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

The Importance of Prophecy

cies today....We might be trusted with far more authority and higher levels of revelation if we start calling impressions just what they are, and do not so freely misuse those precious words 'thus saith the Lord. "' 26

4. The Historic Continuiry Approach

Prophecy given by the Holy Spirit in Old Testament times continued into the early Church and now extends into the contemporary Church. The early Christians felt themselves to be a prophetic people in historic continuity with the prophecy and prophets of the Old Testament.There is not the slightest hint of disagreement with this thought in the New Tes tament.Also, the clear tenor of the New Testament is that this supernat ural activity was meant to continue throughout the Church age.My term historic continuity refers to the conviction that the voice of God is heard among His people on a continuing basis. Prophecy in biblical times existed on two levels, both of which I feel may be called "inspired." I would suggest that the Word of God came as: • God-breathed words, such as the prophecy that was inscripturated into the Bible. When God spoke in this manner He bypassed human frailties.Sometimes the prophet himself did not understand the words he gave.Scripture words were inerrant in the original and are God spoken without possibility of error or need of evaluation.A God breathed word is literally God's unquestioned and eternal Word (see my chapter 5).Such prophecy no longer comes since the canon of Scripture is complete. • Spirit-quickened words, which may be one hundred percent accu rate yet are not placed on a par with Scripture. Such words are inspired by the Spirit and use human frailties, but they are not God breathed words.This is the prophecy that was in the Corinthian church and is in numbers of churches today.It is indeed a word from the Lord for the encouragement of a given audience at a given place at a given time, but it must be tested and approved by the congre gation.Paul considered the Spirit-quickened prophecies of the Tyrean believers, for instance, to be a word of God (Acts 21:4), and the unbelievers visiting the Corinthian church meetings accepted con temporary prophecy as authentically from God (1 Corinthians 14). Such prophecy is to be judged for reasonable accuracy (see chap ters 20 and 21).

Prophets in both Old and New Testament times uttered prophecies to audiences about domestic issues that were authoritative for those given

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