Expert: Australian International Evangelist Matthew Starrs - 7/18/2005

Question
Are prophetic words of TRUE prophets authoritative?  I am AoG, but I am currently engaged in a discussion with a seventh day adventist.  They believe that the writings of their primary prophetess (Ellen G White) are authoritative.  By that, they mean that since she was speaking as the oracle/mouthpiece of God, the words she spoke have an almost scriptural authority, and salvation can be determined by words she spoke.  The most obvious example is her prophecy that the sabbath MUST be worshipped on Saturday, and non-adherance to this teaching means you are not a Christian.  This is their primary, defining teaching.

Without getting into whether or not she was a true prophet, my question is, since there are true prophets, and a true prophet does speak as an oracle/mouthpiece of God almighty, is a believer who does not accept the prophetic word being disobedient to God himeself, risking damnation?  SDAs believe so, at least in the case of the prophecies of Ellen G White.

I don't think so.  I believe there are two basic types of prophecy.  Prophecy that is foreteling the future can be judged by whether or not it comes to pass.  Prophecy that is more personal (directional, correctional, encouragement, etc) should only be accepted if it confirms something God has already spoken to your own spirit PERSONALLY.  God does not need an outside oracle to speak to his people ... He just speaks to his people directly from his spirit to mine.  But to boost my faith or provide clarity, the words of a prophet would be valuable.

To sum it up, the words of a prophet are profitable and certainly can provide wisdom and direction.  But they are NOT authoritative.  To disregard a prophecy is NOT disobedience to God.  Otherwise, we would have to weigh the words of literally hundreds of true prophets to know for sure what God says on a subject.

But before I continue this discussion with my SDA friend, I want to make sure I am taking a Biblical perspective on prophecy, and not just going on my own ideas.  Is my perspective on this correct?  What is the AoG perspective?

Thanks,

Answer
Hi Mike,
Your logic is good. I can see where you are coming from, but there is a more biblical way of looking at it.
There are several occasions in the bible that you can read "let every word be established by two or three witnesses". One of the minor prophets wrote "the Lord speaks once, yea He speaks twice". This is one of the very basic rules for judging prophecy. God will confirm His word. He has no problem with repeating Himself. If a "prophet" says something that is way out of left field you should feel very comfortable with disregarding it.
We know that we should judge prophecy because 1 Cor 14 tells us to. But the only sure rule for whether or not we should reject a prophecy is if it is contrary to the written Word of God.  This is why EG White is only favoured among the SDA. The rest of the church have no problem with worshipping on (what the bible calls) "the Lords Day" instead of the traditional Jewish Sabbath. The rest of the Church has no problem with eating meat. The rest of the Church do not believe that Jesus is the ArchAngel Michael. Colossians Ch2 exposes all of these SDA teachings as false doctrines in one small passage! Only the SDA's believe that in 1844 Jesus went into the Holy of Holies to judge sin. The rest of us believe Hebrews when it reads that "once and for all" Jesus made an end to sin on the cross. Therefore the prophet could only be regarded as false if their prophecies purported such things.
There are those that would like to be prophets, and will prophesy things that (although Biblical) are not "in the Spirit" of what God is saying at that point in time. This is a problem for church leadership to deal with. Most Pastors sooner or later learn to recognise this, and will often be able to minister to the persons needs in a way that will alleviate their problem.
The bottom line is, we can demonstrate someone to be a false prophet if they transgress scripture. But we have no way of PROVING a true prophet. Things like character, lifestyle, accountability etc all lend credibility. But we have no way of knowing for sure. Therefore there is no such thing as an "authoritative" prophet as such. However, God does raise up authentic prophets and places them in places where their gifts will have the desired effect. I know of many. But none of them have (or would want) their prophecies to be be considered as being as authoritative as scripture, and are well aware of their propensity to get it wrong from time to time.
I hope that helps.
Blessings!
Matthew