Spiritual Gifts – The Gift of Prophecy
For the past weeks I’ve been looking at spiritual gifts, today I’ll focus exclusively on the gift of prophecy.
Stick with me to the end and I’ll definitely provide a bonus just for you.
Don’t confuse the message with the messenger. Welcome to all my new viewers and returning viewers. My name is Leroy Daley.
I do not teach my opinions. On this blog, I teach Bible studies that are motivated by the scriptures.
I use the word of God to explain the word of God. So it’s here a little, there a little, line upon line, but precept must be on precept or we will have confusion. Thank you for stopping by.
If you prefer to watch the video of this Bible Study, click this link!
What is the Gift of Prophecy?
What is the gift of prophecy? One of the gifts of the Holy Ghost is the gift of prophecy. The gift of prophecy is for prophets as snow is for winter.
God placed prophets in the church.
I use the King James Version of the Bible and I’m going to read from First Corinthians twelve verse twenty-eight.
And God hath set some in the church, first Apostles, secondary prophets, so God placed prophets in his church and they are still in his church today. Thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:28).
Is the Gift of Prophecy Different?
The gift of prophecy is God giving a leader of his church the ability to prophesy.
Just like in olden times, where prophets of God would prophesy, this is how the gift of prophecy operates.
God placed that gift in a contemporary leader who has the gift of prophecy. We cannot discuss the gift of prophecy and not debate prophets. But the gift of prophecy is different from conventional prophets.
Okay. So let’s look a bit on the olden prophet. The olden prophets were just prophets and nothing else. What do I mean by this?
In the contemporary church, a person who possesses the gift of prophecy is a church leader. However, such a one usually fulfills many other roles.
Prophets Are Leaders
He could be a pastor, a teacher, an evangelist. So as in olden times, the prophets of old were leaders, the prophets of today are also leaders but they are in the church.
Now, in the olden times in the scriptures, God would call a man. He called Jeremiah, he called Moses, he calls all prophets.
So God calls a prophet explicitly and the person knows that he’s called to be a prophet.
With time, the whole community will know that this person is called to be a prophet and with time this person would be established as a prophet, based on how he operates.
If the things he says come to pass people would believe him. They will know that God has called this person to be a prophet.
If they didn’t come to pass then they would know he wasn’t a prophet of God in the first place.
What is the Call of Salvation?
Now, in the contemporary church when we accept a call of salvation to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, we’re also called by God.
However, it’s not as explicitly as the call of the prophet, but all of us have answered that call when we believed on Jesus Christ.
Now it’s a similar call, so we are all called.
Now in the olden time, the prophets explicitly knew that they were called to be prophets. But at this time, many of us don’t know because the gift is dormant in us.
The gift is dormant. So it requires an experienced spiritual person to motivate us to stir up that gift that’s in us.
So that’s how the gift of prophecy differs from the conventional prophets who prophesy.
Who Uses the Gift of Prophecy?
When do we receive the gift of prophecy? Gifts of prophecy are gifts God gives to leaders who are prophets in his church.
He supplies them with these favors when they are born again. First Corinthians Twelve verse eight tells us that “to one is given by the Spirit“.
It’s the Holy Ghost that gives the gift. Now you may ask, so why is it that Paul says that he imparted gifts to Timothy? I’ll explain.
The fact that it’s a gift doesn’t mean that everybody has it you know. It means that whoever received that call and seek God to know, has that gift.
So the gift of prophecy is the message of the prophet that the Holy Ghost gives him. So don’t confuse the message with the messenger.
The person has to be a prophet to prophesy. We cannot possess the gift of prophecy and not be a prophet, because we would be out of place.
Can a Believer With the Gift of Prophecy – Prophesy at Will?
Remember God has a structure, first Apostles, then prophets then teachers. But prophecy is to a prophet as snow is to winter, we can’t have one without the other.
So if you have the gift of prophecy that means you are a prophet in the church.
So the gift of prophecy is the message of the prophet that the Holy Ghost gives to him.
Now we cannot prophesy at will, some people you think you can just get up and start to prophesy. No!
The Holy Ghost is the one who is prophesying through you, who is speaking through you.
We prophesy when the Holy Ghost prompts us.
For the prophet came not in old time by the will of man but, the holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21).
So those holy men of old only prophesied when the Holy Ghost prompted them to prophesy.
It’s the same thing today, we cannot just get up and start to prophesy at will. Anytime you find somebody doing that, remove yourself from them.
Prophets of the Lord God
So a prophet is the servant or voice of a God and every God has prophets. We know there are prophets of Baal, Satan, and of the Lord God.
But today we’re going to focus on the prophets of the Lord God.
So, in olden times the Lord sent His prophets to a nation, Israel.
Today, the Lord placed them in the church; therefore, if you desire to hear a prophet you’ll have to go to church.
How to receive the gift of prophecy? Remember, I told you that to receive this gift you have to receive the Holy Ghost.
There’s another way to awaken this gift. It’s not to receive it but it’s to awaken it and that’s through impartation and the laying on of hands.
Paul employed this method. The first-century church employed this method.
So impartation combined with the laying on of hand is popular in scriptures, to commission, ordain, and to charge Christian into service for God.
How to Awaken the Gift of Prophecy?
Paul’s young protégé, Timothy, received his awakening in this manner. Listen as Paul explains, “for I long to see you that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end he may be established” (Romans 1:11).
So you see Paul wants to establish the gift so everybody around would know that this person is, say a prophet.
But in olden times to be established as a prophet you would have to speak the word, the word come to pass, people know it and over time they say, oh you are established as a prophet, as was the case with Samuel, as was the case with Isaiah, Jeremiah, Moses, Abraham, all those prophets.
Therefore, Paul motivates Timothy and he informs us can be dormant in you and needs awakening, he says neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on of hands of the presbytery (1 Timothy 4:14).
Many of us received the Holy Ghost, have many gifts in us and are not aware because these gifts are dormant.
Remember when Christ ascended to heaven he gave gifts to men in the church, but many people won’t seek God to know the gift that they have.
Seek the Lord to Know
I have been aware that I am a teacher for many years. Why? Because when I was 14, 15, 16, 17, I was busy searching the scripture every day, fasting and praying, while my peers were out having fun playing cricket, and football.
Over time, I came to know that this is what the Lord wanted me to do and then great men, leaders in the church, spoke mighty words over my life and told me, son this is what God has called you to do and this…
I’ve heard it many times, it built that confidence in me. So I know, even before I had that very personal experience with the Lord, I knew that I was called to be a teacher.
Neglect Not the Gift
So, if you spend time with God to seek and search for him in scriptures, you will realize and you will know the latent gifts that the Lord has placed in you when you receive the Holy Ghost.
So Paul said, neglect not the gift that’s in thee which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on of hands of the presbytery.
Further, Apostle Paul not only reminds Timothy how he got this gift of God but he also revealed that he’s a major player in that impartation.
He says, “wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands” (2 Timothy 1:6).
So you see what I’m saying, the gift is in you but it’s dormant, so you have to stir it up, motivate, you know… make it active, and you do that spiritually.
You have to do it through spiritual means fasting, praying, seeking God, searching the scriptures, conversing with people who know the word.
So you’re stirring up that gift. With time you might not realize that, oh, you’re a discerner of spirits, but as you see God you will realize what gifts are resident in you.
The Supremacy of Prophecy
So the impartation of a spiritual gift happens when an experienced Apostle perceive that a believer has a particular gift. So Paul would have perceived that Timothy has a certain gift from being around Timothy. That’s how he knows.
However, impartation and laying of hands are to remove any doubts and establish the person, because such a one would have already gotten the gift by the Spirit when he or she received the Holy Ghost.
Why is the gift of prophecy significant? It is one of the spiritual gifts that relies heavily on faith, but its major function, in the church, is for edification.
It edifies the body of Christ that is the major function of the gift of prophecy.
“Even so, he for as much as you are zealous of spiritual gifts seek that he may excel to the edifying of the church” (1 Corinthians 14:12).
Nevertheless, Paul shows the supremacy of prophecy in the following verse, “follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that he may prophesy” (1 Corinthians 14:1).
Why Million of Christians Are Unbelievers?
So, many people globally are unbelievers because they don’t understand the gospel of salvation.
Similarly, many Christians in quotes are “unbelievers” because they have never tasted of the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
Yes, I’ve heard so many varied and weird theories about this thing that I am even wondering, are these people even reading the same book that I’m reading, the Bible?
Where did all these weird theories come from? So in both cases, ignorance of the immutable and incorruptible word of God is the cause of their unbelief.
They are ignorant of the word of God, they have not tasted of the true word of God.
But where prophecy resides ignorance flees, because it always brings illumination of God and shines His glory into our hearts.
Of course, it does, always does.
The Bonus
Near the start of the video, I promised a bonus to anybody who watched the video to the end.
As promised, here it is. The Holy Ghost does not give the gift of prophecy in an instant. He supplies a word of prophecy in an instant.
But he does not give the gift in an instant, like oh, you’re in a situation and you need a prophecy and the Lord dumps it into you. No!
That’s not how the Lord works. He gives a word, he can give a word at that time, but you already had the gift, know that you had the gift, been honing the skill of prophecy all your life, up to that point.
That’s how the Lord works, that’s how he worked with Moses, that’s how he worked with Abraham, that’s how he worked with me, that’s how he worked with Paul, that’s how he worked with Timothy and if you talk to any leader you will find that’s how the Lord works.
People who don’t understand how the gift of prophecy works just bring their own opinions to the table and they think that’s how it is, but that’s not how it is. He supplies a word of prophecy in an instant, but he furnishes the gift of
prophecy when we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, that is the only time we get the gift of prophecy.
How Many Gifts Could We Have?
All the gifts that we have we get it at that time, it’s in us, it’s latent, it’s sleeping, stir it up, awake it, let it rise.
The Bible says that He gives “severally”, so one person can have several gifts, not necessarily one gift.
I know a person who is an evangelist, who is a pastor, he is also an apostle and he is a mighty man of God. He has many gifts.
So the gift of prophecy is not something we receive on-demand. It’s a skill we have been honing all our lives whenever the Holy Ghost moves us to prophesy.
Every believer who exercises this gift is aware that he or she possesses this gift long before its first usage.
So, if you have this gift you will know that you have this gift long before the first time you use it.
We never utilize it by will but by the nudging of the Spirit. He always tells us when and how.
Has the Gift of Prophecy Faded From the Church?
There are some newborn Christians who will say that the gift of prophecy has faded from the church but don’t believe that word because it’s a lie.
We live in a different time. The need for the gift of prophecy now is not as prevalent as it was earlier at the start of the church and in olden times.
Additionally, the Lord has not changed he is still the same. People think God changed, no!
God always does the same thing the same way. He is a fixed God.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17).
Does God Change With the Times?
So this tells you, that if you have a gift and it’s a good gift, it came from God and God is fixed.
He is a fixed principle and there’s “no variableness” or “shadow of turning” with Him. He’s the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is a fixed principle.
Conclusion
So, to conclude, the gift of prophecy is always in the church. It’s a portion of the church organizational structure; prophets possess it; the Holy Ghost gives this gift to leaders in the church; the Lord does not change based on time; this gift has not faded from the church, and the gift of prophecy is the same gift that the prophets of old possessed to prophesy in the name of the Lord.
The only difference is, the Lord gives leaders this gift so they don’t have to wait long to be established as prophets.
It’s a gift that bypasses the waiting period.
Finally, if you are new here and desire to learn more about spiritual gifts and in particular the discerning of spirits, subscribe to my channel.
If God allows me next week, I shall examine this topic so join me as I rightly divide the word of truth.
Thank you for your time. Thank you for stopping by. God bless you. Peace.
