What is a Reformed Baptist..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 27, and this is the word of God. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

And God has appointed in the church, first, apostles, second, prophets, third, teachers, than miracles, than gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues? Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?

Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret, but earnestly desire the higher gifts, and I will show you a still more excellent way. Amen. That's the word of God.

Beloved, this evening we are going to continue with our study our main study, which is defining what a Reformed Baptist Church is, but somehow this series within the biggest study, which is the work of the Spirit in the life of the Church, the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church of Jesus Christ and in the life of believers, those who are united by faith, to Jesus Christ. And we have already done a couple of studies related to this topic of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. Our brother started a couple of weeks ago with this foundational study in which we spoke of the close canon of Scripture. Beloved, what our brother taught us a couple of weeks ago is foundational for everything that we are saying and that by the grace of God we will say in these studies in relation to the work of the Spirit. Our brother taught us two weeks ago the closed canon of scripture.

The truth, beloved, the truth that the book that we have in our hands is the special, specific revelation of God to his church and that it pleased God to give this book to the church and not to give any further special revelation to Christians. the assumption, the fact that this is the closed, the finished special revelation of God. That is foundational for everything that we're saying. That was the first study in the work of the Spirit as the giver of this book to the church. And then when by the grace of God we came together last week, we addressed the role of the prophets and of the apostles as the givers or as the agents, as the instruments by which God gave this special or specific revelation to the church.

Beloved, and something that we tried and I tried to prove to you from the book is that the apostolic ministry and the apostolic or the prophetic ministry, they have come to an end because they have a specific purpose. And with their coming to an end of the apostolic and prophetic ministry, all signs and all gifts attached to those two offices have also come to an end. It pleased God to speak to the church in a particular way and bring that to a completion. And last week, in that general framework of the Apostles and the Prophets as the foundation of the Church, which is a building built upon Christ as the Quarterson and the foundation of the Apostles and the Prophets, we addressed primarily the role or the office of the Apostles. as having a unique ministry, the apostles as having a unique ministry, this ministry of coming and making or revealing that mystery that it was hidden under the old covenant, that salvation was for all the Gentiles that by grace through faith and not keeping the law under the old covenant, we are united to God through his son, Jesus Christ.

This was a mystery. Paul says in Ephesians 2 that this mystery was hidden to the sons of men in other times, but now he has revealed that to the church and to us through his holy prophets and his holy apostles. That ministry or that mystery has been revealed to us to them. And because of that, their ministry and their role is unique, is foundational to the church. And that's why all the signs and wonders and miracles that apostles performed by the hands of the apostles, the book of Acts says many times that mighty works and miracles and wonders were performed by the hands of the apostles.

These mighty works and all of these things were attesting signs of the unique ministry of these apostles who are witnesses of the Son of God through whom God the Father has spoken to the church in these last days. In other times, in different manners, in different ways, God spoke to the fathers through the prophets, but in this last day, in this church age, The God, the Father, has been pleased to speak to us through the Son, Jesus Christ, and through his witnesses, apostles and prophets. And we address primarily the ministry of the apostles. That's why we spoke of the signs. What I want to do, or what we want to do this evening, beloved, is to address now a little bit more, not only the role of the apostles, but that ministry of prophecy, the prophets.

And something very important that I said to you, beloved, last week is that the church has been rather unified throughout church history in their understanding or in her understanding of the role of apostles and prophets and the apostolic ministry and the prophetic ministry. But it's in the last 100 or 120 years that we as a church are facing a challenge of interpretation of what apostles are, of what prophets are, and what are the role for the contemporary church. And something also more important than that, that I said to you, is that we are called, beloved, to make theology and to derive theology not from church history, or not from church trends or contemporary challenge, but we are always called to derive and to submit our understanding, our faith, and our practice to this book, scripture. So even though History and church history is on the side of the reformed historical interpretation of the things that we are saying. We are always called to examine our faith and our understanding of things from scripture and to build our theology, our understanding, and our practice in our life on the book.

That's why I'm saying to you that the study that our brother gave us is foundational, not only for these things that we're saying, but for our life. if we come to the conclusion that this book is closed and that this is the special revelation of God for the church. So that should and must have strong implications for the life of the individual Christian and also for the life of the church. This evening, beloved, I want to address the prophetic ministry, that ministry that says that is the word of God, those prophets that come and speak on behalf of God. And we've seen a necessity to address biblically that which is called prophecy or prophets because most of our charismatic or Pentecostal brothers and sisters, many of them actually, would agree that the office and the role of apostle has come to an end or that they have ceased.

So you see, there's a sense in which they also hold to the cessation of something. Many of them will say that apostles have come to an end, that they have ceased, that this role has ceased. But when we turn our eyes and go to the prophetic ministry is when we see more challenges and more difficulties. So we see the need of addressing this prophetic ministry and prophecy so that we understand that just in the same way that apostles are foundational for the church, Prophets are also foundational for the church. And beloved, the assumption or the presupposition or the statement that I made last week is that both apostles and prophets reveal that will of God for the church.

They provide, they communicate, they dispense, they transfer, they give to the church that special revelation of God. But when we come to the side of prophets, our brothers Charismatic and Pentecostals, they have presented a challenge to that historical definition of the role of apostles and prophets. And I'm going to present that challenge to you, and then we are going to go into Scripture. I'm going to present both. the charismatic or Pentecostal side of prophecy, and I'm going to present to you the Reformed historical view of prophecy, and then I'm going to try to prove to you that the Reformed historical view of prophecy is that which corresponds to Scripture.

Now, beloved, the reason why our brothers Charismatics and Pentecostals would say that the ministry of prophecy or the prophetic ministry continues until this day, it is because they distinguish between prophecy under the Old Testament and prophecy under the New Testament. There is a distinction. Prophecy under the New Testament is of a different type of the prophecy that is given under the Old Testament. So they will accept that the apostles are unique in their ministry and then they are given a special revelation. But when it comes to the prophets, our brothers Charismatic and Pentecostal will say that the New Testament prophets are different to Old Testament prophets.

And they would speak of fallible prophecy or a prophecy of a lesser quality. So prophecy under the Old Testament, it was infallible. It was the word of God, and it was 100% correct. But prophecy under the New Testament is a prophecy that can contain error. And because it can contain error, it has to be tested against scripture.

And when it's tested against scripture, you prove if it's right or wrong. So for that reason, they will say there is a sense in which people, normal people in this day or normal Christians, late Christians, they can still be prophets because the type of prophecy or the type of prophetic utterances that they are given to the church is not of the same quality or the same level of Old Testament prophecy, and therefore is not canonical. They will say, yes, we agree that the book is closed. We agree that revelation, that special revelation has come to an end and that there is nothing that needs to be added. But we hold to that position because the type of prophecy that is given under the New Testament is a different type of prophecy.

If it's of a lesser quality, it's a fallible prophecy, and we as the Church are called to compare that fallible prophecy against the Scripture, and then to discern. The historical view of the Church, I would say of the Church, but I'm going to put it in detail and specific of the Reformed historical view, is that prophecy, beloved, pay attention to this, Prophecy does not derive its substance from the means through which it is given, but from God Himself. And this is attached to the definition of prophecy. Our beloved brothers and sisters in the Charismatic and Pentecostal camp will say that prophecy will come perfect to the prophet, And then you will see many definitions of this type of prophecy. They will say that prophecy under the New Testament is a report of something that God has brought to the mind of the person.

And then when it comes into the mind of the person, the prophet will report upon that communication that God has given them. And these words that I'm using are literal words. that our brothers used to give this definition of New Testament. You can go and read it in many of the person and the theologians that support this view. That prophecy under the New Testament is given to the person and the New Testament prophet reports that which came perfectly to his mind and then the New Testament prophet will give a report of that.

When the person gives a report of that prophecy or that prophetic utterance, there is a chance that they can get it wrong or they can get it mixed and that they might not deliver the message that God has given to them. So for that reason, the status of New Testament prophecy or the level of New Testament prophecy is lower than the Old Testament prophecy. Now, there's a lot of issues with that, beloved, not only theological, but there's a lot of issues practically. And there is a sense in which I could just simply go and take all the practical implications that make that view a problem from the Church. But as I said to you in the beginning, we are not called to derive our theology or understanding from experience, from practice, from Church history, or contemporary Church challenges.

We are always called to derive our understanding and our theology from the book that we have in our hands. So I'm going to try to attempt, I'm going to attempt by the grace of God to prove to you that prophecy from the Old Covenant or in the Old Covenant carries its substance and its meaning and its authority into the new covenant because prophecy is not defined by the prophet, but is derived by the source of the message. And this is very important, beloved, because even I've seen it within the reform camp in which we take this book and we disconnect this book from the being of God. This book is the word of God, is the revelation of God to the church. I'm not talking about the pages, I'm not talking about the ink, I'm not talking about the physical thing, but the truth that is contained here is that which God intended to give to the church, and it comes from the holy mouth of God.

It comes from the holy heart of God given to the church. So in the moment that we disconnect the truth that we have in this book from the being, from the ontology, from the nature of God, then we open many doors to question the authority, the sufficiency, and the practical implications of holding to the cessation or the closing of this book. Now, beloved, what is prophecy? what is prophecy, and what I'm going to try to do is that I'm going to give you, say, a simple definition of prophecy. I want us to see that in the Old Testament, and then what I want us to do, beloved, is go into the New Testament and see what the New Testament authors say and speak about that prophecy that we are defining.

Now, I require much of your attention, again, as I did last week because this is foundational. This is foundational not only for this specific topic, but I want you to see how the argument is built up exegetically and how the Word of God is sufficient for us to come to the conclusions that are biblical and that our brothers and sisters throughout church history have come to. God promised that he will preserve his church. that the gates of Hades will not prevail against the church. And that is not talking about preserving buildings or preserving communities of Christians.

This is about preserving the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints upon the faith that people are saved and go to heaven. The faith that was given to the saints. The church is preserved by preserving the faith that gives reality to the church. Beloved, apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ and apart from the truth, the church does not exist. You cannot be saved apart from the truth that is contained in the gospel.

We cannot live as a church apart from the truth that is contained in the book. And this is very close to my heart, beloved, because I think that the main attack that the church will face in the coming years is against this book. Against this book, we will see most of the attacks against the church. Because when this book is attacked, your faith is attacked. Your life is attacked.

So we need to have certainty and assurance that our God has spoken through Christ, our Savior, and that what we hold in our hands is everything that we need to look to Him, to believe in Him, to be saved, to be more like Him, to extend His kingdom, and to await for the coming of our Savior. So beloved, prophecy. three little elements that I want you to see in prophecy, and probably you've thought about the definition of prophecy. But beloved, prophecy, or let's say a prophet, is a person who has been appointed by God. A prophet is a person who has been appointed by God to receive a message from God and to communicate that message to God's people or to the audience that God intends.

So a prophet is appointed by God, he receives a message from God, and he communicates this message to his people. Because false prophets are not appointed by God, and they say that they have a message from God, and they communicate that to an audience. But true prophets are appointed by God, they receive a message from God, and they communicate that message to the audience that God intends that message would be given. So now I want you to open your Bible and go to Jeremiah chapter 1. In Jeremiah chapter 1, I want to show you biblically the words that I'm using to define what a prophet is, or what the prophetic ministry is.

So in Jeremiah chapter 1, we are going to see here the calling of God to Jeremiah, and here we're going to see the elements of this definition that I have given you. Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 5. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations." So it's God who consecrated Jeremiah, and it's God who appointed him as a prophet to the nations.

Then I said, Oh Lord God, behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth But the Lord said to me, Do not say, I am only a youth. For to all to whom I sent you, you shall go. And whatever I command you, you shall speak. God consecrated and appointed Jeremiah. And now he says, To all whom I sent you, you shall go.

And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord. Verse nine, then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, behold, I have, this is God speaking, I have put my words in your mouth. A prophet beloved is one who has been appointed by God to receive a message from God, that is, the words of God are given to this prophet, and then the message that this prophet communicates is the words of God.

I want you to see it from Moses' perspective. Go to Exodus, please. Go to Exodus chapter 4. You might remember here when Moses is called to the burning bush, and then he sees the Lord, and then the Lord reveals his name, I Am. The name of the Lord is revealed to Moses, and then Moses is told to go and communicate to the people of Israel that the Lord was going to free them.

He's going to give them freedom from the slavery in Egypt. And then you might remember that when the Lord is presenting all of these things that were going to happen, that Moses presented excuses. He said, they are not going to believe what I'm going to say. If I go to them and I say that I come and that I've seen you and that I'm speaking on behalf of you, then they are not going to believe. And then the Lord, what he does is that he gives him signs, wonders.

That you may put your hand into your clothes and it will get leprosy. Or that you will take the stuff and throw it on the ground and it will become a serpent. And if you take it once again, it will become stuff again. Or that if you take water from the river, the Nile, and then you put it on the dry land, it will become blood. And then he says, if they do not believe in the first and in the second sign, they just do the third one.

And all of these things. And then when Moses received these signs, he says, but Lord, I can't speak very well. I do not speak. I'm very slow of speech. And this is what the Lord is going to say here in Exodus chapter 4.

Moses says to him, I'm slow to speech. And then in verse 11, he says, then the Lord said to him, I love what he says here, then the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.

I will be with your mouth, and I will teach you what to speak. Now verse 13, but he said, Oh my Lord, please send someone else. But the excuses that Moses gave him, that they are not going to believe, that I slow to speech were not enough and then he opens up and then he says send someone else please and then in verse 14 then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said is there not Aaron your brother the Levite I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth."

Now, this is very important because the Lord is not only going to appoint someone to speak on behalf of Moses, but the Lord is going to give us an insight into what prophecy is, or into what that prophetic ministry, speaking on behalf of God, is, verse 15, you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. Moses is to speak to Aaron and to put those words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. You, Moses, the words that I have given you, you will take those words and you will put those words into your brother's mouth. and I will be with your mouth and with your brother's mouth.

Verse 16. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth. Now pay attention to this. And you, Moses, shall be as God to him. 17.

Take in your hand this staff with which you shall do the signs. The message is going to preserve in such a way. God is so sovereign over the message that is going to be communicated that he says that the message that Moses is going to give to Aaron is going to be like Aaron is the mouth of God and Moses is God to Aaron. Why? Because the giver of the message is the one that defines the message being communicated.

It's not the prophet, the one that defines the message. When God wants to speak, He speaks. When God wants to communicate and achieve something or accomplish something, He does it. The means by which he communicates are only providential means to work his sovereign and ruling power in this which we call creation. If we say that a person or a prophet has the ability or the possibility of corrupting a message that comes from God, Then either God is not sovereign in delivering that message or that person has not been appointed as a prophet of God.

And then the Old Testament tells us what to do with those who say to be prophets and have not been appointed by God to be prophets. Beloved, God is sovereign. 100%, not 99%, completely sovereign over the message that he wants to communicate. Everything that God has in his will and in his purpose, he accomplishes. And you know that, you know that.

But I want to show you that from a scripture. So go please to Isaiah, Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46. Verse 9 and 11. Bear with me and with these verses, because, beloved, we are building exegetical evidence to come to the conclusion that I gave you and the thesis that I gave you in the beginning.

That Old Testament prophets or that the prophetic ministry under the old covenant carries its substance, its meaning, its power, what it is, into the new covenant. because a ministry, as prophetic ministry, does not derive its structure from the person that exercised that ministry, but from God himself, who is the giver of the message, because he's sovereign. Isaiah 46, verse 9. It says, Remember the former things of all, for I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is no one like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times.

Things not yet done, saying, pay attention to verse 10, or the second part of verse 10. My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose, calling a bird of prey from the east, the men of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass. I have purpose, and I will do it. When God speaks with a purpose or with an intention, He accomplishes that which He intends.

Go to Isaiah 55. A couple of pages after that. Isaiah 55, verse 10. Isaiah 46, 9. 46.

Very good. I saw faces of, what are you reading? Isaiah 46, verse 9. Isaiah 46 verse 9 and 11 is that which I read and now I'm going to read beloved Isaiah 55 verse 10 so if you can please go to now Isaiah 55 verse 10 For as the rain and the snow came down from heaven and do not return there but watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth.

It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. The word of God accomplishes the purpose for which God intended the word to go and to whatever it is sent. Now, beloved, this is the definition of the ministry of a prophet. It is a person who is appointed by God, who receives a message from God, and then communicates this message to the audience that God intended to receive this message. So this prophetic ministry.

It is speaking by the Spirit of God. The Spirit is God Himself. It is speaking by the Holy Spirit, the words of God. So I've proven to you only what the prophetic ministry is under the Old Covenant. All our brothers, Charismatic and Pentecostals, will agree with what I've said.

But they said, yes, but even like this, the prophetic ministry under the new covenant is different. The prophetic ministry under the new covenant is of a different quality, is of a different type, and therefore it is not canonical. So now, I'm going to try to bring or to build the argument, beloved, that the language with which the Bible speaks of the prophets under the New Covenant, it is exactly the same language describing the same substance of the prophecy given under the New Covenant compared with the Old Covenant. Because if the New Testament speaks of New Testament prophets in the same way that he speaks of the Old Testament, then the prophetic ministry carries its substance through the Old into the New Covenant, and therefore prophets under the New Covenant speak the Word of God. And once the Word of God has been closed, or it comes to an end, Prophets are not needed in the Church anymore because they have fulfilled the purpose for which they have been called.

Moses, the one that we have just read in Exodus 3, is the prophet of the Old Covenant. He is the one that speaks from God. He is the prophet of the Old Testament. And Moses gives a scatological promise. He gives a promise for the new covenant.

He says that there will be another prophet like him that will come and everyone will listen. That's in Deuteronomy chapter 18. Stephen, under the New Covenant, or in the New Testament, speaks of this prophecy of Moses, speaking of the prophet of the New Testament, or the New Covenant. Moses is the prophet of the Old Covenant, and then Christ, the eschatological Moses, or the postrate of the second or last Adam, is that prophet of the New Covenant. God, in diverse manners, in different ways, spoke to the fathers through the prophets.

In this last day, He has spoken to us through or by the Son. It's Christ, the prophet of the New Covenant. Go to then Acts chapter 7, and I'm going to show you that from Scripture, because we're going to build the argument from there. Acts chapter 7. This is Stephen given this very lengthy, what do you call it, discourse or speech.

And then in verse 35, in chapter 7, Stephen is going to speak of Moses. And he is going to come and bring these two, the things that I've said, he's going to give us canonical authority to the things that I've said. Verse 35. This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge? He's narrating what happened in Exodus, right?

Stephen is narrating what happened in Exodus. This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge? This man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. That angel, the angel of the Lord, was the Lord himself. These men led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt, and at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years."

Pay attention to verse 37. This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. He is speaking of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is that prophet that will be raised from among your brothers. And now he says, it's a prophet like me.

I was a prophet under the Old Testament, that prophet that will come under the new covenant. Of course, Moses did not know about a new covenant, but this eschatological prophet is just like me. This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him. God spoke to Moses and with our fathers. Now, what did Moses do in his role as a prophet and that he is foreshadowing the prophet that is to come?

He received living oracles to give to us. Moses, the appointed one, received living oracles to give to us. A prophet is an appointed instrument of God that receives the living oracles or the living words of God and communicates that to the people. The prophet that it is to come under the new covenant is a prophet just like Moses. A chosen and appointed servant of God who receives the words of God and communicates those words to his people.

Now, how do then New Testament believers understood the prophetic ministry under the Old Covenant? How do members or believers under the New Testament in the church understood and saw and believed. And when they were reading a scripture, how did they understand the prophetic ministry? Because if we understand how they understood that, and then when we see when they speak of New Testament prophets, we can see the equivalence between those two things. So now let's go to Hebrews.

And this will help me just to make things a little bit more clear. Hebrews chapter 3. Remember, beloved, that I'm trying to build and to make the case that the prophetic ministry under the old covenant carries its substance and what it is into the new covenant. And in order to do so, I have defined what a prophet is. I have shown you from a scripture that a prophet is appointed or chosen that receives a message and that communicates a message.

That this is the definition of a prophet under the Old Testament. And that Moses says that the prophet of the New Covenant will be like him. This is not sufficient to make my case. So now I'm going to go to New Testament believers, to New Testament theology, and we are going to see the perception or the understanding of New Testament believers of Old Testament prophecy. Pay attention to what the author of Hebrews is going to say here, speaking of God as the one who speaks to his church, and speaking of David as a prophet of God under the Old Covenant.

Pay attention to what the author of Hebrews is going to do with David and the Holy Spirit. Hebrews chapter 3, verse 5. Now Moses, this is the author of Hebrews chapter 3 verse 5. Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant. Now, I'm proving here also from this text that Christ is the prophet that he was prophesied by Stephen or by Moses himself.

Now, verse five. Now, Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant to testify to the things that were to be spoken later. But Christ is faithful over God's house as a Son. Moses was faithful as a servant. Christ is faithful as a Son.

And we are His house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and are boasting in our hope. Now, verse 7. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says... Now here, the author of Hebrews is saying, As the Holy Spirit says, And then he quotes, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness. So the author of Hebrews is quoting here a passage of the Old Testament given by a prophet, and then he says, This is how the mind of the New Testament believers saw Old Testament prophecy.

He's quoting and he says that the Holy Spirit says, and then he quotes a portion of scripture. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness. Now, he develops his argument in the rest of chapter 3, and then when he starts chapter 4, he's going to reference once again this portion of his argument, whoever the author of Hebrews is. Go to chapter 4, verse 6. Chapter 4, verse 6.

Since, therefore, it remains for some to enter at and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, speaking of the Sabbath-resting God, again he appoints a certain day, today, saying through David, so long afterward in the words already quoted, speaking of what he said in chapter 3, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Beloved, The author of Hebrews is saying that these words were saying by the Holy Spirit. Now, I know that you believe that, and it will be very easy for me to prove that. What I'm trying to prove to you is that this is the language that New Covenant believers will use for God's prophets. New Testament believers would say that the Holy Spirit spoke or that David, in this case, the prophet, spoke by the Holy Spirit.

Now go to Acts chapter 4. That which David said is that which the Holy Spirit said. Now in Acts chapter 4, the church, the early church, is going to confirm that which the author of Hebrews says. Chapter 4, verse 23. Now I feel that I'm quoting all verses wrongly.

Is it good? Acts chapter 4, verse 23. Pay attention, beloved, please. Pay attention to this. When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priest and the elders had said to them.

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, verse 25, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said, by the Holy Spirit, David said, by the Holy Spirit. Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth said themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. Beloved, exactly the same language that the author of Hebrews uses to speak of David now here, Luke, or in Acts, he's using the believers of the New Testament, the disciples, were using exactly the same language. Those prophets of the Old Covenant spoke by the Spirit of God, or they were communicating the words of the Spirit of God.

That which the prophets under the Old Covenant said is that which the Holy Spirit also said. Why is this important, beloved? Because now I'm going to show you references to New Covenant prophets. I'm going to show you now, we are going to go through Acts, and I'm going to show you now references to New Testament prophets. New Testament prophets.

And every time that a New Testament prophet is going to speak, Luke, who said that David is spoken by the Holy Spirit, uses the same words for the New Testament prophets. Go please to Acts 11. Acts 11 verse 27 and 28. Now Luke, the author of this book, is going to speak of New Testament prophets. Now, verse 27, now in these days Prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

Of course, these are not Old Testament prophets, right? They are alive. They can't come from Antioch, from Jerusalem to Antioch. These are New Testament prophets. Verse 28, And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit, This New Testament prophet foretold, because prophecy is foretelling, foretelling the future, foretelling truth.

He foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world. This took place in the days of Claudius. He even says that it took place in the days of Claudius. Now The author says that Agabus, who is a New Covenant, a New Testament prophet, spoke by the Spirit. Just as Luke said of David that he spoke by the Spirit or the author of Hebrews that David spoke by the Spirit or that the Spirit spoke and that David spoke is the same thing.

Now, Luke in Acts is saying that Agabus, who is a New Testament prophet, spoke by the Spirit. Go to Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13, verse 1 to 5. Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers. Okay?

There were prophets and teachers in that church. And these are Barnabas, Simeon, or Simon, I don't know how you pronounce it, Simeon, who was called Nigah, Lucius of Cyrene, Naen, a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch and Saul. Verse 2. While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, beloved, every time that we read a scripture we should pay so much attention to every word, to every word. While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, the prophets and teachers, they were gathered together, they were worshiping, and they were fasting, and then the Holy Spirit said, this is God himself, the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

Now, it continues. I want you to hear the unity or the uniqueness of this relationship between the prophet and God who spoke through the prophet, because it's not even the words of the prophet that are attached to God himself, but even the actions of the prophet upon the words that were given to him are attached to God himself. Verse three, then after fasting and praying, they, the prophets, laid their hands on them and sent them off. Who did they send? Barnabas and Saul.

Okay, they were praying and they were fasting and then the Holy Spirit said, set them apart because they're gonna be sent. Now, they prayed and they fast and then he says, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. Who sent them? The prophets and the teachers. Continue reading.

So being sent out by who? by the Holy Spirit. Luke takes a little bit of time here to say that the action that was communicated by the Holy Spirit set them apart. or the words that were given by the Holy Spirit set them apart. And then the actions of the prophets.

These are not apostles here. These are New Testament prophets. That the actions of the prophets of these New Testament prophets in receiving that word and acting upon that word was equivalent. They send them off. They lay hands upon them.

They send them off. It was descending of the spirit. They went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived, this is Paul, Barnabas and Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogue of the Jews, and they had John to assist them. Beloved, we have Luke saying that these New Testament prophets speak or spoke by the Spirit that everything that they said or they did was in accordance to that which the Spirit said and did.

Go to Acts chapter 21, please. Acts 21, and I really need that YouTuber with the amount of verses, because this is not a topic that can be built with men's words. It has to be built with scripture. Acts 21, verse 10. Now, the passage that comes here is just so powerful.

Listen to this. While we were staying for many days a prophet named Agabus, which is the same prophet that we spoke just before, came down from Judea and coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, he is going to say this, thus says the Holy Spirit. Now remember that this is not only Agabus saying these things, this is Luke writing these things. It's Luke the one who wrote the rest of the book, writing what Agabus said. It's not like a movie that we just see that goes like this.

We have an author that is writing. He's taking this information into his mind, and he's saying that Agabus, he calls him a prophet, a New Testament prophet, said that, thus says the Holy Spirit. This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns his this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles." Beloved, the exegetical evidence of the New Testament proves that prophets spoke the Word of God. that just as prophets under the old covenant spoke the oracles of God, that prophets under the new testament spoke the words of God.

And it's not only in the narrative of the actions that we can see in the book of Acts, we have the testimony of a specific revelation giver, Luke, who wrote a book that now we acknowledge as scripture When he was writing these things into his mind, he came to say that these were prophets and that every time that these prophets spoke was by the Spirit or that this is what the Spirit of God says. Every prophet spoke the Word of God. Now, beloved, why is this important? This is very important because our brothers Charismatic and Pentecostals, pay attention to this, beloved, our brothers Charismatic and Pentecostals would say, at least from the things that I've heard, at least two things, the main arguments will say, that the New Testament prophets that are equivalent to the Old Testament prophets are not New Testament prophets, are the apostles. It's the apostles, the ones that are equivalent to Old Testament prophets.

Therefore, all other prophets are of a different category. This is one of the arguments that they would say, or they would go to Ephesians chapter two. And when he says that Christ is the cornerstone and the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, they will say that the Greek is or the translations are wrong there, that these apostles and prophets should be apostles, prophets or prophetic apostles, not beloved. As a brother of mine in Mexico says, you have to do, or I don't know how you say it in English, you have to do or make a lot of violence to the text in order to say these things. Because the Bible clearly speaks that New Testament prophets spoke the word of God.

And yes, all apostles were prophets because they were appointed, they received a message from God, and they communicated that message from God. But not all prophets were apostles, and yet those who spoke as prophets spoke the words of God. And this is when we have to understand that everything that God says is the Word of God. But the book that we have in our hands is the written words of God as He intended us to have them. There are many other things that God said under the old covenant and under the new covenant to the apostles and to the prophets that are not written.

This is what God in his providence intended the church to have for them. It was sufficient. It was everything that they needed. But for us, the church post-canon, this is the Word of God. This is what we need.

Think about this. Many believers, died in year 30 or year 40 before this Bible was put together. They died and all the words of God that they had available for them was everything that they needed and it was sufficient. Many of them died before many of the books of the New Testament were even written. But everything that they had was sufficient for what they needed.

God intended that the church, after the closing of this book, will have these things. And therefore, we are not lacking the words that our brothers received in the early church. Those words were intended for the formative stage of the church for them. Beloved, all apostles, are prophets. But not all prophets were apostles, and yet all prophets spoke words of God.

Because prophecy is not defined by the means through which it's given. Or the words of God, if you want to put it another way, are not defined by the means through which the words of God is given. It's defined by God Himself. The Word of God is sufficient, is powerful, is sovereign, and if he intends to speak to his people, he will. Now, not all apostles are...

all apostles are prophets, but not all prophets are apostles. But yet, all prophets will speak the Word of God. And I'm going to show you that now from Thessalonians. So please go to Thessalonians, and I will finish there. Because it's very important for us that you see, beloved, that the words that came out the lips and the mouths of New Testament prophets were the words of God.

The words, beloved, the words that came out of New Testament prophets are or were the words of God. Some of those words were intended to be put in a scripture. Some of those words are just given to the church. God intended the church to have that. Now, if you go to 1 Thessalonians, I want you to go to chapter 2 in verse 11.

Now, we're going to do an exegetical exercise here to prove that all prophets spoke the words of God. Okay? Now, it says, pay attention to what we're going to do. Verse 11, For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you, and encouraged you, and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. Now if I ask to you who is the author or who is the one that is writing here, many of you will say Paul, and it is Paul.

Pay attention to something. He's not saying like in other letters, I pull an apostle of Jesus Christ, or I write to you. He's using a plural pronoun, right? He's using a plural pronoun. Verse 12, We exhorted each one of you, and encouraged you, and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

I said to you, every word in the word of God is very important. Verse 13, and we, he's not saying I, that's an apostle, and we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the Word of God, that when you, church, received the Word of God, which you heard from me, that you heard from us, You accepted it, not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you, believers. Now, beloved, when we read things like this, we always imagine the preacher in the pulpit opening up the book and then doing exegesis of the text and presenting this. This is the word of God presented through the preaching of his word. But beloved, the New Testament was not compiled there.

These words of God were spoken by whoever, that's why he says heard from us. So he's saying that that message that was communicated by this plural we were the word of God. were communicated by the word of God, or the words that came from God. And they took those words not as words of men, but as words of God. Now, what we have to ask ourselves, who is this we?

Who are these people that Paul is speaking about? So now go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. 1st Thessalonians chapter 1 because here is going to give us the puzzle is going to give us this third person plural the we or the us he says Paul Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ grace to you and peace and Paul is going to start doing something throughout the letter I remember reading this five years ago when I just became a Christian and seeing checking the pronouns as he does it through chapter one and chapter two. And then he does something unique that he does not do in other books. He always refers this letter as we and he's going to start chapter.

Sorry. Verse 13. Sorry. Verse two. We give thanks to God always for all of you constantly mentioning you in our prayers.

Paul is going to carry Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy through Chapter 1 into Chapter 2. Even when you have time, go and read Chapter 2. In the beginning of Chapter 2, Paul is going to explain or is going to narrate a story that happened in Acts 16 and 17, and this is exclusive of Silvanus. So he's speaking of Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy through chapter 1 into chapter 2, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, for we, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you. Every word is very important, beloved, because Paul has said of this we that they spoke the words of God.

I'm saying to you that prophets under the New Covenant and the New Testament speak the words of God just as prophets under the Old Testament spoke the words of God. Now go to Acts chapter 15. Because beloved, Paul now is speaking of this we, and please bear with me, bear with me, we're about to finish. Paul is speaking of this we of Timothy, Silvanus, and Paul himself. This is the we that spoke the words of God.

But beloved, this Silvanus, who is the name that Paul gives him, Silvanus, Luke calls him in a different name, Silas. Silas and Silvanus is the same person. Silvanus is the Greek word or the Greek name that Paul gives to Silas, and Silas is the Hebrew name that Luke gives to the same person. You can Prove that from the beginning of chapter 2 in 1 Thessalonians when you read the story that Paul will narrate about him and Silvanus, which is what happened in Acts chapter 16 and 17. I'm just giving you that information so you know why the name changes there.

Silas is the same person of Silvanus. Now when we go to chapter 15, we're going to see a situation or an issue through which the church was going through. Something was happening. OK, some people were saying that in order for you to be a Christian, you need to be circumcised and you needed to obey the law. Guys, if you want to be believers, if you want to be in Christ, you need to be circumcised and you need to obey the law.

Then they come to the apostles and to the church at Jerusalem and they are going to explain to them of this whole situation. And then the apostles are going to write a letter. freeing the Gentiles of keeping the law and of circumcision. They are going to give a suggestion of something that they should avoid. This is the Jerusalem Council in Acts chapter 15.

But I want you to see something, some information that Luke is going to give us of Silas, who is Silvanus, who is the person that we just read in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. Now, 15 verse 22. Then it seemed good to the apostles and to the elders with the whole church to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas and Silas." Okay, this Silas, beloved, is the Silvanus of 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and 1 Thessalonians chapter 1.

They sent Judas and Silas, leaving men among the brothers with the following letter. They were sent with these following letters. The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, and there is a whole case that I can also make there, but we're just not going to address that. Both the apostles and the elders to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, that is, the apostles and the elders, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul."

Who are these men that they are going to send with Paul and Barnabas? Judas and Silas, who is Silvanus. Men, speaking of these men, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 27, pay attention. We have, therefore, Senjudas and Silas.

Now, remember that this Silas is Silvanus, of whom Paul says that he, together with Paul, spoke the word of God. who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. Now, Judas and Silas will tell you guys the same things that we have written in this letter, but by word of mouth. Pay attention to that because Luke is going to use it again. Verse 28, for it has seemed good to who?

the Holy Spirit, and to us, who is us, the apostles and the elders, to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements. These are the requirements contained in the letter, that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from this, you will do well. Farewell. Now, this is not the center of our study.

What we're trying to see here is what the author says of Silas. Go to verse 30. So, when they were sent off, that is, these men, Judas and Silas, together with Barnabas and Paul, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. Now, if you remember, in verse 27 said, we are sending Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you The same things by word of mouth. The same things that are contained in the letter, they will say by word of mouth.

Now, verse 31. And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32 And Judas and Silas, Silvanus from 1 Thessalonians, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. They strengthened and encouraged the brothers with many words. What words?

The words that they had written in the letter, they will encourage you with the word of mouth. And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. Silvanus, or Silas, spoke the words of God. Paul says that in 1 Thessalonians 2, He was not one of the Twelve. He was not one of the Apostles.

He is a messenger. He is a prophet, yet he spoke the words of God. Luke says of Agabus that he spoke by the Spirit, or thus says the Spirit. New Testament prophets, beloved, carry the same substance of all Testament prophets. because prophecy is not defined by the means by which prophecy is given, but prophecy is defined by the messenger or the message giver who is God himself.

And God is sovereign in giving that message to his church and to the audience that he wants to receive that particular message. Beloved, Prophets were given in the early church with the purpose of not only giving this word to us, which will be closed eventually, but also as a formative stage of the church. Beloved, think about this. When you're reading this book, you're not reading a book that was collected and it was closed in one year. Many years happened.

So when you're reading this book, you're also witnessing the organic development of a special revelation. Our brothers and sisters did not know everything that we know from this book after they were saved. Paul did not receive all the New Testament into his mind upon his salvation. As we saw last week, they grew in understanding. Same thing happened with many churches when they were scattered and Gentiles that were sent.

Many churches were planted on the day of Pentecost. Many people were saved. And these people went and planted churches and spread the gospel. How did they know? Ask yourself this question.

How did they know how the church had to operate? How did they know what a deacon or an elder or what is preaching? How did they know all of these things that we have as a special revelation in the New Testament? Simply, they didn't. And they did not have the book to instruct them and to guide them on how to do church.

So the Lord and God in His sovereign grace and mercy He allowed prophets to be in the church, so they will communicate the Word of God that will form, that will spread the church, that will spread the kingdom. Meanwhile, the perfection of His revelation will be given to us in the Word of God. Once this is given, all prophetic ministry comes to an end. And guess what? We do not need prophets, because the book says of itself that it is sufficient for everything that we need.

If I have a person that comes to me and says that he's speaking a prophecy, and then this person says, yes, but my prophecy corresponds to what the book says, I will say to that person what John Owen said. That prophecy is not needed because it's already said in scripture. And worst case scenario is demonic. And when we have to call things by their name, beloved, because Prophets are appointed by God, receivers of the message, and communicators of that message. If someone comes to me with a message that it is not of God, in the best-case scenario, it's a brother or sister who lacks understanding of what Scripture says, but it can also be what the Bible warns us many times, a false prophet.

I'm telling you, beloved, the attack to the church is going to be on this book. And our faith is established upon Christ, the cornerstone, as if he was revealed to us by the prophets and by the apostles and the truth that it was given to us by the Word of the Word, the Logos, Jesus Christ. And upon that, the church is built and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. Amen.