FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE GIFTS
OF THE SPIRIT – XIX
THE GIFT
OF PROPHECY - II
1 Corinthians 12:10 …to another prophecy…
Review: Last week we observed the attributes of the
gift of prophecy (the gift of speaking forth).
These attributes included:
- It does not
foretell. It speaks forth/declares.
- It is not what
identifies one as holding the “office” of the prophet.
- It is to be
desired by all disciples, which means it is possible for all to receive
it.
- It is intended
to edify the assembly, not the individual.
- Its great value
is the benefit it can bring to the assembly.
- It edifies,
exhorts and comforts.
- It exposes the
unbeliever and the unlearned within the midst of the assembly.
- Its delivery is under
the control of the person speaking.
One can wait until it is the proper time to speak forth. (The
spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.)
- It is to be
judged by others within the assembly who also exercise the gift after
every two or three utterances.
- All may prophecy in the meeting of the assembly; but only in an orderly manner.
This
is what the gift of prophecy/speaking forth is like; but what actually
IS
the gift of prophecy? We have seen that
the Scripture distinguishes this gift from foretelling events (word of wisdom)
and from uncovering or revealing knowledge (word of knowledge); so what else is
left?
Prophecy is the
poetry and prose of the Holy Spirit, speaking forth things that bring
edification, exhortation and comfort to the Body of Messiah. As with all the gifts of the Spirit, it is a
supernatural utterance. The information
and the delivery of the message is of the Holy Spirit. It is the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon
the words HE provides that creates the edification, exhortation and comfort to
the assembly. Anyone may teach the
doctrines or the facts that comprise the content of a prophecy; but that is not
the same thing as the supernatural delivery of that message. That is merely teaching what one has learned
and believes to be true.
Unfortunately,
much of what passes for prophecy in the churches today is nothing more than
various facts being strung together by the understanding of the one speaking. Because their knowledge of the Scripture is
often faulty or incomplete, their faux prophecy may also be filled with error. Also, because their utterances are often the
conjuring of their own minds and of their pride, they frequently inject future
elements within their would-be prophecies and thus prove their utterances to be
false. I have heard many would-be
prophecies through the years that were nothing more than people saying what
they “wish” IAUE would speak to the congregation. For example, I have heard over and over
again, people stand up and say, “Thus saith the Lord, I love you my little children.
I care for you, and desire only good for you.”
Though such words are Scripturally sound, the word which IAUE might have
preferred to speak to those congregations may have been, “I have called you
to walk uprightly before me as living sacrifices, to do my will. Why have you not done so?” Does IAUE love them? Of course He does; but does telling them He
loves them produce the result He desires from them? Not even close. Prophecy is not speaking words that are
true. It is speaking words that come
from the Holy Spirit.
[It
might be good to add here, that saying “Thus saith the Lord” is never what the
Holy Spirit says, today. It might have
been what He would have said through an English speaking person of 400 years
ago; but he does not speak in Elizabethan English through men and woman today. The
man or woman who begins an utterance with “Thus saith the Lord,” does so
usually for one of two reasons: 1 – It is
what they have always heard other people say when they speak in an utterance
gift, so they are just copying them (which means they are not saying what the
Holy Spirit is saying); and 2 – They try to add veracity and authenticity to
their words by speaking like it is coming from the author of the Scriptures. In either case it is inappropriate and should
be judged by the others in the assembly who are like-gifted.]
Many
times I have heard people simply excerpting phrases from various Scripture
verses to create the appearance of a prophetic utterance. Though the Scripture is always a good thing
to hear, the subterfuge and deception of the speaker borne of pride/ego,
contaminates those utterances and can actually make them dangerous to the
Body.
Let’s
examine some examples of prophecy in order to arrive at an understanding of
what this gift is; and why it is deemed to be of such great value to the Body.
Almost
the entire book of Psalms is prophecy. Why
have believers of every generation loved the Psalms? When they are hurting, confused, attacked, or
just in love with IAUE, where do they go in the Scriptures most often? The Psalms.
Why? It is because it brings
comfort. It exhorts. It edifies.
Psalm 23:1 IAUE is
my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He
restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's
sake.
4 Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:
for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou
preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my
head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in
the house of IAUE for ever.
This
is a declaration of facts that are not futuristic in their unfolding, nor
revealing anything that should not already be known about IAUE; but it is a
powerful encouragement to believers to understand the predisposition of IAUE
regarding His love and care for them. One could dwell upon these words for
hours upon hours and still not soak in all the edification and comfort
contained in the words.
Psalm 1:1 Blessed
is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the
way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his
delight is in the law of IAUE; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he
shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his
fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth
shall prosper.
4 The
ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore
the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of
the righteous.
6 For
IAUE knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Again,
these are all facts already in evidence.
Things we already had reason to know; but the manner in which this
information is assembled and delivered produces much encouragement and
edification to the reader. Who has not
read this Psalm over and over again through the years? Why is that?
It is because prophecy, edifies, exhorts and comforts.
In
Joshua 24:2-20, at the end of Joshua’s
ministry to the children of Israel, having led them in victorious battle over
31 separate nations in order to possess the promised land, he prophesies to the
people. In this prophecy, he merely recounts the history of the children of
Abraham beginning at Abraham’s separation from a polytheistic background to the
singular worship of IAUE unto their present day; then charges them to choose
whom the will serve. This record of
their history was sufficient exhortation for the entire Hebrew nation to
respond by saying they will serve IAUE.
In
Luke 1:67-79, at the naming of John,
Zecharias’ tongue was loosed from a 9-month inability to speak in order to
prophecy. In his prophecy, he recounted
the history of Israel and reminded his listeners of the promises of IAUE to
bring forth a redeemer, the Messiah. He
declared that that day had come to Israel; and that his son was the one spoken
of in the Scripture as the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah.
Many
years ago, I delivered a prophecy during a Sunday morning service at a church
where I had been attending for several months.
The content of the prophecy essentially declared the good things that
IAUE had set before that body of believers as a way of expressing His
appreciation for their genuine praise.
After the service was over, a woman approached me and asked me where
that was in the Scriptures. I asked her,
“Where was what in the Scriptures?” She
replied, “What you said during the service; where is it in the Scriptures? I know it’s there; I just can’t find it.” She was surprised when I told her that it wasn’t
in the Scriptures. It was a word of
prophecy. She had experienced the same
kind of edification, exhortation and comfort from the utterance she was
accustomed to experiencing when she read the Scriptures that she thought surely
I had simply quoted a passage from the Bible.
We
have stated throughout this study on the gifts of the Spirit, that most of the
gifts have a “trigger” that enhances the operation and power of the gift. The gift of prophecy also has a trigger.
Revelation 19:10 And I
fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am
thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Yahushua:
worship IAUE: for the testimony (martus) of Yahushua
is the spirit of prophecy.
The
“spirit” of prophecy is the heart or the essence
of prophecy. It is NOT the prophecy
itself. It is the wellspring from which
prophecy emerges…the trigger. Let’s see
how this word “testimony” is used in the New
Testament in order to glean an understanding of it.
Acts 1:8 But ye
shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall
be witnesses (martus) unto
me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the
uttermost part of the earth.
Acts 22:20 And
when the blood of thy martyr (martus) Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto
his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.
These two verses are not sufficient to establish a hard-fast
doctrinal position on the matter; but the impression they give (at least to me)
is this. When we bow our knee to
Yahushua as our Master, and when we receive the gift of IAUE, the Holy Spirit,
we are to take our place as a living stone laid into the temple of IAUE, which temple
He inhabits by His Spirit. We are no
longer our own person. Our bodies are no
longer ours. We are to be, as Paul says,
living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) through which Messiah may live and express the
nature of IAUE in and through us. Our
life is to become a testimony of the reality and the truth of Messiah. That purpose
should consume our very being.
Acts 11: 22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of
the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should
go as far as Antioch.
23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of IAUE,
was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave
unto the Master.
Such a commitment and purpose of life to cleave to
Messiah such that it is his life to which our life gives testimony; this is the
“spirit” of prophecy; and it facilitates the manifestation of the Holy Spirit
through us in the gift of “speaking forth” unto the edification, exhortation
and comfort of our brothers and sisters in Messiah. You can use this as a virtual litmus test to
aid in judging the prophecies you may hear in your assemblies. If the person speaking is one that you know
to be callous, carefree, unresolved to live in the intimate and momentary
leading of the Holy Spirit, or he/she is a prideful person; their utterances
may be regarded as suspect. Though the
Holy Spirit may opt to manifest himself through any vessel of His choosing; the
spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Yahushua. When Paul exhorted that ALL disciples should desire
to prophecy, and ALL disciples MAY prophecy; it is clear that the manifestation
of this gift could/would be realized through men and woman once they have
forsaken their own agendas and have purposed in their heart to be obedient to
the Master, Yahushua Messiah.
Next
week: The Gift of Discerning of Spirits
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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