last Day Apostle" L.J. Rivers declares that anyone speaking against him will be killed at the hand of God. These represent the growing soft underbelly of false Christian leaders today. People obsessed with lording their titles over people as some sign of divine authority God never gave them and they certainly do not deserve. It does not end with these easy to spot charlatans however. We see huge movements in the church today that draw unprecedented followings such as Bethel Church, which actually has a school to teach people the gifts of the Spirit. A more heretical notion has not been heard I imagine because it is the Spirit who apportions the gifts:
All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. - 1Corinthians 12: 11 (ESV)
Movements like IHOP, the Kansas City Prophets and the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) litter the landscape of Christendom ushering in a false paradigm of leadership that is not biblically based. Abusing titles again to deceive the elect. Bill Johnson of Bethel and the NAR were the ones who went to anoint Todd Bentley a prophet and apostle. This is the same Todd Bentley who routinely punched and kicked people claiming the Holy Spirit was instructing him to do so. A man who so obviously moves in the demonic that several countries have barred him from entering. A man who shortly after the anointing ceremony was exposed for adultery with his secretary and had to step down. Not to worry because the false prophet brigade had too much invested in the money Bentley was able to draw so they oversaw his "restoration" and he is now actively "ministering" again. Filled with pretending to be drunk in the spirit, stoned in the spirit and claiming angel visitations. Whether it is "General" Cindy Jacobs or "Master Prophet" E. Bernard Jordan, the abuse of the sheep through pretentious titles is running rampant today.
There is a lot of debate over whether the gifts of the Spirit are active today. People like John Macarthur are cessationists, who believe the gifts ceased at the end of the Apostolic Age; with the death of John. Scripture simply does not support such a notion. Remember that the Apostle Paul had no idea when writing his letters that they would one day become the New Testament. Since we know that all Scripture is God breathed, we know that God penned those words through Paul. The New Testament is filled with teachings on the gifts of the Spirit. Why in the world would God include so much details about the gifts if they were going to be useless in a mere 30-40 years? God knew the Bible was still centuries away. In order to take the cessationist position, you must believe that God erred in including such detailed instruction for something He knew would no longer be in operation by the time the Bible would be produced? Sorry, I cannot buy that. Macarthur readily admits one of the driving forces behind his cessationist stance is the plethora of false teachers and prophets today. More sympathetic I could not be but as I have said before, this is like throwing the baby out with the Charismatic bathwater.
While the gifts are clearly in operation the question of the offices becomes more muddied. I respect both sides of the argument regarding the existence of the offices for today. That is because both have Scriptural strengths for their conclusions. I instead turn to who these people were in the Bible as a model for who they must be today. The Bible makes it clear that apostles were called by God. Their specific calling was to go into all the world and bring the Gospel. The word "apostollos" means "one sent forth." In many ways, our modern missionaries seem closest to this model. Instead what we see are self appointed apostles, or apostles appointed by someone else with just as little authority. They do not go forth but rather they preach to a set group of people or perform on some circuit of localized preaching. That is not supported biblically. That is closer to the role of pastor. The Bible does spell out for us the qualifications for a pastor or overseer and included in it is avoiding being puffed up with conceit. Here is the point really. Does anyone really think the Apostle Paul walked around introducing himself as "the Apostle Paul? No beloved. Paul was always humble about who he was:
For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. - 1Corinthians 15: 9 (ESV)
The same goes for the twelve. Their boldness was in speaking the Gospel, not in who they were. Peter demanded to be crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to die as Jesus had died. Yet what is at the core of all of these wannabe apostles today? A lack of humility. A marketing of their title. So when people ask me if I believe the Office of Apostle is in operation today my answer is it does not matter. Any true apostle would be too busy lifting the name of Jesus to lift their own name up. Don't fall for these snake oil salesmen who got their credentials from a cereal box, or worse from a manmade governing body that has even less credibility than they do. If you are telling me you're an apostle, that disqualifies you.
The Office of Prophet is even muddier. It seems every dime store preacher calls himself a prophet these days. Everyone claims divine impartation. That God spoke to them directly, to stem criticism. Joseph Prince's entire false gospel hinges upon his testimony that God told him to develop and preach what he does. He does not hide it - he brags about it. Then you have the entire false prophetic paradigm which has allowed the antichrist spirit to infiltrate the church. People flowing in the evil spirits of this world laying hands on the sheep of God, sputtering sentence fragments and vague generalized predictions for their futures over them. Nothing more than clairvoyance and witchcraft in the house of God. God told me this about you. God showed me that about you. Stop it! Is there no fear of the Lord anymore? The sad answer is no. The prophet served a very important role in the Old Testament. There were no printing presses or mass production of the Word of God. He sent therefore prophets to tell the king or the people exactly what God was saying. Christ had also not come yet and the will of God had yet to be revealed.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. - Hebrews 1: 1-2 (ESV)
Do we see the clear distinction? Before Jesus we needed the prophets, once He came however God speaks to us through Him. Even with Jesus gone physically, His Spirit lives inside of us and leads us into all truth, which is found in His Word. Were there secret prophesies God forgot to include in His Word? Be serious. You want a prophecy? Open your Bible! You want a prophecy spoken over you? Have a friend read the Bible to you!
The issue is that the false prophetic paradigm has cleverly shifted who prophesy is supposed to be for. In the Old Testament the prophecies were for everyone or specifically the king. When Jesus speaks prophetically in His Word it is about all believers. The hucksters today who claim to be a prophet make the prophecies personal to each individual. When they do a general prophecy it is rarely ever negative. It is always rosy. But if you hold it up to the plumb line that is the Word it falls apart. Jesus is His Word. Therefore any prophet that is not substantively pointing the sheep of God back to His Word is false. None of this "God is showing me that you will birth a new ministry-- stop it!
God goes to great lengths to outline correct prophecy in the New Testament. Similar to the title of apostle, I seriously doubt a true prophet of God would be walking around trying to sell you his title. They certainly would not be charging thousands on the speaking circuit for their services. They certainly would not be lording it over the sheep. I have seen one wannabe prophetess charging $1000-$10,000 for an "uncommon seed prophecy." I saw another ask for your entire paycheck for a "resurrection seed." Don't worry if you are unemployed - he says to just send him $300 in that case. The more advanced charlatans are more clever than this but they make their money too. As the key verse from Job points out, let me not give man flattering titles. Clearly, they do not know what to do with them
Rev. Anthony.
