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The Holy Spirit’s Gifts of Prophecy and Discernment
by Tom Stark
- The scriptures teach that God gives the Holy Spirit to all Christians for His
glory – Romans 12:3-8, I Cor. 12:4-11, 27-31, I Cor. 14, Ephesians 4:7-13, I Peter 4:10, 11 (Compare the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563, Questions 51 & 55 – See Note 1.)
- The ministry of prophecy is present in the Old and New Testaments. (See Note 2.)
- The definition and purpose of prophecy are not understood in the same way by all sincere Christians.
- John Calvin – “Paul applies the name ‘prophets’ not to all those who were interpreters of God’s will, but to those who excelled in a particular revelation (Eph. 4:11). This class either does not exist today or is less commonly known.” (Institutes, p. 1057)
- Louis Berkhof – “The New Testament also speaks of prophets, Acts 11:28; 13:1,2; 15:32; I Cor. 12:10; 13:2; 14:3; Eph. 2:20; 3:5; 4:11; I Tim. 1:18; 4:14; Rev. 11:6. Evidently the gift of speaking for the edification of the Church was highly developed in these prophets, and they were occasionally instrumental in revealing mysteries and predicting future events. The first part of this gift is permanent in the Christian Church, and was distinctly recognized by the Reformed Churches (prophesyings), but the last part of it was of a charismatic and temporary character. They differed from ordinary ministers in that they spoke under special inspiration.” (Systematic Theology, p. 585)
- Abraham Kuyper – “From these passages it is evident that among these charismata St. Paul assigns the first place to the gifts pertaining to the ordinary service of the Church by its ministers, elders, and deacons. For by prophecy St. Paul designates animated preaching, wherein the preacher feels himself cheered and inspired by the Holy Spirit. By ‘teaching’ he means ordinary catechizing. ‘Ministry’ refers to the management of the temporalities of the Church. ‘Giving’ has reference to the care for the poor and the miserable. ‘He that ruleth’ refers to the officers in charge of the government of the Church. These are the ordinary offices embracing the care of the spiritual and temporal affairs of the Church.” (The Work of the Holy Spirit, 1888, page 187)
- John Stott – “in Scripture the prophet is primarily neither the predictor of the future, nor the political commentator, nor the lively preacher, nor even the bringer of encouragement, but the mouthpiece of God, the organ of fresh revelation. It seems to be in that sense that Paul brackets ‘apostles and prophets’ as the most important of all charismata (Eph. 2:20; 3:5; 4:11; I Cor. 12:28); and in that sense (whatever may be said about subsidiary meanings and ministries) we must say they no longer exist in the church. God’s way of teaching in today’s church is not by fresh revelation but by exposition of his revelation completed in Christ and in Scripture.” (Baptism & Fullness: The Work of the Holy Spirit Today, pp. 100-102) (See Note 3.)
- Mallone – “It is often asked whether the prophet of today is the expository Bible preacher. There certainly is a prophetic character to biblical exposition. The reference to the prophetic ministry of Judas and Silas (Acts 15:32) indicates that prophecy was more than just one or two sentences inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the prophecy of Zechariah was also an amplification of several Old Testament themes (Lk 1:67-79). If the source of the preacher’s sermon is the Word of God, then it can be said that he is fulfilling a prophetic function as he preaches.
“But prophecy is not the exclusive prerogative of the biblical preacher. Acts 13:1 makes it perfectly clear that there were both teachers and prophets in Antioch. Both were submissive to God’s revelation as it came in the Old Testament, the teachings of Jesus, the words of Jesus given to the apostles, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:2-3; Gal. 1:12; I John 2:27).” (Those Controversial Gifts, pp. 38f)
- Yohn – “We have seen that a prophet could predict future events with complete accuracy and/or he could interpret God’s truth and relate it to life. Further, the gift of prophecy wasn’t limited to men. What the prophets received from God was written and guarded over the years, and therefore Paul could say that the church is built upon the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20).
“These prophets received their messages from God and then proclaimed them to others. Sometimes the messages were from written revelation, as when Peter quoted from the Old Testament law, Psalms and prophets (Acts 2,3). At other times the message was a new revelation. Eventually these messages were recorded. You and I benefit from them today when we read the New Testament. If God is giving new information today in the form of a prophecy it is in keeping with whatever he previously gave to the early church. Anyone who claims to have a new revelation from God that contradicts the Scriptures has an invalid source of revelation.
“The gift of prophecy is available today, though, like the gift of apostle, it takes on a different form. God is no longer adding to his inspired Word.” (Discover Your Spiritual Gift & Use it, pp. 54-59).
- I Corinthians 14:3 – “But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.” (NIV- the RSV has “upbuilding and encouragement and consolation”)
- Prophecy in the church – I Cor. 14
- Is orderly – under the prophet’s control – verses 31, 32
- Is in harmony with scriptural directions – verses 37-38 (see Note 4.)
- Michael Green – “Not all Christians have it (I Cor. 12:29), but all are encouraged to pray for it, because it is so useful for other members of the body of Christ (I Cor. 14:1).”
- Is to be weighed carefully – v. 29
- Knowing and applying Scripture leads to discernment between good and evil – Hebrews 5:12-14 (Compare the Bereans – Acts 17:11)
- It is not in the same category as scripture (see Note 5.)
- Is to be weighed by all – I John 4:1 – “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Yocum suggests a number of tests: the response in our own heart and spirit, its spiritual tone and effect, whether it glorifies the Lord Jesus (pp. 114-117). Mallone outlines a theological test, a confessional test, and a moral test (pp. 42-44).
- Prophecy is not to be despised – I Thess. 5:19-22 – “Do not put our the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”
- Some with the gift of discernment are especially helpful to the Body at this point – I Cor. 12:10 – Is the Spirit of Jesus Christ at work or merely a human spirit?
- Those in leadership must especially take responsibility to weigh what is said. (See Note 6.)
- Would not be limited to any stereotyped pattern.
NOTES:
- Question 51: What benefit do we receive from this glory of Christ, our Head? First, that through his Holy Spirit he pours out heavenly gifts upon us, his members. Second, that by his power he defends and supports us against all our enemies.
Question 55: What do you understand by “the communion of saints”? First, that believers one and all, as partakers of the Lord Christ, and all his treasures and gifts, shall share in one fellowship. Second, that each one ought to know that he is obliged to use his gifts freely and with joy for the benefit and welfare of other members.
- Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume III. – pages 74-89
a. The word for prophet “is found in the Old Testament 309 times, of which 92 instances are found in Jeremiah alone.” (P. 77)
b. The word for prophet is found 144 times in the New Testament. It is used for “Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, Jesus and others who proclaim the kingdom of God or Christ, and the believer who possesses the gift of prophecy.” (P. 81)
c. “Although prophecy is a possibility for any Christian, it is primarily identified with certain leaders who exercise it as a ministry.” (P. 87)
- Stott – “What about prophets? Of course many times in the church’s history there have been claims to prophetic inspiration. But are the claims true? It depends largely on our definition of ‘prophecy’ and ‘prophet’. The biblical understanding, dating back to Old Testament days, is that a prophet was an organ of divine revelation, to whom the word of the Lord came, and who therefore spoke the very words of God (e.g. Ex. 4:12; 7:1,2; Je. 1:409; 23:16, 18, 22, 28). In this meaning, I think we must say that there are no more prophets, for God’s self-revelation was completed in Christ and in the apostolic witness to Christ, and the canon of scripture has long since been closed. Moreover, ‘prophets’ come second to apostles in the Ephesians and Corinthian lists mentioned above, and ‘apostles and prophets’ are bracketed in several texts and said to be the foundation (because of their teaching) on which the church is built (Eph. 2:20; 3:5). Now the simplest knowledge of architectural construction is enough to tell us that once the foundation of a building is laid and the superstructure is being built, the foundation cannot be laid again. So in the primary sense of ‘prophets’, as vehicles of direct and fresh revelation, it seems we must say that this charisma is not longer given. There is no longer anyone in the church who may dare to say ‘The word of the Lord came to me, saying…’ or ‘Thus says the Lord’.
“It has been argued, however, that ‘prophet’ may be used in other and lesser senses. Some think there may be men today like the prophet Agabus (Acts 11:28; 21:10:11), whose function is not to add to revelation but to foretell some future event. This is possible. But both church history and personal experience make me cautious. Nothing brought such discredit on Edward Irving and his ‘CatholicApostolicChurch’ towards the beginning of the last century than the fact that the prophecies of the ‘prophetesses’ did not come true. My own observations confirm this, for I have myself heard several unfulfilled predictions, which have led those concerned either to dishonesty or to disillusion. Others suggest that a prophetic ministry is one which interprets political events or comments on social issues (as did the Old Testament prophets), but it is difficult to isolate this aspect of their work from their divine inspiration. Others again interpret the gift of prophesy as the gift of Scripture exposition or of preaching, or of ‘up building and encouragement and consolation’ (I Cor. 14:3). Thus Abraham Kuyper wrote: ‘by prophecy St. Paul designates animated preaching, wherein the preacher feels himself cheered and inspired by the Holy Spirit.’”
- Michael Green, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, pp. 168-174. “This swallowing up of the prophet in the bishop was disastrous for the Church, but in the circumstances it was understandable. For Montanus, an Asian bishop, claimed that he and his female associates, Maximilla and Prisca, were descendants of the prophetic tradition of early Christianity. So far so good. But when they taught (professing to be the mouthpiece of the Spirit) that the Heavenly Jerusalem would immediately appear near Pepuza; when they claimed that they personally embodied the Holy Spirit; when they wrote off other Christians as carnal and proclaimed themselves alone as ‘Spirit-filled’; when they refused to have their teachings tested by the Scriptures but regarded it as every bit as authoritative as the New Testament records – then the Church had to take action. That action was to reject the Montanists emphatically, and at the same time, to quench the prophetic Spirit in the Church. How much better it would have been for the Church at large if the Montanists had determined to submit to the authority of Scripture, and to resist the temptation to be exclusive and write off other Christians. How much better if the Catholics had stressed tests for the genuineness of prophecy rather than writing off the whole movement, good and bad, together.”
- Mallone, p. 39f. “Paul established very clear regulations regarding prophecy
in the worship service. First, uncontrolled frenzy reveals that something other than the Spirit of God is being expressed in that ‘prophecy’ (I Cor. 12:1-3). The true gift of prophecy manifests itself by the quiet spirit, which is subject to the volition of the prophet (I Cor. 14:32). The prophet permits the Spirit to work but the Spirit does not violate the person in his work. Second, only two or three prophecies are to be given at any one meeting; more than this gluts understanding and leads to dullness of hearing. Third, each prophecy is to have judgment passed on it by other prophets and leaders in the assembly (I Cor. 14:29). Fourth, the prophecy must at every point agree with apostolic deposit or it is to be rejected (I Cor. 14:37, 38). ‘This teaches us that the prophets were not sources of new truth to the Church, but expounders of truth otherwise revealed.’
“Prophecy today, although it may be very helpful and on occasion overwhelmingly specific, is not in the category of the revelation given to us in Holy Scripture. Scripture is God-inspired (theopneustos, 2 Tim. 3:16). It was superintended by God in its origination and is free of pollutants. There is no mixture of human failings with an inerrant Spirit. God’s special hand was on the authors, not to override their personalities but to hedge them about in their thoughts and expression (2 Peter. 1:20, 21).
“Such a claim cannot be made for prophecy today. A person may hear the voice of the Lord and be compelled to speak, but there is no assurance that it is pollutant-free. There will be a mixture of both flesh and spirit. There will be a mixing of culture, personality, intellect and maturity. This should not discourage us from desiring prophetic gifts, but caution us that all prophecy must be tested, for the benefit of the body.”
- Mallone, p. 46. “If these characteristics are present, the leaders should make some comment on the prophecy: Is it to be accepted or rejected by the community? Is there a Scripture to be read that shows the harmony of this prophecy with the normative revelation? Does the tone of the prophecy need to be changed? Should the person be thanked for their contribution, yet shown that the word is not of the Spirit of God? Is part of the prophecy apropos and sound while another part is polluted? Any or all of these may be used as criteria for judging a word from the Lord. And a public response should be given. Discernment does not require that all of these be used at one time, but they do provide a check list in the mind of the leadership.” Also see Michael Green, pp. 188-192, for how this happened in the early church.
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