|
About Jesus Steve Sweetman The
Prophet What
is prophecy? In
Biblical terms, prophecy is a message that is authorized by God to be
spoken on His behalf. Prophecy
isn't always foretelling future events. In
New Testament times, the prophetic message is a gift of the Holy Spirit
given to the believer to speak. (1 Corinthians 12:7:11)
Who
can prophesy?
What
can be prophesied? In
1 Timothy 4:14 we learn that Timothy was given the ministry gift of
teacher/preacher when elders prophesied this ministry into his life. In
Acts 13:1, the elders in In
both the Old and New Testaments the prophetic message was spoken to
individuals, nations, and God's people.
The prophecy gave personal and corporate direction, was a warning
of coming judgment, was a call to repent, and a promise of restoration
upon repentance.
What
is a prophet? In
Biblical terms, a prophet is one who has been authorized by the Lord to
speak on His behalf. A
prophet prophesies, but not all who prophesy are prophets.
In New Testament times the prophetic ministry is a gift from
Jesus to the church. (Ephesians 4:11)
A prophet is not a gift of the Spirit as is prophecy.
(1Corinthians 12:7-11) Are
prophets found in the New Testament? The
prophet is a ministry to the church. (Ephesians 4:11) Agabus
was a New Testament prophet. (Acts 21:10-11) So
were Judas and Silas. (Acts 15:31) Prophets
lived in Antioch. (Acts 13:1) Is
there a difference between Old and New Testament prophets? Prophets
in both the Old and New Testament foretold future events, spoke words of
warning, judgment, repentance, faith, and encouragement.
In both cases they spoke to individuals, nations, and God's
people. Old
Testament prophets usually worked alone.
New Testament prophets are one of many ministries networked
together in the Body of Christ and therefore work
in conjunction with others to whom they are personally joined.
Are
we all prophets? Not
all believers are prophets even though all believers can prophesy.
In 1 Corinthians 14:29 to 33 Paul says that all can prophesy but
2 or 3 prophets should speak in a gathering.
This distinguishes between a believer who has a gift of a
prophetic message and a believer who has the ministry of a prophet.
Don't
Despise Prophecy In
1 Thessalonians 5:20 Paul teaches us not to despise prophecy.
I've been around long enough to be tempted to despise prophecy.
I've heard many wacky prophecies from many wacky prophets.
Despite the abuses, we're to respect the real prophetic message,
listen to the true prophet, and carefully judge what we hear. (1
Corinthians 14:29) What
about today? I
said all of the above to say this. There's
nothing in the Bible that suggests the prophetic message and the prophet
doesn't exist today. I
believe the apostle Peter's warning applies to us as it did to those in
his day . "If you
suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear
the name. For it is time for
judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us what
will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God".
(1 Peter 4:16-17) Many
parts of what we call "church" today are in serious need of
repentance. As Peter warned
God's people in his day of coming judgment, so the prophets are warning
the church of judgment in our day. As
Peter also warned, if judgment comes to God's people, it will surely
come to the nations in which God's people live.
The prophetic warning of coming judgment is now beginning to be
proclaimed to our national leaders.
I
say, "bring on the prophet. Bring
on the prophetic warning . Bring on the spirit of repentance".
We often pray for national repentance, but before we seek
repentance from our nations, we as the church must repent, something
many Christians don't see the need for.
|