Test 2 Of 9: Prophecy Must Agree With The Letter & Spirit Of Scripture Series

Compiled by: Herman Abrahams (Pastor), Cornerstone Faith Ministries, P.O. Box 740, Westridge 7802, Rep. of South Africa.

E-Mail: Mentorship2003@yahoo.co.uk

Note to the reader:

If you have been blessed with this sermon compilation, I would be honoured to receive an e-mail from you simply stating where in the world you are based- I do not need any other information. This is merely so that I can have the pleasure of giving thanks to Almighty God that all over the globe, the ministry which he has entrusted to me, is blessing the body of Christ and helping to extend the Kingdom of God.

Thank you.

Herman Abrahams,

Cape Town, South Africa.

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Series – How To Judge Prophecy.

TEST 2

ALL TRUE PROPHECY MUST ALWAYS AGREE WITH THE LETTER AND SPIRIT OF SCRIPTURE.

A) 2 Timothy 3.16 (KJV) "All scripture is given by inspiration of God".

2 Timothy 3.16 (NIV) “All Scripture is God-breathed”.

2 Peter 1:20-21 (NIV) “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

All scripture is given by the Spirit of God — the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit never contradicts himself.

2 Cor 1:17-20 (NIV) “When I planned this, did I do it lightly? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say, “Yes, yes” and “No, no”? 18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

With God there is not “Yes” and “No" (2 Corinthians 1:17-20). Wherever the Holy Spirit says "Yes" in the scripture, he says "Yes" also through prophecy. And wherever he says "No" in the scripture, he says "No" also through prophecy. True prophecy never contradicts the scripture.

B) Isaiah 8:19-20 (NIV) When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

Isaiah 8:19-20 (KJV) And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? 20To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

In Isaiah 8.19-20 this principle (that prophecy must agree with scripture) is used to enforce God’s warning against consulting the dead, or to "wizards that peep and that mutter" (KJV) — i.e., those whom in modern terminology we would call mediums, or clairvoyants, or fortune tellers. "If they speak not according to this word (the scripture), there is no light in them" — or alternatively, "they are not to be sought unto." It is precisely through neglect of this warning, and through ignorance of scripture, that multitudes are today falling prey to the deception of spiritualism, and other similar occult practices.

‘The guideline of verse 20 clearly states that the law (tôrah) and … the testimony (te˒ûdah, precept) are clearly declared to be the basis of interpreting any claim to divine revelation.’ (KJV Bible Commentary)

‘Most people want to know the future. Even people in Judah were pulled into the pagan practice of consulting mediums and spiritists, who specialized in trying, by whispering and muttering, to contact the dead (cf. comments on Deut. 18:10-12). Isaiah questioned the rationality of going to the dead to find out the future instead of inquiring of the living God. The place to look was in the Law and...the testimony (cf. Isa. 8:16), which contained everything the nation needed to know about her future.’ {Walvoord, John F., and Zuck, Roy B., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Scripture Press Publications, Inc.) 1983, 1985}.

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