True. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. However, His ways of dealing with man do change (and I think you know this).ryo dokomi wrote:okay first of all i would like to point out that Jesus Himself stated that He and the Father are one. (dont know scripture sorry) and if that is ture and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God the Father then that proves the trinity. and if the trinity is true then look at Hebrews 13:8 says "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever" (NKJV) this means that the Holy Spirit is the same yesterday, today and forever. this meaning that the gifts that are given by the Holy Spirit have always been the same. Tongues have been the same, prophesy is the same.
Does God speak to us today? Absolutely. He speaks through His Word, through nature, and other means. However, does God still give Special Revelation outside of His Holy writ through "visions", "tongues", and "prophecy"? No. This ceased with the close of the Canon and the end of the Old Covenant (the Prophet was an Old Covenant office).
The cessation of prophecy is not something unique to modern times. After the temple was rebuilt, prophecy was "sealed up" for 400 years between Malachi and John the Baptist. The gifts promised by the Prophet Joel were reserved for "the last days" of the Old Covenant (Joel 2:28-32). Those "last days" began on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:16-20) and ended in 70 AD (Daniel 9:24). They are history, as the writer of Hebrews explains.
Hebrews 1:1-2
"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, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;"
Daniel made it clear that within 490 years of the restoration of the temple, "vision and prophecy" would be sealed up (Daniel 9:24).
As I pointed out in the previous post, one who has the gift of prophecy would be speaking inerrant, infallible, authoritative words directly from the mouth of the living God. We would be expected to obey that prophet just as if God Himself were speaking to us. (Deut. 18:18-19). The same is true in the New Testament (Acts 13:1-3). However, the "prophets" of today speak errant, fallible, feeble words that they claim are from God, but obedience is optional (as Dale said, "it should never be used for guidance and should only be a confirmation of what has already been settled in the heart by the Holy Spirit".) Therefore, though Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the gifts were unique for that time period, as "prophecy" today is a totally different animal then the biblical version (as you admit, "but Prophecy now-a-days does not support scripture"). The same is true of tongues: earthly languages in the Bible - (Acts 2:5-6), but unintelligible gibberish today.
Therefore, I will have to deny that there are true "prophets" today. Church History unanimously taught that these gifts ceased in the Apostolic age.
By the way Dale, my name isn't Tom. I just have a quote from Thomas Watson in my signature. Sorry for the confusion. I'll fix this shortly.
God Bless,
PL