We are in and also about to enter some of the most challenging times the church (corporate) has ever faced. Knowing and understanding what is true and what is false is now more important than ever.
Prophets are coming on the scene and those speaking under the gift of prophecy will be more and more as the world grows farther and farther away from Christ.
One thing the church and our church in particular must develop is the ability to hear from God more clearly so we might be even more faithfully obedient to Him. There are too many voices out there. How do we know what is being said is really God?
We first need to understand God is always speaking and the best way for us to discern the truth is by being in the Word and having a very active prayer life. These are the building blocks of a relationship with the Lord and as Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they will follow me!” John 10:27
I was barraged with text, personal questions, and e-mails when Charlie was here so I want to help all of us be able to discern what is true, what is from God, what is opinion?
Paul challenges us to not take prophecy for granted. The Prophetic came under the covering of the local church and was always to be tested. He expected the church to always be hearing from the Lord. That is why the gift of prophecy and Prophets are needed in church life today.
1 Corinthians 14:29
“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.”
Is it true? Is it God? Is it something we have to heed? Is it based on God’s word and your relationship through your prayer life. You need to be able to judge when someone says to you, “God told me!” Has the person made leaps of faith before to trust God or are they making a practical decision based on their wants and desires and adding God’s stamp of approval? Are they giving you the prophetic word in front of others so it can be judged?
1 Thessalonians 5:19-21
Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.
Not despising the prophetic is about not giving up on it even when you have heard a lot of goofy and or half-baked useless utterance that people want recognized as prophecies. I have heard my share over the years. Most of them are well-intentioned but they just are not true. You have to know God’s word, have his heart through prayer to be able to test the prophecies. If you don’t you and our church are no longer safe. That is one reason why I am not for personal prophecies that are not given with witnesses present. 1 Corinthians 14 implies that any prophecies should be in public.
I know it is tough to judge prophecies especially when they are given by someone you generally trust but please understand, every time someone give you a prophetic word, they are saying they are speaking to you for the Holy Spirit and they need to be accountable for those words. It is for their growth and your growth and protection.
So, how can we judge whether something is from the Lord or not? The Bible gives us clear direction! Hats off to R.T Kendell, Derek Prince, and Reinhardt Bonnke for this list.
Does the prophecy give glory to Jesus?
John 16:13,14
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
What is the attitude the prophecy brings? Does it exalt Jesus? Does it glorify Him? Is he given 1st place in the focus of what it is saying? Whatever the Holy Spirit is saying to someone may give them guidance and lead them into truth, but Jesus is always glorified in that direction and truth.
Does it align with scripture?
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
The Holy Spirit has inspired every word in the Bible and he certainly would not go against those words in a prophecy, he does not contradict himself. I used to keep a bundle of false prophecies from prominent “prophets” I knew they were false because they went against the word of God.
Does it encourage, bring comfort, and strengthen?
1 Corinthians 14:3
But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them.
New Testament prophets are always looking to encourage believers, just as the gift of tongues is meant to encourage you as you pray, so should each prophetic word. Yes, they can bring correction but in an encouraging way always building you up to become more like Christ.
I have seen a lot of destruction from so-called prophetic words, homes and churches broken up; lives shipwrecked all because someone allowed their flesh to get in the way, and they added a thus sayeth the Lord to it!
Is there good fruit?
Romans 14:17
“For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
Is a prophecy good or evil? It doesn’t have to sound evil to be evil, it could be a deception from the truth as in Jeremiah 23, where Jeremiah is saying they are prophesying what sounds like good things but they are not righteousness. We also see a similar thing when Jehoshaphat and Ahab asked the prophets for a word in 1 Kings 22. There had been peace between the Syrians and Israel and Israel wanted to start a war. It will be something that is true to God’s call, plan and purpose first and that will truly bring peace and joy.
We should always look for fruit first. That was one of my greatest problems with many of the movements in the past. The fruit in people’s lives was not there. The gifts and callings of God are irrevocable Paul tells us in Romans but that doesn’t mean the word is truly from God or we should follow the person who gave the word we must look for the fruit as is described in Galatians 5: 22,23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Prophesy, or any gifting, for that matter, is just noise if the fruit of the Spirit is not evident.
Did it come true?
This is an easy one. If someone prophesies and it doesn’t happen, then you know it is not God. All those who prophesied Trump would win in 2020, all who predicted disaster with Y2K and many other such predictions gave excuses as to why they did not happen but the truth is they didn’t happen because it wasn’t God. Sometimes we are learning to hear his voice and just get it wrong. Sometimes it is malicious to make them feel powerful or to sell books. But whatever the reason. Israel was instructed in the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 18, that if something came true, it was God, if it didn’t, it wasn’t God, so don’t worry about it and move on!
Sometimes people go too far. They get excited about the Lord using them and they push beyond what the Lord says. I have had to correct numerous people as they have said The Lord said something that he did not say, they interpreted then added to God’s word rather than just delivering it his way. That was a problem Paul had to correct in the Roman church when he said…Romans 12:6
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;
We are to move in the gifts according to what God gives us not add to anything he says or does. The good thing is as we learn to move this way, trusting the Lord he will give us more and more to say as we learn to be trusted with His words.
Do you feel peace and freedom with the prophesy?
2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
No word from the Lord should ever make you feel like you are trapped or in bondage. When God is moving, He may bring conviction but never condemnation. Jesus has come to set us free and whom the Son sets free is free indeed and the Holy Spirit always brings liberty.
Paul also encourages us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
Is the Holy Spirit telling you the word is correct?
I know this can be very subjective so don’t simply reject a word quickly, pray it through. A word should align with who you are and what you know and “feel right” to you. It should flow with what you know already that the Lord has been speaking with you. In a service it will flow with what the Lord is already planning to say.
1 John 2:27
But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
This is different than the Baptism in the Holy Spirit it is the anointing you walking in as you are growing in Christ after you have been filled with the Holy Spirit. John is writing telling the church there are things you should easily recognize are from God because you have been growing in the anointing God has placed in your life.
My hope for your takeaway from today’s teaching is that you will understand
- God is still speaking today! Prophecy and prophets are still in the church today
- God has given us instructions and tools as to how to handle it properly.
- God speaks in order, not in confusion 1 Corinthians 14:32,33 Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can take turns. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people.
- There is a peace and freedom that comes from knowing you can know God’s voice
So many are worried and fearful yet we can learn to hear and trust God’s voice for ourselves and be at peace regardless of what is happening in the world!