The Gift of Prophecy
Holy Spirit • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 9 viewsNotes
Transcript
Today we are in week 4 in our series titled,
The Holy Spirit.
If you have missed any of the sermons in this series,
you can go online to our website
or on our app to listen to any of the previous messages.
Today I am going to unpack the gift of prophecy.
Story of failed prophecy… (Funny thus says the Lord)
1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.
I am a firm believer that the people of God,
empowered by the Spirit of God,
should naturally be prophetically energized
for the mission of God.
I believe that as people who have been born of the Spirit,
we should naturally be supernatural people in the sense
that the Holy Spirit should be actively flowing through our lives each and every day.
People empowered by the Spirit
should walk each day with intentionality
and sensitivity to the prompting of the Spirit,
allowing themselves to be consistently used by God.
I believe the Father desires His people to be prophetically anointed by the Spirit
and to walk in step with His leading
in order to carry out His mission
and advance His Kingdom.
“ ‘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;
The gift of prophecy is the empowering work of the Holy Spirit through which God communicates supernatural revelation to His people for strengthening, encouragement, and comfort.
10b For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
10b For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus.
I believe we have often made prophecy
more mystical than Scripture intends it to be.
At times,
prophecy has been presented as something
that only a select few
highly supernatural individuals can operate in,
making it seem distant or unreachable for the average believer.
Yet biblically,
prophecy is not primarily about elevating a person,
predicting events,
or creating spiritual sensationalism.
Its purpose is to bear witness to Jesus,
point people toward Jesus,
and strengthen the church in Jesus...
In many modern expressions,
prophecy can begin to resemble fortune telling
more than Christ-centered testimony.
Too often,
people who claim prophetic authority have been magnified,
while Jesus Himself
has been pushed into the background.
True prophecy should never glorify personalities,
platforms,
or ministries.
Genuine prophetic ministry magnifies Christ,
exalts His character,
and draws people closer to Him,
rather than drawing attention to the individual delivering the message...
I believe the key to be prophetically used by God,
is we need to first pursue love.
1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.
1 Corinthians 12-14 & Romans 12 (love… gifted but no love.) [Serve church? Serve myself?]
3b the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.
Being prophetic in nature
can simply be
the Holy Spirit laying someone on your heart to reach out to them.
(You call or text someone....) [Prompting of the Spirit]
Moving in the Prophetic can be a timely word of encouragement.
(Run into someone and you feel a promoting to encourage them) story subway
Prophecy is not human brilliance,
emotional passion,
or religious performance.
Rather,
Prophecy is the Holy Spirit
revealing something the Father desires to communicate.
I beleive preaching can be prophetic.
A timely word that needs to be said,
in a particular time and season.
I have had people reach out to me and say,
“You are the third pastor I have heard preach that same message this week.”
(Holy Spirit is trying to communicate something)
Some would argue that prophecy is only spontaneous revelation given in the moment,
and that teaching is separate from the prophetic.
But I would disagree,
because God can bring revelation both spontaneously in a service
and through intentional prayer and study.
What the Holy Spirit wants someone to communicate may come spontaneously to be shared immediately,
or it may come spontaneously in private prayer
and be shared later.
Prophetic utterance
is the Holy Spirit prompting revelation in order to build up,
encourage,
and edify the Body of Christ....
I believe there is a need for prophetic leadership,
where the Holy Spirit brings supernatural revelation
to help lead and guide in a particular direction.
When Paul speaks about gifts such as words of knowledge and words of wisdom,
I believe these are prophetically empowered moments of insight and understanding
that the Holy Spirit gives for a specific purpose and situation.
I believe the Holy Spirit can reveal things about certain situations,
people,
or moments
by giving knowledge that could not naturally be known,
so that His people can respond with wisdom,
discernment,
or direction.
Jesus… knew there thoughts.… women at the well...
Paul Acts 16 Holy Spirit prompted them not to go...
My life… leading Holy Spirit knowledge...
Story of Mike and Mickey...
Story of Dad phone number...
Story of Orlando Pastor sending email....
It is important to understand that
the prophetic is supernatural in its source,
but often very natural in its expression.
God frequently speaks through ordinary people
to deliver extraordinary encouragement,
wisdom,
conviction,
or direction.
Many times,
His voice is not carried through dramatic displays,
but through simple acts of obedience,
love,
and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.
Because of this,
the prophetic is not about becoming mystical personalities
who seek attention or try to appear spiritually superior.
Rather, it is about becoming yielded vessels
who are humble,
available,
and sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
The goal of the prophetic is not to magnify the person being used,
but to magnify Jesus and strengthen His people...
(King James speaking… prophetic does not need to be strange, bizarre, or weird)
[Strange lady at friends church… God can speak to strange people]
Prophetic words can come for the corporate body,
can be given to individuals,
or can come as personal deposits that the Holy Spirit speaks directly to you.
These words when given by the Holy Spirit are always accurate,
but that does not mean that we can not sometimes get it wrong.
That is why Paul says we need to test and weigh prophecies
to ensure they are accurate and truly aligned with the Holy Spirit.
20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.
29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.
How do we test and weigh prophecy?
First, we make sure it is in alignment with Scripture.
If someone gives a prophetic word that contradicts Scripture,
then it is false and should be treated as such.
The Holy Spirit will never speak in a way that opposes the Word of God.
Remember,
the essence of prophecy
is that it testifies of Jesus Christ,
the Living Word.
Therefore,
true prophecy will never contradict the written Word,
because the Holy Spirit will always point people back to the Word,
and remain consistent with the Word.
Second, we weigh the prophecy,
whether it comes from a place of love or manipulation.
People can sometimes use spiritual language
to manipulate others into doing what they want.
That is not prophetic,
but rather pathetic.
Another important part of testing prophecy
is allowing multiple mature believers to weigh and test it,
not just one person.
14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls,
but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
When someone gives a prophetic word,
it should bear witness among brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Holy Spirit gives discernment to the Body.
When something is truly from God,
there is often a witness within us that aligns with the Spirit.
But when something is off,
there can be a check within us that says,
“This may not be right.”
So what happens if someone gets it wrong?
We lovingly bring correction.
Giving people room to grow
and even fail at times is important,
because many in the church are so afraid of getting it wrong
that they never step out to get it right.
It is also important to understand
that New Testament prophecy is not equal to Scripture.
Unlike Old Testament prophecy,
which carried Scriptural authority,
New Testament prophecy is to be tested and weighed,
and is never to be seen as equal in authority to Scripture.
In the same way that teaching can sometimes contain mistakes
or imperfect understanding,
someone who sincerely believes God spoke to them can also miss it at times.
That is why Paul tells us to test and weigh prophecies.
(Example 3 people word about church)
1 build an audition...
2 sell and build new...
3 be content with building...
I have found that time will usually be the true test and witness
of whether a prophecy is accurate or not.
(story of word i got in November 4th 2020)
It should also be noted
that prophecy can sometimes be contingent.
In other words,
certain prophetic words are connected to how people respond.
Some prophetic warnings are not simply declarations of what will happen no matter what,
but invitations for people to repent,
obey,
and change direction.
A clear example of this is the story of Jonah.
God sent Jonah to Nineveh
with the message that judgment was coming upon the city
because of their wickedness.
Yet when the people humbled themselves,
repented,
and turned toward God,
the outcome changed
and mercy was shown instead of destruction.
The prophetic word revealed what was coming if things continued as they were,
but the people’s response affected the outcome.
Prophecy can also be contingent upon obedience.
For example,
God may call someone into ministry,
leadership,
or a particular assignment,
but if that person refuses to walk in obedience to God’s leading,
they may never step into the fullness of what God intended for them.
This shows us that some prophetic words
are not just about predicting events,
but about inviting people into partnership
with God’s purposes through faith and obedience....
18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,
18 Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the Lord’s battles.
Explain.… Deposit in your heart… prophetic words in my life...
14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Explain.… and close out sermon....
