“He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.”
1 Corinthians 12:10-11 NLT
One of the Holy Spirit’s gifts is prophecy. According to the website bibleref.com, “Prophecy is usually described as delivering a message from God, perhaps with force and conviction. Some believe the gift of prophecy includes the supernatural ability to explain or describe things that cannot be known by the speaker beyond special revelation from the Holy Spirit. These might be things happening in the present or that will occur in the future”. However, a prophecy can also be speaking forth what God wants His people to hear, which may include the application of Biblical principles to the here and now. So, we sometimes have prophetic sermons delivered to address particular situations in a church or fellowship. Some years ago, I remember a particular message that proclaimed God’s displeasure with the behaviour of a certain group of people in the church who had a propensity to gossip. Prophetic words can often be uncomfortable to hear, but they are there to help God’s children change their ways and align themselves with God’s kingdom principles.
Many Christians believe that, with the New Testament now complete, prophetic words that bring something new are no longer relevant or necessary. They believe that Old Testament prophets with their revelations of what was to come are not needed anymore, and in any case, anyone claiming to have a new revelation from God should be viewed with caution, particularly if their message requires an action that doesn’t conform to Biblical principles and teaching. So today, a prophet has become more of a teacher, expounding the Word of God sometimes in a forceful style that even shocks and challenges the congregation before them. Occasionally, a prophetic message will emerge that claims a certain event will happen at some time in the future, and the church needs to take appropriate action. These are occasions when God’s people need to pray and ask for confirmation and wisdom.
On an individual basis, a person may deliver what they claim to be a prophetic word to another person, and to facilitate this, some organisations have emerged onto the modern Christian landscape. In Glasgow, we have the “Global Prophetic Alliance”, and we read from their website, “Global Prophetic Alliance is inspiring, training and equipping the worldwide church in the power of the Holy Spirit to reveal the voice of God. Formed in 2009 by Emma and David Stark, we are a global prophetic equipping hub based in Glasgow, Scotland. Our ministers broadcast, train and equip the church to transform nations by the power of the Holy Spirit as a testimony to Jesus Christ”. It is important for any prophetic ministry to ultimately point to Jesus, and that is what they claim to do. However, I’m more concerned about organisations that offer a service that could be described as spiritual fortune-telling for individuals seeking guidance or reassurance in their lives. We pilgrims must be cautious and discern the times.
Each believer is given a spiritual gift, and as we know from the parable of the talents, it is important that these gifts are used for the glory of God. But it would be wrong to major on one particular gift to the exclusion of the others. We pilgrims are blessed with many gifts, and we must never lose sight of the fact that they are given to us for the building up of the church. They are not provided to us for our own benefit. I personally have benefited from Godly men and women bringing prophetic words into my life, words that have mostly been contained within a sentence or two, but they have enabled me to change direction in my walk with God. We all have blind spots, and the Holy Spirit’s gift of prophecy brings light into darkness and revelation when needed.
Dear Father God. You have richly blessed us with all that we need for life through Your Spirit. Please grant us sensitive spiritual ears with which to hear Your Word, no matter how it is delivered to us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
