What Does it Mean to Prophesy?
Prophecy means predicting the future, right? Wrong. Well, not wrong, but not usually. People around me inquiring about the nature of prophecy, and if it means predicting the future, has become more common at church recently. The modern usage of prophecy is as “a prediction.” But that is not what Paul refers to when he lists prophecy among the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Cor 12:10.
Prophets of God in the Old Testament were not, of themselves, predicting the future. Rather, they passed on only what God specifically revealed to them. The prophets were messengers conveying a message. Most often this was to call God’s people out for sin. Less often, God revealed what was to come and the prophets spoke it or wrote it down.
Paul writes about prophecy extensively in 1 Corinthians 14. That part of his letter is a debate about the usefulness of speaking in different languages or speaking prophecy while in church. As a part of that debate, in 1 Cor. 14:3, Paul defines prophecy, “But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.” He never mentions anything about predicting the future.
To prophesy is speaking to people for their…
strengthening
encouraging
comfort
Later in the chapter, he enhances the explanation. 1 Cor. 14:19: “I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others.” Prophecy instructs. Paul explains the results of prophesying, verses 24-25, “But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”
Prophecy is convicting and a convincing explanation of the gospel. That is why Paul starts chapter 14 with this, “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.” The way of love includes speaking God’s truth to people for their strength, encouragement, and comfort. So, have you been eagerly wanting God to speak through you? Pray for that passion and be that kind of gift to the people around you.
John Riley
Healing
The church gathered around, laid hands, and prayed. I’d been a part of those kinds of circles before, but this time it was my own mom being prayed for. She had an undiagnosed brain condition that was continuing to worsen, causing diminishing functionality of her fine and gross motor skills. So we prayed. We prayed in faith. We prayed for healing. We asked God to display his power in touching my mom’s physical body. I knew God was able. I remember thinking, God, if you raised the dead, certainly restoring my mom is not too difficult for you. After all, the same Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us! So, we prayed with confident hope.
However, our hopes were dashed. Over the months that followed, my mom’s health grew worse and worse and she eventually passed away. Have you ever struggled to make sense of healing? I have. Questions like: does God still heal today? Or, why don’t we see the same kinds of miracles in the United States that the church saw in the New Testament? Understanding healing can be complicated, nuanced, and frustrating. We want things to work more like an equation. If we input the right kind of prayer and faith, then God outputs the healing we long for. However, we know it doesn’t work that way.
It can be easy to look at the way God didn’t answer prayer for healing and draw the conclusion that he never answers that kind of prayer. And yet, I have seen people healed! I’ve seen a woman’s back restored, I’ve seen people regain sight, I’ve seen God move in power and set people free. I’ll never know why he didn’t heal my mom, but that won’t stop me from praying for the healing of others.
When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church about the way the Spirit was manifested among them he said, “For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:8-9) One of the ways the Spirit displayed his presence and power in the Corinthian church was through healing. Certainly that didn’t mean everyone in their church was always healed. He’d already told them some had grown sick and died (1 Corinthians 11:30). But it did mean some people experienced God miraculously healing their physical bodies.
It seems to me the Corinthians lived in the tension that while God doesn’t always heal, it doesn’t mean he never heals. That can be the erroneous conclusion we draw when he doesn’t heal in the way we prayed for. However, the Spirit is at work in and among us, and He can do whatever he wants. He’s God! So, let’s pray bold prayers in confident faith. Faith means that we simultaneously trust God can do whatever he wants to do, but we also trust His wisdom when he says “no.”
Today, take some time and pray for someone you know who needs healing. If you can lay your hands on them and pray, do so, praying and knowing God can heal, and pray trusting our sovereign God.
Pastor Ryan
Wiser than a Professor
The words “knowledge” and “wisdom” are widely used in our culture and frequently interchangeably. But, there are significant differences both secularly and from a biblical perspective in how they are lived out in our daily actions.
Knowledge does not inherently produce wisdom, nor is a wise person the most knowledgeable. I observed this firsthand in college as I listened to one of my brightest professors provide his “wisdom” for living a fruitful life in terms that were clearly antithetical to the words of Jesus. Smart and informed people regularly act foolishly, and Christians are not immune to this phenomenon. However, wisdom does require the ability to connect knowledge within the context of a situation in order to make the best decision. Wisdom requires discipline - it is not whimsical or given over to passion, it is manifest in discernment and calculated risk. Wisdom frequently doesn’t tell us what we want to hear and often points to the longer, harder road.
All too often we try to understand wisdom and knowledge scripturally but from the foundation of the worldly expression of both. There is a connection, but there is more difference than is often perceived. In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul is describing the actions of the Holy Spirit among believers in the Church; this is what we translate into English as “spiritual gifts.” What is universally true about all spiritual gifts is that they are the very power of God, to do God’s work, to bring glory to himself, and to benefit the people of the Church. Scripture does not promise that you will have the same gifts from birth to death. It is well reasoned that God may give you specific gifts, for certain reasons, at specific times.
Knowledge requires discipline as well and is often most easily understood through studying the Scriptures. But true learning means we have to let our childhood faith and understanding of God expand, grow, and find richer, deeper understanding which may challenge our earlier dogmatics. It takes humility and effort to grow in true knowledge that accurately reflects God’s truth.
Why does God give spiritually gifted wisdom and knowledge to his people? God grants wisdom and knowledge to his people to prevent human suffering and enable human flourishing.
Wisdom and knowledge are gifts we should all desire and ask God to give us. I believe, as with all gifts, we have not, because we have not fully given ourselves to Jesus. Being led by the Holy Spirit frequently means we have to recognize sinful ideas and reactions in ourselves even when we don’t know they exist. Walking with the Holy Spirit requires intentionality and participation on our part; it isn’t easy but it is so life giving. Spiritually gifted knowledge brings clarity to other believers when they don’t have the understanding themselves to discern the truth among competing voices. Knowledge brings clarity in a sea of confusion. Wisdom aligns the truth of Scripture within the context of a decision that often requires exercising faith and placing even greater trust in God. Wisdom brings peace to an anguishing heart.
Walk humbly with God, live like Jesus, and pray that the Holy Spirit uses you to bring knowledge and wisdom to your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Jaisen Fuson
Each One
Eph 3:17-19 NIV “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
To be “filled with the fullness (pleroma) of God” means that God is the controlling influence at a given moment governing your feelings, desires, thoughts, hopes, relationships, words, actions, reactions, calendar, check book, etc. At any given time, you may be hangry, sad, lonely, righteously indignant, but you are not allowing those emotions to control you. You are continuing to walk in the Spirit. The Spirit wants to fill you until you reflect him to others. You were fashioned to be godlike (Gen 1:26; Eph 4:23-24) God employs his infinite power to ensure that this happens – v20 says, Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us . . .
Power is dunamis: “dynamite”. How much power does Paul say God has to “fill us with the fullness” of himself? Immeasurable!
Oswald Chambers in He Shall Glorify Me says, “The great idea is not that we are at work for God but that He is at work in us; not that we are devoted to a cause and doing aggressive work for God but that He is working out a strong likeness to His Son in us.”
In other words, the Spirit is not given just to some Christians and not others (see Romans 8:9). Those who are saved all have the same, the only, Spirit of God with them. There are not different versions of God's Spirit, though there are different kinds of gifts given to believers by Him. Differences in spiritual gifts are not, at all, differences in spiritual value or salvation. They all work together for the common good.
Corrie Ten Boom said, “Trying to do the Lord’s work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.”
God never forces himself on us. As we surrender our lives bit by bit, his Spirit is able to occupy more and more of us, and we in turn can tap into his strength, power, knowledge, and wisdom.
One last quote from OC, “My unrestrained commitment of myself to God gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to grant to me the holiness of Jesus Christ.”
I don’t know about you, but I want more of Him and less of me, until Jesus can be lifted up for this dark world to see. Jesus, we long to be a clear reflection of you; help us shine brightly for you only. Amen.
Deb Hill
Manifestation
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. - I Corinthians 12:7
In all my years of following Jesus, after going to Bible College, to Seminary, and all these years of Pastoral Ministry, I have heard many discussions about the “gifts” of the Spirit, but can’t say that I have EVER heard any teaching about the “manifestations” of the Spirit. What does that mean and how is that different from a spiritual “gift”? Well, let’s begin by checking the dictionary…
Man·i·fes·ta·tion: (noun) an event, action, or object that clearly shows or embodies something, especially a theory of an abstract idea.
Ok, so a manifestation is something concrete (i.e. something you can touch, hear, see, etc.) that points to something less concrete. That would mean that a manifestation of the Spirit would be something tangible that points back to the Spirit who is intangible. I think that this is a super helpful word to help us think about what we have commonly called spiritual “gifts.” I have nothing against that word “gift,” in fact, I like gifts as much as the next guy, but I wonder if the word is a bit misleading in this context. When I receive a gift, I own the gift. It is mine and I can control it. But I can’t say that this is the way that I receive a Spiritual gift. I can’t own or control the Spirit’s influence in my life. That influence is much more like a manifestation. It is something that happens in the real world in or through me, but it isn’t mine. Instead, it is the Spirit’s work in me and when properly understood and cultivated, it can “clearly show or embody” Someone… namely the Spirit Himself.
So maybe, we need to stop thinking about which spiritual gift we have or don’t have. Instead, we ought to look for and be thankful for how the Spirit manifests Himself in our lives. Have you ever thought about how the Spirit has manifested Himself in your life before? Have you ever noticed an attribute that you can’t really claim credit for? Maybe it is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, or self-control. Maybe it is an act of encouragement to others, or wisdom, or hospitality, or servanthood? Whenever you see something beautiful and godly like this that didn’t originate in you, you might have just experienced a manifestation of the Spirit. I pray you will all the more.
Josh Rose
Discipleship Pastor
Activities for the Common Good
I remember waking up on my birthday and seeing a pile of gifts wrapped nicely and stacked neatly waiting for me. There they sat all day because I wasn’t allowed to touch them until my grandparents arrived for dinner that night. Then, after dinner, I got to open the gifts. It was tough being a kid and seeing gifts that I couldn’t use. I couldn’t know. I wasn’t allowed to experience.
I wonder if the Holy Spirit feels like that sometimes waiting for us. We usually think about the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to believers, but the truth is believers become the gift that the Holy Spirit uses to build up, care for, and encourage the people of the church.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. – 1 Cor 12:4-7
The Holy Spirit is given to all believers so that they can do stuff for the church. Doing stuff may seem crude, but Paul emphasizes here that there are different things the church can work on, “varieties of service… varieties of activities.” The manifestation of the Spirit is the Holy Spirit working through people. But it takes work.
Thinking about it isn’t good enough. It takes action. The Holy Spirit is working on us and working in us to spur us into action. He wants to use us and put us to work for the kingdom and the growth of the church.
How is that going for you? Are you sitting there looking nice or are you letting the Holy Spirit tear into your comfort so you can be used by Him? Pray about it and while you're praying remember I still need Junior High leaders for Core Groups on Sundays and leaders to shepherd and play with the students on Wednesdays too. Every part has needs and the Holy Spirit is spurring every person in the church to fill a spot or two.
John Riley
Everyone Serves!
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Before coming to serve at Emmanuel Faith, my family and I were doing church planting on both sides of the San Diego/Tijuana border. Every Sunday, for about four years, my wife, my two daughters, and I were committed to serving at a 10 am worship service in San Diego and at a 2pm worship service in Tijuana. As you can imagine, our Sundays were very long and tiring, but at the same time, they were filled with excitement seeing God at work in our lives and in the lives of others. You see, when we serve our Lord, not only the lives of others are impacted, but ours as well.
As I reflect on those busy years, I’m reminded that God used that season to shape and prepare my family for the things we are working on today. Back then, my youngest daughter Aneth, who was 8 years old, was running PowerPoint slides through the worship songs. Adaly, who was 11 years old, was one of the singers in the worship team. My wife, Jemima, was in charge of almost everything else, maybe that’s the reason why people were calling her "pastora," a title that she was reminding people she didn’t hold. As the pastor of those two new congregations, my main focus was the teaching and preaching of the Word.
Eleven years later, we are still doing some of the same things. Aneth still runs slides and she also works as an intern in the Young Adults department of our church. Adaly still sings and also works at church as Intake Coordinator in the Care & Counseling department. Jemima still serves and cares for the needs of people in our Spanish congregation (people still call her “pastora”, and she gave up correcting them a while ago). And I’m still teaching and preaching from God’s Word, and now I get to do it sometimes in English as well. Everyone serves! Different gifts but the same Spirit. Different kinds of service but the same Lord. Different kinds of working but the same God at work. It's a beautiful thing to see our Triune God working in us and through us. Now, this is not only true for Aneth, Adaly, Jemima, and me, but this is also true for every member of the body of Christ. As followers of Jesus, we all serve in different ways but with the same purpose: To allow God to work in us and through us.
Pastor Esteban
Spirit-led
Like many of you, I started driving during a time when there was no GPS in the car and cell phones were non-existent. Which meant if we were going to drive somewhere new, we had to have a physical map with us. I know, it’s hard to believe! However, there was one other way to get directions, it was to follow someone in another car. I bet you’ve had a friend say to you, “I know where I’m going, just follow me.” I’m not sure if you had similar experiences, but it always seemed like the car I followed drove like they were delivering an organ for a transplant. They’d run a yellow light, far surpass the speed limit, and switch lanes like they were trying to escape the police. Come to think of it, maybe they didn’t like me. Ha!
The process of following someone can be hard. It can be a challenge to stay close enough you can turn when they turn and slow down when they slow down. However, if we are going to become disciples of Jesus, we must get good at following. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul described the Christian life by writing, “ If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit." (Galatians 5:25) Stay in step with the Spirit. The picture is of a car that’s out front that we do our best to follow. As Christians, we are called to follow Jesus by living in his way with his heart, but as we seek to live that out on a daily basis, we must be intent on staying in step with the Spirit.
There are two primary reasons following the Spirit can be challenging. First, if we are following we are not in control. We don’t get to dictate the pace and we don’t control the place we end up. I’m reminded that Jesus was “led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1) That might not have been his natural choice, and yet it was part of His Father’s plan. If we say yes to following the Spirit, there might be times where He leads us to the wilderness as well. Second, staying in step with the Spirit can be challenging because we aren’t always entirely sure what the Spirit is doing in our lives. It can be hard to tell what’s from the Spirit and what’s from me. If that’s your struggle, allow me to encourage you to pause and ask God for clarification. You might pray, “Lord, are you inviting me to go talk to that person?” If you get the sense he is, step out in faith. The only way to grow in discerning the Spirit’s voice is to obey and see if it indeed was God. After you do that for a time, you will grow in your discernment of His voice.
Take a moment today and pray that your eyes would be opened to see the way the Spirit is leading you, and then ask for His empowerment to follow. You might use Romans 15:13 as a prayer:
God of hope please fill me with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit I may abound in hope. Amen
Pastor Ryan
Unexpected Gifts
I once went on a short-term mission trip to Jordan not fully knowing why and feeling a bit uneasy. I knew I was to help at JETS seminary, but the group staying in Amman was going to teach adult Christian Iraqi refugees conversational English. I wasn’t. Shortly after arriving, it was evident there was a problem. The adults couldn’t leave their children at home, and brought them to class, especially in the evening. God ended up using me in Jordan to teach about 30 beautiful, well-behaved Iraqi children conversational English and some bible songs for good measure. I had not prepped, had to scrounge for supplies and thoroughly enjoyed every minute with them. I loved teaching, and the children learning!
When Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:1, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed,” it's possible the problem the Corinthians were having had to do with those among them who were thought to be "more spiritual," because they seemed to have more spiritual abilities than some others. The Corinthians, in spite of being well taught, were still “unaware” or “ignorant” of what true spirituality was.
The ancient Corinthians had all the gifts (1:7) needed for building a strong local church, yet were very unspiritual and selfish people that divided and hurt each other. So they needed Paul’s help and he gave it to them willingly. Verse 1: “I do not want you to be unaware.”
Paul taught that every Christian has the potential to be spiritual. Every believer has a gift, or gifts, from the Holy Spirit. Not all gifts are as obvious or as public as others, but the same Spirit gives them away, for free, as He sees fit. He gives one or more spiritual gifts to every believer for the common good. Nobody acquires or earns their own gifts from God.
One reason we have spiritual gifts is to help strengthen other people’s faith. "Here is someone struggling; how can I help him?" Then do or say what seems most helpful, if the person is helped, you may have discovered one of your gifts.
We have the gifts already, we only need to take a leap of faith when we feel the Spirit nudging us to help whether in a ministry teaching, doing data entry, or going on a short-term mission trip. Would the Spirit nudge someone in that direction and withhold a needed gift to help accomplish what he nudged them to do? Ask the Lord to reveal how you might be used for the common good and trust he will help you. He wants you to use your gifts.
Deb Hill
Public and Private Spirituality
Series: 1st Corinthians - Holy Spirit | Text: 1 Corinthians 14:1-40 (part 2)
Speakers: Pastors Ryan Paulson & Esteban Tapia
October 16, 2022: Pastors Ryan Paulson and Esteban Tapia finished season 5 of our 1 Corinthians series on Sunday. This was a study on the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit.
