So these men, it seems, all possessed that gift of prophecy. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. By the fact that in the previous verse it mentions these men with the gift of prophecy, I have no doubt that there was a prophetic utterance whereby God directed them to separate Paul and Barnabas for a special ministry. And so, when they had fasted and prayed, they laid hands on them and the Holy Spirit sent them forth and they began the first missionary journey, taking the gospel into Cypress and then on over into Asia Minor.
So it was, no doubt, through the exercise of this gift of prophecy that the Holy Spirit spoke and directed the activities of the early church. When Paul was writing to Timothy, he told him not to neglect the gift of the Holy Spirit. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery [or the elders]. So when Timothy came before the elders, they laid hands on him and there was a word of prophecy that indicated the gifts that the Lord was giving Timothy, in order to fulfill his ministry.
And so, prophecy played a very important part in the direction of the early church. It defined for them just what gifts God was imparting to them. Now in the New Testament there are certain rules regarding the exercise of the gift of prophecy. There was one rule that seemed to apply only to women, when they prayed or prophesied. Remember Philip's four daughters did prophesy.
The promise in the last days, saith the Lord, "And your sons and daughters shall prophesy"-shall speak forth the word of God Joel 2: There is no prohibition whatsoever for a woman exercising the gift of prophecy and speaking forth the Word of God. The only prohibition was to the Corinthian church and that is where Paul said if a woman prays or prophesies with her head uncovered she dishonors her husband.
And so, he suggested that the women cover their heads. But then he went on to say that they did not have any such rule in all the churches. It seemed to be dealing with a local situation in Corinth. As Paul was speaking to them about chain of command; how the wife is in subjection to the husband, the husband to the Lord, and the Lord unto the Father.
So if a woman would pray or prophesy with her head uncovered she dishonors her husband. What is he talking about? The city of Corinth was an extremely wicked city. In fact it was associated with total debauchery. And to say that a person lived like a Corinthian would say that the person was just a debauched person, reveling in drunkenness and partying. It was known for being an extremely wicked city. It was basically a seaport, where east met west.
Because the ships coming from the east with the goods for Rome would come to Corinth, the ships would be unloaded and the goods carried across the two-mile isthmus there, and then loaded on to ships going to Rome. So it was a seaport that had a bunch of sailors passing through and the place was just wild. At the top of the hill above Corinth, there on the Acropolis was this huge temple to Aphrodite-the female goddess of love.
In the evening a thousand of the priestesses of Aphrodite would come down into the city and they were prostitutes. And thus they would fill the city and prostitution was rampant there in Corinth. These prostitutes would not wear veils in order that they might be identified. And so, an unveiled woman was thought to be a prostitute, and thus, she was approachable by a man. Whereas the women Paul was addressing would generally and customarily wear veils.
So Paul is saying if a woman prays or prophesies and does not have a veil it is sort of dishonoring to her husband. But again, we do not have any such custom in all the churches. But it was one that Paul did apply to the women in Corinth-if they were to exercise publicly the gift of prophecy in church. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. Now the second rule for prophecy is that the services are to be conducted decently and in order.
God is not the author of confusion. And the services ought to be conducted with a mind towards the response or the reaction of an unbeliever. Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. Many times in the Pentecostal circles, prophecies or utterances are made ostensibly in the name of the Lord. They have a tendency to begin a prophecy by saying, "Thus saith the Lord. Well, did the Lord really say it?
Is it in keeping with what God has said? We are to judge prophecy. You are not just to accept it. If I come up to you and say, "Brother, the Lord has been showing me something about you. He wants you to go to Africa as a missionary. Is this bearing witness with your heart? Now it is interesting, I have often had people come up to me and say, "Chuck, it seems to me that the Lord has been speaking to me and you should do this or that. And it comes as more or less a confirmation. Now I have other people who come to me and say, "You know the Lord said this.
I do not accept that. With a "Thus saith the Lord, you have been leading the people astray The Scripture asks the question, 'Who is he that condemneth?
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It is Christ who has died, yea rather has risen again, and is even at the right hand of the Father making intercession. I came to save" John So if someone comes to me with some terrible condemnation, I shrug it off. Jesus did not come to condemn me. He came to save me. So the prophesying in the church is to be judged.
The Gift of Prophecy by Chuck Smith
And then he said, "If anything be revealed to another that is sitting by, let the first hold his peace" 1 Corinthians In other words, do things orderly. And there is room for others. It is interesting that many times as a person is speaking, the Spirit will begin to amplify, in my own mind, the things that are said. He will be giving me illustrations or amplifying what is said. Sometimes if it is a guest speaker and the Lord has spoken to my heart and amplified certain parts, I will get up afterwards and expound on this one point and amplify it as the Spirit had amplified it to my own heart.
So let the first hold his peace. You do not all get up and start prophesying at once. It would be mass confusion. But you may all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be comforted. So the prophecy was used as a teaching method. We are not studying the tongues yet, but let me just say that tongues was never used as a teaching tool in the church. Because the gift of tongues is not addressed to man, it is addressed to God.
Howbeit in the Spirit he is speaking unto God divine secrets.
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But prophecy can be used for instruction in the church. The gift of prophecy is for learning, that all may be comforted. Make note of that because I have had people say, "Well, I just had to say it. The spirit of the prophet is subject unto the prophet.
The Spirit of God does not take over control and make you like a robot and force you to do things. We will get to that more emphatically when we get to the subject of tongues. If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.
Now, in the exercise of the gift of prophecy we are told that we are to do it according to our proportion of faith. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Now I believe that all of the gifts of God are exercised-received and exercised-by faith.
You have a thought or an inspiration that comes into your mind. And you believe that it is an inspired thought of the Holy Spirit. And you wish to share that thought, then you do it according to the proportion of faith that you have.
Now if you are doing it in such a way that intimates that it is the gift of prophecy from God, then the others are to judge it to determine whether or not it really is indeed of God. The basis, of course, of the judgment would be whether it is in keeping with the body of Scripture-the whole body of Scripture. You see, God will not give you a prophecy or an inspiration that is contrary to the written Word.
A lot of people make the mistake of saying, "Thus saith the Lord," when they are saying things that are actually contrary to what God has said. The Word of God is forever established and God is not going to give any revelation that would be in conflict or contrary to His already written Word. And so, the Word of God is the filter through which we put the prophecies in judging them whether they indeed are of God or not.
Do they pass through the filter of the already spoken Word? Now the Scriptures warn over and over again concerning those who would speak their own ideas in the name of the Lord. And I am afraid that this is a very prevalent practice. I get probably two or three letters a week of "thus saith the Lord" kinds of things in which a person is expressing their own ideas.
I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: This is pretty heavy. God is denouncing those who would presume to speak their own thoughts and their own ideas in His name. Jesus warned over and over concerning false prophets. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. In His predictions of the events of the last days, Jesus said, "And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many" Matthew Jesus said, "Not all who say, 'Lord, Lord' are going to enter the kingdom of heaven.
The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies about the Messiah, our Savior. Bible prophecy is a way for God to communicate to His people.
God has revealed His plans to the prophets. Prophecy is one of the gifts of the Spirit to the church. Prophecy helps move the work of God. It's in the Bibie, Ezra 6: And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
The gift of prophecy is to build up the church and unify it.
Chuck Smith :: The Gift of Prophecy
The Holy Spirit distributes individual gifts to members of the church. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. Be sure to test prophets. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.
You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. I will tell of the decree: Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.
A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
Bible Prophecies
And in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,. In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:.
I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus.
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The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,. That the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles. That the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things. He foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel! He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,. And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.