UNDERSTANDING THE PROPHETIC IN AN APOSTATE AGE ( PART 4 )

UNDERSTANDING THE PROPHETIC IN AN APOSTATE AGE (PART 4)

Lets dig a little deeper......Prophecy is largely despised by many today because many false or self appointed prophets have creeped in and have destroyed the essence of this noble calling... It has been surrounded by misunderstanding, confusion, and fear. Yet, from the standpoint of the Scriptures, the gift of prophecy is the most important spiritual gift. Paul considers it vital to the upbuilding of the church. Just what is the role of prophecy for the church today?
Prophecy has been despised before. Moses, finally convinced that God wanted to delegate his governing authority to a larger number, called seventy elders to a "committee meeting" at the tabernacle. Two failed to show up. The Spirit of God fell on the sixty-eight who attended. But the Spirit also came upon the two who remained in the camp who began to prophesy as well. Every one wanted them to stop, uncomfortable at the direct voice of God and jealous for Moses' uniqueness as God's prophet. They reported the incident to Moses and demanded that he stop them. One can almost see Moses chuckling, and then longingly reflecting on the blessedness of the Spirit's presence in his life: "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them!" (Numbers 11:29).

Moses' dream began to be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit fell on the infant church and prompted them to speak out in tongues the "mightinesses of God." Peter, under the inspiration of the Spirit, interpreted the phenomenon thus:

This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy...." (Acts 2:16-18 quoting Joel 2:28-29)
Amazingly, Peter classifies the Pentecost expression of tongues as a variety of the prophetic gift. The New Testament Scriptures make it clear that the Spirit is a universal gift to the church, and that prophecy is the characteristic gift of the Spirit. The Apostle Paul indicated that the gift of prophecy was for every believer: "For you can all prophesy one by one..." (1 Corinthians 14:31; see also vss. 5, 24). As we desire the renewal of the church this expectation of the universality of prophecy among God's people fills us with hope.[1]
If we take Paul's letter to the Corinthians seriously, we must come to the conclusion that the gift of prophecy is indispensable to the church. When we try to build churches without this gift being active, it is like trying to walk across Africa on crutches: it can be done, but it is certainly the hard way. The importance of the gift of prophecy is seen from from Paul's urgency for it. He commands the Corinthians to "earnestly desire to prophesy" (1 Corinthians 14:39; see also 12:31 and 14:1). In all the various lists and discussions of the gifts in Paul's letters the only constant gift is prophecy.[2] Whenever Paul makes an attempt to classify the gifts in terms of importance, prophecy is given preference over all the rest (1 Corinthians 14:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:19f). Only in the two passages where Paul speaks of gifted men (prophets) rather than of the gift (prophecy) do prophets fall into second place behind apostles (1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11; cf. Ephesians 2:20).[3]

As God led me in my study of the gift of prophecy, I was convicted by the Apostle's command: "Earnestly desire to prophesy" (1 Corinthians 14:39; see also 12:31; 14:1). My zeal (Greek zeloo) to prophesy or encourage prophecy in the church certainly was not conformed to the Word. But as I discovered what God intends prophecy to do for His church, my desire and faith for the gift increased. Why is prophecy so important? Just what is its purpose?

Its several functions may all be subsumed under the purpose of building up the Church. Since love for the brethren is to be the motive for desiring the spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 13), the purpose is to build up the brethren. The Greek word oikodome was first used of building houses, temples, and pyramids, but quickly moved to a figurative sense in secular Greek.[4] In the context of spiritual gifts it means "building" as a process, "construction" and is "figurative of spiritual strengthening, edifying, edification, building up."[5] The Spirit of Christ is fulfilling Jesus' promise, "I will build (oikodomeo) my church ..." (Mt 16:18). The Spirit is in the business of constructing people and the community. The ways in which prophecy builds up the body are spelled out in detail in 1 Corinthians 14.

This Sunday at Faf Kenya FULL ARMOR FELLOWSHIP CHURCH.... We expound more... I'm charged in the spirit about this... We are located at Eastlands cinema 1st floor off jogoo Rd crescent street. Call 0798170327 for more info.

Pst Steve Omodecx
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