Sermon Tone Analysis

(1)Prophecy is not fortune telling.

there is a directional aspect to prophecy.

notice this is not Paul and Barnabas are going to get new donkeys (would have ben that days equivalent of a new car).

notice that it was to sustain the ministry of the gospel.

why would the Holy Spirit send a prophecy concerning the Apostle Paul’s death?

To understand why God would foretell the Death of the Apostle Paul we have to look at the purpose of prophecy:

Edification

ιςb, εως f: a test of someone’s capability to resist or to respond to some difficulty—‘challenge.’

πολλὴν ἄθλησιν ὑπεμείνατε παθημάτων ‘in your sufferings you stood up to the great challenge’ He 10:32.

For another interpretation of ἄθλησις in He 10:32, see 50.3.

74.14 σθενόω: to cause someone to be or to become more able or capable, with the implication of a contrast with weakness—‘to make more able, to strengthen.’ αὐτὸς καταρτίσει, στηρίξει, σθενώσει ‘he will restore, strengthen, and make (you) stronger’ 1 Pe 5:10.

The terms στηρίζω (see 74.19) and σθενόω in 1 Pe 5:10 are very similar in meaning and serve primarily to intensify the meaning of making persons more able to engage in or to undergo certain experiences.

74.15 οἰκοδομέωb; ἐποικοδομέωb; οἰκοδομήc, ῆς f: to increase the potential of someone or something, with focus upon the process involved—‘to strengthen, to make more able, to build up.’

οἰκοδομέωb: οἰκοδομουμένη καὶ πορευομένη τῷ φόβῳ τοῦ κυρίου ‘built up and living in reverence for the Lord’ Ac 9:31.

ἐποικοδομέωb: ἐποικοδομοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς τῇ ἁγιωτάτῃ ὑμῶν πίστει ‘build yourselves up on your most holy faith’ or ‘… by means of your most holy faith’ Jd 20.

οἰκοδομήc: κατὰ τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἣν ὁ κύριος ἔδωκέν μοι, εἰς οἰκοδομὴν καὶ οὐκ εἰς καθαίρεσιν ‘according to the authority which the Lord has given me to build you up, not to tear you down’ or ‘… to strengthen and not to weaken’ 2 Cor 13:10.

Exhortation

25.150 παρακαλέωd; παράκλησιςa, εως f: to cause someone to be encouraged or consoled, either by verbal or non-verbal means—‘to encourage, to console, encouragement.’

παρακαλέωd: ἵνα γνῶτε τὰ περὶ ἡμῶν καὶ παρακαλέσῃ τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν ‘that you may know how we are and that he may encourage you’ Eph 6:22.

παράκλησιςa: εἴ τίς ἐστιν ἐν ὑμῖν λόγος παρακλήσεως πρὸς τὸν λαόν ‘if you have any message of encouragement for the people’ Ac 13:15; εἴ τις οὖν παράκλησις ἐν Χριστῷ ‘if then there is any encouragement in Christ’ Php 2:1.

Comfort

25.154 παραμύθιον, ου n; παραμυθία, ας f: (derivatives of παραμυθέομαι ‘to comfort,’ 25.153) that which causes or constitutes the basis for consolation and encouragement—‘consolation, encouragement.’

παραμύθιον: εἴ τι παραμύθιον ἀγάπης ‘if there is any consolation of love’ or ‘if his love consoles you’ or ‘… encourages you’ Php 2:1.

παραμυθία: ὁ δὲ προφητεύων ἀνθρώποις λαλεῖ οἰκοδομὴν καὶ παράκλησιν καὶ παραμυθίαν ‘the one who declares God’s message to people speaks of that which builds up and encourages and consoles’ 1 Cor 14:3.

(2) Prophecy Points to Jesus

(3) Revealing secrets

24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all.

25 And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.

Desiring God articles "what does modern-day prophecy look like today?"

On the 34th floor OCTOBER 1, 2018

When John Piper is about to preach, he says he frequently prays something like, “Lord bring to my mind truth about yourself about this text about this people that I will be able to say in such a way that they will pierce with unusual-I might say prophetic-power in their lives.”

One Sunday, while preaching, he was encouraging the people of Bethlehem Baptist to be involved in small groups and start evangelistic Bible studies.

At one point he said, “you might be working on the 34th floor of the IDS tower, and maybe you should call your people together down a small group meeting.”

After the service a woman who had been sitting in the area where he looked, came up to him and said, “why did you say that?

I work on the 34th floor of the IDS tower, and I’ve been praying about whether to start a small group.”

He Is Soul for Fourpence

here’s a similar example that gives even more specific.

Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) once shared this remarkable story:

While preaching in the hall, on one occasion, I deliberately pointed to a man in the midst of the crowd, and said, “there’s a man sitting there, who is a shoemaker; he keeps his shop open on Sundays, it was open last Sabbath morning, and he took nine pence and there was a fourpence profit out of it; his soul is soul to Satan for fourpence!”

A city missionary, when going his rounds met this man, and seeing that he was reading one of my sermons, he asked the question, “you know Mr. Spurgeon?”

“Yes, replied the man, “I have every reason to know him, I’ve been to hear him; and, under his preaching, by God’s grace I become a new creature in Christ Jesus.

Shall I tell you how it happened?

I went to the music Hall, and took my seat in the middle of the place; mister.

Spurgeon looked at me as if he knew me, and his sermon he pointed to me, and told the congregation that I was a shoemaker, and that I kept my shop open on Sundays; and I did, sir.

I should not my did that; but he also said that I took nine pence the Sunday before, and there was a fourpence profit out of it.

I did take nine pence that day, and fourpence was the profit; but how should he know that, I could not tell.

Then it struck me that it was God doing spoken to my soul through him, so I shut up my shop the next Sunday.

At first, I was afraid to go hear him again, lest he should tell people more about me; but afterwards I went, and the Lord met me and save my soul.”

Secrets of the heart

Here’s one example of this “secret disclosing” sort of prophecy, but in a more personal context.

John Wimber (1934-1997), one of the formative levers of Vineyard church planting movement, describe the experience he had on a flight from Chicago to New York.

Shortly after takeoff, he carefully glanced across the aisle and was started by seeing the word “adultery” in clear letters across the face of a middle-aged businessman seated across from him.

The man saw John looking at him oddly and snapped, “what do you want?”

As the man spoke, a woman’s name came clearly to John’s mind.

So John cautiously said, “does the name [blank] mean anything to you?”

The man went pale (his wife was sitting next to him).

The man responded, “we need to talk.”

They moved to the Plains lounge where the men confessed to having an affair with a woman whose name and come to John’s mind.

John ended up leaving the man to Christ, and then the men returned the receipt, confessed to his wife, and made her Christ.

(Power evangelism, 74-76).

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-does-prophecy-look-like-today