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

Increased Interest in Prophecy

situations, yet were not put on a par with Scripture or deemed universally significant for inclusion in the Bible. Also note that provision was made in both Testaments to test prophecy, indicating that the possibility of one hundred percent accuracy has always been present-but so has the pos sibility of partial or total inaccuracy. 27 Prophecy for domestic situations is not considered competition with the prophecy that produced the Bible. Such common prophecy, this viewpoint advocates, can exist today and is an integral part of a church flowing in continuity with the historic past. Common prophecy, called by some a "now word" or a "rhema word" or "a word from the Lord," is not considered to be on the same level with the esteemed, written, recorded Logos Word of God. Both the New Tes tament and historical evidence indicate that such commonplace, domes tic, community prophecy among trained, spiritual churches can be, and usually is, highly accurate and most assuredly a "word from God." This last approach to prophecy is the one I am pursuing in this book. • Where did prophecy originate? How did the ancient Hebrew prophets function? • What does the New Testament teach about prophecy? Is it the same as Old Testament prophecy? • Is New Testament prophecy similar to, or the same as, or different in kind to, contemporary prophecy? Can there be authentic prophecy today? • Should today's local church expect the kind of prophecy in her serv ices that was experienced by the New Testament churches of Bible days? • How can such a ministry of the Holy Spirit be encouraged and safe guarded in our churches so that fanaticism will not occur? This study of prophetism works with three periods that overlap some what: Hebrew prophecy, New Testament prophecy and modern-day prophecy. We will find that the essential substance of prophecy-God's voice to mankind-remains unchanged, even though the subject matter, the audi ence and other details change. In that sense there is historical continuity. Hebrew prophecy need not be tightly confined to its own time zone, for prophetic activity spills over into the Church age. In chapter 9 we will care 33 Key Questions This study will address the following questions as we proceed: