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

The Use of Prophecy in Church Today

Jesus was deliberately alerting the future leaders of the Church to the need of testing prophecy.He even supplied them with several basic prin ciples that would later be amplified to handle the full range of prophetic activities. The early Church leaders soon discovered that incorrect prophecies can also be given by dedicated Christians who are mistaken and have no intent to mislead the Church.Thus, the need to judge became more impor tant than ever as false prophets proliferated and true disciples sometimes gave questionable prophecies. Is it worth the risk to allow prophecy in the Church if it can be mis guided, wrong or even evil? Clifford Hill counters this worrisome thought with sound advice: "The opposite of false prophecy is not no prophecy, but carefully weighed and tested prophecy." 1 Graham Cooke suggests helpfully that "the answer always to mis-use is not non-use but proper use.Every leader and ministry must take it upon himself to establish lines of credibility and integrity so that the whole body is safeguarded." 2 Because of the high-powered nature of prophecy, both the person proph esying and the people listening can be caught up in a justifiable excite ment.This enthusiasm characterizes both the Church of Bible days and churches today that make room for the Spirit's activity.James D.G.Dunn describes this magnetic, prophetic environment: "...We are here deal ing not with a few isolated instances of poetic vision or charismatic potency or prophetic rapture, but with a community where such experiences were characteristic, a community which largely depended on such experiences for its spiritual sustenance and sense of direction.Such a community has to be called an enthusiastic community." 3 The exciting manifestations in such church gatherings accentuate the need to evaluate what is said and done.A good rule to remember: "Nei ther the prophet nor his prophecy is self-authenticating." 4 This means the prophet and message are not right because they say so, or even because the people think so,5 but only if prophet and message fulfill the apostolic criteria for the edification or building up of the Church. Any problems connected with prophecy, Paul reasoned, were far out weighed by the impartation of life that occurs, and many of us in today's Church have discovered the same truth.This rousing, inspirational gift must not be silenced! J. Rodman Williams argues for the value of prophecy and its evalua tion: "...The fellowship finds it imperative to weigh judiciously what is said....Since it is verily God's message to His people, there must be quite serious and careful consideration given to each word spoken, and appli cation made within the life of the fellowship....A delicate balance is needed between complete openness to the Word and sensitivity to its dis- • 314