New versus Old Testament Prophets (School of the Prophets)

thank you very much hi I'm Kris Vallotton I'm the author to school the prophets and I want to welcome you to session two and we in in session one we talked about the call of God on a prophet's life and today I want to talk about new versus old testament prophets I think it's probably one of the biggest confusions in the church is we oftentimes bring the Old Covenant into the New Covenant we have this kind of schizophrenic prophetic ministry not just with prophets but also with prophecy in general and I remember how destructive this was in in 9/11 when we'll probably all remember especially those of us that are Americans when those two planes hit two twin towers and those you know those towers began to crumble and almost 3,000 people I think were killed that day in firemen and you know just a terrible tragedy and that was that was tough enough but what happened in our country is many of the prophets began to prophesy against our country and they began to call out fact the very next day on the internet there was prophetic words against our country and people saying sharing things like you know God was judging America because of immorality because of you know because of abortion because of homosexuality you know Hollywood and so on so forth and it was several major national and international prophets that were prophesying this was the judgment of God you know can you imagine if your father son daughter mother cousin whatever was in that was in those twin towers you're obviously still grieving the loss of your loved ones and the next morning you akin to somebody telling you well God did that God did that to them and God's so angry that you're killing babies with abortion that he's just gonna kill a whole bunch of people just to prove how mad he is like first of all I don't know that people actually think through this I'm like hello just you know take your head and bang it against the wall a few times and just see if anything like shakes loose in there because sometimes we don't actually understand that what we're trying to stop we actually perpetuate with with reference to abortion how many know the root root root cause of abortion and I would say the root cause of almost every social dysfunction is the lack of understanding the love of God so when I say to people listen not only is God me aggrieved that you had an abortion he's angry with you and he wants to kill you because you've killed your baby I don't know if that makes sense at all to you but it certainly doesn't make any sense to me the second thing that it reveals is it reveals a misunderstanding of how prophecy has moved from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant Jesus made an interesting statement in Matthew 5 44 and 45 he said I say to you love your enemies pray for those who persecute you and you'll be like your sons you'll be like sons of your father who in heaven who causes the Sun to rise on evil and good and he sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous now in verse 43 he says you've heard it said love your neighbor but hate your enemy you heard said love your neighbor but hate your enemy but I say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you and then he goes on to say that God makes it rain on the righteous and the unrighteous the first question I have is this where did they hear memories' talking to Jewish people where did they hear love your neighbor but hate your enemy where did they learn that I'll tell you where they learned they learned it from the law remember God said to Joshua go into the land and and kill everybody don't let anyone live and as a matter of fact when Joshua made a covenant with with the Gibeonites because they pretended that they were people from another land he got in trouble by God because he was supposed to wipe out the Gibeonites do you remember this story and and remember the only person God saves in the Promised Land on purpose is Rahab the harlot by the way there's a really good rabbit to chase God wipes out everybody in the land and he leaves the prostitute alive the one person we want to make sure dies he goes but leave the prostitute alive and how many know God knows the hearts of people and we don't is the point and so God makes an exception with Rahab and we'll bring that story back probably in another time and in one session but God God's the one who said to King Saul he sends King Saul the first king of Israel out into battle and he says listen go into the you go in and destroy everybody listen don't let anybody live okay when I send you in this battle I don't want anybody left alive and King Saul goes out of the battle you power remember this and he does they win and but he leaves the he leaves the enemy King alive and he leaves of a flock of sheep and some some stuff uh alive you know and and the prophet Samuel comes to King Saul and says why did you not obey the voice of the Lord why did you not obey the voice the Lord he said what is he's second I did a bit are you kidding me I just went out I won the battle you know I've been and he goes what are those sheep and why is that King alive and the prophet Samuel takes his sword which is interesting that the prophets carrying one Gary and he and he kills King Agag the the enemy King and in the movie Samuel is a good guy and saw who extended mercy to an enemy King is the bad guy as a matter of fact King Saul finally loses his kingship by giving mercy to people that God didn't give mercy to this is the Old Covenant it's kind of like the jihad of the Muslim faith that was at work without worth familiar with it's like that was the Old Covenant your love for God and the Old Covenant was demonstrated by the how much you hated the people who hated God now Jesus has this transition verse he's how many of you know Jesus lived in the Old Covenant but he was ushering in the new and Jesus this has this transverse transition verse you've heard it said love your neighbor but hate your enemies well he's talking to an audience who would have heard that for 4,000 years love your neighbor hate your enemies but he says I say to you love your enemies and they got to be going on let's say what hole hold it you're who who sent you you're the son of God love your enemies pray for those who persecute you and you'll be like your father in heaven and get this who makes it rain on the righteous and the unrighteous he makes it rain on the righteous and unrighteous now how many you understand Deuteronomy 28 24 God says if in fact the first fifteen verses of Deuteronomy 28 God said if you serve me here's all the good things you know your your kids will be behave you know they're all good A's in school and then you know really good stuff will happen you're you know she that was funny your sheep won't die just you'll just have all these blessings you'll be blessed when you come in you'll be blessed when you go out you know there'll be no miscarriages among you and God just gives them this amazing 15 verses of blessing and then from verse 16 the verse 68 gaga's if you serve other gods here are all the curses that will be on you and in verse 24 God says your reign will be like the dust of the earth there will be no rain if you serve other gods there will be famines so how many understand in the Old Covenant it didn't rain on the righteous and the unrighteous it only rained on the righteous it didn't rain on the unrighteous now Jesus says you've heard it said love your neighbor but hate your enemy listen this is what I say to you love your enemies if you do that you'll be like God he makes it rain on people who deserve it and people who don't the righteous and the unrighteous and suddenly we have a shift we have a covenant shift and Jesus begins to talk to us about a new way to see the world because how many of you realize that the Bible doesn't say God so loved the church He gave His only begotten Son it says God so loved the world he gave His only begotten Son in fact it says and while we were yet sinners Christ died for us what's God doing he's extending mercy to people who don't deserve it so that you know my friends who are prophesying you know America deserves to be judged America deserves to be destroyed well who can argue with that I mean that's not that's not an argument I mean it's a stupid argument of course we deserve to be judged but America's full of people who deserve to be judged America's full of prophets who deserve to be judged the people who are prophesying deserve to be judged here's the challenge it's like he it's you know as James wrote this he said he said God would be merciless merciless to people who have shown no mercy for mercy triumphs over judgment here's the challenge when I point at you and go you deserved to be judged there's four fingers pointing back at me because I didn't get into the kingdom through my works I got in through his and so it is true that the world deserves to be judged but God doesn't deal with this through what we deserve he deals us with he deals with us through what Jesus deserves and Jesus died for the sins of the world in Hebrews chapter 8 verse 12 and 13 this is power versus the writer of Hebrews writes this for I will forgive their wickedness speaking of the world I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more by calling this covenant new he has made the first one obsolete and what is obsolete is aging and will soon disappear I heard lots of prophets saying you know what there there we have to keep the old and the New Covenant I'm like no Jesus came to fulfill not to abolish but to fulfill the Old Covenant the Old Covenant required the blood of an innocent lamb for thousands of years they sacrificed an innocent lamb it was a prophetic declaration that a lamb was coming a spotless lamb from God who would pay for the sins of not of the Israel Israeli people but the sins of the entire world and so when Jesus died on the cross he fulfills this he fulfills the need for for judgment and releases the ability for justice through the cross so that God can release mercy and so we live on the mercy side of the cross in 2nd Corinthians 5:17 we probably know these verses pretty well If any man be in Christ he's a help me new creation old things have passed away and all things have become new now a lot of us are not as familiar with the next couple of verses which are actually equally as important for God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and get this part this is the really important transition part not counting their trespasses against them how did God reconcile the world he didn't count their trespasses against them now the next verse in acts all ministry including prophetic ministry and we've been given the Ministry of reconciliation as if God was begging through us be reconciled to God what's the ministry we've been given the Ministry of reconciliation what is the Ministry of reconciliation it's not counting our trespasses against us it's not that we don't have them it's that they're don't get counted against us this is the ministry that we have the Ministry of reconciliation and the Ministry of reconciliation is that I don't have to pay for my sins because Jesus did and so what we have to ask ourselves a question if you took an Old Testament prophet what was the Old Testament prophets main ministry I understand there was multiple reasons why they had prophets in the Old Testament but the main Ministry of the old of the Old Testament prophet was to enact judgment for sin in other words the law said here's all the things you did wrong and by the way you need a Savior because God said to the people like I like you to have a relationship with me and the people said give us rules listen we don't want a relationship with God Exodus 19 is a great example God comes down God sends Moses down from the mountain and says tell the people that if they will obey me and keep my Commandments they shall be to me they shall be to me a kingdom of priests a holy nation and Moses tells the people God said hey you know here he is own possession kingdom of priests a holy nation and the people said we are afraid of God you speak to God you tell us what he says and we will get this do it not have it not have a relationship we will do it and so God goes oh you want to do you want to do to be you want rules to have a relationship okay here's my rules and he gave them 252 commandments and God goes cheap fees and five hundred years before Christ Isaiah cries out you know this is like thirty five hundred years later Isaiah cries out there's none righteous not even one like not one person could keep the rules and what were the prophets what was the prophets responsibility to remind the people that not keeping the rules was worthy of death why because he's pointed them towards a savior so the goal was to let people know you can't do it that's the whole point of the Old Testament you can't do it it's a tutor that leads us to a savior so what would happen if you took the Old Testament prophet and you and you moved him on the other side the cross I mean if you could possibly do that well actually we have an example of that in Malachi don't we cuz in Malachi Malachi prophesied in the last days when in the last days I will send you Elijah the prophet and he will turn the hearts of fathers to sons and the hearts of father and the hearts of sons to fathers least i smite the nation with the curse well think about this what did Elijah do on this side of the cross on the Old Testament side of the cross he judged nations he killed false prophets he called for a famine right this is his ministry on the Old Testament side of the cross what happens when we get Elijah and we move him to the other side of the cross how many of you see that his ministry is now the Ministry of reconciliation he will reckon self hearts of sons - father's father's two sons I'm sure mothers to daughters the point is is that instead of judgment now he's reconciling families this is the Ministry of the New Testament prophet I wish I could just get into every prophetic person's head and say this is the ministry this is your call he would receive it that you would release mercy on people who don't deserve it because you don't either because Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets not just the law how many of you understand that there's still prophets in the New Covenant because Ephesians chapter 4 as one example says and he gave some as apostles and some as prophets some as evangelists pastors and teachers to equip the Saints to do the work of service until how long did he give them until we all attain to the unity of faith the knowledge of the Son of God to the measure of the statute that is the measure of stature that belongs to Christ in other words until we all look like Christ I think we're not there yet which means we're still prophets so if Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets then of course the question we have to ask is what got fulfilled and what's different and I'd like to suggest that what's different is the role of the New Testament prophet has little to do with the role of the Old Testament prophet especially especially as it pertains to judgment and so we are a merciful people we release mercy to people that deserve judgment and by the way they're sitting in these seats and they're here preaching to you today people ask me sometimes they say well how about Ananias and Sapphira you know God killed them is there in the New Covenant I'm like yes God left Rahab alive that was an exception right God said kill everybody he left Rahab alive huh me understand that leaving Rahab alive didn't create a new culture and and there was only two people that we know of that God took home early that he chose to take home early as believers that's Ananias and Sapphira now how many of you understand that the book of Acts covers 28 years and I bet you there was other people who lied in 28 years look I asked our congregation not long ago listen if God killed people for lying and member they lied about how much they sold their property for so we're not talking about like they lied about knowing Christ or not and they're being questioned by Peter who's the most famous liar in the Bible if God killed people for lying how many people I asked our church how many people be left in this church I said I thing could just be bill and I and I'm not sure about Bill [Applause] David wrote this he said God sits in the heavens and does whatever he wants as soon as you make as soon as you create a god box and go this is the god box God stays in this box God goes no no listen listen I do what I want so we're never gonna say God will never do that no we'll never do this what if there are things God will never do he'll never lie but we can't say God won't take somebody home early because death to God is a totally different thing but how many of you understand that Kerina culture out of Ananias and Sapphira creating a culture like okay we're just going to be you know judgmental people because two people in 28 years of book of Acts over thousands of people who got saved and hundreds of thousand people who lied we're gonna create a culture out of Ananias and Sapphira that would be like creating a culture out of Rahab in the Old Testament and I'd like to just share with you that that's not God's heart that's not God's heart and I don't want to be a part of people who I don't want to be the reason why someone died I don't know about you maybe some of your like I like to have that kind of power yeah that's why you don't yeah so let's pray right now father we just thank you for what you're doing today we thank you for the prophets and prophetesses that you've placed on the planet to to release Grace on people who don't deserve it to reconcile sons and fathers to reconcile mothers and daughters Lord we thank you for the Ministry of reconciliation father we thank you that although that you you get angry Lord that you are you're you're a happy God that you're not an angry person you're you're you're you're a merciful loving God who extends grace and mercy to people who deserve punishment guy thank you for the way you've dealt with me in my own life and I thank you for the way you so loved the world that you gave your own son we bless God we bless you and we bless your people in Jesus name and everybody said thank you very much