The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Part 6

of our study of the Person & Work of the Holy Spirit

Welcome!

Intro

√ Did you do your homework?

Define what a prophet is.

Define what the gift of prophecy is.

How to tell a true prophet/prophecy from a false one!

The gift of prophecy

√ Anyone familiar with the Bible has read much about prophets, and prophecy.

The office, or gift of prophet, is near the top of the list of spiritual gifts.

1Co 12:28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets,….

And…

I Cor. 14:1 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.

√ What is prophecy, and what is a prophet?

The gift of prophecy:

Is a special ability to speak forth for God.

Prophecy can be either…

Telling forth – proclaiming the message of God

Fore telling - future

A prophecy can deal with…

Individuals

Group – like the church or a nation

A prophet then is someone who speaks for God by means of divine revelation.

In a general sense a preacher who proclaims the Word of God is acting in the role of prophet, as he or she is speaking for God.

However, prophecy is not the same as preaching.

An example of a New Testament prophet.

Ex. Agabus

Acts 21:10 And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

Acts 21:11 When he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, `So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'"

The gift, or office of prophet:

The gift of prophecy gave rise to the office of prophet in the early church. Paul speaks of the prophets in…

Eph. 2:20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,

That is to say, the Church has been built on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ and the message of His Gospel which is proclaimed by the apostles and prophets in the early church.

So, we find that those in the office of prophet were involved in the leadership of the church in the book of Acts as they laid the foundation of the Church through the preaching of the Gospel.

Acts 12:1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

√ Not all people with the gift of prophecy held the office of prophet.

Ex. Saul – I Sam. 10

Philip’s daughters

Acts 21:9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

Review – the gift of prophecy

√ The gift of prophecy is regarded as one of the best gifts.

√ A prophet is a spokesperson for God.

√ The gift of prophecy consists of delivering a message from God which may involve direct revelation.

√ The gift of prophecy may deal with predicting the future.

√ Both men and women may exercise the gift of prophecy.

Operating the gift of prophecy

√ If you’ve got a teen, or if you don’t you may remember being one, but the truth is that a young person will know all about cars and driving them long before they ever actually do!

Operating a car is a whole lot different than simply possessing the head knowledge about driving!

The same is true of spiritual gifts – a prophecy is one gift that requires spiritual maturity to operate it in such a way as to be a blessing to others.

Much that passes for prophecy in some parts of the Church today are nothing more than theatrics and vain imagination.

Ex. John Kilpatrick of Hank Hanegraaff

“You better back off, because I am going to prophesy to you that if you don’t, and you continue to put your tongue in your mouth on this move of God, within 90 days the Holy Ghost will bring you down.”

√ The Bible gives us some clear guidelines about how the gift of prophecy is to be used.

Regarding the use of the gift Paul says…

I Cor. 14:29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.

I Cor. 14:30 But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent.

I Cor. 14:31 For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged.

I Cor. 14:32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

I Cor. 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

And…

I Cor. 14:37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.

The point is that a person who is truly speaking for God will operate the gift they have under the authority and direction of the Word of God.

Limited numbers:

Vs. 29 - tells us that when opportunity is given to use the gift, that we don’t open the flood gate and let everyone use their gift.

Self control:

Vs. - 31 & 32 tell us that the gift is subject the one to whom it is given and that it must be used in a way that promotes unity and order.

Judged by others:

Vs. 29 - tells us that we shouldn’t blindly accept everything that is spoken “in the name of the Lord” as being from the Lord.

Ex. “Give up your wedding rings”

1Jo 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Consistent with the Word of God:

Paul doesn’t cover it here, however, a general practice of the apostles was to test each new experience – whether revelation, or vision, or prophecy – by the Word of God.

Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.

Acts 2:15 "For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.

Acts 2:16 "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

And…

Acts 15:15 "And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

So, if someone brings forth a word of prophecy – test it to make sure that it is consistent with the Bible. If it’s not – you can be sure that it’s not from God!

Brings up a good point – how do we identify a false prophet? A person who says that they speak for God – but in fact does not.

False prophets

√ There are many even today who claim to speak for God.

Ex. The “prophet” Joseph Smith of the Mormon church.

Doesn’t come to pass:

Deu. 18:20 `But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.'

Deu. 18:21 "And if you say in your heart, `How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?' --

Deu. 18:22 "when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

Ex. Joseph Smith “prophesied” In 1832 that Missouri was to be the home land of the Mormon church with Independence Missouri that place of their temple.

He declared that the generation alive in 1832 would not die until all this came to pass.

Opps!

A different gospel:

Gal. 1:6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,

Gal. 1:7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.

Gal. 1:8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

The Bible declares a Gospel of Grace, whereas the false prophet Joseph Smith preached a gospel of works and secret occult ritual.

Testify of Jesus:

The Bible is clear that any true prophecy should point people to Jesus Christ.

Rev. 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

And…

I Jo. 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,

I Jo. 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

Any true prophecy should magnify Jesus Christ and Him alone.

Also, if the one giving the prophecy denies that Jesus was fully divine and fully human, then that person is a false prophet.

Therefore, we can test a prophet by their view of Jesus’ character and nature.

Moral consistency:

This is an test that many people fail to apply to those who claim to speak of for God. That is, the prophet must pass a moral test!

Mat. 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

Mat. 7:16 "You will know them by their fruits.

The questions we want to ask regarding a person who claims to speak for God is this:

Is this person’s moral character consistent with his office?

And, is the fruit of their life good or bad?

A person’s moral character should be like that of the Lord Jesus. If they have serious character flaws we can be sure that they are not speaking for God.

Secondly, inspect the fruit of their lives. Do they live in harmony with God’s Word? Does their life bring glory to God? Are others impacted in a positive way for the KOG by their life?

Ex. Joseph Smith – involved with over 20 women – only one of which was his legal spouse – one as young as 14 – and many married to other men!

Ap. So we must beware that we don’t get suckered by a false prophet, yet we also don’t want to become cynical and not allow for the gift to be operated.

I Th. 5:20 Do not despise prophecies.

I Th. 5:21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.

Does God still speak through prophecy today?

√ Yes! No scriptural foundation to say that He doesn’t.

√ Why else would God give specific instructions to the church about how to use the gift?

Ex. Pastor Chuck – a father to many churches

Homework

√ Pastoral gift

√ Teaching

√ Evangelist