Word of Salvation – Vol. 31 No. 19 – May 1986

 

The Gift Of Prophecy: Should We Seek It?

 

Sermon by Rev. M. P. Geluk on 1Corinthians 14:3

Reading: 1Corinthians 14:1-5, 22-40

 

One of the spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit was the gift of prophecy.  This gift is mentioned already in chapter 12 of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians but it receives a greater deal of attention here in chapter 14.

One of the questions that is often asked today with regard to the gifts of the Spirit, has to do with the gift of prophecy.  The question is: do some Christians today have the gift of prophecy?

Some Christians feel that they themselves may not possess this gift but believe that others do.  Some people are even looked upon as modern-day prophets.

How should we look upon these claims?  When you give this matter of prophecy some attention you soon discover that in the wider circle of the Christian church there are different viewpoints about the gift of prophecy.  In fact, even within one denomination, or even within a local church, people may hold to opposite points of view.

By way of introduction let us just briefly mention some different views about the gift of prophecy.  The Quakers, for example, have held the conviction for many years that the Spirit of God can speak in and through them.  When they meet together for worship, people may simply sit and wait for the Spirit to emerge.  They believe the Spirit does so when someone gets up and starts to speak.

The Pentecostal movement would be the most recent to claim that the gift of prophecy was never withdrawn.  It is believed that a person possessed by the Spirit will say things that often have a close connection with biblical phrases but which are applied to some current situation.  The person who is believed to have the gift can exhort another person with what he/she feels is the biblical truth about that person.  Very often the gift will exercise itself with regard to matters and happenings that are believed to be related to Christ’s second coming and the end of the world.  Pentecostal Christians want to point out that prophecy is seen as a spontaneous and direct spiritual communication and therefore something different to preaching or saying things which have been prepared beforehand.  They would see the preacher in the pulpit who comes with a sermon carefully prepared beforehand, as not speaking prophetically.  But one who, when he is speaking, is moved to apply the Scriptures to a particular situation or event, may be speaking as one having the gift of prophecy.  The person so speaking may even claim to have had a vision or be inspired at that moment.  Care is to be taken not to go beyond what is believed to be scriptural, but the person claiming the gift of prophecy will say: I believe the Spirit is saying… and so on.

In the more traditional Christian circles many interpret the gift of prophecy as the gift of explaining and applying wisely the Scriptures in preaching and teaching.  A preacher who is used by God to really open the Scriptures and cause people to be built up spiritually may be seen as a modern-day prophet.  Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, for example, was regarded as such by many.  Dr. Abraham Kuyper interpreted the gift of prophecy as vigorous and encouraging preaching wherein the person himself feels moved by the Holy Spirit.

Others again suggest that a prophetic ministry is one which interprets political events or comments on social issues in a manner similar to the O.T. prophets.

In a sense, of course, every Christian is a prophet.  The Heidelberg Catechism, for instance, in Lord’s Day 12, first calls Christ our chief prophet and teacher, and then goes on to say that the Christian is anointed to confess Christ’s name.  In the task of witnessing to Christ the Christian is a prophet but the Catechism does not claim that this is the same as having the N.T. gift of prophecy.

Well, these are some examples of how the gift of prophecy is understood in different ways.

As we now turn to Scripture, you will remember that Paul acknowledged that some in the church of Corinth possessed the gift of prophecy.

And in chapter 14 the apostle Paul begins by saying, “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire the spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.” (vs.1).

Should we then, as we are commanded to seek the spiritual gifts, also seek the gift of prophecy?

In finding the answer to that question let us first see…
            to whom the gift of prophecy was given and why.
In the second place we need to look at…
            the threat of the false prophet.
And thirdly, we see
            the limits that were set for this gift.

1.  In the first place then, as we look at the question: should we seek the gift of prophecy? let us see to whom the gift of prophecy was given and why.

Whilst we are mainly concerned with the N.T.  we ought to remember that the prophets in the O.T. were God’s mouthpiece to His people.  They foretold or predicted future events.  But not only that, they also spoke forthrightly.  That is, they went straight to the point in revealing God’s thoughts on a particular matter of the moment.  The O.T. prophets, were involved in both foretelling and forth-telling.  They spoke the very words of God, being inspired by the Holy Spirit, and began their prophetic speech with, “Thus says the Lord …!’  They were unique, specifically appointed and recognised by God and the people as such.  No one today can claim to be a prophet in the sense the O.T. prophets were.  When we look to the N.T.  witness, we find several people around the time of Jesus’ birth that were inspired by God to give prophecies concerning the person and work of Christ.  John the Baptist, for example, was such a one (Lk.1:76).  He clearly prophesied about Christ who was coming after him.  Then you have Elisabeth (Lk.1:41), who spoke words of prophecy about Mary’s child.

Her husband Zechariah who prophesied about salvation in Christ and about his own son John who would prepare the way for Christ (Lk.1:67).  The aged Simeon, filled and moved by the Spirit as the others were, also said wonderful things about Christ (Lk.2:25, 26).  And there was Anna the prophetess, speaking about the Christ-child to all who were looking forward to the redemption (Lk.2:36).

Later on, Jesus Himself of course, appeared to the people as a great Prophet.  In Him, people said, “God has come to help His people.  (Lk.7:16).  And the two men walking to Emmaus said of Christ, “…a great prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.”  (Lk.24:19).

And Jesus, who Himself was the chief Prophet, spoke of Himself sending prophets and wise men and teachers, after His own ministry on earth had finished.  The Lord, in fact, promised these prophets to the scribes and Pharisees and predicted that these religious leaders would kill and crucify, flog and persecute the prophets (Mat.23:34).

We should also note here the work which the Holy Spirit would do.  The Spirit, said Jesus, “…will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (Jn.4:26).  From the teaching of the N.T. on the gift of prophecy, it is evident that the Spirit would use prophets to teach and remind the believers of Jesus’ words.

But who were these N.T. prophets Jesus promised?  Well, there was Agabus who predicted a severe famine over the entire Roman world and this actually took place during the reign of Emperor Claudius (Acts 11:28).  The same Agabus predicted Paul’s imprisonment when the apostle was on his way to Jerusalem (Acts 21:11).  Two men by the name of Judas and Silas were prophets and, “…said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers” in the church at Antioch (Acts 15:32).

So some of these N.T. prophets predicted certain events and others, like our text, chap. 14:3 says, “strengthened, encouraged and comforted” the believers.

There were also women who had the gift of prophecy, which was promised by Peter at Pentecost, who, quoting the prophecy of Joel, said, “Your sons and daughters will prophesy.” (Acts 2:17).  Philip the evangelist had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy (Acts 21:8,9).

Timothy, Paul’s helper, had prophecies made about him (1Tim.1:18).  He was not to neglect his gift which was given him through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on him (1Tim.4:14).

Then we read about the prophets in the church at Antioch (Acts 13:1), like Barnabas, and Simeon called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, and the name of the apostle Paul is mentioned here too.  There were twelve men at Ephesus who, when the Holy Spirit came upon them, prophesied (Acts 19:6).  The church at Rome was told, “If a man’s gift is prophesying let him prophesy, let him use it in proportion to his faith (Rom.12:6).  The Thessalonian Christians were rebuked, “Do not treat prophecies with contempt.”  But they were also told to, “Test everything” (1Thess.5:20).

And, of course, here in ch.14 of the first letter to the Corinthians, the gift of prophecy was encouraged and preferred far more than the gift of tongues.  Prophesying was a good thing, for as Paul said in vs.24, 25, “…if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare.  So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, ‘God is really among you!””

Therefore, with all this evidence before us from the N.T., what should be our conclusions as to the nature of this gift of prophecy?  Well, for a start, it is obvious that prophecy was one of the special gifts which the Holy Spirit gave to the early Christian church.  The Spirit worked through them to foretell certain events but the prediction aspect was minor.  The N.T. prophets were especially used to build up the local church, to exhort, comfort and encourage the Christians (Acts 15:32; 1Cor.14:3, 31).

But why do we say that prophecy was a gift the Spirit gave to the early Christian church?  Why that qualification?  Why not to the church right down through the ages?  Why not for today?

Well, we find that the N.T. itself limits the gift of prophecy to that early period the Christian church as described to us in the book of Acts and the Epistles.  Note, for example, how the N.T. prophets were connected to the apostles.  To the Ephesians Paul said that the church was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Himself being the Chief cornerstone (Eph.2:20).  The N.T. apostles and prophets were the foundation of the church.  The church that came into existence and grew in great numbers rested on that foundation.

Now, once a building has been erected you do not lay the foundations again.  That’s behind you now.  The church as a building is still being constructed, this will go on until all the elect of God are gathered in.  But the foundation is finished and completed.

The apostles, for example, were clearly for the early Christian church only.  They eventually all died and they were not replaced.  They were the eyewitnesses of what Jesus did and they heard His teaching personally.  And thus they taught, inspired by the Spirit to safeguard the truth.  No one after them can claim that unique distinction.  There are no apostles today.

The N.T.  prophets also were a part in the laying of the foundation.  But they were after the apostles, came second to them.  In 1Cor.12:28 it says that in the church God had appointed first of all apostles, second prophets.  Always the apostles first, then prophets, and then other workers.

The conclusion therefore is that the N.T. prophets were helpers and co-workers of the apostles.  They held a special office of that time not called to it by a church but called and equipped by the Holy Spirit to help build the foundation of the church.  Sometimes they made known new things which were not yet revealed.  But usually they provided insight, wisdom and knowledge into the Word of God proclaimed by the apostles.  They applied the apostolic proclamation of revealed truth to the practical issues of daily life.  They worked it out further, guided and inspired by the Spirit of God.

It may be asked here: does not this then come very close to what a Christian prophet today has to do?  But we must realise that their prophetic task was very necessary because this was a time when there was not yet the complete written Word of God.  The full Scriptures were not available to all the churches until about 200 A.D., and the work of the prophet was obviously of great benefit in the beginning stages of the N.T. church.

2.  Then secondly, we see that prophecy in this time was necessary also because the false prophet posed a great threat to the church.  How could they counter the claims of the false prophet when they had not the complete written Word of God to fall back on, as we can do today?

The Lord Jesus already warned about the false prophets who would prophesy in His name, drive out demons and perform many miracles.  They will say, “Look, here is the Christ, or there he is,” but do not believe it, not even if they perform great signs, said Jesus (Mat.7:22, 24:24).  The threat of the false prophet is very real, they will try to deceive the elect, if that were possible.

How real the threat was can be quickly seen from the N.T.  There was Theudas who claimed to be somebody and had a following of about 400.  But he was killed, his followers were dispersed and it all came to nothing (Acts 5:36).  And Simon the sorcerer who tried to bribe Peter and John with money, in order to receive the power of the Holy Spirit.  Simon boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.”  They followed him because he had amazed them a long time with his magic (Acts 8:9ff).

The seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, tried to drive out evil spirits by invoking the Name of the Lord Jesus.  But it came to nothing because a certain man with an evil spirit actually attacked them and beat them up badly (Acts 19:13ff).

And Paul warned the Ephesian church that from their own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them (Acts 20:30).

In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul was forced to defend himself and his apostleship against false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ (11:13ff).

To the Thessalonian Christians Paul had to warn them not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy saying that the day of the Lord had already come (2Thess.2:2).

And John wrote in his first letter, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world (4:1).

The church at Thyatira was rebuked for tolerating the false prophetess Jezebel (Rev.2:20).

Well, you can see how the early church, faced with the threat of false prophets, needed the true N.T. prophets to help her discern truth from error.  The threat of false prophecy is of course still there today but the foundation has now been laid and we have the written Word of God as our defence against false doctrine and error.

3.  Finally and just briefly, that prophecy came second to the apostles can be further seen from the limits that were set for this gift.  The N.T. prophet was not to go beyond the apostles’ message of the cross (1Cor.1:18).  He or she was to be mainly busy in the work of edifying the church (1Cor.14:4).  In the worship service two or three prophets were allowed to speak but not together and others were to weigh carefully what was said (1Cor.14:29-31) which meant that control was to be exercised.  And the Corinthian church was further told that if anyone thought he was a prophet or spiritually gifted, then he had to acknowledge Paul’ s word as the Lord’s command.  To ignore this would result in that prophet himself being ignored (1Cor.14:29,37).

The N.T.  prophet could even be overruled by an apostle.  For example, Agabus who prophesied Paul’s imprisonment and pleading with him not to go to Jerusalem, was overruled by Paul who felt it was the Lord’s will for him to be imprisoned and thus end up in Rome.  It was obvious that Paul had a deeper revelation of God’s will than Agabus.  And Agabus and his fellow believers just had to accept that (Acts 21:13,14).

So, all in all, when one carefully looks at what the N.T. has to say about the gift of prophecy, then it would appear that this gift was employed by the Spirit in the early church to divinely reveal revelations from God, in a time when the full scriptures were not yet available and the foundations of the church were still being laid.

If then today the gift of prophecy is claimed by some, what then should we say?  We should say that prophecy is not the same as illumination.  Christians may, as a result of diligent and prayerful study of the Scriptures, be able to clearly apply the truth.  And we may certainly ask God to illumine our minds to understand His Word correctly and to apply it correctly.

But if we find, that what we say or claim to be scripturally true, is held to be unscriptural by many Christians throughout the history of the church, then it ought to be humbly acknowledged that we may well be on the wrong track.  To claim the gift of prophecy today is really the same as trying to build a new foundation which is totally unnecessary as the church already has a foundation which was laid by the apostles and prophets of N.T. times.

The overriding argument against the claim of having the gift of prophecy now is that God’s way of teaching today’s church is not by fresh revelation but by careful exposition of His revelation completed in Christ and the Scriptures.

AMEN