What Is Prophecy in the New Covenant?

John there's a difference on the surface of how prophecy seems to function the Old Covenant in the New Covenant old covenants thus saith the Lord and there's a different sense in the way prophecy seems to function the New Covenant how have you put that together in your thinking and during your pastoral ministry yeah it's not just a surface difference it's I think it's a substantial difference it is remarkable isn't it that the Apostles are not are not called prophets this new office seemed to be brought into being by Jesus of apostle instead of saying I'm going to gather around me on Isaiah and an ezekiel and a Daniel I'm going to gather up all and a Peter and John and call them apostles and I've been significantly influenced by wayne grudem's book on prophecy trying to make sense out of texts 1st Thessalonians 5 test all things hold fast to what is good don't despise prophecies that's been really relevant in my own personal experience because I think our tendency is to despise what the New Testament treats as prophecy prophecy in the New Testament at least the way it's treated in first Corinthians 12 and 13 14 doesn't appear to have the same scripture quality inerrant inspiration and authority that when in Isaiah thus set the Lord you don't you don't go up to Isaiah and so I'm going to test what you've said now and holdfast what is good and throw the rest away but you do that with New Testament prophecy you test it and if it proves good that is confirming conforming to authoritative teaching from the Apostles then then you embrace it and so prophecy in the in the New Testament seems to be down a notch from the authority of Old Testament prophets and is to be exposed to testing which is based on the Apostolic teaching which would have the prophecy level quality of thority inspiration of the Old Testament and and then it would be God bringing something to mind is pretty much the language that Wayne Grudem uses God bringing something to mind that you would not otherwise have thought of in the moment for the sake of upbuilding and encouragement and consolation those are the three words from first Corinthians 14:3 when one who prophesized speaks to men for their building for their encouragement for their consolation and so the way I personally appropriate it for myself now and I really don't feel as confident about this as I do a lot of things and therefore I don't go around the country crusading for prophecy but I have to live my life a certain way because the Bible says earnestly desire spiritual gifts especially that you may prophesy it tells me to do that and so my my best shot is to say Lord so here I am sitting in the front pew thirty seconds before I preach the text is being read and I have prepared I know basically what I want to say it's on manuscript I've studied the scriptures this is my authority not stuff that randomly comes in my head that's not my authority I'm not going to deliver that to this people and say thus saith the Lord you you believe that or you're disobeying I'm going to say that with this book not with what comes into my head nevertheless I pray as I'm sitting there God grant me a gift of prophecy in this preaching and what I mean by that is bring to my mind things about yourself and about this text and about the truth and about this people that I will be able to say in such a way that they will pierce with unusual I might say prophetic power into their lives and it might be something extraordinary I'll give you one example of something extraordinary it might be something more ordinary the more ordinary happens very regularly where people say have you been reading my mail you know you you would when you look you looked at me and you said and I didn't even know I was looking at you and I didn't know that those words were not in the manuscript they just were there that I that kind of penetrating personal powerful up building or convicting application is a gift of God in the moment that the extraordinary one that I remember was that I was preaching on small groups and Bible studies and I'm I met I was making the case that you could have a small group anywhere it would be great for you to gather people together maybe even unbelievers and have an investigative Bible study and and I looked I looked to the downtown out to my left at the old sanctuary and I said you might be working on the 34th floor the IDS tower maybe you should call your people together and have a small group meeting this woman comes up after that she said why did you say that she said I work on the 34th floor of the ideas tower and I've been praying about whether to start us Margaret now what what is that that I think I said to her I think that's a gift to you from God I just think that's a gift you could make of it whatever you want I just think that's a sweet encouragement from your father in heaven so that's the sense in which I ask for the gift of prophecy and I think all my people should test it and hold fast to what is good but when when I give them the word as much as they see the word as the word they just take that what it is God's word for a non preacher who has an impression they think from God to help somebody a consolation or encouragement for them any counsel for how to go about communicating right that's a very good application because there are people who have I think abused the gift of prophecy by delivering their thoughts in a way that puts the other person in an impossible situation and I think that's probably why Paul says don't despise officer now why would he say that frankly in my experience I am tempted to despise prophesying because they have been so abused in my experience I'll give you one example when I was trying to help our people with these things some years ago and teach them to be open to the spirit and pursuing the spirit not just cautiously open like some people say but the Bible says earnestly desire spiritual gifts especially that you may prophesy and so I'm couraging are people to seek the spiritual gifts so that we can minister Grace's to each other love joy peace patience goodness kindness those and the gifts you know the gift of faith and the gift of miracles lifts of healing and the gift of tongues and and the gift of teaching and interpretation and all these things just go ahead ask the Lord for those things don't make him give you anything but just ask him well a woman came to me while my wife is pregnant with my fourth child and she says I have a very hard prophecy for you that's okay she said you're in fact she wrote it down give it to me your wife is going to die in childbirth and you're going to have a daughter I went back to my study I thank you I said I appreciate that I forget what I said but it wasn't I didn't want to hear that I went back to my study I got to her I she wept I said Lord I've been trying to help these people take this gift seriously and I don't know what to do with this this is I cannot imagine why this would be helpful it doesn't feel like it's of you and yet I don't want to discourage people so I kept it totally to myself didn't tell Noel my wife about it and when we delivered our fourth boy not girl I gave a hoop which I always do but this hoop was a little extra because I knew as soon as the boy was born this was not a true prophecy but Noel is still alive and Barnabas is what seven years old today and but that's the sort of thing that makes you despise prophecies you just user psyche I don't want anything to do with that kind of stuff and I don't blame people for feeling that way but the Bible says don't despise them be careful and discerning so my answer to your question is if you sense something you have for somebody offer it to them as a gift don't thrust it at them as a demand I sense I would use the words like I sense that God wants me to say to you I mean I do this when I'm jogging I'm praying for people and I'll pass somebody and if the Lord seems to say that would be a good person to talk to I don't hear any voice I just say I could talk to anybody right now I could knock on any door I want I could do anything and this person seems to be the one God is appointed I'll go up to that person and I'll say something like this I'm out jogging and praying for the neighborhood this morning and while I was running by I sensed the Lord wanted me to stop and talk to you and I can pray for you or about her how are you doing now this just a offer that God and then I may have something more specific than that but that's the way I would go about it offer offer gifts to me these are spiritual gifts they're not spiritual cameras and so offer it to them and and say just test it and if it seems to help wonderful

Channel: Desiring God

Views: 150,773

Keywords: John Piper, Spiritual Gifts, Prophecy, Bible, Christianity, Theology

Id: sf1cdXdgFxU

Length: 10min 23sec (623 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 30 2013