How to Test Prophets and Prophecy (IG Live) You can ((music playing)) meus ((music playing)) ((music playing)) if I won't let you fall. I won't let you fall. ((music playing)) ((music playing)) I'm just waiting for all the people. ((music playing)) Y'all got your Bibles? I won't let you fall. I won't let you fall. I'm going to let you fall. I'm going let you fall. I'm going to let you fall. I'm going to let you. Get your Bibles. Let's let you. ((music playing)) I'll start in 2 minutes. Get your Bibles. Commentaries, cross references, whatever you got. I won't let you let you down. You won't let you. You can let you let you. I won't let you. I won't let you. Never let you. I won't let you. I won't let you down. I won't let you. I won't let you. I won't let you. I won't let you ((music playing)) pray in Jesus. ((music playing)) Yes, this ((music playing)) the way I want to keep playing it. ((music playing)) All right. All right. Hi, everybody. How are you? Are you good? Are you blessed? What song is this? This is Jana Jones uh Lean on Me on YouTube. It's It's become my morning song. It just How are you? Greetings. I don't think I've ever seen this many of you in a live. It wasn't slow fade. All right. So, hold on. Let me see what part you on. ((music playing)) Hold on. I just need to call ((music playing)) I'm very chargy sometimes. This week has been very interesting. Uh there's been a lot of conversation around my character, around my husband's character, around my friend's character, around my pastor's character, all the things. Uh there's been a lot of a lot of conversation, a lot of talk, and I typically do not respond to things. Uh if you followed me since 2008, 2009, uh I have always had some level of public opposition, some level of public scandal um around all kinds of things. So this is not new to me. Uh but what is interesting is that I don't usually say something unless I think it's important. when I was praying, you know, over the last year, uh, you know, I I I had a I had a sermon about false teaching. Had a sermon about itching ears, and I made it my business to teach that sermon everywhere I went. Also, I want to I want to I want to warn you even before I start, let me read something because this whole live for the most part will be Bible. So, I'm going to turn to Galatians. If you have your Bibles, where Galatians at? Is it before? Ephesians. Yeah, it is. If you got Galatians, turn to Galatians chapter 5. We're going to do Bible today. The Bible says in Galatians chapter 5 19, "Now the works of the flesh are evident, sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity." This is the one I want you to take note of. Enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, all of that is flesh. So in these comments I want you to take note of flesh and I want you to resist flesh. What is the fruit of the spirit? Fruit of the spirit is but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. So I'm going to let you know right now. I'm I'm gonna give you the the order of service. If in these comments I see more flesh than spirit, I am going to limit the comments. If in these comments I see more flesh than spirit, I am going to limit the comment. But I also want y'all to be aware of the fruit coming from certain sections of the so-called Christian community. Okay. So the order of service is uh I am going to teach from the scriptures what I believe is a very important message for our generation in particular with the rise and increase in socalled prophets and prophecies. That's not to say everybody ain't a prophet. That's not to say all prophetic utterances are to be despised. I fully believe that prophecy exists in the New Testament church. I fully believe that the Lord grants revelation through his people. I fully believe that because that's what we see in the scriptures. I do not believe that the gifts have ceased. However, I do see a prostitution of that gift. However, I do see on social media. I do see in churches a a hyper attention to the prophetic words of people more than the Bible, more than the scriptures, more than the cross, more than Christ. And I believe that that is indicative of us being in the last days. So my my my angst is to defend Christ. My angst is to defend the scriptures. My angst is to make sure that the body stays focused. My angst is to make sure that we know how to handle the word correctly so that we would not be deceived. Okay. So, I'm going to spend a good hour walking through the scriptures as it relates to what prophecy is, what prophets are. Are New Testament prophets and Old Testament prophets, do they carry the same authority? If if you've seen me, be quiet because I've been studying. Okay? Uh I I will walk through the Bible. Then after walking through the Bible, I will briefly address briefly address slander. And then my husband will come on and briefly address slander because we wanted to be clear that we care more about the defense of the Bible than the defense of ourselves. Yes, Eden. No, you cannot upstairs. Good night. Good night. Not good night, but bye. Okay. All right. Do you have your Bibles? Everybody put your hand up. Say, "I got my Bible. I got my word. I got my text. I got the book. Do you got the book? Huh? Do you got the book? I hope you do. All right. So, to start, I want to I actually have a Bible study on the book of Jude. Um, and so one I want to say that this live is a function of Jude chapter 1. So I want you to turn to Jude chapter 1. Everybody say amen when you get there. Say amen when you got it. 3,000 people in the live. It's crazy. Glory be to God. The volume is low. You need me to yell? Okay, y'all. Jude Jude chapter one. I'll read it. Jude is It's right before Revelation. It's like one page. It's probably why you can't find it. Some of y'all probably in Revelation or in Third John somewhere. Why don't nobody ever preach on Third John. You have noticed that. We just be skipping third John like it ain't in the scriptures. Jude chapter 1, that's the only chapter. Verse three. I found it in I I'll read verse three. Yeah. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. Verse four, for certain people have crept in unnoticed, meaning they're not noticeable. They're not obvious. They're they're they're just, you know, normal looking. who long ago were designated for this condemnation. Ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Lord and Master Jesus Christ. What I want you to pay attention to is that sentence I found it necessary to write to you appealing to you to contend for the faith. Jude had every intention to actually write about salvation. He he want to go Romans. He wants to talk about, you know, the fact that Jesus died to reconcile us back to the faith, back to the father, to the propitiation for our sins, to atone for us, all the things that that he's like, that's what I originally originally wanted to write about until I caught wind. I caught wind of of of somebody in y'all local assembly telling y'all that God's grace gives you, this is ESV, that God's grace gives you license to sin. So, I changed my mind. I said, you know, I actually think it's more necessary to tell you to contend, to wrestle, to fight, not for ourselves, but for the faith. The faith being the body of doctrine delivered to us through the apostolic teaching. Meaning at any point where there is teaching going forth that opposes the apostolic doctrine as presented in the scripture, it is worthy of our contest. It is worthy of our wrestle. It is worthy of contention. That's what this live is. The second thing is 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Yeah, I I know it's possible to close the comments. So, if you just joined, I I said if I see a primary primarily a a large display of flesh, contentiousness, division, uh slander, uh irrationality, unreasonleness. If I see an increase in flesh, I will limit the comments. But I'm giving I'm I'm giving us the opportunity to display the fruit we say we have. All right. 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 19. Y'all 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 19. Y'all there? Okay. Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ and all for your upbuilding. Beloved, I'll read it one more time. This is Paul speaking to the cor in Corinth. Have you been thinking all along we have been defending ourselves? Do you? God is the one who sees. So in the sight of God, we have been speaking in Christ for your edification. Okay? So in situations such as this week where there has been incredible lying, incredible slander, the flesh naturally wants to take vengeance. The flesh naturally wants to uh speak up for itself, wants to defend itself. That's why I usually opt for silence to guard my heart and to not give unnecessary attention to things that are not valuable for the upbuilding or the edification of God's church. But in this case, when it seems as if what is going forth actually hinders the communication of the gospel, when what's going forth actually creates an air of false teaching and I when you see communication coming forth in such a way where even certain conduct is affirmed that becomes a biblical Christian disciplehip problem. So when Paul says that he's def he's not defending himself to Cor because Corenth they had these super apostles coming. They had these super apostles coming saying that Paul is weak, Paul is this, Paul ain't that. And what was happening is that the degree of the slander towards Paul was hindering their ability to actually hear the gospel through Paul. So Paul has to write this letter not to defend himself but to defend the fact that the gospel is being presented through him and he wanted to make sure that they would not miss Jesus that they would not miss the cross. So that's what this is. Third, I want to define division. I want to define division. Uh so another fruit of the spirit is patience. I I'll lay it out again. I'm going to teach Bible. Bible about how to test prophets in prophecy. I will give seven seconds to responding to uh all that has been said. Then my husband will respond and then we going to have the benediction and I'mma go upstairs and watch HGTV cuz I really like that show Rock the Block. All right, I'm going to define division. The thing about division is that division is like it's an evil to the church. You know what I'm saying? Like I I'll read some text. 1 Corinthians 1:10, this is Paul speaking. He says, "I appeal to you brothers by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you." In John 17, uh Jesus says, "I'm praying that y'all will be one just like me and the father are one for that is how the the people will believe that you sent me." Right? And so the thing about unity, that's the reason Christ died is to unify Jew and Gentile, male and female. Like the Lord cares about unity. Here's the difference with this. I want y'all to turn to First Corinthians chapter 11. First Corinthians chapter 11. What verse is that? Are y'all there? Wait. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. y'all there and we'll be in Corinthians a lot because Paul deals a lot with prophecy in the local assembly in this book in particular. So I think it's really important. All right. 1 Corinthiansap 11 verse 18. For in the first place when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. Division is bad. Division is demonic. It's demonic. It's evil. Not good. Horrible. Completely goes against what Christ prayed for in in John. Okay. So, let's establish division is not good. I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. I'll read it one more time. Read slowly. I hear that there are de divisions among you and I believe it in part for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine you may be able to recognize. So, so Paul is saying it is really problematic that there are divisions in this church seeing as though in Ephesians the Lord wants unity uh cares about unity, works to unify his unify his people. Yet, because of his providence, sometimes God will allow these factions to exist so that you would see who the wheat and the tears in this local assembly actually is. So that's not to say that we should be after division, but it is to say that when it happens, you need to pay attention. All right. Now, in Ephesians chapter 4, I want you to see something. Go to Ephesians. Why am I y'all? Y'all y'all there? I'mma just read it. So in Ephesians chapter 4, that chapter is about unity in the body. Okay. He starts by saying uh I therefore a prisoner of the Lord urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humility. How does how does unity happen? Humility. How does unity happen? Gentleness. How does unity happen? Patience. How does unity happen? Bearing with one another in love. Eager, zealous to maintain the unity of the spirit. The spirit is who binds us in the bond of peace. For there is one body and one spirit just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. What's interesting is that right after this he starts to talk about gifts that the Lord has given to the church. What do these gifts serve? Let's look at verse 12 11. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers. Why? To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building of the body of Christ until we all attain to what? Unity? Unity of the faith. Unity of the knowledge of the son of God. Meaning that to come against all things that are actually not in concert with the faith is not division. It actually is an aim so that we would unify sincerely. So if at any point where someone disagrees with the faith, someone disagrees with the scripture, someone disagrees with the spirit, someone functions in such a way that opposes Christian love. Then it is not that the truth is divisive, it's the person is. I'll say it one more time. Paul says he has given these gifts to the church so that they would unify around the faith. The faith is a doctrine, the apostolic teaching that has been delivered to us in the scriptures and the knowledge of the son of God. Why? So we would be mature. What happens when you're mature? You're not tossed to and fro by every wave and carried about every by every wind of doctrine. So the teachers, the prophets, the pastors, they all are trying to equip the saints to grow them up in unity in the knowledge of God and doctrinal faith as delivered in the scriptures. So to contend for the faith, to defend the scriptures, to defend and protect the church, to communicate what is true and what is not true is not divisive. It is the role of the church. And if at any point we see contending for righteousness as a problem, then we need to read again. So that's why I'm here. That's that's that's why I'm here is that I care about God's word. I care because truthfully, I made a Instagram reel uh a year ago. People thought I was talking about people. I wasn't. I was talking in a a general sense about the rise in prophecy and how it is so much easier for us to run to a prophetic conference that it is for us to read our scriptures. I've been talking about that. I I've been saying this because I'm seeing it. It's just like, oh, like you you you want the word from this prophet, but you don't you don't know how to find the trinity in scripture. You want the word from this prophet, but you can't explain what propitiation means or where to find it in Romans. You want the word from this prophet, but you still don't know how to forgive offense from the Bible. like I'm concerned about where we are as a church and as a body that we don't care about this anymore and we would say that we do. Okay. So let let's talk about prophecy. Let's talk about prophecy. What is prophecy? It's very simple. Pro prophecy is basically communicating something that the Holy Spirit has revealed. That's it. So when somebody gives a prophetic word, they are sharing something that they they themselves should not otherwise know unless the Lord himself spoke unless the Lord himself revealed. That is what prophecy is. Uh when you look at Old Testament prophets, we all know the Old Testament prophets for the most part. You got Hezekiah, you got Elijah, you got Ezekiel, you got Moses, you got uh Oadiah, you got Jonah, you got uh Amos, you got Nathan, you got Samuel, you got Deborah, you got all kind like they all up and through this thing. They got books. You got Isaiah, you got all the people, right? They were communicating God's very words to God's people. That is what the prophets did. Now what becomes interesting is when you try to think through does the function of Old Testament prophets hold the same function in New Testament prophets. Okay. So in Old Testament prophets their word was the word of God. They had absolute divine authority to the point that if ever someone refused their word, they were refusing God himself. That is that's intense authority for someone to have. Right? So the question we must ask ourselves is when it comes to now the church, the body, does the body, just regular regular Christians, do they have the same degree of absolute divine authority in the church as an Elijah did or as an Ezekiel did? Because this question is crucial. This question is crucial. Let's look at Joel right quick. I want to affirm what the Holy Spirit is doing in the church through prophecy. So, let let's look at uh Joel. I don't even truthfully know where Joel is. I know the text about Joel because of it's in Acts. I I'm not even going to I don't even know where that's at. I'mma just read it. Joel 2 28 says, "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh." Which is so encouraging because it means that the Holy Spirit will not just anoint kings and not just anoint prophets, but who will he anoint? He will anoint your sons and daughters. They shall prophesy. And your old men shall dream dreams. And your young men shall see visions. Like there the Holy Spirit will be the I saw a commentary say universalized like he will he will fall on all who repent and believe regardless if they are male or female regardless of their social status regardless of all the you know what I'm saying like that's that's cool but but Peter uses this text in Acts to affirm that when the Holy Spirit comes he will use some people in prophetic min ministry. The question we got to ask is, will their prophetic ministry have the same authority and weight as Old Testament prophets? But let me say something again. In 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 12, I want us to look at something real quick. To affirm the place of prophecy in the church. Verse 29. No, I'll read it. 27. 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, then miracles and gifts of healing, helping, administrating. First of all, y'all um people with administrative gifts, I need y'all to know you're you're special. You're good. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like I think people look at, oh, I want to be a prophet. Oh, I want to be a teacher. And they despise the gift of administration, not realizing Moses needed a Joshua. Like the gift of administration is what actually supports these ministries and these missions and ultimately God's glory. I had to say that real quick. 1 Corinthians 12:27, he said, "Helping, administrating various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? No. But earnestly desire the higher gifts. This is simply to affirm that God in his body through his spirit have gifted people with the ability to have prophetic utterances. Okay, that's to affirm that. And so there is a place in the local church for prophecy. We're going to get through to the question of does a New Testament prophet and a Old Testament or a Old Testament prophet and New Testament prophet have the same degree of authority because I think that's the lynch pin of how to discern a lot of these um so-called prophets in the last days. What is the purpose in the New Testament of prophecy? What is what is the the purpose of the the stuff? Go to First Corinthians 14. Y'all should already be in 12. So just turn the page. Turn the page. See this? Y'all ready? 1 Corinthians 14 verse 24. But if all prophesy and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all. He is called to account by all. the secrets of his heart are disclosed. And so falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. So one of the purposes of prophecy in the New Testament church is when an unbeliever, if an unbeliever were to walk into your local assembly and get a word from somebody that disclosed, as the text says, the secrets of his heart, it would affirm to him that God is actually among this assembly. Cuz have you ever you ever talked to somebody and they tell you something you ain't supposed to know and it's just like oh that they ain't supposed to know. You like God is real. I've had situations where I know the Lord is real. He saved me. I trust him. I love him and all the stuff. But I've had situations where they disclose something that affirms like, "Oh, you really be listening to me. Like you really be watching me. Like you really care about me." like all the stuff. That's basically what the the Bible is saying is that it it can bring unbelievers to repentance by the revelation of secrets that this prophet or this person in the local church should not otherwise know. Okay. So that's one purpose is revelation of the heart, revelation of the motives, things that you know all the stuff. All right, let's go to Acts. I'mma skip that. Acts 21:4 shows you warning because I think it was Agabus. I don't like his name, but he warned Paul about uh how if he was going to go to Jerusalem, some stuff was going to pop off. We can skip that. I want us to go to back to Ephesians about the purpose of prophecy in the New Testament church. Ephesians, I feel like, is this what happens when you read your Bible on your phone all the time? You start to lose a sense of where stuff is. All right. Ephesians 4. Yeah. Ephesians 4:1. Y'all there? Ephesians 4:1. I mean, there's going to be flesh in the comments. I'm saying if it becomes overwhelmingly fleshy. But yeah, Ephesians 4:11, y'all there? All right. So, I'm answering the question of what is the purpose of prophecy in the New Testament? The first point was that it reveals the thoughts and motives of the heart. Particularly in that context, it had to do with unbelievers, bringing the unbelievers to repentance. The second thing is that prophecy can be used as warning. Uh such as in Acts when uh Paul would receive prophetic words about, hey, if you go here, they they going they going to mess with you. They going to do the most. You know what I'm saying? Stuff like that. And then third, I'm saying over and above all of that, this is the ultimate aim or should be the ultimate aim of all prophetic utterances. It's Ephesians 4:1. I just read it. I'mma read it again. It says, "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to do what? equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So those who are gifted prophetically, those who are gifted with teaching, those who are gifted by the Holy Spirit in some measure in the local church, your entire mission is to equip the saints for the work of ministry. Not just for ministry ministry's sake, but so that we would mature in Christ. That's the aim. So if I was a prophet, my focus, my thought, my intention, my heart, my prayer, my zeal should be how how do I use my gift in such a way that it matures people. How do I use my gift in such a way that it edifies people? How do I use my gift that that's what I try to do with teaching that's what this is is equipping the saints to know how to navigate a new thing in our culture so that they are not deceived. so that they are not led astray because truthfully th the Bible says that in the last days this type of stuff is going to happen. Okay. So our aim, our vision, our focus always needs to be underneath. How do I equip the saints mind you saints even how we think of the body matters. Even how we speak about the bo the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ. Think about that. Even how I deal with the body needs to consider that it's Christ's body. Therefore, he cares about her. He He loves her. He even the way I equipped needs to honor her place as a saint who is the body of Christ. Right? So that they would mature and be filled in all the stuff. That is the purpose. All right? Now, if prophecy is the Holy Spirit revealing to some somebody they would not otherwise know, if that's the purpose and not the purpose, if that's the meaning, and if the purpose is to reveal the thoughts and intentions of an unbeliever so that they would come to repentance, to warn people, and to equip the saints for the work of ministry so that they would mature. Now the question is what about the content of prophecy? Does the content of prophecy matter? Can a person claim to be a prophet and say anything they want? Or does the bibl does the Bible give us biblical prescriptions and a framework for how to discern biblical prophecy? That's the question. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 14. I told y'all we going to be in 1 Corinthians a lot because Paul he he cuz this is this is what you got to know about first Corinthians. When you read Corinthians, they were a very gifted church. They they they had all the gifts, all the tongues, all the prophecies, all the stuff. And he wrote this letter to say, "Y'all actually ain't that type. Y'all think y'all dope because y'all are gifted, but y'all don't actually got love though. Y'all think y'all are tight because you shy all over the place. But y'all got somebody in y'all men sleeping with with somebody he ain't supposed to be sleeping with. Like you shouldn't be boasting about your guests. So this whole letter is him trying to put in order a a church that is highly gifted and highly immature all at the same time. Okay, that's context. So 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse three. The question I'm trying to answer is does the content of prophecy matter? Verse three. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding. That's edification, for their encouragement and their consolation. I'll say it one more time. I'mma read all this twice. The one who prophesies, what's the content? Speaks to people for their edification, for their encouragement, and for their consolation. What is edification? Edification is where we get the same word edifice. It means building, right? So the prophet is to prophesy and give utterances that actually build up someone. Now to edify does not mean to not critique. To edify does not mean to not correct. It does matter how you critique. It does matter how you correct. But to edify means I am I am speaking to you in such a way where you become a building that is that is that is built up so that the the living God the spirit of the living God can live inside of you. That's what edification is. So we have to ask the question of does this prophecy edify? Does this prophecy build up? Again, do not assume that by edify, I only mean encouragement because that's separate in the text. He says edification and encouragement. Okay? So, what we don't mean is coddling. What we don't mean is pacifying. What we don't mean is to edify is, oh, you're just so amazing. You so that that's not what he's mean. He means does it build them up so that they look more like Christ? That's the question. But alongside edification, he says the person who prophesies encourages too. Okay? And so, not only do they edify and build up, maybe through correction, maybe through rebuke, maybe through reprove, maybe through all the stuff, but alongside that they also encourage. What does encouragement mean? Encouragement has the same root Greek word as as pariclete. So, pariclete is the Holy Spirit. Periclesis is encouragement. Meaning you, the Holy Spirit is our helper. He comes alongside. So to encourage is to come alongside you. I see you struggling, sis, but the Lord told me he got you. I see you struggling, sis, but the Lord said he heard you. I I see you trying to work on your your children, but don't worry, your children are going to be saved one day. Like encouragement is to come alongside. So imagine a prophet who not only edifies and builds up but also encourages also comes alongside also functions something like the Holy Spirit who comes along and comforts and corrects and like and restores and does all the things. Now the third thing he also says is consolation. Consolation is very similar to encouragement. Only difference is consolation is encouragement that's more tender. Have you ever spent time with a friend or with a person who's grieving? Their grieving might not even be healthy. Their grieving might not even be holy. But in consideration of where they are, you're a little more careful on how you console. You're a little more tender on how you correct. You're a little more gentle on how you come alongside. So the prophet the content of prophecy then is to edify, build up, to encourage, to come alongside and to console, which is to encourage with tenderness. Now the problem becomes if a prophet only does one then there might be a level of ignorance of what their purpose is in the church for why they are only reproofing only correcting only edifying through correction but never encouraging never consoling never coming alongside it's very much like in 2 Timothy 3 chapter 16 where Paul says says that the word of God, all of scripture is God breathed and profitable for correction, profitable for reproof, profitable for training and righteousness, meaning that the Lord is actually diverse in the way he ministers to us. So if at any point there is a lack of diversity, then there's possible that there is some immaturity there. Does that make sense what I'm saying? The tone of the prophecy needs to be submitted to the purpose of prophecy. The tone of the teaching needs to be submitted to the the the the purpose of the teaching. So I'm not saying that if someone only does one function that they're a false teacher or a false prophet. That's not what I'm saying. I said there's the potential that there's immaturity there and they too need to be corrected. They too. But there the Lord is kind and diverse. Like even when you look at the life of Jesus, he didn't flip over tables every chapter. He wasn't busting out whips every time he went into Galilee. There was a diversity in how he ministered to people. Okay? So the content the content of prophecy matters and it must be framed and shaped by scripture. Okay. Now I will affirm that I I believe that we need to be very aware of our temperaments. So I think when you're aware of your temperament, you might see how you fall more easily into a pattern of ministry that is more comfortable to you. For example, I tend to lean uh if you listen to my sermons, I can kind of go very direct to motives, go very direct to the heart, and I have to often make sure that I'm balancing correction with nurture. correction with love, empathy, understanding because often times the the the way you communicate to others might be the way you communicate to your own self. So if you're a if you're a person who deals with a lot of shame, your self-t talk will come through in your ministry, right? So if you're always beating yourself up, don't be surprised when you beat up up other people in your sermon. Okay? And so you need to be even aware of your temperament. Or if you're a person who is super like rainbows and butterflies and everything is happy and everything is good. If you have people pleaser energy, if you got people pleaser energy, you might look at that text and be like, I'm just going to console everybody. And it's like, no, the Lord might actually call you to correct sometimes. So, be aware of how your temperament might be hindering the full expression of God's gift through you. I hope that makes sense. All right. The question we need to answer now is, do New Testament prophets have Old Testament prophet authority? Let's go to First Corinthians chapter 14. You should already be there. All right, turn to uh verse 37. I love the Lord's word. His word is a lamp unto our feet. It really is a light unto our path. It really will guide us if we would read it, love it, adore it, study it. Uh 1 Corinthians 14:37, I'm answering the question of do New Testament prophets have the same authority as Old Testament prophets. Okay. Verse 37. If anyone thinks, not shady, but if anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. Paul is basically saying, remember, he just put all these these these situations in place to create order or make sure that there's order in the assembly in the church. Okay. And he's basically saying even the prophets are subject and to submit to my apostolic teaching, which is to say that even the New Testament prophets in First Corinthians were not superior to Paul in authority. I'll say it one more time. Paul is saying even if you think you are a prophet, you must know that what I am communicating is a command of the Lord. And if you do not submit to my teaching, if you ignore my teaching, I don't care if you are a prophet, you are to be ignored. That's what he means by recognized. That's what the Greek says. If anyone does not recognize my teaching, he is to be ignored. If you ignore my teaching, we're going to ignore you. Meaning that even the New Testament prophets had to submit themselves underneath the authority of Paul. Therefore, those prophets did not have absolute divine authority on par with Paul or the other prophets. Another answer to this question might be, let's go to 1 Peter 3:15. 1 Peter chapter 3. Y'all there? 1 Peter 3:15 says, "Where' it go?" Oh, that ain't it. Is it second Peter? It's probably second Peter. Got me wrong. These mess up basically. There it It's second Peter 2 Peter 3:15. It says, "And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved Paul, beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him as he does in all his letters." So Paul's letters are epistles. So uh 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, Colossians. That's why it's very important. I I'll get to that later. Uh Paul's letters, there are some things in them that are hard to understand, which I relate to. I mean, there's parts of Romans where it's like, hey, that's kind of crazy. There are some things in him in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction as they do the other scriptures. Let me read it one more time. Listen. Listen. Our beloved brother brother Paul wrote a letter to you according to the wisdom that was given to him as he does in all his letters epistles letters. So they're receiving them as just straight up letters that Paul wrote in jail. Letters that Paul wrote when he was in what's the name? All the stuff. But he says there are some things in these letters that are hard to understand which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction as they do the other scriptures. So even as even before the canon was closed Paul's letters the apostolic letters were recognized as scripture meaning they had Old Testament absolute divine authority. Okay. When we go back to second Corinthians, then you see while Paul is saying, "No, if you think you're a prophet, if you think you're spiritual, then you are still subject to my authority." Meaning, you're we don't we don't have the same authority. Meaning, if a New Testament prophet positions themselves as having the same degree of authority as the scriptures, as the apostles, or the prophets, then they are unbiblical. They can be rejected if and when that word does not exalt, honor, have the language, the tone of Christ and his word. I think so many of us we get so caught up in the framing of this is a prophet of the Lord that we think to reject them is to reject God. know to reject this this to to reject this is to reject God. This is why in first Thessalonians, let's let's let's let's travel Bible. First Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 18, it says uh verse 19, "Do not quench the spirit. Do not despise prophecy, but test everything, holding fast to what is good." I would be afraid of any so-called prophet who positions themselves as being exempt from critique, exempt from testing. Okay? Paul is saying, "No, in the gathered assembly, if someone raises up as a prophet, test them. discern, match their words with scripture, match their words with Christ, match their words with even what God spoke to you. Right? So, don't despise the prophecy. Don't walk into the assembly cynical. Don't don't show up saying God don't I'm not I'm not advocating for sessationism because that's what that is. Don't quench the spirit, but test test How do you test? You do not test subjectively. I sense in my spirit that this is off. I will only trust someone who says that if I know they know their Bible. If you know your Bible, you obey your Bible, you love your scriptures, I might actually consider that what you're sensing might be. But if you don't know your Bible, love your Bible, study your Bible, remember your Bible, obey your Bible, submit to your Bible, I don't know if your subjective discernment is actually trustworthy. It's the way this computer going to die. I'mma let y'all sit on that test. Test. Do not quench the spirit, but test everything, holding fast to what is good. Test. Everybody say test. ((music playing)) I wrote this sentence down. If at any point, no, I wrote this. I'm gonna write it. There is no scriptural proof of any New Testament prophet being entrusted with the same level of divine authority as the Old Testament prophets, apostles, and therefore scripture. Anyone suggesting this is either biblically ignorant or purposely deceptive. In other words, a New Testament prophet's words are not equivalent to scripture. They must be evaluated and tested. And if they do not align with scriptural teaching, we are free to reject them. If at any point someone asserts either verbally or functionally that they have absolute divine authority and they are not subject to apostolic teaching, they are unbiblical. Okay? You are not a slave to fear but of love, power, and a sound mind. We got to think. We got a reason. If you have the Holy Spirit, if you have the Holy Spirit and the God breathed word, then you you don't have to go to seminary to test. You You don't got to be a theologian. Just know your word. Know your Bible. Know your Bible. When Jesus was in the wilderness in Luke 4 and Satan came to tempt him, to test him, Jesus was able to discern the lie because he knew the truth. And Jesus didn't even come for Satan with the Torah. He didn't even come for him with with Exodus, with Genesis, with Leviticus, with with He all of his responses to Satan were from one book, Deuteronomy. So don't even be surprised if you just spend six months in one book. I promise you that will be sufficient enough to fight the devil. You just spend what time in one book. Know the book. Let's talk about the authority and the inspiration of scripture. Okay. The authority and the inspiration of scripture. Preston is going to talk. No worries. We we doing Bible first. Let's go to second Timothy chapter 3. Oh, my back hurt. Jesus. Second Timothy chapter 3. Oh, I love God's word. 2 Timothy chapter 3 says verse 16 all all every part all all of it there there's no exceptions all scripture is breathed out inspired by God and profitable for teaching for reproof for correction and for training in righteousness that the man and woman of God may be complete. All of scripture is breathed out by God. That's where we get the doctrine of inspiration from. What does that mean? When you read, if you go watch my sermon or talk from Acts 2:42, I go into this in detail where I talk about how to be a Berean. But I talk about how in Genesis 2, I believe, when God made Adam from the dust. It said that he breathed into Adam his breath and Adam became a living being. So now when we get to this text and it says that all of scripture is breathed out by God, what does that mean? Especially when we consider the fact that Paul wrote this, Peter wrote some, Jude wrote some, Ezekiel wrote some, Elijah wrote some. These are human beings. And yet the text is saying that this book is not human in origin. That even though these men were the means by which we got this book, they are not the source of the words. Because why? All scripture is breathed out by God. Meaning that the words, the life, the power, the source of this book originated in God himself. Hence why it's authoritative. It's authoritative because God is. It's authoritative because it's true because God is true. I hope I hope this is me. All scripture is breathed out by God. How that encourages us is it means let's say I'm in a season of isolation and I am not able to gather with the saints. Maybe I went to a church where prophetic utterances went around a lot and I was consoled by it. I was encouraged by it. I was even growing in a certain way because of prophetic reuse. But now I'm alone. This is saying no. God is still speaking. Even if you don't have access to a prophet, God is is still speaking. Even if you don't have access to people, God is still talking. All all scripture is breathed out by God. But that not that also means that even parts of the book we don't like, God is speaking. Even parts of the book that are boring, God is speaking. Even the genealogies, God has something to say. So if ever you hear teaching that undermines the spiritual origin of all scripture, be warned. All scripture is breathed out by God. All scripture. This means that when I get in Psalms, God is talking to me. When I get in Ephesians, God is talking to me. When I get in Lamentations, God is talking to me. That means that this word has power. The Bible says that the word is a sword piercing through the division of bone and marrow. We we we we have to I feel like in this generation, we have departed from doctrine. We know everything but doctrine. I don't even hear people talk about the inspiration of scripture. I don't even hear people talk about scripture being infallible and inherent. I don't even hear people explain the triune God. I don't even hear about the cross anymore. I hear more about demons and principalities than I do about Christ. Why? Because we're not in the book. If we read the book, we would see that even the point of the book is Christ. Jesus said to the Pharisees, "You you search the scriptures cuz you think that in them is eternal life. But it is they that testify about me. Even the book is about them. So if we're not reading the book, maybe that's why we don't have Christ in our hearts. Maybe that's why we listen and accumulate teachers that don't even talk about Christ." When you listen to them, have you learned any doctrine about Christologology? What does it mean for him to be one God? like one God with two natures. What does that mean? What does the condescension of Christ mean? What does the ascension of Christ mean? How does the resurrection apply to your life today? Do you hear what I'm saying? I I need y'all to know Satan wants us to be focused on everything else but Christ. And the thing that reorients our focus, our affections, our theology on what is true and what is right is this God breathed book. You know, one way to discern false teachers is to listen to how they describe scripture. I want you to see something. Go to to Jude. So, Peter already said that false teachers twist Paul's words, right? But I want you to see something interesting in the book of Jude. Turn to the book of Jude. I'll read it. Um, what verse is it? All right. So, Jude, remember, he wrote this letter to warn, we don't know what congregation he was writing to because he doesn't list it. Uh but he writes this letter to warn people about false teachers in the assembly who are teaching that God's grace is licensed for sensuality. So the whole tone of Jude is to train and equip them to notice the teachers. And I'm going to get to this later. He does not name the teachers names. He does not say who they are because there is biblical precedence for giving people a metaphorical framework so they have the language to discern for themselves. But I'll get to that later. So he's talking about false teachers and he says in verse 8, yet in like manner these people also relying on their dreams. So re revelation defile the flesh reject authority. In the Hebrew, not the Hebrew, the Greek, it literally means they despise dominion. If scripture is God's authoritative word, then I need to pay close attention to teachers, to prophets, to pastors on how they honor this word. Is this word the final authority in their teaching? Is this word the final authority in their life? Is there any element of their communication of what this word is that undermines it? That gives you some skepticism, some cynicism that maybe all of this ain't actually God breathed. How do we test prophecy? So, in 1 Thessalonians 5:1 18, Paul tells the the congregation to test prophets. Don't despise prophecy, but test everything. How do you test it? Well, I just laid out the the biggest test, which is the scriptures. You need to to know your scriptures, love your scriptures, and place the scriptures up against whatever prophetic words you had. There are two ways in which a lot of prophecy is going forth and will go forth, which is forthtelling, which is someone saying next year this time, uh, California going to fall off. you know, we we got that prophecy before. Uh, and a lot of a lot of uh false religions were built on foretelling. Um, all the stuff. There's also word of knowledge. So, word of knowledge is when God gives you a revelation about a person's heart, a person's circumstances, a person's businesses, something that doesn't have to deal with the future. It just has to do with right now. So, it's like if somebody was like, uh, I discern that your uncle is a crackhead. It's like, you know, you're right. I don't know how you knew that but that is absolutely correct. That's a word of knowledge. They had information that the Holy Spirit actually gave them to reveal to them about somebody's situation. Okay. So the question is how do we test forthtelling and how do we test word of knowledge? Now I think forthtelling is actually easy to test because all you got to do is wait. You just got to be like, okay, if California going to come off come off next year, look, let's just wait till 2026 and see what happens. You know, so testing forthtelling requires some measure of patience is just to say, "Oh, okay. Well, let's see if that happens." Word of knowledge. However, I think word of knowledge, especially on social media, because a lot of social media content um has focused around this area of word of knowledge. The look like you got people I've been saying this for a minute. You got people on TikTok waking up at 3:00 a.m. in the morning uh with a notepad saying that the Lord told them about uh Kirk Franklin. Like that's that's like a thing. And so those are words of knowledge. But how do you test them? because it's a little more complicated to try to test the word of knowledge regarding a person you don't even have proximity to. Cuz the Bible tells us, you know, a tree by its fruit. So, it's easy to test the word of knowledge if you're in a local assembly where somebody says something about your friend and you're like, "No, I know my friend." So, that's actually wrong. That's actually a false teaching. But when it's about people that is in Alaska or over there somewhere, how do you test that? I I I think I think this is this is one way. Okay, I have three points. You ready? I believe this is how you can test word of knowledge when you are not in the local assembly about the person that the word of knowledge is for. Okay. One, follow me. Submit the word of knowledge to what first Corinthians says the purpose of prophecy is. So remember Paul said prophecy is to edify. It is to encourage. It is to console. So you would ask the question h is that word of knowledge edifying? Does it build that person up? Is that word of knowledge encouraging? Is that word of knowledge consoling? If so, there's the potential that it it passed a test. So it it might be useful to that person because it actually submits to what Paul said prophecy is supposed to do. Second test. This one is a little interesting. I wrote, "Is there evidence that the word of knowledge, especially a rebuke of warning, which has serious implications, was given directly to wi the person to which the warning was about first?" I'll say it again. Is there evidence that the word of knowledge, especially a rebuke or war warning which has serious imp implications, was given directly to the one to which the warning was about first? That's about biblical order and precedence. Okay. So, one way to frame that is to understand how does God tell us to deal with sin in general. Right? There's three texts. Matthew 18:15. If your brother sins against you, go tell him his fault between you and him alone. All right, there's one more. Galatians 6:1, three more. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Verse three, don't accept an accusation against the elder unless it is supported by two or three witnesses. All three of these give us context for how rebukes should be done. So I just think it should be we should take pause when someone says God gave me a warning, a rebuke by way of a word of knowledge for some like that they went to social media before they went to the person when that doesn't even align with the way that scripture actually defines the way we should deal with sin. This takes reason to understand. You're going to If the Lord has given us prescriptions for how to warn and deal with sin in the local church, it seems a bit odd that God would inspire a prophet to do the opposite of what he inspired in the book. Okay? For example, when you look at Old Testament prophets, they always had access to the one they were warning. Nathan was sent to David. Isaiah was sent to Hezekiah. John the Baptist was sent to Israel. God gave them a warning to people they had access to. If the people did not repent, even in Matthew 18, it says if you go to them alone and they don't repent, then bring two or three witnesses. If they don't repent with the two or three witnesses, then you do that publicly in front of the church. Mind you, that's local church discipline, but that's neither here nor there. So I just I just think it's interesting when we are rebuking and warning in a way that doesn't seem to match the order by which God says we should rebuke and warn in the scriptures in the New Testament. Okay. So that's the second test. So the first test is does it submit to 1 Corinthians 14 the purpose of the test? Second does it seem to match the order by which rebuke and warning is supposed to happen in the scriptures. The third test, the heart of the rebuke because we think that the content is the only thing needs that needs to be tested. Character test too. Okay, let let me should I go to the scripture first? I'll go to that later. Let's turn to Luke chapter nine. And depending on what Bible translation you got, it might not show you what's actually happening on here. Luke chapter 9, what verse? Starting at 51. So again, if you just joined, we don't just test content, we test character. The heart of the rebuke can reveal if it was from the spirit of God or if it was from flesh. All right. Luke chapter 9 verse 51. Y'all there? All right. When the days drew near for him to be taken up. Oh, y'all not by your cave. He set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him who went and entered the village of the Samaritans to make preparations for him. Pause. Pause. If you know anything about Jews and Samaritans, Jews and Samaritans wasn't cool. Why? Because Samaritans were the product of a time when Israel was basically doing it with other nations. And so people in Jewish societies would look at the Samaritans like they were a mixed breed because they also had mixed religious doctrines and ways of being. And so Jews did not bode well with Samaritans. Hence why in John chapter 4 when Jesus was talking to the woman at the well they looked at him crazy like why are you talking to a Samaritan woman. So having context for the fact that Jews don't like Samaritans will help you see what's happening in this text. Okay. He sent messengers ahead of him to who went and entered the village of the Samaritans to make pref preparations for him. But the people who did not receive him Samaritans because his face was set towards Jerusalem. And when his disciples, James and John, sons of thunder, saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them, and they went on another v village. Now, you might be like, Jackie, what has that got to do with discerning the heart of re rebuke? I'mma read this. What verse is this in the King James? And you will see what I want you to see. Lord, I need a massage. When the disciples, this is KJV, James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them even as Elias did?" So, they're appealing to Old Testament prophets for why they can uh be so harsh in their assessment of what should happen to these people. Um, verse 55, but he turned and rebuked them and said, this is not in this version, but listen to this. He turned and rebuked them and said, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. You don't know what spirit you got. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. Here's what's happening. They enter a Samaritan village. The Samaritans reject Jesus. Okay, James and John, they already probably feel some type of way about Samaritans. One, it's their Lord. So, they're like, you disrespecting my Lord. I don't like that. But they also on some, hey, bro, like we already don't like y'all. So they they're they're in their mind they're like, you know, Elijah, he called down fire on his enemies. So why shouldn't we do the same thing? From the from from the outside looking in, that looks like zeal. From the outside looking in, that looks like righteous anger. Let me say that again. From the outside looking in, them saying, "Rain down fire on your enemies that rejected you." It looks like zeal. It looks like righteous anger. But Jesus because he knows the hearts of men says you don't even know what spirit that's coming from. Meaning when there is offense, when there is anger, unrighteous anger, when there is flesh, there is the propensity that you can prophesy from a place of offense and not the spirit of God. That is why we have to not only test prophecies with scripture and not only test prophecies with even the tone of scripture and how it deals with warning and rebuke, but we also need to say, hm, maybe they're just mad. I'll say that. And the reason I found this text is because I did it. I struggle with I was I was I did a podcast with Megan a year ago and I told y'all about it. I said on that podcast, I was rebuking away. We never released it. I was rebuking folks going in and when the podcast was over, I felt unsettled. Like I felt, you know, when your conscience is messed up and I'm like I'm like, "What is that?" The Lord brought me to this text. He was like, "You're not mad. You're not defending me. You're defending you." So because you you you know you know how you're mediating your offense through what looks like religious jargon. This is why we have to be considerate and testing all the things. All the things the character matters. Rebuke mediated through offense should be tested. For in it is the possibility that it is vengeance disguised as zeal. I'll say that one more time. Rebuke mediated through offense should be tested for in it is the possibility that it is vengeance disguised as zeal. The character, not just the content, the character of prophetic words matters. I feel like I got to move cuz uh Preston has to come on. I want to say I want to I want us to go to first Corinthians 13 because this is important. This is what Paul was dealing with with them. He was like, "Y'all got these prophetic gifts, bro, but the the the Christian ethic is is not there." So, we talk about 1 Corinthians 13 all the time. We we we love it at our weddings. We love it on our captions with our guy. We we love to talk about 1 Corinthians 13 separated from its con context. That's not to say that 1 Corinthians 13 can't be applied to you and your bull with your wedding. I'm not saying that. What I am saying is let's consider it in its context. Okay? In chapter 12, Paul is dealing with gifts and he has been making the case that y'all need to function in these gifts with order. Y'all need to function in these gifts with uh humility and y'all need to function in these gifts with love. Okay. So when we get to chapter 13, chapter 13 about love is to respond to how people should function in their gifts. Okay? So he says even the beginning shows you that verse 13, chapter 13, if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love. So remember he was talking about people with tongues. He was like, yeah, if if somebody with tongues go forth two or three, somebody got to interpret that. He's referenced tongues. Now he's saying, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I don't love, I'm just making noise." But then he goes to prophecy. Verse two, "And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." The content is not the only test. is character. So if you have a gift, I think all of us are gifted in ways where it can be easy to think that you are spiritually so astute that you don't have to walk in a certain degree of love with your gift. I think that's I think that's unbiblical. So let's look at 1 Corinthians 13:4 through what's through the lens of prophecy. So prophecy should be patient. Prophecy should be kind. Prophecy should not come from envy. Prophecy should not be boastful. Prophecy should not be arrogant. Prophecy should not be rude. Prophecy should not insist on its own way. Prophecy is not irritable. Prophecy is not resentful. Prophecy does not rejoice at wrongdoing. Prophecy doesn't take joy in finding out that people have fallen. But prophecy rejoices in the truth. Prophecy bears all things. Prophets believe all things. Hopes all things. Endures all things. So you test the content, but the character. And here's the thing. I'm going to show y'all some books. In this book, I'm going to show y'all some things. Showing the spirit. This is a theological uh ex exeetical walk through 1 Corinthians 14. And I'll I'll show y'all understanding spiritual gifts. I'm going to give y'all all the resources. Love is a test not only of character but of conversion. Let's go to first John. We don't be in no first John. Go to first John chapter 3 verses 14 to 15. You there? I don't know if y'all heard what I said. Love is a test of conversion. Okay. Verse 13 or 14. For we know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates which means to love less. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life living in him. Let's go to first John chapter 3 verse 10. Where is it? By this it is evident evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God nor is the one who does not love his brother. So what Paul is saying is that if you have prophetic powers, if you don't walk in love, it's nothing because there might not actually be any real spiritual power. Let let's go to Matthew. Where's that at? Uh Matthew 7. This is text Matthew chapter 7 y'all there. Matthew chapter 7 verse1 15 talking about false prophets because we judge false prophets by their fruit which reveals the nature of the tree. Verse 15. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly their nature, who they are in real life, they are ravenous wolves, meaning they're greedy. They're not satisfied. You will recognize them by their fruit. Go to verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?" And I will declare to them, "I never knew you, you worker of iniquity, you worker of lawlessness." Meaning if ever I am a part of a ministry, a part of a church or sitting underneath a prophet or a leader or a teacher who says spiritual words but has not the spiritual power to love his neighbor according to what first Corinthians 13 defines love as, then I need to be concerned about the state of that person's soul. This is how wolves and sheep's clothing get us because they will either mimic or function in the same giftings that Satan himself knows how to create. What do you think will happen in first Thessalonians when it says that the man of destruction will come with signs and wonders? If we are not people that do not know our scriptures when they come with those signs and wonders, we will think that God has confirmed them as prophets because we're not able to discern when a false prophet has risen among us when their character reveals the nature of the tree. Let's go to Deuteronomy 13 and then I I I'll get off so Preston can come on here. Deuteronomy 13. Where is this verse? 15. I want y'all to read this. This is important. If a if a 13 verse one if a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or wonder and I need y'all to know. Test what I'm saying up against God's word. Don't feel what I'm saying. Test it. Open up your Bibles. Look at your cross references. Look at your commentaries. Don't say, "I prayed. I prayed and that fell off." Pray and get in the Bible. That's what the Bereans did in Acts. When Paul came preaching, it said that they went and searched the scriptures to see if what he was saying lined up. Because this is this is this I'm trying to be careful. This is the potential of what could happen if and when you test or if and when you refuse to consider that God's word is true and warning you. And I'm not even talking about I'm talking about for future reference. This live is a clarion call to my generation that there are false prophets not only among us but that will continue to raise up and they are leveraging our lack of biblical literacy and they will wreak havoc in your marriages. They will wreak havoc in your parenting. They will wreak havoc in your churches if you don't get in the book. And the Lord is trying to say just listen to my word and then you won't be led astray. Deuteronomy 13. If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder verse two and a sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass and if he says let's go after other gods which you have not known not known and let us serve him. You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you. Meaning, accuracy does not confirm authenticity. Are y'all here? Did you hear what I say? Accuracy does not confirm authenticity. If and when the word might come to pass, but alongside it is teachings that accommodate the flesh, alongside it is bad theology, alongside it is bad living, then you are still to reject that prophet. And it's potentially that God rolls up that prophet to test and reveal if you actually love him. I say all that to say I want to clarify some of what I feel like the comments froze. So I don't know what happened. I want to clarify um some of what was said this week. Did I freeze or did y'all freeze? Okay, I I'll start over.