The Holy Spirit, Spiritual Gifts, and Discernment — Unit 4: Prophecy: Biblical Models and Congregational Practice

Key Verse

"But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men." (1 Corinthians 14:3, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Define prophecy in the New Testament and name its three purposes in 1 Corinthians 14:3.

2. Describe the main biblical models of prophecy: the Old Testament prophet, the Pentecost promise, and the New Testament congregational prophet.

3. Explain the debate about whether New Testament prophecy has the same authority as Scripture, and state the Pentecostal answer.

4. Summarize Paul's rules for prophecy in the assembly (testing, order, and self-control).

5. Lead a congregation in receiving, testing and, when needed, correcting a spoken prophecy.

The Voice of This Unit

This unit is written from inside the classical Pentecostal tradition, for students who belong to it. It is conservative and Trinitarian. We hold that Scripture is the inspired and final authority for faith and life, and we hold that the Holy Spirit still speaks through prophecy to build up the church. These two convictions do not fight each other. We state other views fairly and then give our answer. The earlier courses explained Spirit baptism (Course 2, Units 4 and 5) and the history of the movement (Course 1). Unit 2 of this course introduced the gift lists, and Unit 3 taught tongues and interpretation. Here we study the gift that Paul most wanted the Corinthians to seek.

What Prophecy Is

The Greek word for prophecy, propheteia, and the related verb mean to speak on behalf of God. In the Bible a prophet is not mainly a fortune-teller. A prophet speaks a message that God has put on his heart, and that message may concern the past, the present or the future. Sometimes it rebukes. Sometimes it comforts. Sometimes it warns of what is coming.

Paul gives the plainest summary of prophecy in the church: "But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men" (1 Corinthians 14:3). Edification means building up. Exhortation means urging and encouraging people to obey. Comfort means strengthening people who are weary or afraid. Notice that all three purposes aim at the good of the congregation. Prophecy in the assembly is not meant to make a person famous. It is meant to serve others.

Paul also places prophecy high among the gifts. He writes, "Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy" (1 Corinthians 14:1). He prefers prophecy to uninterpreted tongues in public worship because everyone can understand it and be helped.

Old Testament Background

The Old Testament shows prophets of many kinds. Moses was the great prophet who spoke with God and gave the Law. Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah and others brought God's word to kings and to the people. Some wrote books that became Scripture. Others, such as Nathan and Gad, are named in the history but have no book.

Three features matter for our study.

First, the Old Testament prophet was tested. Deuteronomy 13 and 18 give tests: a prophet must not lead people to other gods, and what he says in the Lord's name must be true. False prophets were a real danger in Israel.

Second, the Spirit came on prophets for a task. Under the old covenant this was not given to all God's people. Moses, however, once expressed the wish that all the Lord's people might be prophets (Numbers 11:29). That wish points ahead.

Third, the prophets promised a day of wider outpouring. Joel foretold that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh. The promise is the background of the next section.

Pentecost: The Prophetic Spirit Given to the Church

On the day of Pentecost Peter stood and explained what the crowd had seen. He quoted Joel: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy" (Acts 2:17). He said that this was the fulfillment, not only a distant hope. In our tradition, this means that the prophetic Spirit is no longer given only to a few leaders. Sons and daughters, young and old, servants and free, may be used by the Spirit to speak for God. This is one reason the Pentecostal movement has always honored the ministry of ordinary believers.

Pentecostals have also long taught that Acts shows the link between Spirit baptism and prophetic speech. At Ephesus, when the Spirit came on the disciples, "they spoke with tongues and prophesied" (Acts 19:6). Roger Stronstad, a Pentecostal scholar, has argued that Luke presents the Spirit in Acts as the Spirit of prophecy who empowers the whole people of God for witness.

New Testament Models

The New Testament gives several examples of prophecy at work. We do well to learn from each.

Agabus. In Acts 11:27-28 prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch, and one of them, Agabus, foretold through the Spirit a great famine. The church responded by sending relief to the believers in Judea. Here prophecy led to practical love. Later, in Acts 21:10-11, Agabus acted out a warning that Paul would be bound in Jerusalem. The warning moved the believers to plead with Paul not to go, but Paul understood that it was God's will for him to go, and he went. This shows that a true prophecy may be given, and that hearers still need wisdom to decide what to do about it. The prophecy told what would happen. It did not command Paul to stay away.

The prophets and teachers at Antioch. In Acts 13:1-3 the church was worshiping and fasting, and the Holy Spirit spoke and called Barnabas and Saul to a mission. The leaders then fasted, prayed and laid hands on them before sending them off. Notice the pattern: the word came in the context of worship, and the leaders confirmed it together.

Philip's four daughters. Acts 21:9 mentions that Philip the evangelist had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. This confirms that daughters, as Joel promised, were prophesying in the church. Traditions differ on how to apply this to church offices, a subject taken up in Course 4. The text plainly says that women and men both prophesied.

The Corinthian congregation. Paul's longest teaching on prophecy is in 1 Corinthians 12 to 14. There prophecy is a regular activity of the gathered church. Anyone with the gift might speak, and Paul gives rules, which we study below.

Prophets as foundation-layers. Ephesians 2:20 speaks of the household of God as "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets." Cessationists use this verse to argue that prophets belonged to the beginning of the church only. We answer that Ephesians 4:11-13 lists prophets with other ministries given until all come to maturity in Christ, which has not yet happened.

Is New Testament Prophecy the Same as Scripture?

This is the central question of the unit, and honest Christians answer it differently.

The cessationist view. Many evangelicals teach that prophecy meant giving new, infallible revelation, as Isaiah or Paul did. They say that such revelation ended when the canon of Scripture was complete, so prophecy ceased. B. B. Warfield's Counterfeit Miracles (1918) is a famous statement of this position about miraculous gifts.

A second continuationist view. Some continuationist scholars, including the evangelical Wayne Grudem, argue that New Testament congregational prophecy is not the same as the speech of the Old Testament prophets or the apostles. In this view, an ordinary believer may receive a spontaneous prompting from the Spirit and report it in his own words, mixing God's leading with his own human understanding. Therefore the message must be weighed and sometimes corrected. Grudem's Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four Views (1996) sets out the several positions. Gordon Fee and Max Turner, in their studies of the Spirit, also handle the question carefully.

The Pentecostal answer. Most classical Pentecostals agree on the main point: the canon is closed, and no prophecy in the church today carries the authority of Scripture. Our statements of faith place the Bible above all experience. We also hold, against the cessationist, that the New Testament itself commands the church to desire and exercise prophecy, and says nothing that closes that door. Paul tells the Thessalonians, "Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). If prophecies had been infallible Scripture, there would be nothing to test. Paul assumes that a prophecy is a real word from God that still must be examined. And Paul tells the Corinthians that "the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets" (1 Corinthians 14:32). The prophet is not carried away; he remains in control and under authority.

In practice this means three things. A prophecy must agree with Scripture. It must be tested by the congregation and its leaders. And no believer is bound to obey a personal word if it contradicts Scripture or common sense, or is not confirmed by wise counsel. Prophecy supports the Bible. It does not replace it.

Some Pentecostal groups have at times treated prophecies as nearly equal to the Bible, and this caused harm. That is an argument for testing, not for abandoning the gift.

Paul's Rules for Prophecy in the Assembly

Paul's instructions in 1 Corinthians 14 give us a pattern for church life.

Let it be orderly. "Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge" (1 Corinthians 14:29). Not everyone speaks at once. The number is limited so that the service is not dominated by one voice. When another person receives a revelation, the first should give way (verse 30).

Let it be judged. The others weigh what has been said. Paul does not tell them to accept everything. In practice, the pastors and mature believers listen, compare the word with Scripture, and ask whether it edifies, exhorts or comforts, and whether it exalts Jesus.

Let it be self-controlled. "The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets" (1 Corinthians 14:32). A person cannot say, "I could not stop myself." God, Paul says, "is not the author of confusion but of peace" (verse 33).

Let it be decent. "Let all things be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40). This verse comes at the end of the whole chapter. Order protects the fire of the Spirit. Paul's other command stands beside it: "Do not quench the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19). The church must avoid both quenching the Spirit and allowing disorder.

Let it be loving. Paul put the great chapter on love between the gift chapters. Prophecy without love is nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2). A "word" that humiliates a person in public, or that is spoken to get attention, does not fit the purpose in 1 Corinthians 14:3.

Practical Guidelines for the Congregation

These guidelines express common Pentecostal practice. They are drawn from the biblical principles above and are not commands of Scripture itself.

1. Teach before you practice. Explain to the congregation what prophecy is, what it is not, and how it is tested.

2. Give leaders oversight. A pastor or elder should know who intends to speak and should be free to ask a person to wait. Some churches ask the person to speak first to a leader.

3. Test every word. Ask four questions. Does it agree with Scripture? Does it honor Jesus Christ? Does it build up, encourage or comfort? Does it show the fruit of the Spirit in the person who gave it? Unit 8 develops these tests further.

4. Be careful with personal guidance. A word about marriage, a move, a business decision, a gift of money or a medical choice must never be treated as a command. Such words should be held lightly and confirmed by Scripture, by prayer, and by wise counselors. The Agabus story shows that even a true word required wisdom from the hearers.

5. Never use prophecy to control. A leader must not use a "word from the Lord" to gain money, to silence critics, or to force obedience. The Bible warns against false prophets who speak for gain and for power.

6. Test the prophet's record. Over time, a church sees whose words prove wise and helpful. Deuteronomy 18:22 warns that a word that does not come to pass was not spoken by the Lord. Where someone speaks wrongly, the church should correct him gently and without destroying him.

7. Do not despise the gift. A church that has been hurt by abuse should repair its practice rather than ban the gift.

Common Objections and Our Answers

Objection: "Modern prophecy adds to Scripture." Our answer: we do not claim new Scripture. The canon is complete. Prophecy applies and encourages, as a sermon does, but with a spontaneous element. The church has always received preaching without thinking that it adds to the Bible. Prophecy is also subject to testing by the Bible.

Objection: "Prophecies fail, so they cannot be from God." Our answer: some messages offered as prophecy have failed, and the test of Deuteronomy 18 applies to them. But the existence of false coins does not prove there is no true money. The cure for false prophecy is the Bible's own testing, not the removal of the gift.

Objection: "Agabus got a detail wrong, so prophecy is unreliable." Some scholars note that in Acts 21 Roman soldiers, not the Jews, bound Paul after rescuing him from the mob. We read Agabus's words as accurate in substance, since Paul was bound and handed to the Gentiles because of the Jews of Jerusalem, and Luke presents the event as a true prophecy.

Pastoral Application

A young woman in your congregation, Marisol, has been offered a good job in another city. Before she decides, a visitor at a prayer meeting says to her in front of everyone, "The Lord says you must stay here and not go." Marisol is troubled. She has been praying about the job, and she felt peace about going.

A wise pastor first meets with her privately and listens. He then reminds Marisol that a personal word is to be tested, and that it is not a command (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Together they ask whether the word agrees with Scripture, whether it fits her own prayer and circumstances, and what wise counselors say. He asks the elders to speak with the visitor kindly about the proper use of the gift. He also teaches the whole church, at a suitable time, that God guides through Scripture, the Spirit, prayer and counsel together. Marisol is free to decide before the Lord.

Summary

Prophecy is speaking for God by the Spirit, and its purposes in the assembly are edification, exhortation and comfort. The Old Testament prophets were tested and anticipated a wider outpouring. At Pentecost, Joel's promise was fulfilled, and in Acts we see prophets such as Agabus, the prophets at Antioch and Philip's daughters. Paul teaches that prophecy should be orderly, judged, self-controlled and loving. Cessationists hold that prophecy ended with the apostolic age. Some continuationists hold that congregational prophecy is a lesser, fallible form. Classical Pentecostals hold that the canon is closed, that Scripture judges every prophecy, and that the gift remains for the church. Pastors should teach the congregation, oversee the practice, test every word, treat personal guidance with caution, and never use prophecy to control people.

Further Reading

• Gordon D. Fee, God's Empowering Presence (1994).

• Max Turner, The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts (1996).

• Wayne Grudem, ed., Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four Views (1996).

• Richard B. Gaffin Jr., Perspectives on Pentecost (1979), a cessationist argument.

• Roger Stronstad, The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke (1984).

• Jack Deere, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit (1993).

• Jonathan Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God (1741), a primary source.

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