Note from Charisma founder and CEO Stephen Strang: I recorded a recent podcast interview with Dr. Caleb Cooper, author of this article. I asked him to put his thoughts in written form because of the critical nature of this topic. I encourage you to both read the article and listen to our recent Strang Report podcast interview to gain understanding of the truths he shares.
Undeniable perilous times are upon the earth as many tune their ears towards the hope of finding accurate prophetic voices. The gift of prophecy is under fire as well as a clear call for prophetic accountability in the body of Christ. Many have found it hard to find a sure word from God. I would encourage you to maintain the position that the gift of prophecy is real; however, the Bible always contains a sure word from God!
America is reaping the effects of many pulpits that have exhausted precious pulpit time with self-help, motivational speaking and comedic storytelling instead of equipping God’s people with the uncompromised Word of God. Regardless of the accurate or inaccurate voices around you, Ephesians 6:17 says, “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (author’s emphasis).
I believe as we entered the new decade in 2020 and are moving forward, Holy Spirit has been on a mission to teach the church to embrace the full counsel of God’s Word. You must remember that as you are on the spiritual battlefield of revival and awakening, God has armed you with a spiritual sword called the Word of God. The sword of the Spirit has a double-edged blade. It is imperative that the body of Christ swing both sides of the precious sword of God’s Word in the earth. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Allow me to remind you of some current events where swinging both sides of the double-edged sword of God’s Word would both be necessary and bring great clarity. These are only a couple of many examples. When the pandemic of COVID-19 hit and the government attempted to shut down churches, both sides of the sword of God’s Word were necessary for spiritual navigation. Many said, “Romans 13 says, ‘Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.'” But what about the other side of the sword? Acts 5:29 says, “Peter and the other apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.'”
Consider all of the prophecies about the current presidency. Many people, without giving the prophecies a chance to breathe, declared, “First Corinthians 14:29 says, ‘Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge,” as well as other verses.
I agree that the body of Christ should judge prophecies; however, if there are prophecies that were not bound by a stamp of a certain time and date, should we not give them time to come to pass? The other side of the sword of God’s Word does not call us to just sit on the sidelines and judge prophecy but rather to wage war with prophecies as a weapon with which God has armed us. First Timothy 1:18 (NKJV) says, “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare.”
We are living in the last days, and the time is now to embrace the full counsel of the double-edged blade of God’s Word.
For more of Dr. Cooper’s teaching on this topic, listen to his entire interview with Stephen Strang on the Strang Report podcast at this link and to this episode of Cooper’s podcast, Uncompromised Revival Fire. {eoa}
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Dr. Caleb Cooper is senior pastor of New Hope Revival Church and author of Pioneering Prophetic Patterns of Purpose, Jesus Focused: Awakening Endtime Prophetic Strategy and The Convergence of Revival and the King’s Arrival.
