Prophecy - Can we really speak for God today?
Okay, first off I realize this picture is a little over the top. But it’s kind of cool, sort of Lon M. like in appearance. But I thought it might grab your attention.
I recognize that some may have found my message of 2.24.08 a bit ponderous. As I prepared it I thought to myself - “this don’t preach to good” (Pardon my grammar). Yet, I believe that I needed to take the time to carefully talk about the discontinuity between O.T. prophets and the way in which prophecy functions in the N.T. I believe a great deal of confusion makes its way into the church over simply not understanding the difference between O.T. prophets and the way the gift of prophecy is meant to work in the church. The weight of responsibility which lay on the shoulders of O.T. prophets was enormous. They could not be wrong. They were chosen and set apart by God to deliver the very words of God to the people.
I do not believe that this sort of function continues in the N.T. church, except in the ministry of the Apostles. They are the heirs of the O.T. prophets. They are the ones uniquely set aside to function as God’s mouth piece in laying the foundation of the New Covenant. There role is completely unique and utterly unrepeatable. There are no longer Apostles in the sense in which the 12 who were chosen by God (and I would include Paul) existed. I believe that the ministry of planting churches, as well as extra-local oversight of churches can be called “apostolic” ministry, but I would make that a “little” a, rather than the special and unique ministry of these foundational Apostles who were specifically chosen by God for the role they each fulfilled.
Please, don’t get glassy-eyed just yet. All of this leads to something very exciting for the church. Because the Word has given us these boundaries we have a great deal of freedom and opportunity to be used by the Holy Spirit in prophetic ministry. Paul very clearly exhorts the church to earnestly desire prophecy. He calls us to it, and I believe expects churches to be prophetic. What does that mean exactly? At the very least it means this: When the church gathers together we should expect God to extemporaneously speak to us - for (our) upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. (1 Cor. 14:30) and to do it through things which we share publically with the whole church. That means the sharing of scripture which God has placed on our heart and given us special insight into, or impressions He has given us that builds, encourages or comforts, or it could be dreams or visionary experiences, it might be a spontaneous song, or even a planned one. It could be a poem, or a testimony, or even a prayer. God can inspire through a variety of means a prophetic encounter that will powerfully effect our lives. What makes a word “prophetic” is that it’s timing fits in such a way that it will often be just what we needed to hear. It is God inspiring speech that indicates He is aware of our needs, and moving His people to respond to them.
Let’s grow in the prophetic. This means pursuit, and it most certainly means a life of prayer and scripture study. Unless we want superficial, “God loves you” prophetic words, we will have to dig into the Word and encounter God’s voice. I believe a time is coming where we will begin to speak of “prophets” in our midst the way we now speak of those who are teachers. May God stir up the prophetic fire!
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Nope, I’ve never let my beard get that long, and my hair isn’t that white, at least not yet.