What Is the Gift of Prophecy?

welcome to route truth real quick my name is Rick Smith I'm here with Todd Wagner how're you doing Todd and well hello well we are talking about prophecy today what is the gift of prophecy well it's a gift that's making a major comeback right now within many New Testament churches which I guess is all there is New Testament churches right before that we didn't have them so what is the gift of prophecy I think it's the same thing it's always been and one of the great problems we've got today is that people have wanted to redefine it and qualify it and make it something different today so that people can stand up and not have to be accurate speak in vague generalities and and speak words over people that literally that some people who write about this and teaching about it even some friends increasingly will say hey they don't have to be right all the time and you got to kind of make your way through it and they would even go so far as to say there's some examples in the New Testament that New Testament prophets weren't exactly right and I'll tell you it's really concerning to me so let's answer the question okay the word prophet we just get from the Greek word which means to bring forth or to put forward speech that you've got or to share your thoughts it specifically is referring to people who though speak in a way that provides divine revelation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit that's literally what a prophet is or does 1st Corinthians chapter 14 talks about this let me tell you this gift lifts all throughout your New Testament but Romans chapter 12 in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 and Ephesians chapter 4 you've got lists of the different gifts and the the word prophet shows up as a gift in Romans again in 1st Corinthians but in 1st Corinthians 14 we have a lot that's there about prophets let me just read to you those first few verses it's what it says pursue love yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts but especially that you may prophesy that you may bring forth divine revelation now why is this especially let's remember when we're riding to the church in Corinth Paul is telling them look you don't have a New Testament you don't have all the revelation that Rick Smith and Todd Wagner and the folks who listen to real truth real quick half today we we don't have then in Corinth the Bible which is put together authoritative Lee as the revelation of God which is profitable for teaching which is profitable for reproof rebuke and correction so that the man of God can be adequate equipped for every good work that they don't have the faith yet once and for all delivered to the Saints as it says in Jude verse three and so of course you would want the gift of prophecy somebody could bring it forth this is what it then says in fact it says you should earnestly desire prophecy because some people were making a big deal one of the errors in the Corinthian church is that they were seeking some of the more spectacular gifts including the gift of speaking in tongues which we've done some real truth real quick saan that they're worth listening to and they're those real truth reports talk about what the gift of tongues was that you would speak in an own language the mysteries of God it was a way to bring forward revelation to people in a native tongue to them but it says for the one who speaks in the tongue does not speak to men but to God for no one understands but in his spirit he speaks mysteries in other words that guy doesn't even know what he's saying speaking in a known language see the real truth were quick on this that he doesn't know but that some people do and then assist in this in verse 3 but the one who prophesized speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation one who speaks to the tongue edifies himself but when he prophesies edifies the church that's the purpose of gifts to edify others so what does prophecy do it should build up it should encourage and it should comfort okay and Rick what's happening today is that increasingly people are going I'm not gonna find my building out from the Word of God I'm not gonna find my encouragement largely from the Word of God that's once and for all delivered that's that's the Spirit of God illumines in our hearts I'm not going to find my comfort from anything other than maybe this prophet let's go find a prophet who can speak some special word to me and listen ah God can do what he wants to do God can still speak revelation through men if he wants to there's no reason to say that he can't but what I will tell you is he'll never do it in a vague way he'll never err when you speak your prophetic word you should never have to apologize let me just read you an excerpt from a widely circulated book right now that talks about this and and one of the things that they're saying is that hey you should avoid saying things when you prophesy on a New Testament scents like thus saith the Lord or this is the word of the Lord for your life or God specifically told me that I should say this to you they go we might recommend that in the new test when we say it this way I've got a strong inner impression that I believe might be from the Lord where I have a picture in my mind that I think maybe if for someone here I had a sense of the holy spirit about what he wants to accomplish tonight look that language I mean I don't know I guess there's nothing wrong with it but for people to hang on it like that's gonna give me something God's Word can't I think is really troublesome in fact I've got some people I know in the town that we live in that would say that hey listen man this guy he's really anointed the reason he's annoyed is because some woman from another town came down here and spoke over him this prophetess from Kansas City Camus said I believe that God wants you to disciple business leaders in this city now I'll tell you what I have no problem with that because God wants everybody here to disciple men in this city and you didn't care if they're business leaders but for other people to think that that guy's now got some special anointing because some woman told him that that's really troublesome and I will tell you that a lot of times what you see happening in this gift of prophecy is people speak in vague generalities I mean literally go look at what I say about Christian horoscopes and another real truth real quick and too much a prophecy today is that here's what I will tell you about prophets there isn't a New Testament class and an Old Testament class the purpose of prophets is to bring forth special revelation and if you got to qualify hey what I'm doing may not be from God then just say hey listen as a Brit friend I want to encourage you let's let's measure what I'm about to say from Scripture which you should always do because God doesn't contradict himself this is the standard for-profits okay and Deuteronomy 18 verse 20 says the one whose speeches presumptuously in my name which I have commanded him to speak or which he speaks in the name of other gods that prophet shall die in other words if he says something it doesn't come to be he's a false prophet get him out of you get him out of your fellowship all right revelation 22:18 as God's closing up his specific revelation that he's given us he says I testified everyone who hears the words of this prophecy of this book and who adds to them God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book in other words listen I believe God can do what he wants to do right but if you're gonna say you're his prophet then live by the standard of a prophet and what I'm gonna tell you is God is not the author of confusion or contradiction you don't need to go to find some prophet who's going to build you up encourage you or comfort to you the Word of God does that I believe that today a lot of what we do is as a prophet today is more forth telling I'm gonna bring forth the revelation that's already there to you as opposed to foretelling but if you want to be a foreteller that's fine okay just be ready to live by the standard of Deuteronomy okay and the warning of Revelation all of us when we teach the Word of God are prophetically expounding on our bringing forward the revelation I think we can come up to somebody I think the Word of God here has application in your life that's great okay and in some way you're doing the prophetic ministry right there but be very careful when you need to go hear from somebody as your as your means of edification so should they not should have not happen man it better happen but it better happen biblically I would say it happens here every Sunday I do tell that you tell the future but you tell the truth that's right hey if God wants me to tell the future you certainly can use me to do it but I better be really careful before I say thus saith the Lord and if I'm not sure it's the Lord I I don't know why you want to call it the biblical gift of prophecy put all these qualifiers on it and say sort it out I mean that's what we do we study God's Word we study it carefully we ask the Spirit of God to illuminate illuminated in our life and we apply it correctly so just beware of guys that say they carry the label prophet speak prophetically you want to hear God speak read his word alright thanks you know there's a lot of confusion out there about the topic of spiritual gifts and things of that nature so we have an entire playlist that we have put together dealing with topics about spiritual gifts and so I'll put a link to that playlist in the show notes be sure and check that out and we'll see you next week on another episode of real truth real quick

Channel: Real Truth. Real Quick.

Views: 51,375

Keywords: Todd Wagner, Watermark, Watermark Community Church, prophecy, spiritual gifts, Christian, Christianity, charismatic

Id: g_RDN7ZTmb0

Length: 9min 29sec (569 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 01 2017