June 2025
Modern Day Prophets and Prophecy – The ROCK – June 2025 – Rev. Logan Landes
God warns His Church through His Son (Matthew 7:15–20; 24:24, etc.) that many false prophets and false Christs will arise throughout the ages. Many men and women will elevate themselves as speakers of God's revelations and bearers of His message and authority. This very warning led Martin Luther to reject the doctrine of the papacy and ultimately depart from the Roman Catholic Church, seeking to adhere to the Word of God alone.
Christ’s Word is always right and true. Therefore, the Church recognizes that even today there are those who claim to be prophets and claim to proclaim the authoritative Word of God in a manner different from the canonical Scriptures. How does the Church respond?
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod affirms the almighty power of God and the works of the Holy Spirit among His people. God is sovereign and can do as He pleases. That said, how does the Church of God in this modern era receive the so-called “modern-day prophet”?
There is no denying that the gift of prophecy is biblical. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, prophecies are given and fulfilled. The Christian Church wholly accepts and confesses this. However, the concept of modern-day prophecies is not so readily accepted. For Christ came to fulfill His Word, and in His death and resurrection, He has done that. The last prophecy to be fulfilled is the promise of His return, as spelled out in His Word—especially in Revelation.
Yet, many self-proclaimed Christian prophets of the modern era claim to be revealing new words from God to His people. They assert that they have knowledge and speak things not found in God's Word, yet equally true and authoritative. Can this be?
In biblical times, yes—prophets gave new and authoritative words from God. Jesus Christ Himself came as the Prophet, bringing and fulfilling the Word of God. Now? The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod holds that there is no such thing as a modern-day prophet or prophecy. Everything the Lord needed to say to His Church for her forgiveness and salvation has already been said and recorded in His Holy Scriptures.
1 Corinthians 13:8–10 says,
“Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.”
The LCMS teaches and confesses that prophecies and tongues were wonderful gifts of God during the time of the apostles—what is called the Apostolic Age. This was the era in which God blessed His sent ones with spiritual gifts to establish His Church on earth and to validate the truth of His Holy Word.
Paul teaches, however, that these gifts—such as prophecies and tongues—would pass away. They were useful for a time, but that time has passed. For the perfect has come. While some denominations interpret "when the perfect comes" as referring to Christ's second coming, the LCMS understands it to refer to the completion of God's revealed Word, which we have received.
St. John writes at the end of Revelation:
“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”
While this warning applies specifically to Revelation, it also signals the completion of all Scripture. It is a divine forbidding of adding to or taking away from God's Word in its entirety.
With God’s Word thus declared “complete” by St. John’s final words, so too must the Church understand that the gift of prophecy has come to an end. All that the Lord says to His Church has already been received in Scripture. Nothing more is needed, and nothing ought to be removed. It is complete and perfect.
Ephesians 2:20 states:
“…built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone…”
The foundation for the Christian Church has already been laid. It is the foundation confessed in the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds. The Church stands on the teachings of the ancient prophets, through whom God delivered His divine Word, and on the writings of the apostles, who proclaimed the truth of God’s atoning work and promises. And all of it rests upon Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, crucified and risen again—the fulfillment of all Scripture. There is nothing more the Church needs. She already has it all.
Christ Himself declared from the cross, “It is finished.” Nothing more needs to be added, and nothing needs to be removed. Salvation belongs to the Church.
The very idea of a modern-day prophet who brings new revelation from God is in direct contradiction to God's already spoken and written Word—the infallible rule and norm that governs the Church’s life and confession. Therefore, she must reject all new revelations and so-called modern prophets, clinging only to the divine and holy Scriptures, gifted by God and received by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit.
Satan himself is well-equipped to use God's own words to confuse the Church and distort her confession. He and his agents are crafty and capable of disguising themselves as wolves in sheep’s clothing—parading around with so-called revelations and messages from God, all while lying and deceiving in His holy name. He sought to tempt Jesus in the wilderness this very way. This is dangerous, and the Church must do all she can to avoid and reject such false preaching and teaching. May the Church never forget that Satan prowls like a lion, and she is his prey. Keep watch! Be on guard!
If the Church cannot seek out new prophets to speak God’s Word to her, where does she go to receive it? Where is her sure defense against the lies and dangers of Satan?
The Church of our time—and of all times—is not lacking for the Word of God or His protection simply because prophecy has ceased and legitimate prophets are no more. Quite the opposite! Prophets and prophecies were given to support the early Church in her infancy. But now that the Bride of Christ, the Church, has received all she needs—namely, forgiveness and life everlasting—she does not seek new words from God but treasures the Word already given.
Pastors continue to speak God’s Word to His people—not through new revelations, but through faithful proclamation of what God has already spoken. The truths of God and His promises, so vital to the people of biblical times, are still the same truths and promises that sustain the Church today. The Christian’s hope is not in new words from God, but in the Word already possessed.
Thus, the Church eagerly and frequently seeks faithful preaching and teaching in God's name. Pastors preach the Gospel of Christ in its truth and purity, forgive sins in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teach the faith diligently, and administer the sacraments faithfully—so that God’s promises and blessings remain ever before His people and are continually received for their benefit.
If the Church is burdened by sin, confused by the ever-changing norms of life, or assaulted by the devil’s lies, she must not seek out new words. Rather, may God direct her back to His Word, which never changes and never ceases to be relevant or a balm to the troubled soul. In this Word—the canonical Scriptures of the Church—she finds the peace and comfort she needs. In this divine and perfect Word, she is assured that she is a forgiven child of God and an heir of His Kingdom. Nowhere else is this promise given—only by God, only through His Word.
The day will come when even the final prophecy is fulfilled. Christ will return in the clouds, just as He promised, and He shall bring the Church—His Bride—to dwell with Him forever in heaven. There she shall no longer suffer under sin, death, or the devil. There she will no longer endure the confusion of false prophets and antichrists. There she will receive all that God has promised through the blood of Christ. There she will fully possess what the Word of God proclaims.
And if the Church has this—which she does—then she needs nothing more.
In Christ,
Amen.