Jesus Christ is the Final Prophet to the Church

JESUS CHRIST IS THE FINAL PROPHET TO THE CHURCH 

By Ezekiel Kimosop 

Following the Shakahola cult massacre in Kenya, it has since emerged that millions of people in our contemporary Christian space continue to suffer and perish in the hands of self proclaimed doomsday prophets who claim to have heard from God. 

Some of these self styled latter-day preachers claim to posses unauthenticated miracle powers as well. Some demand money and property from their followers in exchange for their so called"miracle prayers" that never yield any results. These preachers are wolves in sheepskin!

How could a preacher from a humble social background turn into an overnight rags-to-riches millionaire through deception as his followers wallow in abject poverty? Where is the moral authority or justification for his false doctrines and practices? What authenticates his calling to ministry? 

These are just a few of the many questions that confront a keen follower of Jesus Christ.

I once heard a flamboyant Kenyan charismatic prosperity preacher proclaim that Acts 29 was left open by the apostles so that the latter-day prophets and apostles can write it! He made the statement in support of the so called "charismatic apostolic mantle" that he claimed God assigned latter-day prophets and apostles in the church. It is instructive that no text or passage of Scripture affirms this claim! 

I respectfully disagree with the teachings of these cunning latter-day teachers. 

Here's why... 

Hebrews 1:1-2 says "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds." (NKJV). 

What does it mean that God has spoken to us by His Son? This is a powerful statement that the writer of the Book of Hebrews chose to convey in the opening words of his Letter. God spoke to us through the incarnate Christ whose words, deeds and afflictions are recorded in Scripture. After Christ ascended to heaven, God continued to speak to us through the works and writings of the apostles of Jesus Christ that are indelibly captured in the writings of Gospel books and the Epistles. These apostles spoke and continue to speak the mind of Christ to us through their exhortations. They personified Christ in their works. No prophet comes after Jesus Christ.

I am further persuaded that biblical prophecy is now sealed in the written Scriptures and that Scripture alone speaks the mind of God in Christ Jesus. No prophet therefore comes after Jesus Christ. Any claim to prophetic inspiration or illumination after the sealing of the Scriptures is decidedly false. Such claims only serve to contradict the revelation and authority of Scripture. It is instructive that the biblical Scriptures were canonically sealed and proclaimed as the inspired word of God during the council of Carthage in 397 AD.

The word of God in the 66 Scripture canon is the exclusive authentication of God's divine purposes for humanity since creation. Nothing can be added to or taken away from the sealed body of Scriptures and no theological literature, however finely written, can compliment supplant or oust the revelation and authority of Scripture for God's covenant people. 

We should therefore not be deceived by the heresies peddled by ferocious, self-seeking cult leaders whose ultimate purpose is to control, manipulate, brainwash, and fleece their unsuspecting followers. They preach a strange gospel and propagate a counterfeit religion in the name of God!

We should stick to Bible-centered Christian communities and stay safe from these marauding fraudsters who follow after the way of Balaam son of Beor who loved the wages of unrighteousness (2 Peter 2:15). Scripture further describes these false teachers as "...wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever" (2 Peter 2:17, NKJV).

Jesus Christ was and eternally remains the final prophet to the church which He purchased with His sinless blood (Acts 20:28-29). The true church feeds on His inspired writings of Scripture that were authored under the illumination of the Holy Spirit. 

The office of apostle ceased after the New Testament church period. True prophecy is conveyed to the church through the instruction and admonition of the ministers of Christ who proclaim the full counsel of God in the Scriptures. There is no new inspiration.

No prophet comes after Jesus Christ. 

He who has ears to hear should pay heed to the voice of Jesus Christ in the Scriptures.

Beware of wolves in sheepskin!

Keep it Christ!

© Ezekiel Kimosop 2024