No one here is drunk, says Peter, speaking for the apostles. This is the fulfillment of ancient Hebrew prophecy. Centuries before, God had spoken through Joel of a time when he would pour out his Spirit on all humankind. Then, he said, "your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." Servants will participate alongside their masters; men and women of all ages will prophesy together. When God pours out his Spirit, Joel continued, "every one who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved" (Acts 2:1-21). That time has now arrived, announces Peter. The "last days" have begun and salvation is offered through the crucified, risen and exalted Jesus Christ.
To appreciate the lavish generosity of God's outpouring, we need only remember how limited prophecy had always been among his covenant people. But there had been hints that that would change. In Moses' day, God once placed his Spirit upon 70 Jewish tribal elders and they prophesied. Two others also prophesied who were not assembled with the elders, and someone suspiciously reported them to Moses. "Would that all God's people were prophets," Moses responded, "that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!" (Num. 11:24-30.) That time will surely come, said Joel, centuries after Moses.
Now that day has finally arrived. God pours out his Spirit on all his
people without distinction. Men and women alike. Young and old. Indentured and
free. They all will prophesy as God sees fit. This spectacular day marks the
beginning of the Christian era, the age of the Holy Spirit -- what Joel called
the "last days." This era will continue until Jesus returns. It is the day of
salvation. According to both Joel and Peter, ordinary Christian prophecy will be
a sign of these times.
One day, when Jesus returns, God's plan will reach its full and perfect goal. Meanwhile, as Paul notes early in this same Epistle, God gives his people spiritual gifts to equip them as they wait for Jesus to come again (1 Cor. 1:5-7). The final goal is not the completion of Scripture but the completion of Jesus' people. The purpose of Christian prophecy is not the production of a Bible but the encouragement and building up of each local church. Prophecy helps move God's people to maturity, until we attain to "the full measure of perfection found in Christ" (Eph. 4:13). We have not yet reached perfection, as those who are truly mature will quickly acknowledge (Phil. 3:12-15).
When perfection comes, then "we shall see face to face." We "shall know
fully" even as we are fully known (1 Cor. 13:12). To see "face to face" means
that we will see God directly and personally (Gen. 32:30; Ex. 33:11; Deut.
34:10; Ezek. 20:35). When Jesus returns, we will see him "as he is" (1 John
3:1-3). Then, in the new heaven and new earth, we will see God's face (Rev.
22:4). Now we know only partially. Any man who thinks otherwise "does not yet
know as he ought to know" (1 Cor. 8:2). Then, when perfection comes, we will
know as fully as God already knows us. God is faithful and he will keep us
strong until that time (1 Cor. 1:7-9). Ordinary Christian prophecy -- properly
understood and properly used -- is one of his gifts for accomplishing that
result (1 Cor. 14:3).
First, no one living then could have pinpointed such a date, for our Bible of 66 books was not identified until much later. Second, ordinary Christian prophecy has nothing to do with writing Scripture, as we will see later. Third, Paul is not discussing the completion of the New Testament in this passage or in this epistle. Fourth, Paul's point in this text makes no sense if "perfection" means the writing of our 27 New Testament books. Revelation, the last of those books, was penned within 35 years after Paul wrote First Corinthians 13. It is not saying much to say that love is greater than prophecy because love will endure more than 35 additional years.
Fifth, "perfection" here contrasts with something that earlier was "in part." Christian teaching was complete in Paul's day and believers already possessed "everything we need for life and godliness" (2 Pet. 1:3). The purpose of Christian prophecy and knowledge is not to gradually reveal Scripture or the contents of what we now recognize as Scripture. It is to strengthen, encourage and comfort the people of God (1 Cor. 14:3). Sixth, if "perfection" here means the finished New Testament, the most immature Christian now would know more than Paul did when he wrote First Corinthians, for he then knew only "in part" and we would now know fully "even as we are fully known."
The early church fathers uniformly understood "perfection" in this passage
to refer to the time of Jesus' final return. They also reported the ongoing
exercise of ordinary Christian prophecy for hundreds of years after the last
Apostle had died and the New Testament was fully written. The notion that
spiritual gifts (or miracles) would end with the first century seems to have
begun after the Reformation when certain Catholics asked why Protestants did not
have miracles such as the Catholic Church had always claimed. Instead of giving
the biblical answer that such matters are in God's sovereign hands to do as he
sees fit, some beleaguered Protestants replied that such supernatural activity
ceased with the infancy of the earliest church. We should now discard that
notion once for all. It is against Scripture, history, experience and common
sense.
These comments do describe the apostles of Jesus Christ, the New Testament counterparts to the authoritative prophets of the Old Testament. Jesus himself placed the Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles side by side as God's unique and special messengers (Lk. 11:49-51). God's authoritative, enduring, normative message came through the "holy prophets" of the Old Testament and the "apostles" of Jesus Christ in the New Testament (2 Pet. 3:2). As it happens, the apostles were also prophets, but only a few Christian prophets have also been apostles of Jesus Christ. Paul the apostle was also a preacher and teacher -- but most preachers and teachers have not been apostles (1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11). The apostle Peter was an elder -- but most elders have not been apostles (1 Pet. 5:1). The ministry of the prophetic apostles was indeed foundational: the "apostles and prophets" are probably the same group of men when mentioned in that regard (Eph. 2:20; 3:5).
Like the Old Testament prophets, Jesus' apostles spoke the very words of
God (1 Cor. 2:12-13). Their message is authoritative and beyond question (Gal.
1:8-9; 2 Thes. 3:14). Even a person with the gift of ordinary Christian prophecy
must yield to the command of an apostle of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 14:37-38). When
the church eventually recognized the 66 books of Scripture which we call the
"Bible," they did so in large part based on the prophetic origin of Old
Testament books and the apostolic origin or connection of the books that compose
our New Testament Scriptures. That process of recognizing certain writings as
authoritative Scripture began during the first century, and it acknowledged Old
Testament prophets and New Testament apostles even then (2 Pet. 3:1-2, 15-16).
Ordinary Christian prophecy has nothing to do with writing Scripture. Let there
be no doubt: the Bible is complete. Until Jesus comes again, it will remain the
standard by which ordinary Christian prophecy is always to be measured and
tested.
First, it has nothing to do with producing new Scripture. The Bible is complete and it will never be enlarged. Second, ordinary Christian prophecy does not mean predicting the future. Sometimes it involves a revelation of future events (Acts 11:28; 21:11) but that is not its primary purpose or nature. Its purpose is to strengthen, encourage and comfort (1 Cor. 14:3). Whether it reveals future events or not is really beside the point. Third, ordinary Christian prophecy is not a means for revealing new doctrine or giving divine commands. All the doctrine and commands we need are found in the Bible, and it is complete (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:3).
Fourth, ordinary Christian prophecy is not an infallible word from God. We are told to evaluate, weigh or test such prophecy whenever it is given (1 Cor. 14:29; 1 Thes. 5:21). This clearly shows that ordinary Christian prophecy is not on a par with the word of Old Testament prophets or New Testament apostles. Ordinary Christian prophecy originates in a divine "revelation," as we will see later, but it is expressed in uninspired human words. Sometimes the person giving the prophecy misunderstands the revelation, for it is "in part" and not always crystal clear. (Compare the details of Agabus' prophecy in Acts 21:11 with the actual events as described in verses 30-33.)
Fifth, ordinary Christian prophecy is not
preaching or teaching. Strictly speaking, the content of preaching is the
gospel. Teaching is an exposition, explanation and/or application of Scripture.
The content of ordinary Christian prophecy is not the gospel itself or an
explanation of Scripture, but a specific message designed to strengthen,
encourage or comfort a specific audience in a specific time at a specific place.
One who teaches or preaches studies and prepares the message. The person who
ministers ordinary Christian prophecy simply relates a divine insight he or she
has received from God (1 Cor. 14:30). Prophets and teachers are equally God's
ministers but they are two separate categories of ministers (1 Cor. 12:28-29;
Eph. 4:11). Prophecy and teaching are both spiritual gifts and manifestations of
the Holy Spirit, but they are different from each other (Rom. 12:6-7; 1 Cor.
12:4-6).
As presented in the New Testament, ordinary Christian prophecy is a message that encourages, strengthens or comforts a specific Christian believer or group of believers, relating in fallible human language what God has directly impressed on someone's heart or mind. Paul calls this impression a "revelation" (1 Cor. 14:30; see also Eph. 1:17-19; Phil. 3:15). Such divine illumination may come as specific words, a picture or vision, or as a general sense. Sometimes ordinary Christian prophecy includes personal details which the one prophesying does not naturally know. Such prophecies create a sense of awe through the awareness that God is really present and involved (1 Cor. 14:25). I have experienced this on at least three separate occasions myself -- this is not mere hearsay. (To read about one such event, click here.)
Although the impression (or "revelation") comes from God, its meaning and application are not always clear. It is "in part"; it is sometimes like a "poor reflection" in a mirror (1 Cor. 13:9, 12). We see this illustrated in the story of Paul, as he made his way to Jerusalem near the end of Acts. Some Christians at Tyre urged him "through the Spirit" not to go to Jerusalem (Acts 21:4). Undoubtedly they received a revelation concerning the troubles that awaited Paul in Jerusalem, but they seem to have misunderstood the implications. They thought Paul should not go, but Paul had a mission from Christ which required him to do that very thing.
Similarly, a prophet named Agabus told Paul that the Jews in Jerusalem would tie his hands and feet and deliver him over to the Gentiles (Acts 21:10-11). In fact, we learn in Acts 21:30-33 that the Jews did not deliver Paul to the Romans (Gentiles) at all, but rather that the Romans rescued Paul from a Jewish mob. And it was the Romans, not the Jews, who bound Paul with a chain. Agabus had an inspired revelation, perhaps a picture of Paul standing bound in chains and a mob of angry Jews surrounding him, but his interpretation of that revelation was less than fully accurate. Even then, we may be sure that Paul was encouraged and comforted by the ministry of these brothers or sisters who prophesied to him.
God's people can always use a word of
encouragement, of strengthening, of comfort. We can give such words without
exercising the gift of prophecy. But ordinary Christian prophecy -- reverently
received and reported, and faithfully evaluated -- also provides those same
blessings in an awesome, special way from God himself. No wonder that Paul tells
us not to despise this gift (1 Thes. 5:19-22). No wonder he encourages us to
"eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy" (1 Cor. 14:1).
No wonder he exhorts us to "be eager to prophesy" (1 Cor. 14:1, 39).
For more on the gift of prophecy, click here.