How wonderful it is that the Christ we worship is a God of prophecy. Many would consider this dangerous to the point of ignoring the reality of the Spirit, who would choose to speak today through men and women in the context of a church functioning as the body of Christ, where each person with their part to play may have an ability by the Spirit to voice the word of God through the use of the gift of prophecy.
The coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts of those believing in the saving work of the cross of Jesus Christ has brought the ‘Spirit of Prophecy’ which is a strong Old Testament concept into the New Covenant of Christ, where prophecy is under the constraining element of the spirits of men and women – much of what is spoken as prophecy today is far removed from the Spirit of Jesus. The prophetic gift is to be used in Christ, those who use the gift are not free to voice their own opinions through this gift. With the gift of prophecy, the Holy Spirit gives the fruits of self-control, love, joy and peace etc… these are vital so that the gift can be used in the Spirit of Christ. Jesus brought to us grace and truth, truth at times demands judgement, yet it will be wonderfully brought first to us through His grace so that the truth would come alive to the hearers. The righteous indignation of some prophets today leads us to ask what about the fruit of longsuffering, is it not part of the work of the Spirit also – or is the prophet excused!
Today there are people putting themselves forward as ‘prophets’ and even have the title before their names, yet is their message consistent with the message of Jesus? Is it a message of good news; full and free; liberty from sin and bondage; a spiritual renewal through the death of Christ. Does their message demand money from you? Does it demand that they are respected above others? Rather than take their humble part in the body of Christ where all are to be honoured because Christ is the Head, who is to receive the glory, because He is God. Yet it seems in many prophetic ministries and the use of prophecy that Jesus is not even considered as being in authority – rather the man, the woman, or the ministry has taken control. Test the spirits…accept the Spirit of Jesus only, have courage to exercise discernment. Let us confer rather with the Holy Spirit that truly ‘Jesus is Lord’ (1 Corinthians 12:3) in more than just words, but also in spirit, truth, right attitude, motive and action. The prophet is not greater than Jesus.
Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre, November 2009.
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