Truly! According to GhanaChurch.com analyst, the CEO of OFM Group of companies Dr. Debrich Jeremiah Acheampong said; to be authentic or genuine in the body of Yeshua Ha Mashiach can be identified (discerned) through the Holy Bible (Scripture) by Yahweh – the Tetragrammaton, with the help of Ruach Hako’desh (Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost).
Dr. Debrich said the major purpose of the Prophets or Prophetess is to declare God’s heart to His people by piercing the hearts of his people that they might return to God’s ways. That is a call to Repentance, Teaching, Rebuking, Correcting and Training in Righteousness. The Keys for SALVATION.
Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. To save is to deliver or protect. The word carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation. Sometimes, the Bible uses the words saved or salvation to refer to temporal, physical deliverance, such as Paul’s deliverance from prison, “… what has happened to me (Paul) will turn out for my deliverance” – Philippians 1:19.
More often, the word “salvation” concerns an eternal, spiritual deliverance. God’s gracious plan to provide a solution to man’s problem, We call it salvation or soteriology.
Soteriology, the doctrine of salvation, must be the grandest theme in the Scriptures.
According to Dr. Debrich with GhanaChurch.com analyst, after salvation, there are four kinds of people found in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (KJV) :
“3 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”.
(i) Believers – (a) Spiritual Believers; (b) Infant Believers and (c) Carnal Believers
(ii) UnbelieversTherefore, there are
(a) Spiritual Prophets,
(b) Infant Prophets,
(c) Carnal Prophets and
(d) Unbeliever Prophet – that is Fetish Priest/Spiritualist/Mallam.
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
“16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 New International Version (NIV)
Abraham did not foretell future events and yet God said he was a prophet. Abraham’s character; and he is the first man that is dignified in Scripture with the title of a prophet.
“Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.” – Genesis 20:7
That shows that prophets are familiar with God, dear unto God, Prophets are friends of God, to whom he communicates his secrets; Prophets are able to foretell things to come, as well as to interpret the mind of God, and instruct in the knowledge of divine things.
“10. God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the things of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God.” – 1 Cor. 2:10-12 (NET)
1. True prophets always direct people to the Bible because every true prophet knows that the Bible is man’s sole authority in matters pertaining to Elohim (God).
2. The lives of prophets should also be examined. Speaking of prophets, Jesus said, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:19,
Paul wrote, “Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, 22) Those claiming to receive dreams or visions from God are not to be revered, quoted as an authority, or worshiped. Instead their words are to be thoroughly challenged by the Word of God and if they bear up after close investigation, the Word of God is to be exalted not the prophet!
3. True prophets (a) will promote ideals and doctrines that conform to God’s Word, and (b) can do miracles as God deems necessary to affirm the validity of their testimony.
(Revelation 2:14-16) Jesus also said to the church at Thyatira, “Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.
I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.” (Revelation 2:20, 21)
4. When God sends a message, His words cut like a double-edged sword. God condemns sin and exposes error.
Hebrews 4:12 King James Version (KJV) – “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
5. True prophets must do the work of “equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” – Ephesians 4:12
6. True prophets must do the work of bringing “unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” – Ephesians 4:13
7. The Bible also indicates that a prophet cannot validate himself. In other words, no person becomes a prophet because he decides to be a prophet and neither can men appoint a prophet. God Himself decides who will speak for Him and that person may prophesy once during his entire life or he may prophesy many times. (1 Samuel 19)
8. Moses had the message and Aaron was his voice. God said Aaron would be a prophet or spokesman for Moses therefore. (Read more from Exodus 4:10-16 10)
A prophet is one who speaks for another, or someone who lends his voice to another.
9. The Characteristics of a True Prophet of Prophetess – He/She must be meekness (Philippians 2:1-18 ), worshippers (Daniel 2:19-23), Intercessor (1 Kings 13:6; 1 Samuel 12:19-25; Habakkuk 2:1 & Amos 7:1-6 ) , uprightness, honesty, wholeness, soundness, decency, honor, totality – they obey the voice of the ELOHIM – 1 Samuel 15:22 “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
10. Old Testament And New Testament Prophets:
(i) Prophet Ahijah tore a new garment into 12 parts and gave 10 parts to Jeroboam as a sign of Yahweh giving 10 tribes of Israel to him (I Kings 11:29-32).
Ahijah the Shilonite, was a Levite prophet of Shiloh in the days of Solomon, as mentioned in the Hebrew Bible’s 1 Kings. Ahijah foretold to Jeroboam that he would become king.
(ii) Prophet Isaiah took off his sandals and walked barefoot as a prophecy against Egypt and Ethiopia (Isa. 20:2-6);
(iii) Prophet Jeremiah bought a linen loincloth and put it on his loins as a prophecy against the disobedience of Judah and Jerusalem (Jer. 13:1-11);
(iv) Prophet Agabus also took the waist cloth (belt) of Paul, and tied it around his waist to prophesy that the owner of the cloth (Paul) would be tied in the same manner if he should go to Jerusalem.
List of four Certified & Genuine Ghanaian Prophets:
1. Prophet Christopher Yaw Annor – READ MORE ABOUT HIM
2. Prophet Emmanuel Amoah – READ MORE ABOUT HIM
3. Prophet Elijah Del Klomega – READ MORE ABOUT HIM
4. Prophet Frank Dwomoh Sarpong – READ MORE ABOUT HIM
Neo-prophetism in Ghana started with the Classical Pentecostals (CPs) led by Apostle Peter Newman Enim (1890-1984). James McKeown, Gilbert Ablorh Lawson, and Prophet John Mensah were influential in this phase. Lawson and Mensah later formed the Divine Healers Church and Church of Christ (Spiritual Movement) respectively.
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| From Right: 1. Prophet Emmanuel Amoah; 2. Prophet Christopher Yaw Annor; 3. Prophet Elijah Del Klomega and 4. Prophet Frank Dwomoh Sarpong |
Scripture Union (SU) at the secondary school level. Reporting on prophetic activities of these fellowships at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) etc.
The Spirit of God is the person of God that vivifies the spirit of people to God.
“1. The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and placed me in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. 2 He made me walk all around among them. I realized there were a great many bones in the valley and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said to him, “Sovereign Lord, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and tell them: ‘Dry bones, listen to the Lord’s message” – Ezek 37: 1 – 28
“The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children” – (Rom 8:16).
If a person is “gifted” with visions from God, this gift will become evident over time. Spiritually mature people will test and validate the gift and of course, time will prove whether the prophet spoke for God or out of his own imagination.
God has still have true prophets! The Bible indicates that Jesus bestowed spiritual gifts on the early church.
Paul wrote, 11 “And He Himself [Yeshua Hamashiach – Jesus] gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;” (Ephesians 4:11-13)
When the apostolic age ended, the Bible was completed. God has not given subsequent prophets any information that extends Scripture.
Everything that God wanted said in the Bible has been said in the Bible and the Canon was closed. This means that all prophetic utterances since the apostolic age must be tested by Scripture. The words of prophets today are not authoritative (that is, their words are not to be regarded as an extension to Scripture).
Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus) said that false prophets can perform great signs and miracles, so we know that displays or manifestations of supernatural power do not necessarily mean that God has sent a prophet. In fact, the book of Revelation reveals that a time is coming when the devil himself will call fire down out of the sky to prove that he is God, and this overwhelming miracle will deceive most of the inhabitants of Earth.
“And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. . . .” (Revelation 13:13,14) So, the ability to perform miracles does not prove that a prophet is sent from God.
Source: GhanaChurch.com – Ghana Churches News Portal
