Archbishop Dr Charles Agyinasare, Founder of the Perez Chapel International, has urged Ghanaians to be wary of prophets that prophesy to create confusion, fear, and destroy families and nations.

According to the renowned Bishop, prophetic pathways must align with destinies and not destroy homes and marriages as well as nations. To this end, he urged the Christian faithful to subject prophecies to biblical test, saying, “Prophecies must be tested and understood.”

Bishop Dr Agyinasare said this in his sermon on Sunday on the theme: ‘Prophets and Prophecy, Are They Important.’

It came in the wake of the numerous prophecies that have engulfed the media space with pastors predicting diverse outcomes on the same event. That has raised integrity concerns about some of these prophets and their prophecies.

It became a matter of concern for government after the unfortunate air disaster that claimed the lives of government officials and members of the security services. That led to the establishment of an agency chaired by Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah to receive prophecies of national interest.

It took a different dimension with the New Patriotic Party Presidential Primaries, held last week, with several pastors claiming to have received prophecies but divided on which candidate emerges the winner.

But according to Bishop Agyinasare, although prophecies were important, they ought to be grounded in scripture, governed by accountability, motivated by love, and centred on Christ.

He said the importance of prophets and prophecy have been questioned in recent times not because it disappeared but because it has appeared with intensity; sometimes with beauty and sometimes with abuse. “We live in times when prophetic activities have become widespread, yet discernment is scarce. As a result, some have been blessed and others have been bruised. The answers in scripture is clear and unambiguous but the prophecies must be understood, tested, and rightly handled.”

According to him, prophecies were divine plans of God and not from imagination or cultural trends or ecclesiastical experimentation, saying that “it is not a modern innovation or charismatic novelty.”

“Prophecies are God’s ideas according to scripture, initiated and sustained by him for guidance for the edification of the church,” he emphasised.

He explained that God uses the prophetic word to affirm what he has already said through scripture. “True prophecy applies scripture; it does not replace it. It never competes with scripture. It complements it. We are to test all prophecies,” he indicated.

Furthermore, he noted that prophecy is to glorify Jesus, but when men of God appear to take the glory and are carried by their members for their prophecies, then it is no longer about Jesus, and that is when all goes wrong.

Sadly, he mentioned that some of the prophets have become full of themselves. He said false prophecies usually instill fear among people, create situations of hopelessness, and urged people to beware of such prophecies.

Referencing a scripture in Matthew 7:15-20, Bishop Agyinasare reminded Christians to beware of false prophets, explaining that such people could be recognised by the fruits they bear, believing that some of the prophecies appear to humiliate leaders and cause fear.

By Andrew Nortey

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