A reminder for
today
And I will come down
and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the
burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone. (Numbers 11:17)
Our current theme in church is that prophets are not just
men with beards. These men play a vital role in kingdom of God. The word “Prophecy”
means: -> a prediction of what will happen in the future. Prophecy is one of
the spiritual gifts Paul said we should have and it is far more important than speaking
in tongues. I would that ye all spake
with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that
speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive
edifying. Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I
profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge,
or by prophesying, or by doctrine? (1 Corinthians 14)
A prophecy is a message inspired by God, a divine
revelation. The Bible says that prophets “spoke from God as they were moved by
holy spirit.” (2 Peter 1: 20, 21) So a prophet is one who receives God’s
message and transmits it to others. —Acts 3: 18.
The spiritual gift of prophecy is listed among the gifts of
the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:10 and Romans 12:6. The Greek word translated
“prophesying” or “prophecy” in both passages properly means to “speak forth” or
declare the divine will, to interpret the purposes of God, or to make known in
any way the truth of God which is designed to influence people. Many people
misunderstand the gift of prophecy to be the ability to predict the future.
While knowing something about the future may sometimes have been an aspect of
the gift of prophecy, it was primarily a gift of proclamation
(“forth-telling”), not prediction (“fore-telling”).
Also, note the transition from prophet to teacher in 2 Peter
2:1: “There were false prophets among the people, even as there shall
be false teachers among you” (emphasis added). Peter indicates that the Old
Testament age had prophets, whereas the church will have teachers. The
spiritual gift of prophecy, in the sense of receiving new revelations
from God to be proclaimed to others, ceased with the completion of the Bible.
During the time that prophecy was a revelatory gift, it was to be used for the
edification, exhortation, and comfort of men (1 Corinthians 14:3). The modern
gift of prophecy, which is really more akin to teaching, still declares the truth
of God. What has changed is that the truth of God today has already been fully
revealed in His Word, while, in the early church, it had not yet been fully
revealed.
Christians are to be very wary of those who claim to have a “new” message from God. It is one thing to say, “I had an interesting dream last night.” However, it is quite another matter to say, “God gave me a dream last night, and you must obey it.” No utterance of man should be considered equal to or above the written Word. We must hold to the Word that God has already given and commit ourselves to scripture alone
Christians are to be very wary of those who claim to have a “new” message from God. It is one thing to say, “I had an interesting dream last night.” However, it is quite another matter to say, “God gave me a dream last night, and you must obey it.” No utterance of man should be considered equal to or above the written Word. We must hold to the Word that God has already given and commit ourselves to scripture alone
Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus.
Cheers
