There are some aspects of Christianity which we all know, at times, we must agree to disagree. As many of you are aware, one doctrine I’ve sought to expose as error in the past, is the pre-trib rapture of the saints. However, as much as I may think it’s wrong, it won’t stop me from enjoying fellowship with another Christian.  True, there are aspects of it which often result in heretical views (like believing the O.T. saints were saved by something other than faith alone), but, many ‘rapturists’ aren’t even aware of this.

Another aspect of Christianity which I don’t agree with, but try to not let it get in the way of my friendship with other believers, is Pentecostalism, or the Charismatic Movement. There are some real, and genuine Christian’s who are caught up in this, and we must not allow prejudice to hinder fellowship. However, I say this with great caution. Charismatic characters like Benny Hinn, are seriously deceptive, and downright evil.

Extra-biblical prophecies

Something certain characters within these movements sometimes like to do, is make extra-biblical prophecies. What do I mean by that? Well, I could prophesy that you will go to Heaven, if you’ve placed your trust in Christ for salvation. How do I make this prophecy? Well, because it’s written in the Bible. That’s my backup. That’s where I got it from.

However, there are some people who do things like place their hand on an individual, and tell them what’s going to happen to them in the future, e.g. you’re going to become a missionary, and pioneer a work in Africa. This is extra-biblical, and I don’t believe anyone has the right, or authority to do this. In fact, I would side with A.W. Tozer who said something like, if an archangel from Heaven, came with a message for me, I’d ask him for book, chapter and verse.

Why do I take this view?

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son…” Hebrews 1:1-2

The full revelation that God wants to give us, is found in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you find an accurate revelation of Christ only in the scriptures. This is why the reformers were so adamant to stand firm upon ’sola scriptura’.

What happens when you don’t take this view…

So what has caused me to write about this now? Well, a well meaning professing Christian, has, to be quite frank, made himself look quite foolish. He ‘prophesied’ that the ‘rapture’ was going to take place in 2007.

The resulting problems…

• No sensible Christian will ever believe him again, and will lose confidence in anything he has to say.
• Non-Christians will, if they don’t already, think he’s completely mad.
• The whole testimony of the gospel of Christ, has been marred all over the world to anyone who thinks this man represents biblical Christianity.
• The man has unnecessarily taken money from people who were led to believe his book had credibility.

There are many more, but I’ll leave it there. I don’t take much delight in this, but I felt I should be a voice for those who oppose extra-biblical prophesying. This kind of stupidity is occurring all the time. It used to be restricted to the cults, but the last century has saw a dramatic rise in occurrences like these among protestant, professing bible-believing Christians.

Do you believe in extra-biblical prophecies? If so, to what extent? How do you feel about this incident?

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Happy new year to you all. May 2008 be joyful, healthy, and prosperous for you all!