CHAPTER TWO –THE ROLE OF A PROPHET
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Most people naturally associate prophets with the Old Testament. Since this part of the Bible was written first, it is where we are introduced to prophets—true and false. However, prophet is also a New Testament office, and is so identified twice.
Let’s briefly examine these two scriptures. Ephesians 4:11-13 states this: “And He [Christ] gave some, apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
This passage reveals that true prophets can be part of the New Testament ministry and play a role in “perfecting” and “edifying” the Church. At times, the Head of the Church, Christ, does “give” some to be prophets. This much is plain. However, these verses do not explain how prophets interact with the other ranks of the ministry. (In the near future, Jesus Christ will give two men—the Two Witnesses—the office of prophet. God’s people must be able to distinguish these men from impostors. A later chapter in Section I will very carefully prepare you to do this.)
I Corinthians 12 ALL, about the Body of Christ, has also often been called the “spiritual gifts” chapter. Here is another plain reference to New Testament prophets. 1 Corinthians 12:28 states, “And God has set some in the Church,first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings…Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?”
The string of questions at the end of the passage is obviously rhetorical! The reason no answers are given is because each is such an obvious “NO!” More specifically, since all are not prophets, any more than all have any other of these gifts, then we must know exactly how to understand when one is a prophet!
The above passage reveals that Christ certainly does “give” some to be prophets. As with all the other “gifts of the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:4-10), this one comes for a specific purpose. God’s prophets play a specific role with this appointment. As mentioned, some or most may feel that Mr. Armstrong never addressed or explained the role of prophets, but he did, including what prophets are given to do! For those who value what Christ’s apostle taught, the following statements are sufficient to answer whether any man today is either a true prophet, a false prophet or “That Prophet.”
For those who do value what Mr. Armstrong taught, the first statement could resolve the matter and end the book! Notice:
“Emphatically I am NOT a prophet, in the sense of one to whom God speaks specially and directly, revealing personally a future event to happen or new truth, or new and special instruction direct from God—separate from, and apart from what is contained in the Bible. And I never have claimed to be.
“There is no such human prophet living today!
“The Bible is the written Word of God—and, for our time now, it is COMPLETE! Never have I believed or claimed that God reveals to me new truths not contained in the Bible—in addition to, or apart from the Bible…
“Let’s take a look at the Church of God of the first century, as we find it revealed in the Book of Acts, beginning from the day of Pentecost, 31 A.D. The Bible was not fully written—only the Old Testament—in 31 A.D. God then was still communicating new truth, instruction and knowledge directly and personally to prophets. As the Church progressed, it was the function of a prophet to communicate TO THE APOSTLES special messages which God had personally revealed to them. Others were inspired in the writing of the books of the New Testament.
“So we read, in Acts 11:28 and 21:10-11, of the prophet Agabus. But today we have the COMPLETE Word of God, for our time, in the Bible. There are no such prophets—EXCEPT FALSE ONES.”
Personal, Tomorrow’s World, Feb. 1972
This powerful statement bears examination! First, Mr. Armstrong makes absolutely clear that there are no prophets alive today. He said this almost 40 years ago! Only the most technical mind would suggest there may now be a prophet alive born after February 1972, the date of Mr. Armstrong’s article. Obviously, no serious person would try to cite such a loophole!
Second, Mr. Armstrong states that the function of prophets in the New Testament is to inform apostles of new revelations from God. Put another way, without a living apostle, there can be no true prophets! This was also made absolutely clear. Do you believe Mr. Armstrong correctly understood this? Would one holding the highest office in the Church (apostle) be confused about the role of those holding the next most important lower officewith which apostles interact? The idea is absurd.
Third, Mr. Armstrong is blunt about the fact that anyone claiming to be a prophet today must be FALSE! (We will understand later how the Two Witnesses fit with Mr. Armstrong’s statement, including their interaction with an apostle.)
These three points are crystal clear to all who believe that God used Mr. Armstrong to “restore all things” to the Church. Remember that he knew he was an apostle. And he often quoted Ephesians 2:20. Would God leave His servant blind in regard to the role of the only other office that Christ said formed the foundation of the Church, when that office was subordinate to him? Of course not!
Only now can one see why Mr. Armstrong gave the understanding that he did in this quote. Prophets work withapostles. God has always used this pattern to place truth into His Church. Let’s put this another way. You canhave an apostle without a prophet, but you cannot have a true prophet without an apostle! Do you see this? Then, we should not only understand this is true, but why. I would never have understood a prophet’s role (any more than any other truth) unless an apostle had taught it to me. That happened—and I am determined to remember it! Are you?
Here is a statement from MYSTERY OF THE AGES, which Mr. Armstrong called his most important book. While it strengthens the above quote, it also demonstrates that he never moved from his previous understanding:
“There was no such doctrinal committee in the Headquarters Church at Jerusalem. All teaching came from Christ through the apostles and a few times Christ communicated to apostles via the prophets (of which there are none in God’s Church today since the Bible for our time is complete). God’s Church today, as in the first century, receives its teachings from the living Christ, through an apostle, just as in A.D. 31.”
p. 350
This statement is consistent with what we read previously. Note at this point that anyone professing to be a prophet bringing “new truth” (purported to be understanding “on top of Mr. Armstrong’s foundation”) cannot possibly be bringing truth. It may be new, but it cannot be TRUE—all loud assertions by self-appointed prophets notwithstanding! Remember, Philadelphians are told, “hold fast what you have” (Rev. 3:11), not “hold most of it fast and let some of it go” or “hold that fast which you have and add ridiculous prophetic nonsense(“revelations”) on top of it.” (I do not suggest that God’s Church cannot grow to see existing truths more clearly and, because truth only enters the Church through apostles, Christ could use this office to add more to the existing framework.) It is no accident that Christ ties “let no man take your crown” with “hold fast what you have.” Honestly examine this verse for what it says!
Mr. Armstrong long understood both his apostolic role and that of a prophet. Before continuing, realize that anyone who believes that there are true prophets alive today disagrees with Mr. Armstrong. Recognizing that your crown is at stake, are you prepared to do this? Should you not at least be open-minded to considering the remaining information in this book?
The book The Government of God – Understanding Offices and Duties has one entire chapter and parts of several others devoted to explaining the nature and function of prophets in the New Testament. What is written in that book forms the reader’s foundation of understanding, and cannot be separated from the contents of this book. It also covers the role of apostles in detail, including how Christ teaches His Church through this office, as well as how it interacts with prophets.
Most people have witnessed a magic show. They have experienced magicians who have everyone present wondering, “What happened?” or “How did he do that?” Often the most amazing tricks involve sleight of hand. We need to see how this man ignored fundamental understanding of what Mr. Armstrong taught and the Bible teaches, and got away with it.
Let’s look closely at his effective use of sleight of hand to pull this off, and how most were so fooled that they did not know to call him on it.
In this light, let’s examine another statement from Mr. Armstrong in MYSTERY OF THE AGES before moving on. For our purposes here, it is all-important. Mr. Armstrong included a vital section of the book (actually several) wherein he explained the various responsibilities of all the offices that Christ had established within His Church, including prophets.
The Philadelphia Church of God now owns the copyright to, and has reproduced, MYSTERY OF THE AGES. Remember again that this organization professes to be holding fast to all that Mr. Armstrong taught. Take a moment to read the next statement from Mr. Armstrong, recognizing that the portion in bold HAS BEEN DELETEDby its leader from the new version that PCG offers:
“The prophets set in the foundation of the Church are those of the Old Testament, whose writings were used to form a considerable part of New Testament and gospel teaching and functioning. No prophets are mentioned as having either administrative, executive or preaching functions in the New Testament Church.
“Evangelists were leading ministers, proclaiming the gospel to the public, even raising up local churches and having supervision over some churches under the apostle. Therefore an evangelist may hold executive functions under the apostle in the Church headquarters or work today.”
pp. 244-245
The deletion of the portion in bold is its own stunning revelation about this organization. Sadly, most who are members there seem to still have no idea that their leader has deleted this crucial portion of Mr. Armstrong’s text. Nevertheless, the statement is plain. Prophets never hold “administrative, executive or preaching functions” in God’s Church. This deceived leader’s assertions notwithstanding, there are no exceptions to this rule! And we will learn that this even applies to the Two Witnesses.
But there are other, different reasons this man could not be That Prophet.
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