In I Corinthians chapter 12 Paul says "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given prophecy...But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills." I Corinthians 12:7-8,10-11. In this study we are going to be looking at the gift of prophecy.

We have already studied the office of a prophet spoken of in Ephesians chapter 4. The prophets spoke forth words from God, both foretelling and forth-telling, with 100% accuracy. There was no room for error, if you spoke for God and it did not come to pass or was in error, you were a false prophet and the punishment was death.

Now in Hebrews chapter 1 we read beginning in verse 1 "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds." Hebrews 1:1-2. God was giving us doctrine, His Word through the prophets. And as their ministry or office came to an end, as the Scriptures were completed, there was no longer a need for them. God is not giving us new doctrine as some like to teach. Paul said in Ephesians 2:19-22, "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."

Both the apostles and the prophets were laying down the foundation, doctrine, for the church to be built upon. And now we, as living stones, are being joined together making a building for the Spirit of God to dwell in. And what has replaced the apostles and prophets are evangelists, pastor-teachers, and teachers who are taking this foundation, this doctrine, and giving it to the people, equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. And as the people receive it and as people get saved, another living stone is placed in this building that has been built upon a strong and sure foundation, the Word of God!

In saying that, please understand that the gift of prophecy is still around today. The difference between the office of a prophet and the gift of prophecy is simple. There was no room for error for the office of a prophet. But for the gift of prophecy there can be human error at times. Paul said in I Corinthians 14:29 "Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge." They were to judge if what was spoken was of God or not.

Now because of some potential problems, some have dismissed this gift, they believe that it too has passed off the scene. I disagree and I am thankful it is still around today. You see, Paul in I Corinthians 14:1 says "Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy." Why would Paul say that he desires for us to pursue or seek after the gift of prophecy, especially if it has passed off the scene?

Well Paul gives us three reasons why this gift of prophecy is so important in the church, even today. In I Corinthians 14:3 he said "But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men." If we truly understand what Paul is saying here, this is one of the most important gifts to be exercised as the body of believers come together. Lets look at these three reasons a little closer to understand what Paul is saying.

PROPHECY SPEAKS...

1. EDIFICATION (OIKODOME)

This word speaks "of building" or "building as a process". In other words, as the gift is being exercised we see believers built up, strengthened in their faith, their relationship with God. It should cause believers to hold on to God’s promises even during difficult times.

In Romans 14:19 Paul said "Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another." The focus is to build people up, not to tear them down. To strengthen them in the faith. Again, in Romans 15:2 Paul makes that same point when he said "Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification." And in I Thessalonians 5:11 Paul admonishes us to continue on in these things, as he said "Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing."

As this gift of the Holy Spirit is in operation you will see people grow and blossom in their faith. And that should be all our desire, not just the pastor or the elders building people up, but all of us participating in this great work.

2. EXHORTATION (PARAKLESIS)

The idea here is to come alongside and help, to spur someone into action. And when you think about it, the Scriptures are a PARAKLESIS to us, they help us in our walk and spur us into action. In II Timothy 3:16-17 Paul tells Timothy that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

The Scriptures tell us what is right, doctrine. They also tell us what is not right or reprove us. The Scriptures tell us how to get back on track when we have gone astray, they correct us so that we may walk worthy of the high calling by which we have been called. And they tell us how to stay on track or give us instructions on how to live. All of these are important as God is strengthening us and spurring us into action.

None of us like to be corrected, but if God ignored what we were doing, allowing us to travel down a path of death and destruction with no real concern, it would show us that He doesn’t care for us. But He does care for us, He does love us and He will correct His children, sometimes using the gift of prophecy to cut through the hardness of our hearts and get us back on track. It is as pastor Chuck has said, "Don’t just mouth it - do it! Don’t just hear it - practice it!" May that be the desire of our hearts, to live what we believe.

As the gift of prophecy is in operation the words that are spoken will point us in the right direction, they will spur us into action, they will led us to Jesus.

3. COMFORT (PARAMUTHIA)

How important it is to have the comfort of God in our lives. And that comfort is seen, it is realized when we recognize that God is still in control, He is still on the throne. And as bad as things might seem, He will work it out for His glory. It is as Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

Now what God has given to us, His great comfort, we can turn and give that comfort to others. Paul, in II Corinthians 1:3-5 says "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ."

When the gift of prophecy is in operation we see that the words that are being spoken will comfort us and give us a proper perspective of who God is, that He is still in control and He is still upon the throne. And that comfort that God has given to us, we can turn around and give it to others!

Thus, this gift is very important in the church today. Now some like to dismiss this gift, saying that there is no Scriptural support for it being in operation today, and again, I disagree. I do feel the Scriptures support the operation of not only the gift of prophecy, but the other spiritual gifts that the Scriptures speak of.

Remember as the disciples had gathered together in Jerusalem, and as the day of Pentecost came they were filled with the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit came upon them, empowering them for service. And they began to speak with other tongues. They began to speak in a language they didn’t understand.

Also in Jerusalem were Jews from other nations, and they heard these men speak in their own language, their own native tongue. And as these disciples spoke in these tongues they were praising God and the wonderful works that God had done. And they recognized that those who were speaking in these tongues could in no way have known the language they were speaking.

Now some were honestly unsure what this all meant. They were perplexed by what they heard and what they saw. Also in the crowd were those who really didn’t care. And they began to mock this work of God blaming the action of these men on alcohol, they were drunk they thought.

And we read beginning in verse 14 of Acts chapter 2 "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. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.’" Acts 2:14-18.

First of all Peter takes this experience that happened on the day of Pentecost and points to the Scriptures, telling the Jews who were there that this is the fulfillment of what the prophet Joel spoke about. How important that is for us to understand. If you can’t go to the Word of God to show that a spiritual experience you have seen or been part of is found in the Scriptures, then you better stay away from it, you better leave it alone. Many today are practicing things that are not found in the Scriptures or they twist the Scriptures to make them fit their experience. We need to let the Scriptures just speak for themselves, let them mean what they say, for that truly is the only safe way to look at them.

Secondly, Peter tells us that Joel’s prophecy is for "the last days". When are the last days? When did the last days start or did they start yet? I believe that the last days started when God became flesh and dwelt among us, which means we are living in the last days! It is as Hebrews 1:1-2 says "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds."

Thus, those things that Joel spoke of are for today, and prophecy is one of them, and thus prophecy is for today. In saying that we must also understand that God is not giving us any new doctrine but He still is very much speaking to His church, both forth-telling and foretelling. And understand this is not just an intelligent person speaking the things of God, but a man or woman of God is supernaturally speaking forth the words of God. It is kind of an "inspired utterance".

How does this gift work? Some get some pretty weird ideas, like the Holy Spirit taking control of the person and they begin to speak in the King James English with a really deep voice, and if they could, they would have smoke rising from around them. Understand this, the Holy Spirit does not take control of us like that, in fact that is possession and it is demonic. God doesn’t posses us in that sense, but He fills us with His presence. And what takes place as God is working in you with this gift is that He strongly impresses upon your heart and then you must take that step of faith to act upon what He is showing you. The key is that you are in control. No one should just lose control, interrupt a teaching and blame the Holy Spirit for overtaking them. Paul clearly says in I Corinthians 14:32-33 "And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints."

Why did Paul have to say that to the Corinthian church? Because everything was a chaotic free-for-all during their church service. Everyone wanted to speak and give what God had shown them, and it was a mess. And Paul is saying that the prophet or the person who is speaking for God is in total control of their actions. If not you end up with confusion as we are seeing in many churches today. In some services the pastor doesn’t even get to teach because of all the activity that is going on, and in the end no one is built up, encouraged by God. The gift of prophecy is exercised many times in the teaching of God’s Word, and we need to remember that, not lose sight of that.

To often people look to this section in Corinthians and try to say this is the way the church is to operate. No way. This was written early on, and at that time they didn’t have many who could be leaders in a church, so the prophets would speak, there would be a Psalm read and-so-on. But latter on, as the church was established, Paul wrote how we are to conduct ourselves in the church of God, and thus we look to the pastoral epistles: I Timothy, Titus and II Timothy for direction. And in those epistles the primary focus is the teaching of the Word of God for now God had raised up Pastor-teachers to oversee the church.

Also, we need to be careful because there are many people out there that are saying they are speaking for God. How do we know if what they say is of God, or is it from the imagination of their own hearts, or from a lying spirit or maybe born out of a pizza they had before they went to sleep that night? I think that is an important question and one we need to explore more closely.

HOW DO WE KNOW IF THIS IS OF GOD?

1. THE WORD OF GOD

The first thing you need to do is bring what has been said into the light of God’s Word. If it contradicts what God has said in His Word, then you can toss it aside, it is not of God! You see, God does not contradict Himself. Some, in trying to get around this, say that "God is bigger than His Word", or that "God is giving to us new doctrine", or "You are quenching the Spirit by your judgmental and restrictive attitude".

Let me say this, Paul in I Thessalonians 5:19-21 said "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good." We can test all things by bringing them into the light of God’s Word, and what doesn’t stand the test of God’s Word is tossed aside and that which is found in God’s Word is held onto, it is good. Thus, quenching the Spirit is not speaking against or coming against these prophecy’s but doing that which is not found in God’s Word does quench what the Spirit is trying to do!

In Jeremiah 14:13-16 we read "Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, the prophets say to them, 'You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart. Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, whom I did not send, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land’–‘ By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed! ‘And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; they will have no one to bury them-- them nor their wives, their sons nor their daughters-- for I will pour their wickedness on them.’"

In other words the false prophets were saying that judgment was not coming but they will dwell in peace and prosperity! Sound familiar? But God is saying they are not speaking for Him, He has not sent them and what they are saying to the people will not edify, exhort or comfort them but in the end it will destroy them!

And God has these condemning words for those who say "Thus says the Lord..." when God has not spoken to them. In Jeremiah 23:30-32 we read "‘Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,’ says the LORD, ‘who steal My words every one from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets,’ says the LORD, ‘who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’ Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,’ says the LORD, ‘and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,’ says the LORD."

And in the New Testament Paul said this to the churches in Galatia who were moving away from the solid foundation of God’s Word and listening to the false prophets. In Galatians 1:6-12 we read "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 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. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ."

God does not contradict Himself, He does not say things that are contrary to His Word. Keep that in mind as you bring prophecy’s in the light of God’s Word. It is as John admonishes us in I John 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."

2. IT SHOULD REVEAL JESUS OR DRAW YOU CLOSER TO HIM

When people are speaking for God they should not be exalting self or placing God in a position of dishonor. They should be exalting Jesus. As John said in I John 4:2-3 "By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 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." Sounds simple, but we must not lose sight of that. And as John tells us in Revelation 19:10, "...For the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy." The focus should be Jesus or manifest the nature of Jesus.

3. YOU MAY HAVE TO PONDER IT IN YOUR HEART FOR A TIME

Sometimes things that are spoken are predictive in nature and thus you may have to ponder them in your heart to see if they come to pass or not. We see this at the birth of Jesus and all the things that Mary saw at His birth pointing to Him being "A Savior, who is Christ the Lord." And we are told in verse 19 of Luke chapter 2 "But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." And what Mary pondered in her heart did come to pass!

4. DOES IT LINE UP WITH THE FACTS

There are times that someone will come up to you and tell you that God spoke to them regarding you and what they are saying does not line up with the facts at all. Thus you can dismiss it.

Thus, the gift of prophecy is God speaking to His church with words that edify, exhort and comfort them. In my life I have seen this gift exercised in a powerful way and it did edify me or build me up in the faith. It spurred me into action. And it comforted me in the actions I needed to take.

Twelve years before I moved here to Manitowoc Wisconsin the Lord spoke to my heart that He was going to bring me up to Wisconsin some day and make me a senior pastor. At that point I was a new Christian with very little knowledge about the Scriptures. And yet, at that point I knew what God had said to me, or at least I thought I did.

Over the years this word from God would come and go, and it seemed like what God said, what He told me that He was going to do in my life, was never going to happen. There were times I even thought that I did not hear God correctly. I knew absolutely no one in Wisconsin and I never felt God calling me to just move to Wisconsin to start up a church. Also, I never felt God wanted me to take a senior pastor position anywhere else but Wisconsin, even though a couple were offered to me. And so I waited to see what would take place.

Over those twelve years, looking back now, I can see how God was teaching me many lessons of faith, placing me in various ministries to teach me things that I needed to learn. From setting up chairs each week, to the infant and toddler ministry, to the Sunday school ministry, to being an assistant pastor and watching over the home small group ministry, God was giving me on the job training you might say. And again, looking back I can see God taking me one step at a time.

Then about 4 ½ years ago my wife was planning on going to a women’s retreat in Indiana. Prior to her going she had some major health problems, her blood pressure was out of control and she felt terrible. Because of all these things she was going to stay home, but God spoke to her heart and told her she needed to go because He wanted to show her something at this retreat.

As the retreat ended she said it was great but God did not reveal to her specifically something, as she felt He said He would. And at the end of the retreat there was a time of fellowship and sharing. During this time one of the women from Manitowoc stood up and asked if they could pray for the church she was going to. Their pastor stepped down from his position and they were looking for a senior pastor for a Calvary Chapel in Manitowoc Wisconsin!

My wife’s blood pressure was already high, but I’m sure after hearing of this "senior pastor" position in "Wisconsin" it rose a lot higher! She took a couple of deep breaths and she went over to Jenny, the woman who asked for prayer regarding this situation, and told her that someone from the Calvary Chapel in Schaumburg Illinois that she attended might be interested. She did not tell Jenny that it was her husband that was interested.

When Julie came home she was very excited and told me everything. Upon hearing it I was also excited but also nervous. What a big decision to make, and it did take me a couple of days to call Joe, one of the elders here, and to work out the details of coming up to Manitowoc to teach for 4 Sundays and then have the elders pray about it and me and my family pray about this move.

The amazing thing to me, and I find it interesting on how God works, is that Julie and I were just talking about how comfortable we were in Illinois. I had a great job at Alexian Brothers Medical Center working in their open heart intensive care unit. We loved the church we attended and were very involved in it. Now that I was comfortable God was going to stretch me and my family.

You see, now it was time to take that step of faith, believing that what God had promised me twelve years earlier he was going to bring to reality. And that is exactly what He did! The first Sunday that I came up to teach I felt at home and now it was a matter of time for God to confirm in the hearts of the elders what He had already confirmed in my heart about this move. And as God spoke to my heart and now was bringing these words to pass in my life it built me up, I was spurred into action and I was comforted knowing that what God had promised He was able to perform in my life.

And the work is not completed yet. The work continues on. God’s plan was not just to bring me up here to Wisconsin but to continue on and see this community come to know Christ more deeply and to have you the best loved and best fed sheep in town! And I look forward to see what God is going to do in me and through me here in Wisconsin! Really, what He is going to do in us and through us as a body of believers!

As I have said, the gift of prophecy is speaking forth the Word of God through the anointing of the Holy Spirit. In a sense you are a channel through which the Lord may speak through. And the words will edify, exhort and comfort believers. As David said in II Samuel 23:2 "The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue." When God places His Words upon our lips what a joy it is to speak them! The gift of prophecy is still in operation today!