Living in These Times - Part 4

The book of Hebrews makes a clear distinction between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2a).
 
Under the Old Covenant, the prophets were the primary way the people had to hear from the Lord. They didn’t have the Holy Spirit within them as we do now under the New Covenant. They didn’t have the Bible in order to see if a prophecy lined up with God’s Word.
 
In the New Covenant, the ministry gifts of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher were given to the Body of Christ to equip believers for the work of the ministry—the ministry of reconciliation, bringing people to Christ. Which brings us to another way to test all things in this age. Something may sound scriptural, but it must also line up with the set time for that event in God’s timetable.
 
This is why it is so important that every believer sees the full field of vision of the end times—both the chronos times and the corresponding kairos signs. If a prophet does not acknowledge this full view and if he or she does not talk about Christ returning soon, then there is an area of their mind and heart that has not yet been enlightened. Why are they ignoring one-third of the Bible?
 
This is what can cause them to speak presumptuously, out of their unenlightened heart or desires. This is how they can prophesy things that do not come to pass. When the thing that was spoken does not come to pass, they must find ways to change the timing, pushing it off into a general future time that is impossible to test against the Word.
 
Please remember that this does not make the person a false prophet. It only means that the person still has areas that need to be enlightened by God’s Word, as is true of every believer. We should not be lashing out at them for being human and missing it, anymore than they should be lashing out at fellow brothers and sisters in Christ for not praying or believing enough so that the prophecy didn’t come to pass. We need to operate in the unity of the Spirit.
 
This is the rapture generation. This is the decade for bringing in the end-time harvest into the Body of Christ. We need all hands on deck, including those operating in the five-fold ministry gifts. It’s time to move with God’s agenda, in step with the full view of the end times.