Prophecy and Jesus Christ

As soon as I finish Mere Churchianity, I plan on gettin all up on Jesus Manifesto by Frank Viola.  A question(and answer) that brings a sigh of relief from the latest on Viola's blog. The interviewer(Kelly Deppen) is a member of a charismatic prophetic ministry:

Deppen: A hard line, tough love quote from Manifesto:  ”This is a profoundly grievous misuse of the Bible.”  [To use the Bible as a recipe book, a formulation and pat answer for God across all situations, across time.]   The implication is to make God predictable and manageable by man. In the past two decades  many in  the Prophetic Movement have made a similar misuse of the rhema/prophetic Word of God.  Much of the prophecy was self-aggrandizing—prophecies of personal success, Swiss chalets, and world-wide apostolic anointings. I take the liberty to re-phrase:  “This has been a profoundly grievous misuse of the Revelation of Holy Spirit.”  I feel a personal mandate to return Prophetic Ministry to the unadulterated Testimony of Jesus Christ.  Frank, what is your advice for this turn-around?  What breed of leadership will this require as you see it?

Viola: The Holy Spirit has one main job: It is to reveal, to glorify, to magnify, and make real and living in one’s life the Lord Jesus Christ. All the arrows of the Spirit point to Jesus. We show this quite clearly in the book.

True prophecy, therefore, will always reveal Christ in some way. John said in the book of Revelation, “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

What was the content of the Old Testament prophets? It was Jesus. So today, when someone prophesies under the Spirit’s anointing, the content of their prophecy will reveal, glorify, exalt, make known and living the Lord Jesus Christ. This truth is often missed among certain movements today that have put “prophetic ministry” on the throne instead of Jesus Himself.