Gifts of the Spirit: Prophecy (pt2)
Notes
Transcript
SERMON TITLE: Gifts of the Spirit: Prophecy (pt2)
SCRIPTURE: Romans 12:4-8 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 3-9-25
TURN MIC ON / WELCOME
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
INTRODUCTION
We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend but we’re in a series within our Romans series. For Paul has mentioned spiritual gifts in his letter — and we’re taking time to explore the spiritual gifts so we all understand what these gifts are and how they’re to be used in our faith family. And the purpose of the spiritual gifts is something I have and will continue to remind you of: Spiritual gifts are abilities given to individual believers by the Holy Spirit in order to equip God’s people for ministry, both for the edification of the church and for God’s salvific mission to the world. - Lexham Survey of Theology
Here’s what Paul says about the gifts — in Romans chapter twelve — beginning in verse four. There we read…
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Today’s sermon is a continuation of last week’s sermon where we explored the spiritual gift of prophecy. Prophecy is the first gift that Paul lists in verse six. And — we explored much about this spiritual gift last week — but knowing that this gift is one that’s often confusing and unfamiliar for people — I thought we’d take a second week to better understand what this gift is and how it can be a blessing to us as a faith family. So let’s start by looking at some examples of the gift of prophecy in Scripture.
EXAMPLES OF PROPHECY IN THE BIBLE
We’re going to look at a few examples from the book of Acts — which is a record of the early church. In Acts chapter two we read…
17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
As some of you will know — these words were spoken by the apostle Peter as he preached his first sermon. Here he quotes from the Old Testament prophet Joel who said…
28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
And — if you happen to be thinking, “That last verse in Joel sounds pretty familiar” — well that’s probably because Paul quotes it in Romans chapter ten.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Now I took us down this little cross-reference journey — to show us that Paul and Peter both use this passage in Joel and apply it to the time in which they lived. And — specifically — to the time period that is called the “last days” in the Bible. I’ve preached on the topic before — so now I’ll keep it straightforward and simple: We’re living in the last days. The last days is the time period from Jesus’ first coming to earth and his second coming.
So — now — here Peter’s application of Joel’s prophecy about the last days one more time.
17 “ ‘And in the last days (which we’re living in today) it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
Question. Do we believe that the Spirit of God is being poured out upon people today when they believe in Jesus? Absolutely we do! And we need to heed Peter’s words about what it means to be people upon whom the Spirit of God has been poured out upon. For the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Old Testament includes sons and daughters and male and female servants prophesying — meaning the gift of prophecy will be a sign that we’re living in the last days and that the Holy Spirit has come. And not just a gift for the apostles or church leaders — a spiritual gift given to ordinary Christians for the building up of the church. Now — as we saw last week — we don’t have many examples of what these sons, daughters, and servants prophesied — their prophetic words weren’t recorded in Scripture — but that doesn’t mean that their gift was any less beneficial for the church in that day. Similarly, the benefit of the gift of prophecy in our day doesn’t threaten the perfect and complete Bible that we submit ourselves to.
Let’s look at another example in Acts. We’re now in chapter five.
1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. 7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
Now — I can’t say with certainty that what we see here is the gift of prophecy at work. It could be a word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discernment, or some combination of them all. But somehow Peter was supernaturally made aware of what Ananias and Sapphira had conspired to do. And the fact that Peter tells them that they’ve tried to lie to the Holy Spirit further solidifies that Peter’s knowledge of their lie was due to supernatural means.
Another example from Acts.
1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. 8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.
Again — another case where the gift of prophecy isn’t explicitly mentioned — but look at some of the details of this story. The guidelines given to the congregation — in choosing these leaders — what many believe to be the first deacons in the church — was that they be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. And notice a detail mentioned about Stephen — one of the seven men chosen for this role: He was a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.
If you recall in Romans chapter twelve — Paul says this about the gift of prophecy.
6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
Later he’s described as being full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people — the miraculous. And opponents couldn’t refute what he said because of his wisdom and the Holy Spirit within him. Again — I can’t say with certainty that prophecy is included here — but the language is similar enough that I don’t know that we can eliminate the possibility altogether either.
Here’s another example from Acts.
1 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
So here’s a group of people who were known as prophets and teachers in the church in Antioch. And somehow the Holy Spirit said to the men to set apart Barnabas and Saul for a special work the Spirit had for them to do.
One last example from Acts.
30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33 And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
Two men — Judas and Silas — are called prophets and notice how — whatever it was that they said — we don’t have their words recorded — but what they said encouraged and strengthened the congregation in Antioch. Which shouldn’t surprise us — because last week that’s what we saw is the purpose and goal of the gift of prophecy.
OLD AND NEW: THE SAME OR DIFFERENT?
Which leads us to one other often confusing aspect about the gift of prophecy. And — that is — is there a difference between Old Testament prophets and their New Testament counterparts? Are Old Testament prophets and New Testament prophets the same?
In the Old Testament, the prophets — people like Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and so on — Old Testament prophets were called by God to speak on his behalf in an authoritative way where — the words of the prophet were the words of God. And to disobey an Old Testament prophet was to disobey God. But — in the New Testament —something interesting happens. This authoritative role — where the words of the individual are the words of God — where to disobey the individual was to disobey God — is not those who are New Testament prophets. This authoritative roles in the New Testament are the apostles. That’s why Paul appeals to the fact that he’s an apostle when he claims that his words hold authority and are to be obeyed — instead of appealing to himself as a prophet.
We also find this in the books of the Bible. As you probably know — the vast majority of the New Testament books were written by an apostle or by someone close to an apostle. I say vast majority because I don’t need any questions sent into the podcast about Hebrews — we don’t know who wrote the letter — but the early church believed it was apostolic and I have no reason to question their judgment.
Agabus both times
Spiritual gifts equip class verses
Cover the “in proportion to our faith” part of verse 7 (cf verse 3 where he mentions measure of faith). Not all evangelists see the results of Billy Graham. Not all teachers are John Piper.
HOW THIS GIFT WILL BE PRACTICED AT GATEWAY
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HOW THE GIFT OF PROPHECY CAN BENEFIT ALL OF US
Finally, let’s talk about some ways the gift of prophecy can benefit all of us. Earlier I mentioned that preaching isn’t part of any of the spiritual gift lists in the Bible. Now — that doesn’t mean it’s not a spiritual gift — I don’t know that the lists are comprehensive — but it does give us some pause to quickly say it is a gift — even though we know preaching is something that is to be done. So what might preaching be — if it’s not a specific gift of the Holy Spirit?
Thirty years ago — in an article on preaching in The Journal of Biblical Counseling, pastor Tim Keller writes…
I do not believe that there is a gift of “preaching” listed among the spiritual gifts in any of the “gifts lists” in the New Testament. Therefore, every man called to preach comes with a different configuration of gifts out of which he preaches. A man with an evangelistic gift will preach differently from a man with a teaching gift. (Though all preachers must evangelize and teach, not all preachers have all the gifts, and so they will do so with different degrees of emphasis and effectiveness.) A man with the gift of exhortation may be more of a “counselor” in the pulpit than a man with the gift of teaching, and so on.
I bring up this quote because — what I’ve come to realize that makes my preaching unique — is not just my personality or speaking style — what makes my preaching “Pastor Josh’s preaching style” — like it or not — is the way in which the Spirit of God has equipped and empowered me with various spiritual gifts. If you remember my top five spiritual gifts — the Spirit seems to most often equip and empower me with the gifts of teaching, prophecy, faith, generosity, and discernment. There are other gifts that the Spirit — at time — but not nearly as regularly — will bless others with through me — but the primary way in which he uses me for the good of others is with teaching, prophecy, faith, generosity, and discernment.
And I think these gifts are what makes my preaching “Pastor Josh’s preaching style.” Though I have no idea if or how generosity affects my preaching — I definitely can see how teaching, prophecy, faith, and discernment all are in the mix — which is a benefit to us all as a church. And it’s why someone else who preaches — preaches the way they do.
And this isn't just true for preaching — back to the gift of prophecy. Though many different people are on our prayer teams — for all Christians have been commanded to pray for one another — people who the Spirit has empowered and equipped with the gift of prophecy can be a unique blessing to those who come up for prayer. People with a special ability to hear from God so they speak an encouraging, building up, or comforting word to those they pray for. And — we’ll get to other gifts in the coming weeks — but then take someone who has the gift of prophecy and team them up with someone who has the gift of mercy or healing — and now we’re talking about a prayer team gifted in a way that will be a unique benefit to those being prayed for.
And not just during prayer times at the end of our services — if you’re in a Life Group I’m sure your group spends time in prayer. Imagine knowing that there’s someone who uniquely hears from God because the Holy Spirit has empowered and equipped them with the gift of prophecy. How might your Life Group’s prayer time be different if someone with this gift was able to bless the other members with an encouraging, comforting, or strengthening word? Or even a word — spoken in love — that results in someone repenting of sin because — through the Spirit working through this gift — reveals to them something in their heart that — up until that moment — had been kept secret?
I could go on with the opportunities we have to be blessed by this gift being used among us — in an orderly way — as Paul says its to be done — realizing that an orderly way still means the gift is used.
CONCLUSION
Harvey story?
PRAYER
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BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / ELDERS AVAILABLE TO LAY HANDS ON THOSE DESIRING THE GIFTS)
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God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
