Pastor's Blog

Well, you get those things. They had them in Paul’s day, but that does not mean that we should despise prophesying. We should not reject the good because of the false.

I do not know if you, in New Zealand, have counterfeiters of New Zealand dollars. I suppose you do. I guess they’re everywhere. We have them in the States. Time and again you read in the paper, “Million dollars worth of counterfeit $20 bills are in circulation.”

I have yet to hear a person say, “I don’t believe in any $20 bills. I don’t want any.” They take them all right. You don’t throw away the good because of the bad. So we are not to vex the Spirit by holding prophesying in contempt when the Word indeed says, “Covet to prophesy.”

We had a student in our school, a nice chap. He was engaged to a nice girl. He graduated a year ahead of her, and took a pastorate. She wanted to finish school. I was up to give him some meetings, and he wanted some counseling. He said:

“Brother Beuttler, I don’t know what to do. I have prophetesses in my congregation, and I don’t know what to do with them. They get up and prophesy something like this: ‘Behold, thus saith the Lord, you shall not marry that girl in school. The Lord has provided for thee a wife from your own congregation; therefore obey the voice of the Lord, or the Lord will cause thy ministry to disappear.”

The prophetess was a mother with a girl she would like to have married to the pastor. There were several of them. There were a number of girls there, and he was a nice chap. Any girl would fall for him, and the mother’s did.

Another had a revelation, “Brother, I must tell you of a revelation I had from the Lord. I saw terribly black clouds, and the black clouds settled over you. And I said, ‘Lord what means this?’ And the Lord showed me that this means that the projected marriage with that girl is like a cloud that’s going to come over your life, and the only way for you to get out of this cloud of judgment is to break the engagement and look around in your own congregation for a girl. Behold, thus saith the Lord.”

She had a daughter that she would have liked to get married to the pastor. He got married anyhow. The girl from the bible school became his wife. They lasted about one or two years. Those prophetess’s kept up this prophesying pronouncing brimstone and fire on this union, all because they had daughters they would have liked the pastor to marry. Those things could easily get you prejudiced and say, “Oh, that prophesying, we’re fed up with it.”

Well, I’m fed up with some, but on the other hand, I have heard choice prophetic utterances that were the pure gold. Despise not prophesying just because some people go way off into the flesh and come along with all kinds of, shall we call it, nonsense.

I was teaching in a camp meeting also in the States. One day, I was told, “Brother Beuttler, did you know that we have a prophetess here?” I am always interested in prophetesses. I like to meet them. The camp did not have a dishwasher, and one day they announced, “Is there anyone here who would be willing to wash dishes today? We do not have a dishwasher.”

Nobody’s hand went up, so I put my hand up and volunteered to wash dishes. I was washing dishes that afternoon, and somebody said, “Brother Beuttler, the prophetess is coming,” in a whisper. “Good,” I whispered back. She had prophesied in the camp. The camp had a very good cook. Italians are good cooks, you know, and she was a good cook. She knew my weakness, blueberry pie.

She’d say, “Brother Beuttler, there’s a piece of blueberry pie for you in the kitchen. Come and get it.” I could get almost anything I wanted. This prophetess had prophesied to this cook, “Behold thus saith the Lord, You shall not cook for another year. This is the last year in which you are to cook. Buy thee a white dress and white shoes, for you shall die and not live. Behold thus saith the Lord. He has spoken.”

One day, this cook was so sad and downhearted. I said, “Sister, what’s the trouble?”

She said, “I’m going to die.” I said, “Of what?” “I don’t know, but I’m going to die,” she tearfully answered. I said, “Well, where did you get the idea?” She answered, “The prophetess has spoken in the Name of the Lord.” I said, “And you believed her?” “Oh yes, Brother Beuttler, she is a prophetess. This is the last time I cook for this camp.”

I got angry. I said, “Do not believe stuff like that. It does not sound right.” “Yes, but she’s the prophetess,” she tearfully replied. Isn’t it something how gullible people are? They swallow almost anything. I don’t know what it is, so I prayed. I said, “Lord, don’t let the cook die. In the first place, she’s a good cook. In the second place, expose the false prophetess so everybody will know.”

Because when the prophetess was around, people tiptoed, “Oh, the prophetess,” in a whisper. The prophetess all right! So I said, “Lord, don’t let her die.” Well, next year, she cooked again. I’m not saying the Lord answered my prayer, but that’s the way I prayed it anyhow. I said to the cook, “Look here, do you remember the prophecy last year?” “Oh yes,” she answered. I said, “Now you’re still cooking.” “Oh yes.” “Don’t you see now that’s she’s false?” She answered, “Brother Beuttler, I don’t know. Perhaps she only made a mistake.”

I have never turned away from genuine utterances just because of these foolish people that come along with such foolish harangue in the Name of the Lord. Let’s not vex the Spirit by holding prophetic utterances in contempt.