Absolutely Authentic
Absolutely Authentic
"You who know, O Lord, remember me, take notice of me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. Do not, in view of your patience, take me away; know that for your sake I endure reproach." (Jeremiah 15.15)
"For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, 'The reproaches of those who reproached You fell upon Me.' " (Romans 15.3)
The word "reproach" here means "to blame". These verses teach us that those who want to blame God for something, usually lack the courage or temerity to have a go at the Almighty, and so take out their anger and frustration on His servants.
This is a largely (and deliberately?) overlooked subject, which is of the utmost, if not ultimate, importance today.
Bearing this reproach is one of the most fundamental responsibilities and primary marks of the prophet who is genuine and authentic. The prophet's calling is (at its very heart and core) about carrying this divine reproach for Jesus Christ. It is not necessarily the immediate consequence of anything he or she has said or done. The prophet who lives as a hermit out in the backwoods of nowhere, will be marked and distinguished by this ministry. It is what prophets do!
(It is not in any way to be confused with the deserved criticism and rejection of pseudo-prophets; such search for censure and dismissal by deliberately speaking and behaving offensively and outlandishly.)
 Art |
He was rarely, if ever, invited to share a platform with the current epidemic of "revelation" hawkers who are currently monopolizing the "prophetic" spotlight in the Western Church. To such the masses at present flock, panting to accumulate more personal words of prophecy for their collections.
Personal prophetic words from Art were exceedingly rare, and therefore all the more to be treasured.
It was my privilege to travel with him through Germany early in 1993 for five weeks. We ranged through churches from Hamburg in the north to Freiburg in the south; from Dusseldorf in the west to Leipzig in the east. Somewhere around the midpoint of our "tour" I noticed that word was preceding us warning churches not to allow Art to minister because his message was "harsh". At one of our destinations we were given hospitality, but the prophet was not permitted to speak.
What was going on? Some German Christians could not stomach Art's message. I believe that they knew it to be the truth, but were profoundly annoyed with God that it was so. Rather than attack the Lord and try to silence Him, they turned on His servant and silenced him.
 Art Katz |
"Like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open His mouth." (Isaiah 53.7)
You do not get to bear this holy reproach as a result of attending prophetical schools or conferences, or by being officially "ordained" (if that's even possible?) a prophet. You either already know and experience this phenomenon or you don't. And if you don't, then you're not a prophet. You may have some measure of prophetic anointing on your life. You might even have the Holy Spirit's gift of prophecy. But you are not a prophet! In these Last Days you need to understand this, accept it, get over it and get on with your real life.
But if you are a heaven-sent prophet who has been ordained by God in your mother's womb (Jeremiah 1.5), then no matter how hard you try to be "good", no matter how well-behaved you are, more people will run away from you than run to you. You'll never be flavour-of-the-month in any church or movement for very long. You'll be hammered for messages you've never actually preached, "evil" deeds you've never done, and bad motives which have never so much as cast their shadows over your heart.
And by accepting all this uncomplainingly you are actually serving God and doing your "share on behalf of His Body (which is the Church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ's afflictions." (Colossians 1.24)
And I repeat, if you do not at the very least intuit all of this, then forget any notion that you're a prophet. Give yourself and His Church a break. Find another avenue to explore in your pursuit of purpose and "employment".
Why such a categorical (harsh?) demarcation? Because, according to the great Jeremiah, there is a clear and unmistakable link and correlation between the bearing of prophetic reproach and the uttering of prophetic words which are pure and powerful. To miss this vitiates the Church and leads to disaster.
"For me the word of the Lord has resulted in reproach and derision all day long. But if I say, 'I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name, then in my heart it (the word of the Lord) becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it.' " (Jeremiah 20.8-9)
To further honour Art as the genuine article...the authentic prophet, I would say that even when he preached very quietly and even conversationally his words being "of the Lord" were "like a burning fire"...consuming and igniting. Jeremiah-like they plucked up, broke down, destroyed, overthrew, and built and planted. (1.10)
Whence came such fiery oracles? Of course from God...but via a prophetic vessel in whom His words had been purified and charged with power because of His servant's willing acceptance and embrace of prophetic reproach.
"My heart was hot within me; while I was musing the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue." (Psalm 39.3)
"The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times." (Psalm 12.6)
An old song says, "Everyone wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die." Everybody these days it seems wants to be the oracle of the hour...but few appear willing to be disciplined into and in this office by fielding undeserved blame actually aimed at God. Art was such a "disciplined" one, and it showed in his demeanor and in his preaching and teaching, which eclipsed that of all others who claimed to be similarly appointed.
During his final visit to New Zealand in 2005, Art reminded us that prophets are not to go out "before they are threshed".
"They should be welcoming the threshing and expect it," he said, "because there are subtleties of soul in all of us...little insinuations of ambition, little presumptions of pride, little romantic notions of what we think prophetic service is, that God has got ruthlessly to deal with."
"This is necessary, so that when the prophet speaks it is God's word, not only in its content, but also in its mood and the spirit of its delivery. There's no cheap way to incubate this.
"He (the prophet) needs to be able to bear the reproach and rejection of what will invariably be the consequence of his faithfulness. (His) whole life and history in God is calculated to that end...its aggravation, every divinely calculated thing ... because that's how the prophetic person is formed, and that's how the prophetic Church is formed...not magically (but) existentially and actually."
Art pressed us on to the conclusion that the prophet's character is formed "in the historical situation, through the multitude of obediences".
"He has got to pass through the essence of the issues of life, in order to one day address them with penetration and authority in others, to compel them to ultimate decisions for or against God."
"But who has stood in the council of the Lord, that he should see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His words and listened?" (Jeremiah 23.18)
Art Katz stood in that place. Who will stand there now?
