In this article we will look at prophecy
as this is defined in 1 Corinthians 14.
Prophecy according to 1 Corinthians 12, 14, is the
manifestation of the holy spirit through which God gives a message directed to
the body of the believers present in the meeting and with purpose their edification,
exhortation and comfort. As 1 Corinthians 14:3-4 says:
1 Corinthians 14:3-4
"But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and comfort.
…… he who prophesies edifies the church.”
You immediately have here both the audience of the
prophecy and its purpose. The audience is the church, the body of the believers
present in the meeting1. The purpose of prophecy is to edify,
exhort and comfort the audience, the body of the believers. In a church meeting
therefore prophecy - i.e. messages from God brought forth from the believers
for the edification, exhortation and comfort of the church – was present in the
New Testament times and should normally be present today too.
Now, we must not confuse the manifestation of
prophecy, discussed in 1 Corinthians 14 with the ministry of a prophet. As
Ephesians 4:11 says:
"And
He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and
some as evangelists, and some as shepherds and teachers"
I believe the prophet of Ephesians 4:11 is quite
different than the prophet of 1 Corinthians 14 and his prophecy. Though both
bring forth a message from God, the purpose of the manifestation of prophecy of
1 Corinthians 14 is the edification, exhortation and consolation of the local
church. What I mean is that it is not in the scope of this prophecy to prophesy
about things that will happen in the future or what will happen to the nation
or to give prophecies directed by name to one specific person. Such prophecies
may still be valid prophecies. However when I Corinthians 14 speaks about
prophecy does not mean prophecies of this kind. There may be of course in the
church people with the ministry of a prophet, in the sense of Ephesians 4:11.
But this is not what 1 Corinthians 14 is speaking about when it mentions
prophecy. As 1 Corinthians 14:5 says:
1 Corinthians 14:5
"Now I want you ALL to speak in tongues,
but even more to prophesy;"
Paul's desire, want, was that ALL speak in tongues and
even more, ALL prophesy. As he also says in the same chapter:
1 Corinthians 14:31
“you can ALL prophesy one by one..”
and
in 1 Corinthians 14:1
“Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.”
We can ALL prophesy i.e. bring forth a message from
God for the edification, exhortation and comfort of the local church. But this
does not mean that we are all having the ministry of a prophet in the sense of
Ephesians 4:11. In the body of Christ, some of us may indeed have the ministry
of the prophet but not ALL of us have it (the other ministries are needed
too!), though, as 1 Corinthians 14:31 tells us, every believer can prophesy in
the sense of 1 Corinthians 14 for the edification, exhortation and comfort of
the local church.
Let it also be clear that prophecy is not giving a
sermon either. I need to say this as I have heard several times that prophecy
is more or less a preacher giving a sermon. But prophecy is NOT a sermon or a
teaching. Prophecy is a message coming directly from the mouth of God - by
revelation - and addressed to the believers that are present. It is God that
speaks in the prophecy,directly
in the first person. Prophecy and teaching are two different
things and they are both necessary! Also when we read first Corinthians we must
keep in mind that what Paul is calling as church meetings were, in my
understanding of the Scriptures, meetings done in houses. There was nothing
like an auditorium that can sit from 500 to 5000 people with a pulpit in the
midst and pews all looking to the front, to a priest or a preacher. People are
asking “how can we have in our church meetings what Paul is saying in 1
Corinthians 14”? However, by “church meeting” they usually mean the way this meeting
is done today. We are trying thus to fit what Paul says in the way we are
meeting today and in the structure our meetings have. But we need to understand
that what Paul or the New Testament defines as church meetings have much more
to do with house meetings and active participation from everybody than with our
model of Sunday services. As 1 Corinthians 14:26 says:
1 Corinthians 14:26
“How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come
together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a
tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for
edification.”
In the first century church, the active and
spontaneous participation of the believers (“each of them”) in the meeting was
the normal. Not only was it allowed, but it was also expected! “Each of you”
says Paul. Each of them was bringing to the meeting whatever he had: a psalm, a
teaching, a tongue with interpretation, a revelation. The purpose? The
edification of the body of the believers. They were all participating with
whatever God had given them. This is definitely something we have lost today.
By reading 1 Corinthians 14 it is obvious that in the
first century church gatherings, prophecy (and speaking in tongues with
interpretation) was the rule! Not the exception! In contrast, In most of the
gatherings I have been these gifts that God has given for the edification of
the church are simply non-existent. They exist as gifts. In fact they may even
be accepted theologically by the respective congregation. Yet they are never
applied. The truth is that in many congregations there is simply no space for
them. The gifts that God gave for the edification, exhortation and comfort of
the body have been replaced by a rigid program that has the form either of a
formal liturgy, where one person does the same week after week (catholic /
orthodox church), or, in the protestant church, of a program (it is also a
liturgy in some way) that says first we sing, then the pastor and perhaps a
couple of others pray, then we have the sermon and then the meeting ends. If
somebody thinks that God has a message for the gathering, there is simply no
way in many churches to say it! The participation of the people is practically
forbidden! In some other gatherings if somebody wants to bring forth a message
from God, he has first to tell the pastor or the elders, then they have to
think about it and whether it comes from the Lord and then allow or not allow
the person to share it. But in the first century church, in the church the epistles
speak about, it was not like this. See what Paul says:
1 Corinthians 14:29-31
“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the
others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first
keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all
may be encouraged.”
Everybody could get up and prophesy (for edification,
exhortation and comfort) and the others would evaluate the message. Prophecy
was the norm, it was free for everybody to do it and it was done !
Now, I have also been in some other gatherings, where
many of the participants behave in a strange manner. There is a constant sense
of confusion in the meeting, with people groaning heavily, others speaking in
tongues without interpretation, or start giving “revelations” that have not
much to do with the “edification, exhortation and comfort” of the church or
throwing themselves on the floor and staying there like they are unconscious,
attributing this to “the spirit”. In many cases the neighbors of such churches
call the police, because of the anarchy and the noise of such meetings. Also,
many times the examples of these kind of meetings are used by churches of the
first type (the rigid ones I spoke about previously) to justify their rigidity
and high control. But that’s not what prophecy, as this is described in 1
Corinthians 14, is. There must be order in operating prophecy (as well as
speaking in tongues with interpretation) in the meeting. Here is what the
Scripture says:
1 1 Corinthians 14:27-33
“If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two
or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no
interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to
God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if anything
is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. For you can all
prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the
prophets. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the
churches of the saints.”
Many times in these wild meetings, people justify
their behavior by saying that “the spirit took over of me and made me do this
or that”. But find this in the New Testament please? What I find in the New
Testament concerning prophecy is order. When
somebody speaks in tongues there must be interpretation. Otherwise: “if there
is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself
and to God” (1 Corinthians 14:28). How many should speak in tongues / interpret
and prophesy? Everybody at the same time? No! “If anyone speaks in a tongue,
let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret… .
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if anything is
revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent” (1 Corinthians
14:27, 29-30). People behaving in a weird manner in the meetings claim that
“the spirit took over of them”? Well, I don’t read this in my Bible. What I
read is that “the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God
is not the author of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:32-33). Is there
confusion in a meeting? Don’t blame it to God or to the manifestations of His
spirit. God gave clear instructions in His Word about the manifestations of the
holy spirit and how these should be done orderly. If now some do not follow
these instructions this obviously is not God’s fault nor it is a fault of the
manifestations of His spirit. God has nothing to do with confusion! Do not
reject the gifts of God because of this. Instead pursue them. “Earnestly desire
the spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 14:1) says Paul. Desire them therefore
earnestly and apply them with order, according to the instructions.
Finally, there is also another kind of meetings where
I have been, this time in my homeland Greece. There, we were gathering in homes
and among other things we were also doing the following: we were taking time in
the meeting waiting on the Lord to see what He wanted to say and we were
bringing forth messages from God, through prophecy and speaking in tongues with
interpretation. The content of the messages God spoke was indeed always
edifying, exhorting and comforting. It was God’s Father heart manifested. This
is the closest I have been to the manifestations of speaking in tongues with
interpretation and prophecy as this is defined in 1 Corinthians 14. I recently
read a wonderful book by Greek Orthodox priest Eusebious Stefanou. He is a lonely figure in the Greek Orthodox denomination spreading
fervently a very Christ-center message. The book is called “the charismatic
movement from an Orthodox point of view” and it is in Greek. There the author
gives examples of real prophetic messages, expressed in meetings of believers.
I copy them below to give to the reader an idea of the nature of prophecy
discussed in I Corinthians 14:
“You are my children and I’m pleased with you.”
“The Father knows His children and takes care of each
of them.”
“My children: give yourself to me. Make your fears
known to me. Leave yourselves to my care.”
“There is no wrath in me for you.”
“I want to teach you to conform to my Son and to know
me as your Father.”
“Allow me to be revealed to you and in you. Allow me
to love you fully.”
“Do not be afraid of my words. Allow your hearts to
receive from me.”
“Give yourselves to me and I will hold you and I will
carry you and you will know my care, says the Lord.”
To say it in one sentence: prophecy in the meaning of
1 Corinthians 14 is the personal, by God himself, in first person, building up,
exhortation and comfort of His church, of the body of the believers.
I’m leaving far from my homeland the last 11 years in
Germany and apart from a couple of times, I haven’t come across this
edification, exhortation and comfort that God designed for the believers
through prophecy or speaking in tongues with interpretation. Prophecy is a
wonderful gift, that most of the time - and this is only my personal experience
- is either not used (controlling, rigid meetings) or it is abused (meetings
full of confusion and people behaving and acting strangely). This is very sad
because as long as prophecy is not there or it is abused a voice of God that
God Himself designed for the gatherings of the believers to personally exhort
them, build them up and comfort them is silenced.
I will close here with the following exhortation from
the word of God:
1 Corinthians 14:1
“Earnestly desire the
spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.”
This is the will of God as it is expressed through His
Word. People may say many things about it. But what really matters is one: what
the Word of God says!