A Prophesy for the Church for the End-Times
Vision & Word - Wednesday evening 8th July 2009 around 10p.m.
I became aware of masonry and bricks falling all around me. I asked the Lord what was happening and He said, “Its My shaking.” He went on to show me that the coming shaking will be to the church and it will be bigger than 9/11 – of greater impact. But it will be a self-inflicted wound. Three ‘huge’ ministries (well known on TV) will fall along with hundreds of others. Millions of dollars will simply disappear leaving an enormous financial scandal.
It will be God shaking His people preparing the Bride for His Son. God will be clearing out the bad and keeping the good. Pruning the dead branches and throwing them on the fire. The aftermath will be a meltdown of the great denominations as they struggle to retain their wealth but they will lose 60% of all their wealth – land, property, and much of their historic artefacts. It will just disappear.
There will be a consequential rise in atheism and some persecution of the church and Christians in Western countries while the African and Asian church will make enormous strides forward. God will shake and destroy much in the Western Church of Europe and North America but He will prosper those of Africa and Asia. He is making His church HOLY.
The shaking will last for a season then the New Church will rise. Later, revival will begin – small at first but growing and growing into fully-fledged world-wide end-times revival as prophesied in the Word of God.
Am I a voice in the wilderness? Am I calling in vain for the Church to repent of its ways. Its denominations, its greed and hypocrisy. The Shepherds are those under greatest danger. Hear the Word of Ezekiel :-
Ezekiel 34;1-16
The word of the LORD came to me: " . . . . . Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? . . . . You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. " . . . . . . . This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. . . . . I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak . . . . .”
Also those who ‘tickle the ears of those they speak to – who say that which those fickle people – who just want to hear nice comforting words, who shy away from truth and hard words from the Lord.
Then there is the flock and they will fare little better than the shepherds. They need to repent too. Hear what the Word says about them :-
Ezekiel 34:17-24
" 'As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. . . . Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet? . . . See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. . . . I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. . I the LORD have spoken.”
Of the African & Asian churches who will begin to prosper during this season however the Lord says this :-
Ezekiel 34:25-31
" 'I will make a covenant of peace with them . . . . I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. . . . The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD,. . . . . . They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. . . . Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they . . . are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. . . . You my sheep . . . and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "
Who will listen? Who will repent of their ways before the Lord shakes you to the ground? Am I a lone voice – a voice in the wilderness? I think I probably am for who will listen to an unknown prophet crying out to the Lord for His people. I do not tickle their ears as they want.
2 Tim 4:3-4
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
CGB 9 July 2009
Chris, when you make such specific statements as "Three ‘huge’ ministries will fall along with hundreds of others. Millions of dollars will simply disappear leaving an enormous financial scandal" and "The aftermath will be a meltdown of the great denominations as they struggle to retain their wealth but they will lose 60% of all their wealth – land, property, and much of their historic artefacts", are you speaking literally? If so, where did you acquire this information. I don't believe there's anything so detailed in the Bible that can directly be applied like this. Very curious.
ReplyDeleteI suppose this begs the next question: Are there Prophets of God in modern times as there were in the days of ancient Israel? I'm not trying to be rude, but I'm very careful about using the Word of God as the ultimate litmus test for any pronouncement or theology.
Thanks.
-James
Hi James
ReplyDeleteYes literally. When I hear God speaking things to me through vision or through His audible voice or whatever, I ask Him for clarity and then write down that which I hear. I feel it is my job to verify what I hear from the Lord and then to speak it out. Whether anyone accepts it or not is almost immaterial as my job is done by speaking it out. Your job is to be discerning and to decide, usually with the Holy Spirit, whether or not I am speaking truth or not. So the only answer I can give you is that I have published that which I believe the Lord has spoken to me. I have also had it prayed over and checked by other prophets - obviously its a strong word and needs verification. I was urged unanimously and fervently to publish. SO I have done what I believe the Lord has asked of me.
Are there Prophets of God in modern times as there were in the days of ancient Israel? Yes I believe there are. They will not necessarily look or sound the same but they are with us. Amos 3:7 "Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets."
Like many prophets today, I do not say, "Thus saith the Lord ...." as did the ancients; I simply give out what I hear the Lord asking me to say.
Sorry I cant answer anything better for you - Its up to you. Let me know please :o)
Love in Yeshua
Chris
Thanks for the straightforward answer, Chris. I have to say it does challenge my personal belief that modern-day prophets do not exist as such or that they are exceptionally rare. Please don't take this personally, but I've encountered more than my fair share of people who have claimed to be prophets but for less than honorable reasons. I don't say this of you, but I will certainly have to ponder and pray about all you've said.
ReplyDeleteI did find this explanation on the web that seemed interesting: http://www.biblestudy.org/question/how-to-know-if-someone-is-true-prophet-of-god.html
Thanks again for your candor and your faith.
James
ReplyDeleteI do not claim to be a prophet in the sense that you are speaking here - certainly not in the ancient sense. I understand completely what you say about the less than honourable reasons - the lure of the mighty dollar was always powerful. However, I do believe there are prophets around today who are not there just for the quick buck. One or two are there, or seem to be, for quite Godly reasons. I certainly wouldnt take your comment personally. After all, to take offence would be to promote myself to a laughable level of plausibility (at least in my own eyes). There are those who 'walk in the office' as given in 1 Cor 12 or Ephesians 4 so, yes, I do believe there are modern day prophets - but that judgement must be yours to make and I would not even try to deflect you from that not persuade you either way.
God Bless you
Chris
CHRIS,
ReplyDeleteI AGREE WITH YOUR WORD, I HAVE SAID THE SAME
FOR QUITE SOME TIME, ALTHOUGH NOT THE DETAIL
AS YOU HAVE....BE ENCOURAGED !!
PAULA WAGSTAFF
Bless you Paula - Thank you
ReplyDeleteIn the day in which we live there is good reason for being sceptical and so we should be very decerning when it comes to prophetic utterances. But the truth is, God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
ReplyDeleteIt is man who, in an attempt to make some sense out of the things of God, begins to cast his own reasoning upon different aspects of the Word of God. But we must see the Word of God as a whole and make every effort to let the Word of God interpret itself, avoiding the opinions of man.
I believe that, just as in the days of Isaiah and in the days of Jesus, that prophets exist today. It's God's way, it's His manner to speak through men who are not perfect, but who are willing to be used by Him, even when, for the most part, they will be rejected. Look at the history of the prophet throughout the Bible and you will see, for the most part, they were rejected.
So, my brother, you already know that once you put it out there, it's stands. And for the most part, once delivered, you stand alone. It is so wise for you to seek counsel from trusted Followers of Christ and is precious that you deal with such love toward those who may not fully accept what you do.
As you have so eloquently spoken, our is but to obey, the rest is up to God. When we have discharged our responsibility, the prophecy remains to be proven and not always does that happen in our 'real time'. So we even question ourselves but we never question God!
Just a quick comment, more in response to James: there are evangelists in the church and some of those seem to be motivated by, um... something less than God's heart. Yet we never question whether the office of the evangelist is now vacant. I know some evangelists who are very skilled in their gift, and others who have a legitimate gift, but have no training, no discipline and inferior motives; who have too few skills supporting their gift.
ReplyDeleteSo too the prophet: some few indeed are motivated by personal gain, whether financial, social or emotional. Their failure does not invalidate the reality of others. And Chris is correct in that NT prophets have a different role than OT ones: the Spirit is now on "all flesh" where in the OT, it was very rare, yet in these "all flesh" days, the ministry of the prophet is still needed. Agabus was one; Paul and Barnabas were too (AC 13). The instruction about prophets (eg 1 CO 12-14) and warnings about false prophets (eg 1 JN 4) indicate their presence in the NT community of faith.
I've known scores of legitimate prophets over the years, a very few who claimed to be prophets and were not, and quite a few folks who were legitimately called to prophetic ministry, but lack the discipline, the skills, the training to use the gift properly. Too many people with real & legitimate gifts prophesy not out of God's heart of love, but out of their own hurts, out of their religious culture, out of "the second heaven" (in contrast to 2 Corinthians 12) as if it were from God.
And of course, when a man or woman of God whom we know and trust says, "God said thus to me", then whether we understand or not, we much discern: either they are deceived, or they are intentionally deceiving you, or they are telling you the truth, though it may be outside of your own experience. I have had prophets tell me what I had prayed in my hidden place the night before: either they are hearing from God, or there's something demonic going on, but it absolutely cannot be explained away. The first man who did it to me, I knew to be a man of God, which eliminated the option of my blaming the devil.
If I am called to be a pastor, I must also acquire training and develop character. Likewise if I am called to be a teacher or an evangelist: I must acquire (and learn from!) training and develop character. In the same way, if I am called to be a prophet or apostle, I must acquire training and character, and personally, I believe these latter gifts require *more* of both training and character than the former ones simply because we have so many fewer examples of what a godly prophet or godly apostle is. We can always look to Billy Graham as an illustration of evangelist, Jack Hayford as a pastor, John Maxwell as a teacher.
Lack of training or character does not invalidate the office, nor my call to it. It merely invalidates the results of my ministry.