BIBLICAL PATTERN WITH GABBY YAMOAH-BOANSI
TOPIC: THE VOICE OF THE PROPHETIC IS THE VOICE OF JESUS
And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.(Acts 3:23) –(Deut 18:19)
Lately the prophetic has been abused and badly handled because of inadequate understanding of this gift to the body of Christ. Prophets of old from Samuel to Malachi all prophesied about one unique voice. In that voice rests all the prophetic fulfilment of the end time. The talk is too much; education must be given about this unique office. Moses in Deuteronomy 18:19 prophesied specifically about “A PROPHET”that will rise among the Jewish people. Moses instructed the people, that anyone who will refuse to hear such a prophet would be destroyed among the people. Before the coming of Jesus, the Old Testament people have already been introduced to the prophetic ministry as a channel at which Yahweh carries out his word to his people. The saw Jesus as one of the prophet even though his nature of the prophetic was quiet different from the rest of the Old Testament prophet. In some instances of the Old Testament some saw him as a prophet because they saw that office been displayed in a unique way. So anybody who came doing something beyond the natural was tag as a prophet. In John 4 when Jesus revealed the secret life about the woman he met at the well, she said, “Sir, I perceived that you are a prophet”. Whatever they said about Jesus, as being a prophet was not far from the truth. Indeed he was the embodiment of the prophetic in times of old as the word spoken forth or the voice of the prophet in “shadow”. When Jesus came to earth he was the full manifestation of the prophetic in reality. Any prophet, who prophesies, does so because of Jesus.
The voice of a genuine prophet is the voice of Jesus. In such an art of spiritual augmentation, every other voice does not matter except the voice of Jesus Christ. And the voice of the prophet is the word of God in the mouth of the prophet and that word is Jesus. That is why whoever is carrying or heralding a prophetic word, whether to a nation, a specific people or an individual, the voice of Christ must be heard behind that human voice and not only the voice of Christ but the loving heart of Christ too. The focus of the message to the recipients should not be about the prophet but Jesus who is the giver of the message through the Holy Spirit. There is something that the modern day prophet must about the ministry of Jesus foretold by Jesus.
Jesus said, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.(John 16:13)
The Holy Spirit, who is also God; “will guide you into all truth and he shall not speak of himself” Wow! The Holy Spirit is not under any mandate in His ministry on earth to speak about himself, but only to guide us into all truth based on what he hears.
“He will guide you into all truth”, what is truth then? Truth is the Word of God and the Word of God is also a person and his name is Jesus. So it means the Holy Spirit will guide you to know all that you need to know about Jesus. His focus in your life is to deepen your intimacy with Jesus. Then again Jesus says he will not speak of himself. That means the Holy Spirit will not project himself, he will not make himself the center of the show, but his focus is to make Jesus known to all men he comes in contact with. Note, wherever Jesus is exalted and celebrated the Holy Spirit shows up with his glorious power and presence to bring people into closer intimacy with him. If this is what the Holy Spirit is expected to do in our lives, then I believe any prophet who prophesy with the ability of the Holy Spirit cannot go above this. This is the problem of many today, ‘focus is on them and not the person of Jesus’. That is absolutely wrong.
Many times, some prophets miss this when they are carrying out a message to recipients. Instead of the focus being on Jesus, it is shifted from him and the focus now is on them. One of the things every prophet must know when prophesying to people, is to draw the heart of men to Jesus in a deeper intimacy in the bond of love. No matter the content of the message they are carrying across, the love of Jesus must be seen in the message and at the end cause the recipient get acquainted with Christ more. When you miss this, you have missed the core essence of the spirit of the prophetic, no matter how accurate, forensic your message is.
The prophetic has a fundamental goal and the goal is, at the end all must come to Jesus and have intimacy with him. Example, the woman of Samaria in John 4 had a questionable character that no one would love to associate with. But when she met Jesus at the well, the focus now became Jesus and his love towards the woman, for what purpose, so that he will draw the woman to himself. Jesus used the prophetic to draw the woman closer. He said… “Go call thy husband, and come hither.”That was the word of knowledge, one of the gifts to help in the prophetic. Later after encountering Jesus, she got saved and became a voice in spreading the good news of the kingdom. That is what the prophetic does. Get people closer to God and in direct relationship with Him.
Any prophets that prophesy do that through the voice of Jesus under the urgency of the Holy Spirit. The bible says whatever the Holy Spirit hears…it means the Holy Spirit hears and whatever he heard is communicated to the prophet through his spiritual senses to deliver as he is urged. The voice from the Holy Spirit to the prophet is the word of God (voice is the word) and that is Jesus. So, anytime a word is sent forth, remember is Jesus released unto men and this must be done in love. Any other voice don’t matter except the voice of the master through his servant the prophets. The prophet must always hear Jesus in every situation and not himself. He must project Jesus in every situation and not what he thinks should be the outcome. Isaiah spoke the mind of God to Hezekiah that he should put his house in order for he is about to die and left. Hezekiah faced God on the word received from the prophet and argued with God why he shouldn’t die? God heard the supplication of Hezekiah and sent Isaiah back to Hezekiah with a different message. (Isaiah 38)
Isaiah was only a messenger carrying the voice of God (word of God) to Hezekiah. The outcome that came from Hezekiah’s prayers was not given the prophet Isaiah when he first came to Hezekiah, his presentation could have been this…Godsays put your house in order for you are about to die, but if you will fast and pray to me this will happen… that was not the picture painted to us. Hezekiah, because of his relationship with God had his way through the prophecy he received from the prophet Isaiah.
This is what every believer must desire to do. Building an intimacy and partnership with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. That is what God desire for us, INTIMACY WITH HIM THROUGH HOLY SPIRIT who is right here on earth with us in his fullness. Hallelujah! JESUS is the voice of the prophetic. From the days of Samuel to the last Old Testament prophets all prophesied with Jesus in shadow. Meaning he was the word they spoke forth. But when the word became flesh and dwell or tabernacle among us, His full essence was revealed to us. So this time, no more shadow but REALITY here with us. Glory!
In Hebrew 1: 1-2 the bible says, “God, who at sundry(various) times and in diverse manners (ways) spake in time past(that is old testament) unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days(new era, new testament) spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”
This is the reason why in the New Testament Jesus is the ONLY VOICEthat must be heard through or behind any human vessels. Any prophet under this new covenant cannot speak above the master Jesus. His Jesus must always be the message to the people no matter what the prophet is communicating. It is about Jesus and not the interest of the prophet. One thing that every minister of the gospel must know is that, Jesus is the fullness and embodiment of the entire five fold ministerial gift to the church. By extension, He is the one who decides who is brought into any of these gifts. The bible says, to some He (Jesus) gave…to be an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and a teacher. (Ephesians 4:11) you don’t decide what you want to become or you don’t go to bible college to choose what you want to become…. He decides. That is why you must know that, this ministerial gift you are enjoying now is for Jesus and by extension he has made you a part of His ministry. So whatever you do in these various ministries must project Him. The emphasis of my write up is on the Prophetic.
It is very true, that Jesus cannot finish his ministry responsibilities on earth without man. He will need people, so if you are favoured and bless by the act of grace to be a part of these leadership role of the mandate of Christ to continue in the perfecting of the saints on earth, remember this, whatever ministry you are called to function is an extension of Jesus’s ministries. Blessed are you to be a part. You must function in this office with his loving heart and not yours. There is a way Jesus loves his people, his own people he bought them with his own blood. You may not love them the way he does, but ones you are working for Him, you ought to love them the way he does. Prophet of God, you can only love them the way he does when you are in deep intimacy with HIM. So that His love you have for him will flow into his people. You cannot love the people of God more than Himself. (John 3:16) He demonstrated this even to the “world” who were not yet His own. Jesus sits in heaven and is watching how you use ‘His gift’ to impart his own. Has this thought ever cross your mind for once?
This love that is the person of Jesus is stronger than the gift you have. The gift must be operated in this love. 1stCorinthians 13:1-2 says, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity (LOVE), I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity (LOVE), I am nothing.”
When Jesus does not become the center of the prophetic, we have lost touch of it. It is not for showmanship or to bring excitement, but to create inner awakening and hunger for God in the lives of people. It is to position the lives of people who are craving for depths of the Spirit. The bible says, “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”(Revelation 19:10)
And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. (1 Samuel 3:21)
He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)
JESUS IS THE FULLNESS AND ESSENCE OF THE PROPHETIC
GABBY YAMOAH-BAONSI
LEAD PASTOR: HILL OF CHRIST REFRESHING CENTRE- KUMASI-GHANA