At the root of a lot of discussions and debates on the forum is the foundational question of who has, and what is the criteria for discerning who has, "spiritual authority" to speak for God to His Children and His Bride. I use the term spiritual authority that comes only from God to distinguish from anything else that might be deemed authority whether it be ecclesiastical or doctrinal authority. What is so interesting is the variety of answers to the question that one would read or discern from conversations.
Since spiritual authority to speak into the Bride was the critical issue in the Creation story and is the same issue through the OT and the NT, one would think that the Spirit has pronounced clearly who those are who truly are granted the authority to speak for God so that the Bride can listen to the right voice(s). Likewise, since the grant of authority is not a good house keeping seal seen on packaging, what has the Spirit said are the criteria for who has true authority and when do they not and even, when does that authority expire ?
Since the Spirit on such an important issue has already spoken, perhaps there is sufficient Scripture that can address the question as opposed to opinions or speculations. I don't say that condescendingly but rather as a matter of assessing that critical issues are not something that God would not clearly reveal in all the doctrine and examples He has laid out so that the Bride would know. Remember, that in the Garden, Satan appeared as a walking snake to deceive naive Eve. Nowadays, he will not fool so easily. He will attack or seek to subtly undermine true authority with the same questions but will appear as angels of light.