Prophecy - God's loving words through us and to us.

Recap

Last week we talked about how it is important to not just take in scripture with our heads as either an intellectual exercise or principles, commands, and advice for the sake of principles, commands, and advice, but it is also vital to take in the story of scripture in through our hearts. We went over some good practices to give space for the Holy Spirit to speak directly to us.

This week we’ll talk about how that in some measure God is still speaking through His people to communicate His love in miraculous ways. This method of communication is often called prophecy.

Now I am fully aware that the subject of prophecy can be intimidating to many, if not down right scary to some. Let me full reassure and say “Me too”. Seriously. This particular subject has been a challenge of mine. (Give a little backstory)

Regardless of my skepticism or fear of this subject it’s undeniable the effect that the ministry of others through prophecy toward me has had in my life.

IHOP

Jake

Dennys waiter

And even if all those stories didn’t take place. We would still have the vast amount of prophecy that takes place in the Bible.

Over 26% of the Bible consists of prophecy. You quite seriously can’t tell the story of scripture without God using His people as a mouth piece to communicate His message and His love. Or to put it another way: prophecy.

The skeptics will say terms “coincidence” and the like. But honestly, i find it much easier to believe in a loving God that longs to speak to His kids.

Some folks who are on our team even claim that the gift of prophecy ended with the closing of scripture. And while we would agree with them that the Scriptures are the final authority on faith and practice. It seems crazy to think that God operated in a particular way for the majority of the time but then just decides to let mediocre sermons, hobbled together Sunday School lessons, and awkward small group discussions take over from there.

Additionally God is a relational God.

Marriage to Mancy

So let’s turn our attention to scripture as our guide and authority on this subject.

1 Corinthians 14:1–4 (ESV)

1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

The Word of the Lord

There are two terms the Bible uses in the New testament to refer to the word of God

Logos - this refers to the written word of God that we’ve been talking about for the last couple weeks (See: Heb. 4.12, John 1.1)

Rhema - The spoken word of God.

1 Corinthians 2:13 ESV

13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

For example:

Matthew 4:4 (ESV)

4 … ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Word - Rhema

Comes From - Continually Speaking

Jesus is saying that a person is not only sustained by studying and intellectually knowing the authoritative words that God has said in the past, but also the words that He is continually speaking now.

This manifests in many different ways but it all goes toward the same goal that Paul told the Corinthians

1 Corinthians 14:3–4 ESV

3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

This was the reason for all of those stories I referenced earlier. For the building up of the children of God

The focus of prophecy is to love others through the words of God.

This is evident when we look at the structure of this portion of Pauls letter. Starting our with spiritual gifts in ch 12, then he gives the “Love Chapter” in ch 13, then goes on to draw them both together in ch 14

1 Corinthians 14:1 (ESV)

1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

Chapter 13 isn’t just thrown in there. It is in fact the whole point of the gifts of the Spirit. Paul says, in fact, , that if we don’t do these things then you might as well be like EG with her cymbals. Cute at first, but obnoxious shortly after.

The gifts purpose are to show God’s love to those in need. Therefore, if we claim to love those around us. If we seek for them to encouraged , strengthened, comforted, built up, then we will eagerly desire the gift of prophecy.

Prophecy for Dummies

Now all this sounds wonderful in the safety of our class room surround by those of like faith, but prophecy “in the wild” can be truly intimidating. These miraculous moments can’t be conjured with a formula or algorithm. There is no such thing as 1+1= prophecy.

So how do earnestly seek to be faithful to the call that God has for each person to pursue prophecy? Let’s turn again to the Scriptures

1 Samuel 3:1–10 (ESV)

1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. 2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6 And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

We see two simple and clear lesson from this story

God doesn’t commonly use a mega-phone.

Often time we think that people in the Bible experience this stuff regularly to the point that it was common place to expect supernatural experiences on a daily basis. But often times, as it was in this story, it was often more rare to hear God’s voice in this way than it is even for us today.

Just like in this story Samuel wasn’t familiar with God’s voice because it wasn’t at all common to have an experience like this. And even when he did hear it, it wasn’t extravagant. It was ordinary. Perhaps that’s a lesson for us as well. God primarily uses the ordinary things in our lives to speak to us.

EG, Song, Poem, Art, Nature, A stray thought, a friendly neighbor

God created this very normal universe. Why then would He prefer not to use it.

This is certainly what He did with the couple on the Emmaus Rd.

God voice isn’t like a radio that we can just punch in the frequency and listen to on the open airwaves. That is what His written word is for, but there are of course times, just like the Bible where God’s spoken word is rare.

Why is this? Perhaps it is because He isn’t in a hurry. He know’s all. And thus knows the perfect time and pace to plant the necessary seeds in our lives that will take time to grow, but when they do they will bear much fruit.

2. He’s ok if we don’t get it the 1st time.

Notice how many times Samuel mistakes God’s voice for something else. And yet God speaks

Two choices - Risk foolishness motivated by love or go without hearing the Shepards voice

The ABC’s of prophecy

Since Paul tells us that we should pursue to operate in this gift and also seek to excel (grow) in it, while also understanding that the first few times may be scary, here is a good framework to help us deliver God’s message through us.

Affirming - Does it strengthen, encourage, build up, show love?

Biblical - Is this in line with the broad teaching of Scripture?

Christlike - Does this word line up with and point to the person and the work of Jesus?

This model isn’t perfect but it’s a good start for anyone intimidated with the idea of operating in this gift.

Also if all these boxes are checked it helps remove fear of what might go wrong. If I’m seeking to build up with a biblical foundation with the hopes of drawing a person closer to Jesus, then if i’m wrong then at least my intentions were good.

How to receive prophetic words

So while all this sounds rather exciting (terrifying). We’ve spent the majority of time on how to deliver a word from God. which is necessary because it’s so controversial. But now we want to switch gears and talk about how to receive a word from the Lord for someone else.

Weight it - Again, all prophecies must be weighed according to the standard of scripture and the person and the work of Christ. If what you are feeling doesn’t line up with those things then it isn’t from God. Don’t receive every inclination wholesale. Test everything.

1 Thessalonians 5:20–22 ESV

20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.

Wait on it - Use wisdom when delivering a word.It is possible to deliver the right word at the wrong time. And once you do turn it over to the Lord and let His timing rule. Don’t try to force people to receive it or force it to come to pass.

KC

Walk in it - We certainly don’t wan’t play God and try to force the prophecy in any way, however if we do feel like this is a valid word from the Lord then it is good to pursue obedience to it. We shouldn’t sit on it wait for another word to come to confirm the word that has already come. We should ask, “What can I do to be obedient to what God has given me.”

Did you buy a ticket?

It’s messy in the nursery and neat in the graveyard.