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

Who Judges the Prophecies?

When people are starting out in prophecy, they often get nervous or make mistakes. One young man in our church came to the microphone and said just a few words. Then he repeated the words. Nothing addi tional came. Rather than let the poor fellow flounder in embarrassment, I walked over beside him, put my arm around his shoulder and used it as a teaching session for him and the rest of the church, explaining what was happening and what the Lord wished to do.

2. Apostolic Church of Great Britain

This statement by W. A. C. Rowe, a key leader in the Apostolic Church of Great Britain, is good advice:

Should there be any unwise use of the Gifts in Assembly meetings, either through lack of understanding or teachableness, then the Pastor or quali fied person representing the presbytery should take such a one apart and graciously but clearly explain the principles involved in order that there should be no repetition. It is not wise or considerate to do this publicly dur ing the service, if it can be possibly avoided. The persons concerned will generally respond to the directions of the Scriptures and the spiritual expe rience of the appointed leaders, if this is conveyed in the spirit of the love of Christ. If, for some reason, there should be an unintentional repetition, the same course can be followed in order that the person may be won for the Lord and for the ordained workings of the Holy Spirit. But if there is willfulness and insistence on the part of any person who is gifted, or thinks himself to be gifted, then the over-sight may need to be firm and definite in correcting the difficulty in the service itself. Members must be amenable to the government of the Church. 23 Prophecy can be beneficial in both small and large gatherings and churches. I was impressed by the way it was provided for at the North American Congress on the Holy Spirit and World Evangelization at New Orleans in 1987. More than forty thousand Christians convened in the Superdome from just about every Protestant and Catholic back ground. Provision was made for prophecy during these massive gath erings by encouraging approved ministers with prophetic gifts to sit in a special section near the speakeJ;s' platform. An approved person mon itored those who wished to bring a prophecy to the convention. This approach weeded out any wild statements, and accomplished in those meetings what our approach has accomplished in much smaller church services. 343. 3. Congress at New Orleans