For many decades now, I have had a healthy fear of anything that smacks of ‘New Age,’ of ‘small s’ spiritual’ things, of what I saw as ‘wacky’ teaching, of sensationalism related to Christianity, or any form of idolatry. However, I have learned over the last decade of my faith that I have prejudged some Biblical truths as false teaching without in-depth study or even stopping to ask God what He thinks.. Some of it, God has shown me, is from my zeal for His truth, but some has been from intellectual arrogance and reliance on my own human judgment.
Questions like, “How could this ever take place? “How could this possibly be true? Comments like “That’s ridiculous!” Declarations like, “God just doesn’t do that today!” Or…”who do they think they are, proclaiming themselves prophets?” I am ashamed to say these have been in my mind even if they haven’t come out of my mouth. God has humbled me many times in my life, so I thankfully am used to repenting and asking Him where I have gone wrong.
I have believed in and experienced the gifts of the Spirit since 1979. I have believed they were for today, not just to ‘get the church going’ at its inception. Yet somehow, it never occurred to me that God was still anointing people in the office of prophet, not just in Old Testament days. I believed in individual prophetic words, as described in Corinthians. I believed in aforesaid gifs of wisdom and knowledge. But it never entered my head that God was still speaking through specially anointed individuals in the 21st century. Yet why would Holy Spirit suddenly stop communicating in this way? Yes, we can each hear from Him individually, but in the same way that He has specially anointed certain people for healing, for deliverance ministry, for words of knowledge, etc., He has continued to choose people to speak to the Body as a whole. I have come to be so very grateful for these prophets ‘for such a time as this’ when God is doing unprecedented mighty works in the world, like bringing ‘epic revival’ and ‘a billion soul harvest’ and has called us to be a part of it. It is only relatively recently in the history of the church that we have had the technology to join together as a world-wide Body and agree in prayer and decree that His specific will for these times be done. Now it is happening…across denominations and nations.
We musn’t relegate this powerful ministry to the bathtub of current false teachings. We must, indeed, check prophecies with His Word as the plumb line of truth and ask God for discernment. However, we must not reject them in a knee-jerk reaction of our ‘higher spiritual understanding, as I have seen many do.
So, let’s take a look at some examples of what the Word says about prophecy and it’s ministry::
“ Do not scorn or reject gifts of prophecy or prophecies [spoken revelations—words of instruction or exhortation or warning]. —1Thessalonians 5:20
Do not quench [subdue, or be unresponsive to the working and guidance of] the [Holy] Spirit. —1 Thessalonians 5:19
To one, through the Spirit, is given a word of wisdom; to another, a word of knowledge, in accordance with the same Spirit; 9 to another, faith, by the same Spirit; and to another, gifts of healing, by the one Spirit; to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, the ability to judge between spirits; to another, the ability to speak in different kinds of tongues; and to yet another, the ability to interpret tongues. —1 Cor 12:8-10
“And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.” 1 Cor 12:28
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