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Yes, God still speaks directly to his people, as it pleases him to do so. Receiving and communicating such a word from God is the exercise of the Christian grace-gift (charisma) of prophecy. As the Christian era formally began, the Apostle Peter announced that it would be characterized by God's outpouring of the prophetic gift on his people in general and without discrimination (Acts 2:16-18, quoting Joel 2:28-29). "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy," said Peter (Acts 2:17). Like the other grace-gifts, this one will continue until Jesus returns (1 Cor. 1:7; 13:8-13).
The purpose of the Christian gift of prophecy is to build up (edification), stir up (exhortation) and bind up (consolation) believers, and it sometimes inspires awe in unbelievers as well (1 Cor. 14:3, 24-25). That is why Paul considered prophecy to be more useful in a group setting than an uninterpreted tongue (1 Cor. 14:4-5). The Apostle Paul urges us to "desire earnestly to prophesy" (1 Cor. 14:39) and warns us not to "despise prophetic utterances" (1 Thes. 5:20).
Before Jesus had made atonement for sin, and appeared in God's presence to intercede for his people, God did not speak regularly through "ordinary" people. But Jesus removed every barrier separating sinners from heaven, and God has come in the Spirit to live in and among his people on earth (John 1:51; Eph. 2:19-22; Heb. 10:19-20). Prophecy is a sign of that intimate relationship based on Jesus' atonement. The Book of Acts provides us with a picture-window into the life of the earliest church, and it presents prophecy in the setting of ordinary Christian life. We will look at that picture next time.
"Why would we need prophecy today?" someone asks. "We have a completed Bible."
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The question reflects a common misunderstanding that the purpose of the ordinary Christian grace-gift (charisma) of prophecy is the production of Scripture. Yet that was not even its purpose in the first-century church. Canonical Scripture serves the whole People of God, concerning the entire scope of faith and godliness, until the End of the world. Christian prophecy, on the other hand, usually serves a local church, concerning some particular circumstances, for an immediate and limited time.
Look with me at the prophetic ministry reported in the Book of Acts. Agabus informs the Antioch church of an impending famine, motivating a charitable contribution for needy believers in Judea (Acts 11:27-30). Antioch prophets receive a word to dismiss their top leadership for a special evangelistic assignment that would eventually have worldwide consequence (Acts 11:1-3). Judas and Silas "encouraged and strengthened" the Gentile churches with a prophetic message after the Jerusalem Conference (Acts 15:32-33).
We encounter the dozen Ephesian converts who prophesy (Acts 19:6), and the Tyrean disciples who urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem (Acts 21:3-4). Philip had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses (Acts 21:9). Agabus reappears to warn Jerusalem-bound Paul of perils awaiting him there (Acts 21:10-11). None of these prophets and prophesses was an Apostle, and not one of them wrote a single word of canonical Scripture. The prophetic gift is not normally related to the writing of Scripture.
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Obviously this very beneficial gift can be abused or misused, as can any other gift (including, for example, uninspired preaching). Scripture therefore provides rules, caveats, safeguards and tests. Christians have always been cautioned not to believe every claim of a divine word but to test the spirits (1 John 4:1). For 2,000 years, these tests have involved examining the message (1 Thes. 5:20-22) as well as the messenger. That includes testing his or her personal faith (1 John 4:2-3; 1 Cor. 12:3; Rev. 19:10) and also his or her personal character (Matt. 7:15-20).
An early second-century Christian writing called The Didache suggests that one who asks for money is a false prophet -- and that was even before television. It is still true, nearly 2,000 years after Paul, that prophecy is nothing apart from love (1 Cor. 13:2), and that, like all grace-gifts, it is to be exercised constructively, with self-control and in an orderly fashion (1 Cor. 14:26, 29-33).
The church fathers attest to the grace-gift of prophecy well into the fifth century. Unfortunately, the mainstream Church, whose hierarchy felt threatened by such ministry by "ordinary" people, responded to extremists and charlatans in a manner with which we may easily identify. It stopped desiring prophecy -- and it began to despise prophetic utterances. The rest, as they say, is history.
For specific, detailed stories of prophecies among the Scottish Reformers, see chapter five of Jack Deere's book Surprised by the Voice of God" (Zondervan 1996).
The year 1918 saw the publication of Counterfeit Miracles, in which Presbyterian theologian Benjamin B. Warfield argued that supernatural prophecy stopped shortly after the New Testament was written. According to Warfield, spiritual gifts (charismata) served only to authenticate the Apostles' gospel message -- and only to people of their generation. Warfield said that the gifts ceased when the last person died who had known the Apostles personally. In keeping with this understanding, some cessationists interpret "the perfect" in 1 Corinthians 13:10 as the written books of the New Testament.
"Can you give an example of ordinary Christian prophecy today?" someone asks. "What does it look like when it occurs?"
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The long-time preaching minister at my home congregation resigned early in 1996, sending us into a search for God's replacement which lasted into 1997. About October 1996, after much prayer and diligent labor, we elders invited Rob McRay and his wife Judy of the Northtown Church in Milwaukee to fly down to Houston for a weekend of intense visiting with our church. Rob could not come until January, and he had no intent of leaving Northtown. However, he felt he should be open to God's possibilities, so he and Judy came down in January for the weekend as we requested.
The weekend went well and culminated in a meal with elders, ministers and spouses on Sunday night. Following dinner and visiting, we concluded with a season of prayer, after which Rob told us, "I feel 'called' TO the Bering Drive Church but I must also feel 'sent' FROM Northtown if I am to make a move." He told me later he thought that would not ever happen, as neither he nor his own church had spoken of any change in their relationship.
The following Saturday Rob attended a scheduled congregational meeting with the Northtown folks in Milwaukee, telling them for the first time of his visit with us and of our interest in him. That meeting also ended in a period of prayer. During the prayer, Greg Spencer, one of the elders, received a strong sense that he should give Rob a particular message. Rob told Greg that he had been asking God for guidance, and that he welcomed any word Greg might have. "I think I am supposed to tell you," said Greg, "that Northtown is not only to ALLOW you to go to Houston but we are to SEND you to that church." He then added another detail he had received. The McRays subsequently moved from Northtown to Bering Drive in Houston, convinced that God had brought us together.
This is a little story of what I call "ordinary Christian prophecy," in a church setting that does not talk often about such things, or have a history of involvement in these matters. Perhaps God would say much more to the churches if the churches were more interested in hearing from him.
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Good brother, you ask how often "similar situations" lead to disaster. Not often, I would think. For consider the "situation." What we have here are two groups of church leaders in prayer about a common concern, all seeking God's will and glory and asking for his guidance. God answered those prayers by providing direction. Part of that direction came through what I believe was a prophetic word to a praying elder. That word confirmed other guidance the praying preacher already was discerning -- through wisdom, biblical principles, godly advice, circumstances and sanctified impressions. Why should we consider that dangerous, or likely to lead to "disaster"? Does our heavenly Father give his children stones instead of bread, or scorpions when they ask for fish?
So far as being deceived, what forms of guidance should we consider more reliable concerning a ministry move than this? No Scripture text tells us where to live and serve. Should we prefer secular wisdom and methods? Does God not guide us in practical matters of earthly life? Throughout Scripture, God invites us to seek his guidance and he promises to lead us. I do not think deism is a good option for believers!
This is not a matter of "feelings" -- it involves a content-filled message directed to the intellect and expressed in words. Can we "prove" this came from God? Of course not, and neither could believers in the first century or any other. Do we have absolute certainty about our interpretation and application of such prophetic words? No, we are not infallible. Can we trust God's faithfulness to lead when we ask in faith and seek his will and glory? Must we have scientific-type "proof" before stepping out in trust? Do we walk by faith, or by sight? Why are we so afraid of what we cannot understand? Why do we so fear what we cannot ourselves control?
As we leave this subject for the time being, I commend to us all these trustworthy, balancing, scriptural words from the Apostle Paul: "Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil" (1 Thes. 5:19-22).
For more on the gift of prophecy, click here.
For more on miracles and spiritual gifts, click here.