The Gift of Prophecy
1 Cor. 12:10
The next gift listed in First Corinthians chapter twelve is “miracles”, which is a sign gift and not present in the church today just as “healing” was discussed in out last lesson. In this lesson we will look at the “gift of prophecy”.
Prophecy is the foretelling or declaration of something to come. Since only God knows the future events with certainty, then only God or some person informed by him can utter a real prophecy. In the Bible “Prophets” were informed by God of future things to come.
Paul had the Gift of Prophecy, [1 Cor.13:2]
[Acts 27:9-10, 21-26] This is one example of his gift of prophecy. He was able to foretell future events because he had some supernatural instructions.
[2 Peter 1:19-21] Facts about Prophecy:
- Verse 19 – Your Bible is “a more sure word of prophecy”
- Verse 20 – “no private interpretation” You can’t change or twist it to mean what pleases you,
[2 Peter 3:15-18] “Wrest”, to twist or distort to your own destruction
[Rev.22:18-19] Never add or subtract
- Verse 21 – Prophecy comes not by the will of man, but by supernatural instructions
So, how does this “gift of prophecy” work in today’s church?
- Your Bible is a book of prophecy, supernatural instructions declaring things to come [Rev.1:3] and that is how God reveals the future to us.
- [Rev.19:10] ”the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy”, everything in the Bible points to Jesus Christ, so when you declare it to others, you are using the gift of prophecy.
- [Rom.12:6] “According to the proportion of faith” the stronger your faith, the better you will be at it, the more convinced you are, the more convincing you will be.
- Every Christian today has the “gift of prophecy” available to them because of our Bible and the supernatural instructions within.
- [Rom.15:4] There are men that are able with great precision to take the prophecy of this book and apply it to the circumstances of today’s world. They do it not to cause fear, but to establish hope. You probably know a great pastor or preacher that has the gift of prophecy.