Prophecy in the Church

Intro

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.

It is also important to note that there is a difference between OT prophets and NT prophets. According to Dr. Wayne Grudem, Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies at Phoenix Seminary (previously Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) and a foremost expert on both Systematic Theology and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the church today, the NT counterpart to the OT Prophet is the Apostles.

In the Old Testament the word “nabi” is most often translated into English as “prophet.” This translation was greatly influenced by the greek translation of the OT, the Septuagint which used the greek word “prophetes.” In ancient Greek culture, a prophet was someone who spoke with divine vision. They would have rarely considered that this person spoke the very words of God like the OT Prophets did, but prophetes was the best word the translators could come up with to describe what the nabi was.

Another word used in the OT for the Prophets, and a more ancient term, was “roeh.” Roeh means “Seer.” The connotation here is a man who sees God face to face like Moses did. These particular OT Prophets which could be considered Seers had a very special relationship with the Lord and a particular ministry. They were sent by God to deliver a word which came directly from God, which is why they could say “thus says the Lord” with confidence.

Tension

I think the real reason why many modern people fear prophecy is that they like to be in control.

In the west we love the idea of self-determination. We do not like to be challenged and we like to be able to control what our world looks like for us. Prophecy leaves a door open for the interruption of our lives by the Holy Spirit. We cannot cage the prophetic ministry and so we resist it.

Another reason people resist prophecy is because of past perceived abuses of the gift. This again is a terrible reason to write off the prophetic. As long as the ministry of Christ mixes with flawed humans there will be errors. We don’t forbid preaching because there are bad preachers and neither should we forbid prophecy because there have been bad prophets. The problem with bad preaching is not the Bible, but is with wrong interpretation of it. Likewise the problem with bad prophecy is not the word from God, but with people not hearing it accurately, applying it appropriately, and etc.

Human error is always the issue, not God or his word.

We do not have the right to dismiss the commands of God simply because people have done things wrong. It is our job to do the work of studying God’s word so we can know his character well and learn to discern what is true and false in both preaching and the prophetic.

The answer to bad prophetic ministry is not dismissal, but rather Biblical instruction and practice.

Truth

First I want to make it clear that if the Holy Spirit did not want prophecy to continue beyond the era of the Apostles, He would not have inspired the Apostle Paul to command the Church in Scripture to earnestly desire these things.

I. Prophecy edifies

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

II. Prophecy encourages

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

A paraclete is someone who comes alongside someone and brings words of comfort. Paracletes are encouragers who bring stabilization to those who may be shaken or unsure.

III. Prophecy consoles

Application