To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. - 1Corinthians 12:7-11 (ESV)
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. - 1Corinthians 12:29-31 (ESV)
The modern apostate Charismaniacal church specializes in many heresies but one of their bread-and-butter money makers is the False Prophet network they have built over the decades. Through itinerant prophecy tours through local churches and the speed of social media, someone can become a prophetic giant overnight. If they get with an "in" prophetic crowd they can go even further with book deals and television appearances, where the real money comes in. they chief goal of this network is to protect the brand at all costs. Any chink in the armor affects all of them. What comes along with propping each other's flailing credibility up is a rewriting of what prophesy means in the bible. In the Old Testament the people of God did not have a bible they can easily turn to when they wanted to hear from God. So, God spoke to His people through His prophets. Just like today, there were prophets who would lie about hearing from God. These false prophets would be stoned to death according the law for a single wrong word. The word of the Lord is a serious matter. It is not to be trifled with. It also made common sense. If someone is claiming God is speaking to them, why would the world be wrong unless God did not speak to them.
The modern-day false prophets does not actually "hear" from God. Sure they will all say that God can verbally speak to people, which He could, but that is not how they claim to "hear" from Him. Instead you have a butchering of scripture references like the still small voice used to justify a non-verbal from of "hearing" in one's heart or spirit. So when you hear a Jennifer LeClaire or Benny Hinn say they "heard "God, they are saying verbally. They are saying that they supernaturally perceived the message in their own hearts, which the bible assures us is wickedly deceitful above all else. Because such a slipshod method is used, they explain that one can "miss" the message, which is why it is not magically ok to claim to hear from God and in the end be wrong. I repeatedly see the top false prophets claim a 65% accuracy record is reserved for the top prophets today. Would you see a surgeon with a 65% accuracy record? This is of course absurd yet every day there are church meetings where people will throw their money at people who at best will be wrong about what God "told them" 35% of the time. Another facet to this scheme is the preponderance of the network insisting anyone can prophesy even thought the bible says the opposite. Why? Well first of all it is part of the dumbing down of the gift that also allows them to be wrong so often. Another reason however is the network of false supernatural schools like the one at Bethel that actually claim to be able to teach people the gifts of the spirit despite the bible saying that they are given out by the Holy Spirit as He wills. That matters not to the money they stand to make by charging anyone who wants the prophet gig the tuition for these schools. The above link is to a recent article trying to prop up this facet of their false network. Let us reason together once more beloved.
"A recent search of the Bible turned up several specific and many general references to the gift of prophecy. Few of these references suggested anything about the gift as an exclusive domain of selected individuals. The exception is Scripture, such as 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul instructs the church on how to conduct peaceful and productive services, wherein some have specifically assigned roles." - Ron Mallett
We see the ploy from the start is to try and minimize the scriptures that shred the notion that everyone can prophesy by pretending they were not meant doctrinally but rather just as a correction to the one church the original letter was written to. There are so many holes with that logic. First of all, that would mean we can effectively dismiss both Corinthian books from scripture. Why would God have included them then? In fact, so many of the letters are to one church or another so why not just dump them too? More than that stupidity however is the failure of holding that theory up to the scriptures themselves. I have chosen two scripture sets from 1Corinthians 12 as the key verses for today. The first set explains unambiguously the organization of the gifts of the holy spirit. We learn they are for the common good, meaning they are for the good of all believers. We learn that everyone gets a manifestation of the spirit in the form of these gifts. Not that everyone gets every gift! For one is given wisdom while another is given a word of knowledge. Another is given the working of miracles while another prophecy. The word cannot be any clearer that these gifts are apportioned to each one individually as the spirit wills them. This scripture alone blows out of the water any notion that the gifts can be taught or that all can prophesy. They cannot. This is the same sin of Lucifer desiring to be God but job is already filled. The second set of scripture asks a series of rhetorical questions, to which the bult in implied answer in the Greek is "no." Are all apostles? NO! Are all prophets? NO! are we getting the point yet?
