Daniel Holland reminds us of the central place of prophecy. Part 1 of 2.
Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? (1 Cor 14v 8)
POWERFUL TOOL
Scripture gives us God’s meta-narrative – the panorama of human history, past, present, future and eternity. What we need is a clarion call for how to live out the purposes of God in the generation in which we are ordained to live (Acts 13v 36). Prophecy enables us to interpret the times we are living in, what our emphasis should be and where strategically to position our faith to bring in the Kingdom of God.
Prophecy comes under enormous attack because it is such an effective weapon. It is so tempting to discard it, or reject it without further investigation when we witness it misused, confused, abused or even used as a weapon of control. If we have been at the sharp end of one or all of these, we will have to resist the pressure to become cynical or unbelieving.
HOLD ON TO THE GOOD!
Do not extinguish the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt, but test all things. Hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thess 5v 19-22 BSB)
1 Corinthians is Paul’s longest epistle, and it is full of wisdom on spiritual gifts and in particular prophecy. Paul outlines the considerable pastoral price to see prophecy working effectively and appropriately in local church. However it is more dangerous to throw the ‘prophecy’ baby out ‘with the bathwater’ than to keep it with all the inherent ‘fleshly’ risks.
No small amount of grace and patience is needed for pastors to encourage believers to take their first steps in this area. There may well be a good deal of the ‘flesh’ that surfaces along with this gift and so much wisdom is needed to pastor it, for a pastor shepherding the people is priority. The pastor should not pounce on ‘mistakes’ , otherwise no-one will dare to come forward. But neither can he allow a ‘free for all’, or much disorder and contempt for prophecy will result. It also requires much courage to pastor those who are blessed and mature in this gift, but don’t necessarily see how their actions impact others.
Prophets prioritise hearing God and ensuring He is heard by the wider church. The nurture and care for believers, especially young believers, is not their number one concern. For Prophets maturity must mean taking into consideration how the message may impact those whose faith is weak and who don’t have much experience.
Likewise it is a discipline for Prophets to simply bring the word and then leave it with God, their job being done. They can be immensely frustrated when no action is taken. Humility is key, and submission to pastoral ministry (1 Cor 14v32). If a word is right, God will always confirm it from a different source.
PATIENCE NEEDED
For evangelists the test is often in the area of their activism, ‘If God has spoken then let’s go, what are we waiting for? It’s difficult if the message is wait, not yet (Acts 16v6)! Typically evangelists may outrun the prophetic word, ‘God told us to plant a church, we still haven’t done it, I’m off to do it myself!’ Pastors try to assuage fears, listen to concerns and prepare everyone. This takes time.
For congregations the challenge is to embrace prophecy even in its immaturity, allowing it to mature and eventually flourish, while recognising the different ministries and how they function.
Churches that embrace prophecy will ultimately be much the stronger for it. It helps to take the long view and to choose not to be offended when things are a little off key or a public message is given that would have been better as a private one. The challenge is not to despise prophecy because we are too familiar with people and their peccadilloes, but steadfastly to listen out for God. Love is the key here; love for God, love for the church and love for the lost.
Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. (1 Cor 14v1)
(1 Cor) Chapter 13 is Paul’s matchless eulogy of love, possibly the most famous chapter on love in the Bible. It is so eloquent and famous that even non-Christians reference it as a definition of love. Following hot on its heels is chapter 14’s master-class on prophecy on tongues in church life. If you hear any teaching on tongues or prophecy that is worth its salt, 1 Corinthians 14 will almost certainly be mentioned.The fact that these two remarkable chapters back onto each other is no coincidence, love for God will probably result in hearing Him, and true prophecy must be saturated in God’s love. In simple terms we draw close to God and listen to Him,in this sense, all may prophecy (1 Cor 14v31).
Look out for a second instalment, next month ……….
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Daniel Holland is a UK missionary with Through Faith Missions. He wrote “Through The Tunnel – Free at Last” published by PUSH Publishing, as his personal testimony. His second book “Prophetic Evangelism – Kingdom Exploits in the Risk Zone” was reissued in an expanded second edition in August 2021, via Christian Publications International: https://christian-publications-int.com/PropheticEvangelism.html . More recently he has penned 2 short-ish books on Growing As a New Christian and Caring for the New Christian.
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Here is a link to a Prophecy Today review of “Prophetic Evangelism”: https://prophecytoday.uk/study/resources/item/2076-review-prophetic-evangelism.html
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