The Trouble With the New Prophets, Part I

The self-proclaimed prophets of our age have a subtle appeal to arrogance. They don't seem to notice, and that is dangerous. This arrogance effects the way they teach, lead, and present the word of God. Let me give you an example by Rick Joyner, one of the most respected people in the new prophetic movement. Here is something he wrote in October of 2006:

The Lord also said that He could not return
until the gospel of the kingdom was preached
throughout the world as a witness. The gospel
of the kingdom has probably not been preached
since the first century. We have preached the
gospel of salvation, the gospel of the church, and
the gospel of many truths, all of which are
wonderful, but they are not the gospel of the kingdom.
The gospel of the kingdom is the good news
about His kingdom coming to the earth so that
God’s will is done on earth just as it is in heaven.

What is the problem with this statement? Actually there are a couple. The first is bad exegesis. In other words, bad interpretation of Scripture. The first sentence is not true. Jesus never said that he could not come back until the gospel of the Kingdom was preached. What He said was this:

Matthew 24:14 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

What's the difference? Jesus is saying what will happen: The gospel will be preached, the end will come. Joyner's subtle change to "Jesus can't come until" is about something restraining Jesus. Jesus is not restrained and waiting for us to preach a certain thing so He can return. Rather, He orchestrates history and returns when He it pleases Him.

"You're splitting hairs." I would agree with that critique except Joyner builds on the "could not return" with his following argument that the gospel of the Kingdom has not been preached since the first century. What is the problem with that statement? It's a lie. Joyner says we preached the "gospel of salvation," the "gospel of the church," the "gospel of many truths," but not the "gospel of the Kingdom."

Two problems with this. One, it is arrogant. He appeals to the arrogance of his followers. Let me paraphrase: "The real powerful gospel, the one of the Kingdom, has been in hiding, waiting for our generation. Now we get to preach that. We get to usher in the second coming with the true gospel of the Kingdom!" This is an appeal to pride. It looks down upon the church through the last 2000 years, implying that the gospel has been preached in a way that is less than full. Such is not only historically wrong, it is arrogant and appeals to pride.

And again, his exegesis is horrible. There is no such thing as "the gospel of salvation," the "gospel of the church," the "gospel of many truths," and the "gospel of the Kingdom."

There is just the gospel. Period. "Of the Kingdom" is a prepositional phrase used by Jesus to describe the gospel. What is the gospel of the Kingdom? It is the gospel, or good news of the Kingdom of God. Well, what is that?

There is only one gospel. It is the gospel of the Kingdom and it was the gospel preached by Paul. And it is the gospel preached by Augustine. And it was the gospel preached by Hus. And it was the gospel preached by Luther. And it is the gospel being preached in America for the last 250 years in many churches all over the country. It is the same gospel, it has never changed and it is only one.

What Joyner says is nonsense. I am sorry that so many Christians are such poor students of their Bibles that they fall for such garbage. May the Lord save the sheep from the wolves.

Rick Joyner does not understand the Scriptures. But that doesn't mean you can't. Let me show you what the Bible says that you may know truth for yourselves:

Galatians 1:6-7 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel- 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.