Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy - Prophetic Gifts Today In The New Testament Church

Christ's Continuing Voice in the Church

Prophecy seems to have been a normal occurrence in the churches of Judea, Syria, Asia, Italy and Greece, for Scripture indicates that the churches of the following fourteen cities were experiencing prophetic action: Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, Tyre, Caesarea, Corinth, Thessa lonica, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea and even Rome, the distant capital of the Empire. Since prophecy was so widely expressed and experienced, we may well conclude that it was common place in all the churches of that time. Prophets like Agabus, Judas and Silas traveled among the churches fan ning the prophetic flame of early Christianity (Acts 15:22, 32; 21:10-11). A comment by Paul verifies the far-reaching extent of prophetic partici pation. While traveling on a serious mission to Jerusalem, Paul stopped in Troas and shared with the Ephesian elders that "the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me [probably referring to prophecy] in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me" (Acts 20:23). Prophetic warnings at every stop! Two early extrabiblical sources shed light on the prophecy of that time: The Didache (10-13), ostensibly a basic church manual addressed to rural Christian communities in Syria-Palestine by an unknown author around A.D. 100, and The Shepherd of Hermas, written in various stages from A.D. 90 to 150 and addressed to Christian congregations in and around Rome. 2 New Testament prophecy occurs when a Spirit-filled Christian receives a "revelation" (apokalupsis) from God and then declares that revelation to the gathered church under the impetus of the Holy Spirit. Such reve lation "enables the church to know something from the perspective of the Kingdom of God." 3 The essential makeup of a prophecy, based on my definition, is fivefold: • God gives a revelation (communication, divine truth, message, insight) • to a Spirit-filled Christian (one of God's people, a spiritual inter mediary) • who speaks it forth (an oral declaration) • to the gathered church (the public assembly of believers) • under the impetus of the Holy Spirit (inspiration, stimulation, prompting, encouragement, empowerment). ■ 162 A Basic Definition