See also: In Pursuit of Holy Prophets, Prophetic Ministry Books Ranking

As I delve into the Gospel writings of John Wesley and Charles Finney, I realize that a strong sense of justification by faith alone, regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and sanctification of the Christian life, are absolutely necessary for accurate prophetic discernment through dreams, visions, and spiritual voices. If we are called to the prophetic, then we are called to see the dreams and visions that the apostle Paul saw, when he spoke of the Gospel he preached: “I want you to know, brothers, that the Gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12). This revelation is expressed specifically in Romans 3:19-31, and explained even further by Romans 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Last year I had a dream where I was holding Steve Harper’s The Way to Heaven: The Gospel According to John Wesley, and I was going to preach what I had learned from it, at a United Methodist summer camp. Since that Gospel dream, I have been ever studying Wesleyan Arminian scholars on John Wesley’s views of salvation: Steve Harper, Thomas Oden, and now Albert Outler’s anthology of John Wesley’s Sermons: specifically “Salvation by Faith,” “Justification by Faith,” and “The Scripture Way of Salvation.” And I intend to go further with Kenneth Collins, Lovett Weems, Harald Lindstrom, Mildred Wynkoop, and other Wesleyan soteriologists…and go open air Gospel preaching at college campuses, and start Bible study groups there.

JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS FOR OUR SINS, FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS, SO THAT WE CAN GO AND SIN NO MORE: “He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).

Any dream or vision or voice, supposed to come from the Holy Spirit, that does not have this kind of concept behind it–IS OF THE DEVIL! “Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from Heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil” (James 3:15). How many in the prophetic movement can we say that about!? Most.

But there are few who have held on to a consciousness of Gospel holiness in everyday life. And usually, they are accurate prophets. And I can’t help but think this is because they have some point of reference to John Wesley, Charles Finney, Leonard Ravenhill, David Wilkerson, A. W. Tozer, Evan Roberts, Keith Green, Steve Hill, and Michael Brown. They are few in number, but these are the kinds of guys you want spiritual guidance from in the prophetic–none other:

1a. Michael Brown’s Prophets and Prophetic Ministry (MP3 series)

1b.  Jim Goll’s The Seer (4 references to Finney, 3 to Roberts, 1 to Wilkerson, 2 to Hill, 1 to Brown)–now in an updated, Expanded Edition.

2.  Mike Bickle’s Growing in the Prophetic (7 to Edwards, 1 reference to Wesley, 1 to Wilkerson, 1 to Tozer)

3. Greg Haslam’s Moving in the Prophetic (1 reference to Wesley, 6 to Tozer)

See also: Ann Taves’ Fits, Trances, and Visions: Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience from Wesley to James (1999); Daniel Jennings’ The Supernatural Occurrences of Charles G. Finney (2009); Daniel Jennings’ The Supernatural Occurrences of John Wesley (2012).