Will there be true prophets after Jesus?

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Question: In Matthew 7:16 (See also Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. v16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?”) why are we given a criteria for discriminating between true prophets and false prophets? Does this not imply that there will be true prophets after Jesus?

When it comes to a prophet of God we need to know who they are and what is their function. The best way to identify a true prophet of God is to use the Word of God to do so. The fact is that if a prophet is sent by the Christian God, Who inspired the Bible, then common sense would be to identify those prophets from God’s Word, the Bible.

NEW TESTAMENT True Prophet

The same principles of the OT true prophets apply to true NT prophets.

1. They were raised up of God

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given … through the Spirit … to another prophecy …” (1 Corinthians 12:7, 8a, 10b).
“And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.” (1 Corinthians 12:28).

2. They would be Christians and speak God’s mind to the people

“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:1-3)
“But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.” (1 Corinthians 14:3-4)

3. He would speak the Word that God gave him to speak

“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent.” (1 Corinthians 14:29-30)
“Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.” (Acts 11:28)
“And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” (Acts 21:10-11)

With the OT prophets their messages were largely the proclaiming of God’s purposes of salvation and glory to be accomplished in the future. However the NT prophets prophesied largely about the fulfilment of God’s plans of grace already fulfilled through Christ and the fore-telling of the purposes of God in the future.  “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:19-20).

4. The local church/assembly was to obey prophesies

“Do not despise prophecies” (1 Thessalonians 5:20).

5. The genuineness of the prophet would be because His word came true and in the local church/assembly meetings could be confirmed by other prophets

“Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.” (Acts 11:28)
“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” (1 Corinthians 14:29-32).

6. A true prophet would glorify Christ

6.1 These prophets will preach Jesus Christ, being God, came to Earth and became a Man so as to save all that believe in Him
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.” (1 John 4:1-2)  “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15)

6.2  A true Prophet will also show good works, and have the identifiable fruits of a Christian. They will not feed themselves from the people of God
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” (Matthew 7:15-18)
True prophets will be displaying the fruits of the Spirit as in Galatians 5:22-23a “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance ….”

Examples of the gift of Prophecy
The prophetic gift is mentioned in all four New Testament lists of church gifts: Romans 12:6-8 in v6; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 in v10; 1 Corinthians 12:28-30 in v29 and in Ephesians 4:11. However only a few New Testament prophets are mentioned.

• (a) Acts 13:1 says, “Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.” The verse does it say which men were prophets or which were teachers and no further details are given.
• (b) Judas and Silas are called prophets in Acts 15:32 “Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words.” but their prophetic activity is not mentioned.
• (c) Agabus had the gift and in Acts 11:27-28 he predicted a famine (v28 “which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar”). In Acts 21:10-11 he also predicted Paul’s coming sufferings which came to pass in Acts 12:30-34. From this example it is clear that the gift of prophecy involved the ability to foretell as well as merely forth tell.
• (d) We learn from Acts 21:9 “Now this man {Philip the evangelist v8} had four virgin daughters who prophesied” but again no details are given. In view of 1 Corinthians c11 this would have been done outside of the local church/assembly gatherings.
• (e) Paul, e.g. Acts 27:23-26, and perhaps the other apostles, had this gift as well.

NEW TESTAMENT False Prophet
The NT provides the following as criteria to determine a false prophet:

1. Erroneous Doctrine. These false prophets will bring in error and not the truth of God, Christ and salvation and the right way to live

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.”  (1 John 4:1-3)
“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.”  (2 Peter 2:1-2)
“Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.   Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”  (1 John 2:22-23)
While false prophets profess to be servants of truth and right ways, they secretly bring in soul-destroying heresies alongside Bible doctrine. Superficially they may teach what seems Biblical and correct but a proper scrutiny will reveal false doctrine which will lead to hell and not to godly living and to heaven. For example they will teach that Jesus Christ is not God or Divine, or that He did not become a man or that He did not really die on the cross or that His death and resurrection was not sufficient for the forgiveness of all a person’s sins. The false prophets will preach a fictitious Jesus from their human imaginations and erroneous thinking. Consequently their gospel is a different gospel and not the gospel preached by the true apostles in the Bible. It will always ultimately depend on the foundation of man’s works and in man’s own power. The false prophets’ teaching does not properly tackle the subjects of sin and judgment with the need for repentance and faith in Christ.
Unfortunately, they will attract to themselves people who have the same superficial, self-centred, self-indulgent and unscriptural attitudes and ways as they do. Many will be deceived into following the wrong Jesus. 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 says: “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted–you may well put up with it!”
Also: “And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.”  (2 Peter 2:2) “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers.”  (2 Timothy 4:3)

2. False Prophets will, eventually, show evil works. They will feed themselves from the people of God

“Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”  (Matthew 7:17-20)

• 1 For the true believer in Christ Titus 3:8 encourages them, “… that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.” However Titus 1:10-11  speaks about “false prophets”, although there they are not so called there, “For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.” So such will make a wrong material gain out of the people of God.
• 2 The true Christian’s position is “By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”  (2 Peter 1:4). Yet Peter describes the counterfeit prophet, “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.”  (2 Peter 2:19). The true believer is, amazingly, a partaker of the Divine nature, from which comes holiness, and so with Divine strength, and there is no other way, is escaping the world’s corruption. On the other hand the counterfeit prophet is mastered by it.
• 3 The true believer would give diligence to cultivate the nature of God within him\her. “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”  (2 Peter 1:5-7). Concerning the fake prophets they “… despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries” (2 Peter 2:10). They are marked by arrogance and slander. Also “having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children” (2 Peter 2:14). Their “eyes are full of adultery” and they are “experts in greed”.
• 4 The true believer seeks to be progressive and effective in their knowledge of Jesus Christ “For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (2 Peter 1:8). The false prophets “are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever” (2 Peter 2:17). They are like a spring without water because they promise much but produce little.

3. Satan is behind these false apostles, prophets and christs

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”  (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). These false apostles, prophets and christs masquerade as “apostles of Christ” and “servants of righteousness,” just as their master, satan, masquerades as an angel of light.

4. False Prophets will have a Different End to the True Believer

The false prophet’s final end is disturbingly different to the true believer for whom “For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”  (2 Peter 1:11) but “… false teachers among you … and bring on themselves swift destruction.”  (2 Peter 2:1). They shall hasten their life’s own destruction in this world, and are sadly certain of God’s eternal judgment in the next. (See also 2 Peter 2:3).
In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus said that there will be many who have been involved in Christian service to whom He will say: “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you {i.e. there was no spiritual relationship with Him}; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

CLOSING OF THE NT PROPHETS

1. “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.”  (2 Peter 2:1) This indicates that the prophets have ceased to exist and have now been taken over by teachers.
2. As previously referred to, Ephesians 2:19-20 says, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets {that is what they said}, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” In a building one does not expect to see foundation stones appearing again near the roof. They are for the start of the building. So while the spiritual gifts of evangelists, pastors {i.e. shepherds of God’s people} and teachers (Ephesians 4:11) exist today the apostles and prophets were for the beginning of the church and so do not exist now i.e. about 2,000 years later.
3. In the context of knowledge 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 says, “Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are {gifts of} tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge {meaning the gift of knowledge}, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect {meaning complete} has come, then that which is in part will be done away.” The prophets etc. with their direct revelations, met a unique need of the first century church which was before the complete revelation was available. So as no one can add a verse to Scripture therefore no one is receiving new truth. We do not need any prophets to give new revelation of God’s Word but we do need preachers and teachers to explain it.
4. Additionally “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). “The faith” is the teaching of God which is the object of faith. It was delivered “once for all” by all the apostles as the only unchangeable Word from God that brought salvation and governed their subsequent lives. Nothing was to be added to it and nothing was to be taken away from it. It was “delivered unto the saints” by God and not invented by men. Near the beginning of the Bible (Deuteronomy 4:2), in its heart (Proverbs 30:6) and on the last page (Revelation 22:18) we find warnings against attempting to add to God’s revelation.

The last apostle was John who, historians say, wrote his epistles and the Revelation in AD 90. Consequently the Word of God would have been completed in the first century AD. So from the end of the first century until now there were nor are no more true prophets to be expected.

NEW TESTAMENT Future False Christs and False Prophets
Shortly before His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus gave His great prophecies regarding momentous events that would occur at the end of the age just prior to His Second Coming (see Matthew 24:3-4, 15, 21, 27 and closing that period with the Lord Jesus’ (called the “Son of Man”) returning to the earth Matthew 25:31-46). He included warnings of great deception in Matthew 24:4-5, 11, 23-25, “And Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many. … Then if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There!” do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.’”

The Lord Jesus emphasized that these false christs and prophets will perform great signs and miracles which will be done so well that they would deceive many, even those who sincerely believed in Christ’s return. Therefore these performances of miracles will not prove that they are really of God. In fact the last mention of miracles in the Bible are those done by the devil’s men through the devil’s power, in Revelation 19:20, “Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

Answer: Yes Matthew 7:16 does infer that there would be true prophets after Jesus Christ but as shown above they finished when the Bible was completed at about the end of the first century.  If you have any other prophets in mind do they come up to the standards that God says are required of true prophets?