PROPHECY USED IN REITERATION
Many today have the gift of speaking before people. Prophecy today is primarily by proclamation, rather than by revelation. The point of prophecy is given in Revelation 19:10 "...for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
So the very core of all Christian proclamation is Jesus Christ. Therefore, anyone who gives testimony or proclaims for Christ is fulfilling the spirit of prophecy! So, the very fact that the gift of "speaking about Christ before people" is still going on today is living proof that the gift has not ceased! It goes on everyday. Anyone who denies prophesy today quenches the Spirit of God, because it is the Spirit who has given prophecy.
Paul exhorted in 1Thessalonians 5:16-21: "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. Quench not the Spirit, dispise not prophesyings, prove all things; hold fast that which is good." So Paul said we are not to hate prophecy, but we are to test it and hold on to what is good. (v.21).
The way we are to examine the content of the given prophecy is stated in 1 Corinthians 14:37. "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." What did Paul write'? He wrote the commandments of the Lord, which were the New Testament epistles.
So, we are to test the spirit of prophecy by the written word of the Bible. We are not to quench the Spirit by denying prophecy. The test is, if the prophet agrees with the Bible, he is right; and if he does not, he is wrong! That test still applies today, and is the acid test to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit prophets!
Paul stated in Romans 12:6, "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith."
Other gifts are also mentioned in the following verses, none of them miraculous in nature. Prophecy is in both lists! So this shows that prophecy can be miraculous in the revelation sense, or non miraculous in the proclamation sense. In verse 6, where it says, "let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith", the definite article ispresent in the Greek, so the verse really says, "...according to the measured out amount of the faith."
If you prophesy, make sure your prophesy agrees with the already revealed body of truth called "the faith". The word "proportion" means "the measured out, the limit". That is all there is! It is the proper proportion, or the fullamount. It does not mean how much faith the prophet has or his ability to believe God, but that he has the right message which lines up with the already revealed message in the Bible! "The Faith"is used the same way in Jude 3. "...contend for the faith which was once delivered into the saints." "The faith" is the revealed truth, not our subjective faith, but our objective faith.
The fact is, that in our present age, prophecy is proclaiming the already written word of God! Although the gift of prophecy was revelatory of prophets today, still proclaiming the word of God describes the Office of a Prophet.
THE WORD OF KNOWLEDGE
(1 Corinthians 12:8b).The Gift of the word of knowledge might be described as a supernatural manifestation from heaven to a believer to let him know the condition of something and the way it is at that very moment or time. I believe this gift is one of the "revelation" gifts, and it is still in the church today. This gift is given by God as a part of His knowledge that comes tothe recipient and lets him know certain information about any subject the Lord wants him to know about right now. This gift is also given to illuminate the scriptures by giving understanding to various passages. This gift, along with the gift of prophecy will be done away with when the perfect is come. (1 Corinthians 13:8).
Since there are many debating what "the perfect" is, each individual will have to seek the Lord in prayer for the answer to what it is,and if it came yet in order to arrive at his or her personal decision whether those gifts were done away with yet! Some say "That which is perfect" refers to Christ, when He returns; some say it was the Bible completed; some say it is the rapture of the church; some say it is the mellenial reign of Christ on earth; and some say it refers to the new heaven and the new earth. I am in agreement with the latter, as I feel the gifts of prophesy and knowledge will continue to be needed and used all through the ages until we finally reach Home with God!
The reason many believe these gifts ceased is because those who want to get rid of tongues have lumped all three gifts together in 1Corinthians 13:8. However, each gift has to be treated separately because of the Greek words involved. Tongues is the only gift said to cease, meaning to stop on its own volition. (and historically if has ceased).
However, the Greek words for "fail" and "vanish", concerning prophesy and knowledge, means that they will be "doneaway with". In his book "The Charismatics", John MacArthur Jr. explains, "It isimportant to note that in 1 Corinthians 13:8 the words used give a clear indication that tongues will cease at a different point in time that prophecy and knowledge. Regarding prophecy and knowledge,we are told that they will be "done away", "rendered inoperative",or "abolished", depending upon one's particular translation. The Greek root word used here for "done away" is katargeo, knowledge, but it is not the verb used when Paul spoke about how tongues would cease. The Greek verb used in "It is also helpful to realize that the verb katargeo is in the passive tense. A rule of grammar is that when a passive verb is in a sentence, the subject receives the action. Something is acting upon the subject, and in this case 1 Corinthians 13:8 tells us that something is used to refer to prophecy and regard to tongues is pavo, which simply means "to stop".
That other force Paul called "the perfect thing". It will cause prophecy and knowledge to cease while the gift of tongues will haveceased by itself before the perfect thing. That is why we see tongues disappearing from the text after verse 8 while the references to prophecy and knowledge goes on: "For we know in part,and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away." (1 Corinthians 13:9-10)
It is hard to define the broad meaning of the word "knowledge" but the "word of knowledge" indicates a speaking gift, or utterance ofknowledge. The Greek word for "word" here is "logos", meaning wordswhich can be written or spoken. The greatest use and need of this gift in the church today is the Spirit given ability to observe Biblical information and understand the Bible. Naturally, the gift is only given to some, not all. The great commentators of the Bible have the gift of the word of knowledge. In other words, they have the ability to observe Biblical facts and make conclusions.
There are believers who have never been to Bible school or seminary which have this gift and are able to read a verse of Scripture and immediately interpret this meaning, as God meant for it to be!I believe the gift of the word of knowledge as revelatory was mostly used by the Apostles, especially Paul, in writing Scripture.
Hoewever, today since Scripture is already written for believers, the gift operates mostly by reiteration, or in other words, taking what is already written, and explaining it. Paul said in Colossians 1:9-10, that the Christian is to be filled with knowledge.In 1 Corinthians 13:2, he said, "and thought I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge..." So,when anyone has this gift, they are able to understand the mysteries that have been revealed. Usually, people who have that gift are researchers, teachers, scholars, professors, and those who can understand Scripture immediatly after reading it!
By experience, I believe the gift of the word of knowledge can be a revelatory gift today also, in the sense, ie that God may tell the recipiant certain facts about other people or things he wants them to know. The gift has operated through my ministry in the past on certain occassions. There were several occasions, (always when I was praying with individuals) that the Lord would reveal to me words of information or knowledge about the individual. At first, I was hesitant to speak what I thought the Lord had given me, but as I exercised the gift, I was astonished to find that the information applied exactly to that individual at that time, and there was no way I would have known it! The Lord would reveal this knowledge to me by a silent, strong impression of one or more words, which really had no meaning whatsoever to me, as I never got the fullmeaning. The gift is the word of knowledge.
To illustrate, there was an occassion when I and about 8 others were praying with a brother who had requested prayer for a "decision" he had to make that the Lord had been dealing with him about. He did not tell any of us what it was. He sat in a chair, and we all gathered around him, laying our hands on his shoulder and head. I can't remember now where, exactly I had my hands, but, I distinctly remember, as we were praying, that the words, or phrase "tithes and offerings blocking blessing". I was not sure it was the Lord or my imagination, but while praying, the phrase persisted in my mind, and since none of the others said anything specific, I was impressed to step out in faith and give the message the gifts of the word of knowledge and wisdom". I do not even know why I prayed in that manner, as the words just flowed in spontaneous prayer. Anyway, when I decided to relay the message to the brother and take a chance of making a fool out of myself, I audibly said, "The Lord would have you know, the thing that is blocking your blessing is in the area of your tithes and offerings." The brother did not say anything, and we soon stopped
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