Prophecy in the Church: Part 1- Motivation and Purpose

Intro

1 Corinthians 14:1–5 ESV

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 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. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

We are commanded by Paul to earnestly desire all of the gifts of the Spirit, but especially prophecy. Why is it that in so many churches this command of God is either ignored, resisted, or even resented?

In order to be a church which is fully compliant with the Apostolic teachings, we must not ignore the Apostolic commands, not a single one. We cannot write them off as for someone else or for a different age when the Scriptures themselves do no such thing.

It is not our job to rationalize why we don’t obey the Word of God. It is our job to obey the Word. So, prophecy is a big deal to God and He designed it to be an operating blessing in His church for all time, until Christ returns and bring the fulness of His kingdom to the earth.

1 Corinthians 13:8–10 ESV

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

What exactly is prophecy?

Prophecy is communicating to others a word which was received by divine inspiration from the Lord.

Prophecy is different from preaching and teaching. Preaching and teaching also involves communicating God’s word, but specifically from the scriptures. Prophecy involves a direct word of revelation from the Lord.

Life Application: spontaneous, Spirit-inspired messages that are orally delivered in the congregation for the edification and encouragement of the body of Christ.

JFB: To speak and exhort under inspiration.

Prophecy never contradicts the written word, but it often contains content not directly revealed in scripture.

Tension

Paul is very clear that love must be the foundation upon which the ministry of the church is built. He goes so far as to say that the most gifted person in the entire world would only cause harm or confusion without love.

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 ESV

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

One of the reasons why spiritual gifts have at times gotten a bad rap in the church is because some prominent people and churches who have made the gifts central to their ministries have done so without the proper foundation and motivation. Many make their gifts central to their ministry, and how impressive and spiritual they are rather than how others are served through their ministry and how Christ is glorified. That mindset is how we turn a powerful work of the Spirit in and through us into a clanging gong rather than a sweet song.

It is human nature in Adam to attempt to remove the emphasis from Christ and put it on ourselves. How can we who are flawed like Adam, possibly avoid going down a destructive path in the prophetic rather than a constructive one?

The honest answer is… we can’t… in our own strength. What we need is to minister in our giftings but not our of our strength and wisdom. We must minister under the lordship of Christ, the leadership of the Spirit, and the purposes of the Father in the world.

This is why it is critical for us to understand what God’s intent is for prophecy and how he designed it to operate in the church. Today, we will begin such a journey.

Truth

I. The love of Christ is foundational for effective prophetic ministry

1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV

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

Pursue love... In other words, love is not to be something we Christians are to be passive about. It is something we are to strive towards at all costs. Strongs defines the word pursuit here as to "follow in haste," to "press forward," and to "do something with an intense effort to a goal."

The word used for love here is agape. Agape is the sort of love which values the benefit and well being of others over ones own.

a. The Father sent the Son into the world because of His love for this broken world, all of us included

John 3:16–17 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

The same word for love is used in 1 Corinthians 14:1 and in John 3:16. This is agape love. Christ pursues us with a selfless, others first sort of love.

Jesus says that this sort of love is displayed by a person who is willing to lay down his or her life for another.

John 15:13 ESV

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Lastly, this is exactly the sort of love Christ’s entire life put on display. No one in history has ever condescended for the sake of another to the degree that Christ has. No soldier has jumped onto a bigger grenade that what Christ did.

Philippians 2:1–11 ESV

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

And this is the sort of love Christ calls us to be in pursuit of. It is when we are in pursuit of this sort of love, that spiritual gifts really work.

b. The most Christ-like prophetic people don’t prophesy to be noticed, or to be respected, or to prove they are really spiritual

Prophetic ministers who are most like Jesus come in humble and unassuming ways.

Their motivation is love for God and love for others. They seek to bring glory to Christ by building up the church. They are after the growth and well-being of others.

c. Prophecy is temporary, but love is forever.

1 Corinthians 13 reminds us that love is the end. Prophecy is a means to that end but it is not the goal in and of itself.

In fact, when we are with Christ in His kingdom we will not need prophecy anymore because everyone will have the perpetual presence of the Living Word of God.

With that said, we would do well to keep proper perspective.

Prophecy, when mixed with human pride or selfish ambition quickly moves into the gong category and does more harm than good.

We would do well to check our hearts always before we give any kind of prophetic word. We want to be sure that Christ’s glory and the love of the people/person we are speaking to is more important to us than getting to exercise our gift.

II. The desire for prophecy is rooted in love

1 Corinthians 12:4–7 ESV

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Ephesians 4:11–16 ESV

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

a. God gave us prophecy so the Church might be built up to maturity.

b. We desire to prophesy because we are eager for the good of the church of Jesus, and we want to see Christ’s people grow up in Him.

c. Again, the aim of prophecy is not fame, notariety, manipulation, or power. The aim is to use our gift in such a way that others experiance Christ’s love through us and that they may be equipped to do the work Christ has laid out for them.

Note that by using prophetic gifts in this way we are also showing our love for Christ because we are partnering with Him to build up the people who He died to redeem and restore.

Prophecy plays an important role in the restorative, sanctifying, discipleship ministry of the church.

III. The purpose of prophecy is to display Christ’s love and concern for his people and the world

The four-fold ministry of prophecy

Prophecy edifies

Edification means to build up, construct, or to make more able in this context.

Edifying prophecies instruct us and enable us to improve our walk with Christ.

Specifically in the church, prophecy plays a role in enabling believers to minister as Christ has designed them.

It can imporive our understanding of scripture

It can improve our understanding of moral responsibility

It can improve our knowledge of the heart, character, and mind of God.

Prophecy exhorts

The greek word used here is παράκλησις which is also used to describe the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Paraclesis is the coming alongside someone to bring words of comfort. Prophetic ministers are to be encouragers who breed holy confidence, give direction from the Lord, and to bring stabilization to those who may be shaken or unsure.

Prophetic ministry has had a profound impact on my life personally. I am extremely grateful for those who have spoken true and good words over me.

I have had a stinker or two, but those bad prophecies have not soured me on the good ones.

I encourage every believer to desire spiritual gifts, and espeically prophecy! It is so good for the church. A healthy prophetic ministry will help a church to be healthy overall.

Prophecy consoles

Consolation is a specific type of comfort which comes to a person who has experianced distress, depression, or disappointment.

The Lord often send prophetic ministers to those who are hurting and in need of being reminded that God cares for them.

Prophecy convicts

1 Corinthians 14:24–25 ESV

But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

Prophecy exposes sin for what it is, often leading to repentance and belief in the gospel.

John 4:16–19 ESV

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

John 4:28–30 ESV

So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.

John 4:39–42 ESV

Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

A healthy prophetic ministry will have each of these four-fold elements present and operating in their proper times and contexts. We should be wary of any so called prophet who seeks to be puffed up by the opions of people rather than seeking to edify, exhort, console, and convict others for the glory of Christ and the love of people.

Some examples from my life

When I was 16 or so years old I was wrestling with God’s call on my life when a faithful brother and pastor in my life at the time pulled me aside and told me that he was confident that the Lord was calling me to dedicate my life to preaching His Word.

When I was 17, I was contemplating where I wanted to go to college. Because I was now certain of my call, I wanted to go to Bible college. My grandfather, RD Cason, called me into his office one day and told me that he believes the Lord would want me to go to a state school instead. He said that I had spent most of my life with Christians, and it would do me some good and grow my ministry capacity to be in a place where I would mingle with the world, learn other perspectives, and learn to communicate the gospel to those who were far from God.

Not long after I first met Richard Lineberry we were sitting upstairs in this very building, talking about the Bible together, praying, and sharing about life. I shared a struggle I was having and at that very moment Richard saw Christ standing behind me. I did not see anything, but Richard did and he assured me that Jesus was in approval of the direction I was taking in my ministry.

A few years ago a faithful brother and friend, Charlie Spielman, gave me a word from the Lord right when I needed it. He told me that he heard the Lord say that up to that point I had been carrying a dagger but the Lord was about to give me a sword. He said that the effectiveness of my ministry as an elder in the church was going to grow significatly.

At the time, I was tired and wondering if I should hang up the towel and give someone else a shot to lead. I needed that word to know that God wanted me to press on, and that the Lord was in fact working through me and planning to grow me into the position within which he had placed me.

Application

Christ wants us to have prophetic ministry operating in our church. The question is how do we seek it out and put it into action?

We want healthy prophetic ministry so we must do these three things...

Ask Jesus to give us a heart of love like His for our fellow believers and for the world.

Ask Jesus to give us spiritual gifts, espeically prophecy.

Do the stuff.

If you believe God has given you a gift, seek counsel and confirmation from those whom you know to be gifted and from the shepherds whom God has placed in your life.

If you know you have a gift, use it in the church.

We will never grow in our gifts if we sit on them. Remember the parable of the talents. Christ gave you gifts so you can invest them into His church, that His people might grow and mature as we minister to one another together.

Up next: Prophecy in the Church Part 2: Giving and Receiving Prophetic Words