Are there any living prophets today or any prophets before the second coming of Christ?

August 19th 2014 | 38203 views 

No. We are still being taught by the prophets in the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV), "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. ?The Bible has everything we need - including end-time prophecies. 

Ephesians 4:11-13 states, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”  Some believe that God is restoring the offices of apostle and prophet today because the body of Christ is not unified in faith and not mature.

Ephesians 2:20 teaches that the church is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." No future prophets nor apostles are needed nor promised. The Apostles and prophets were gifts to the church. (1 Corinthians 12:28) These foundation offices were given to the church to establish and spread the Gospel to non-believers. The miraculous gifts - like speaking in foreign tongues and healing diseases - were also signs meant to convince people that the Gospel was from God. Acts 14:3 (NIV), "So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders." When the Apostles died, no others could pass on the office of prophet nor miraculous gifts. 

New converts to Christianity needed to see miracles because they did not yet have the Gospels of the New Testament to read and study. Acts, Revelation and the letters of Paul, Peter, John and others were in the process of being written. When the Apostles passed off the scene, so did the powers they possessed. By that time, the Bible was completed so that visible miracles and prophesying were no longer necessary.  Instead, the Christian's foundation was to be based on faith (Hebrews 11:1) obtained through the study of God's holy word (Romans 10:17). The Apostles and prophets completed their mission by giving us the word of God, which is recorded in the Bible. The Bible contains everything the church needs to know to grow, thrive, fulfill God’s mission, and understand the end-times..

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