Understanding the True Nature of Prophecy
Summary
### Summary
Today, we explored the profound truth encapsulated in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave us His only Son." This verse is a cornerstone of our faith, revealing the depth of God's love and the ultimate sacrifice He made for humanity. We delved into the nature of prophecy, clarifying common misconceptions and emphasizing its true biblical essence. Prophecy is not about prominence or fortune-telling; rather, it is a spoken expression of God's word meant to strengthen, encourage, and comfort His people.
We discussed how the gift of prophecy is often misunderstood as a means to predict the future or gain personal prominence. However, true biblical prophecy is about conveying God's message to His people, often calling them back to His covenant and guiding them through life's challenges. We examined examples from both the Old and New Testaments, highlighting how prophets like John the Baptist and Elijah lived humble, often isolated lives, and how their messages were more about calling people to repentance and faithfulness than predicting prosperity.
We also touched on the importance of discerning true prophecy from false, noting that not all supernatural occurrences are from God. True prophecy aligns with Scripture and brings glory to God, not the prophet. Personal anecdotes illustrated how prophecy has played a significant role in guiding and correcting life paths, emphasizing that it is a gift meant for the edification of the church.
Finally, we discussed practical steps to lean into the gift of prophecy: being aware of God's word, being bold in sharing His messages, and maintaining humility. The gift of prophecy is not about being superhuman but about allowing God to use us as His mouthpieces to bring about supernatural change. We are encouraged to be open to God's leading, to speak His words with boldness and humility, and to trust that He will use us to strengthen, encourage, and comfort others.
### Key Takeaways
1. Prophecy is Not About Prominence: True biblical prophecy is not about gaining personal prominence or being held in high esteem. Many prophets in the Bible, like John the Baptist and Elijah, lived humble and often isolated lives. Their primary role was to convey God's message, often calling people to repentance and faithfulness. This understanding helps us to see prophecy as a humble service rather than a position of power. [18:03]
2. Prophecy is Not Fortune-Telling: The gift of prophecy is often misunderstood as a means to predict personal prosperity or future events. However, true prophecy is about conveying God's message, which often includes warnings and calls to repentance. It is not about predicting good fortune but about guiding people back to God's covenant and His ways. [19:49]
3. Discerning True Prophecy: Not all supernatural occurrences are from God. True prophecy aligns with Scripture and brings glory to God, not the prophet. It is essential to discern and test prophecies to ensure they are from God. This discernment helps protect the church from false prophets and misleading messages. [22:09]
4. The Power of Prophecy: True prophecy has the power to strengthen, encourage, and comfort God's people. It can provide specific guidance and correction, helping individuals and the church to stay aligned with God's will. Personal experiences and biblical examples show how prophecy can bring about significant positive change. [25:22]
5. Practical Steps to Lean into Prophecy: To lean into the gift of prophecy, we must be aware of God's word, be bold in sharing His messages, and maintain humility. Being aware involves immersing ourselves in Scripture and being sensitive to God's leading. Boldness requires us to speak God's messages with confidence, and humility ensures that we convey His words with the right heart and attitude. [29:54]
### YouTube Chapters
[0:00] - Welcome
[07:13] - Introduction to God's Love
[07:32] - Repetition of God's Love
[08:08] - The Nature of Prophecy
[08:32] - Misconceptions About Prophecy
[08:53] - Prophecy is Not Prominence
[09:18] - Prophecy is Not Fortune-Telling
[09:52] - True Biblical Prophecy
[10:21] - The Role of Prophets
[10:48] - The Power of Prophecy
[11:17] - Personal Experiences with Prophecy
[11:45] - The Importance of Discernment
[12:11] - Prophecy in the New Testament
[12:41] - Practical Steps to Lean into Prophecy
[13:09] - Be Aware of God's Word
[13:43] - Be Bold in Sharing God's Messages
[14:11] - Be Humble in Prophecy
[14:41] - The Impact of Prophecy
[15:09] - Encouragement to Embrace Prophecy
[15:36] - Closing Prayer
Study Guide
### Bible Study Discussion Guide
#### Bible Reading
1. John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
2. 1 Corinthians 14:3 - "But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort."
3. 1 Timothy 1:18 - "Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well."
#### Observation Questions
1. According to John 3:16, what motivated God to give His only Son to the world?
2. What are the three purposes of prophecy mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14:3?
3. In 1 Timothy 1:18, what is Timothy encouraged to do with the prophecies made about him?
4. How did the sermon describe the lives of prophets like John the Baptist and Elijah? [18:03]
#### Interpretation Questions
1. How does understanding God's love in John 3:16 help us grasp the significance of prophecy?
2. Why is it important to distinguish between true prophecy and false supernatural occurrences? [22:09]
3. How can recalling past prophecies, as Paul advises Timothy, help believers in their spiritual battles today?
4. What does the sermon suggest about the relationship between humility and the gift of prophecy? [33:19]
#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you felt God's love deeply. How did that experience impact your faith and actions?
2. Have you ever received a message that you believed was from God? How did it strengthen, encourage, or comfort you? [27:48]
3. What steps can you take to be more discerning about the sources of supernatural occurrences in your life? [22:09]
4. How can you cultivate humility when sharing a message you believe is from God? What practical steps can you take to ensure you are speaking with the right heart and attitude? [33:19]
5. Think of a specific situation where you felt a tug on your heart to share a message with someone. How did you respond, and what was the outcome? [31:52]
6. How can you be more aware of God's word in your daily life to better lean into the gift of prophecy? What specific practices can you adopt? [30:41]
7. Identify a person in your life who might need encouragement or comfort. How can you be bold in sharing a message from God with them this week? [29:54]
Devotional
Day 1: Prophecy as Humble Service
True biblical prophecy is not about gaining personal prominence or being held in high esteem. Many prophets in the Bible, like John the Baptist and Elijah, lived humble and often isolated lives. Their primary role was to convey God's message, often calling people to repentance and faithfulness. This understanding helps us to see prophecy as a humble service rather than a position of power. [18:03]
1 Kings 19:11-12 (ESV): "And he said, 'Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.' And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper."
Reflection: Think of a time when you felt called to serve in a humble way. How did you respond, and how can you embrace humility in your current service to God?
Day 2: Prophecy as God's Message, Not Fortune-Telling
The gift of prophecy is often misunderstood as a means to predict personal prosperity or future events. However, true prophecy is about conveying God's message, which often includes warnings and calls to repentance. It is not about predicting good fortune but about guiding people back to God's covenant and His ways. [19:49]
Jeremiah 23:16 (ESV): "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.'"
Reflection: Reflect on a time when you sought guidance for the future. How can you shift your focus from seeking predictions to seeking God's will and direction in your life?
Day 3: Discerning True Prophecy
Not all supernatural occurrences are from God. True prophecy aligns with Scripture and brings glory to God, not the prophet. It is essential to discern and test prophecies to ensure they are from God. This discernment helps protect the church from false prophets and misleading messages. [22:09]
1 John 4:1 (ESV): "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."
Reflection: Think about a message or teaching you have recently encountered. How can you test its alignment with Scripture and ensure it brings glory to God?
Day 4: The Power of Prophecy
True prophecy has the power to strengthen, encourage, and comfort God's people. It can provide specific guidance and correction, helping individuals and the church to stay aligned with God's will. Personal experiences and biblical examples show how prophecy can bring about significant positive change. [25:22]
1 Corinthians 14:3 (ESV): "On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation."
Reflection: Recall a time when you received encouragement or guidance from a prophetic word. How did it impact your faith journey, and how can you be open to receiving and sharing such words today?
Day 5: Practical Steps to Lean into Prophecy
To lean into the gift of prophecy, we must be aware of God's word, be bold in sharing His messages, and maintain humility. Being aware involves immersing ourselves in Scripture and being sensitive to God's leading. Boldness requires us to speak God's messages with confidence, and humility ensures that we convey His words with the right heart and attitude. [29:54]
2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV): "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
Reflection: Identify one area where you feel God is prompting you to speak His message. How can you prepare yourself through Scripture, prayer, and humility to share it boldly and faithfully?
Quotes
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "The gift of prophecy strengthens, encourages and comforts. It's a strengthening word, right? It's a word that guides us and teaches us and emboldens us. It's an encouraging word. It inspires and motivates us. It's a powerful word. It's a confident word that brings us peace and focus." [27:48] (19 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "You don't need to know how to predict the future. You don't need to be able to quote all of Psalms 23. You don't need a microphone and a stage. You just have to be willing to say, God, here I am. I'll be willing to be your mouthpiece and allow your message to pass through me to someone else." [29:09] (19 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "Guys, it could be something that God has shown you, like in your Bible time, like as you're reading a scripture. Right? It could be something in your heart and next time you see it, you can share it. But it can also be just you looking at somebody and telling them, Hey, you're going to make it. You're going to make it." [29:54] (18 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "The gift of prophecy doesn't make us superhuman but it does enable supernatural change to happen in us and God can use anybody. It could be a Bible verse, it could be two words, you know, when I think of one of my most potent experiences with prophecy it happened with two words." [33:19] (20 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "Church that's what I want you to know you need to hear from God in that way we all need to hear from God in that way and that happens when we walk into the gift of prophecy so I want to leave you with this question what is God leading you to say what is God leading you to say continue to open your heart continue to prayerfully seek him so that we may be obedient so that we may lean into the gift of prophecy together amen." [35:36] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
### Quotes for Members
1. "To prophesy doesn't mean a life of prominence and notoriety. Secondly, what we need to understand is prophecy is not prosperity and fortune telling, right? Unfortunately, because of prosperity gospel teaching, we kind of make this link, right? So we need to debunk that prophecy is just type of some type of fortune telling in the church." [19:49] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "True biblical prophecy is not just telling the future, right? Or just stating some fact about something, right? We, we got to divorce our minds from the idea that that's what's prophecy. Actually, there's a, there's a very interesting story in the, in the book of Acts. I want to read to you really quickly. When you had this fortune teller, she was following Paul around and look at what happened." [21:10] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "The best way to guard ourselves from actually false prophets and false prophecies. It's actually to know what prophecy really is. And I want to make it really clear here, simply put the gift of prophecy is a spoken expression of God's word to others. It's plain and simple. I want to make it super plain and simple today, right now, while this can for sure happen like right now through preaching, right? And we, we pray it happens, right? It's not limited to here, right?" [25:22] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "The gift of prophecy can funnel all the power of God's word to focus it on a specific circumstance that may be happening, right? And when we look at the saxophone, right? You see all of these knobs and widgets, and this is what I believe the gift of prophecy is. As it passes through that mouthpiece, it goes through the whole saxophone. And guess what? It brings to light all the other functions of that saxophone." [26:59] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "The more scripture we read, the more scripture we kind of digest, right? The more we kind of can be aware when God wants to use that to speak to someone else, right? The more we can be aware to be aligned, right? Sometimes we all get this kind of idea that I want to say something to somebody, but it may not always be in line with God's word. So the more we kind of take in God's word, the more we're aware to his work, the more we're able to know, hey, when is God speaking this?" [30:41] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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