The Gift of Prophecy – Radio Classic – Dr. Charles Stanley – Power of the Holy Spirit – Part 4
The Gift of Prophecy – Radio Classic – Dr. Charles Stanley – Power of the Holy Spirit – Part 4
Prophecy is often thought about as ‘foretelling the future’, but in actuality is ‘forth-telling’. Prophets are those who are used by God to speak the truth. The gift of prophecy is the same-those with this gift often speak truth as they confront evil, many times revealing the character and motives of others. Find out if you have this gift in The Gift of Prophecy.
This message is part of the series “Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit.”
For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to www.intouch.org/watch
Have you ever wondered why Christians act the way they do?
I don’t mean just bad conduct, but good conduct. Why don’t they act the way they do?
Well, there are probably many reasons, but one of the primary reasons is what I wanna talk about in this message.
Because one of the primary reasons that you and I act the way we act is because of our spiritual gift.
When you and I trust that Jesus Christ is our personal savior, He gave us many gifts, but of those many gifts that he’s given us and talents and so forth, One of those is a motivational gift.
There is a gift that drives us.
There’s one that underlies everything else that we do And when you and I operate out of that spiritual gift, we can do our best.
We have our greatest sense of fulfillment greatest sense of accomplishment, achievement in life, and we’re the most productive.
When we don’t act out of that gift, all of those things are less than they could be.
And you will recall how often we’ve talked about the Holy Spirit of who he is, a person of the Trinity.
He’s the promise of the father, the seal of the believer for all eternity.
He’s our teacher and our guide and our helper.
And the scripture says that he’s involved in every single of our life, our salvation, our sanctification, and our service.
And the primary reason he’s given us spiritual gifts, and especially that motivational gift is that you and I would serve him in a fashion that would be most fruitful and productive and good for the kingdom of god.
But at the same time, It also enables us to understand other people, enables them to understand us, and why we act the way we act.
Because you see, the truth is if we are not understood by other people, it’s severance relationships.
And there are many marriages that have fallen apart because somebody didn’t understand the other person’s spiritual gift, and they reacted in a negative fashion.
They didn’t understand. And so little by little, they were either driven away or felt that they were, or the other person just walked away.
And so there are 7 major gifts here that we’re speaking of, and today, I wanna talk about the gift of prophecy.
Now I want you to turn, if you will, to the 12th chapter of Romans, and while there are 3 different divisions of the gifts by the apostle Paul in Romans, first are in his and evisions, and he speaks not only of the motivational gifts, but other manifestations of the gift of the Holy Spirit in our life and the many, many areas of ministry.
There are 7 primarily motivational gifts found in this 12th chapter.
And, uh, as we go through them, you’re gonna find yourself somewhere.
If you will listen carefully to each one of these and not miss a one, It’s going to affect your relationships to other people.
It’s all go so going to affect the feelings that you have, the emotions that you have about whatever you do in life.
Because if you wanna do it at your best and you wanna glean the best out of your activity and your involvement with people and things in life, that you operate out of your gifts.
So listen to what he says in this 12th chapter beginning in verse 4.
For just as we have many members in one body, and all the members do not have the same function speaking of the body.
The hand does one thing to add to something else.
So we who are many, are one body in Christ. And individually, members, one of another.
That is the whole church, the body of Christ.
Not talking about denominations, but talking about the whole body of Christ, we each individually have our particular part.
And so he says in verse 6, since we have gifts that differ, According to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise that gift accordingly if prophecy according to the proportion of his faith.
If service in his serving or he who teaches in his teaching, he who exhorts in his exhortation, he who gives with liberality, He who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness.
And so all of us are gonna have one of those underlying motivation drives or gifts that god has given us as believers in order to serve him, and in order to live out the godly life that he has for us to give.
So let’s begin today with this gift of prophecy.
And let me begin also by saying, let’s understand what that word prophecy means.
Naturally in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.
It also meant foretelling that is foretelling today things that are gonna happen in the future.
But that’s not the only meaning for it because it also means to tell forth that is to proclaim.
And so while in the Old Testament and the New Testament, when there was no Old Testament and New Testament, as we know it, no Bible, god oftentimes spoke and foretold through his prophets, through his servants, things that would happen.
And today, we cannot say that god does not sometimes warn us sometimes tell us, maybe not tell us specifically what’s going to happen, but give us a very strong warning that something is about to happen.
And so he still does that.
But when somebody says I have a word of prophecy from god as if to add to the scripture, forget it.
Because it is not true. God’s word is complete, but individual in their lives, and maybe even a word of caution for a whole nation, Can god still do that?
Yes. He can. Does he? No doubt that he does.
But it’s very specific and very seldom, and it is not something that everyone who has the gift of prophecy does not have the gift to foretell the future.
So primarily, what he’s speaking of here is speaking forth the truth.
Now let me say a couple of things.
Number 1, first of all, don’t sit and listen to this and say, oh, I know somebody acts just like that.
Or, especially, you do not wanna look at your wife or husband and say, well, that’s the problem.
Now you now I understand you have the problem in its marriage.
Or to your parents or to your children, you need to listen carefully for yourself.
What you’re going to discover is this.
You’re gonna discover in one of these gifts while you act the way you act.
Likewise, you’re gonna discover why other people act the way they act. And you know what?
When two people have 2 different gifts, begin to understand the reason why the other person acts the way they do, it’s not because they can tankers and don’t love you and obnoxious, It’s because that is a gift.
And if you don’t understand that, you can have misunderstandings. So what we’re gonna do in these messages is this.
We’re gonna give the characteristics of the person who has these gifts.
Secondly, we’re gonna describe the misunderstandings the ways those people are misunderstood as a result of exercising their gift.
And thirdly, we’re going to describe how the person with that gift acts when they’re walking in the spirit and how you can expect them to act when they’re walking in the flesh or in their humanness or in disobedience to god.
You don’t wanna miss any of this.
And beginning with the gift of prophecy, and so the first thing we wanna deal with here is simply this, and that is what are the characteristics of a person with a gift of prophecy?
Well, the first one is simply this. They have a strong need to express themselves verbally.
And, usually, they’re the kind of person who’s gonna speak first.
They’re gonna they they’re gonna be very prone to speak first, and especially You’ll see them rise up if there’s a sense of injustice going on.
Somebody has been mistreated. And oftentimes, the person with a gift of prophecy will help take up their offense and speak exactly what they feel needs to be done.
And in each of these gifts, what I’d like to do is to give you a biblical character that best describes them.
And, of course, of all the disciples, of all the apostles who is the one who’s always doing the talking, always out front.
We know his name by the name of what? Peter, that’s right.
Because if you’ll think about it, He’s always up front, telling Jesus what he ought to do and telling him why he ought not to do this and jumping in the water and doing all kind of things.
One thing you’ll have to admit about him, he lives up to his characteristics.
And so when a person with a gift of prophecy desires to and is willing to speak to someone about their life.
And that person comes to him and says, you know, here’s what I’m going through in life, and the person they give the props, he says, well, then On the basis of that, here’s what you ought to do.
And they go away and and they come back and say, well, did you do what I ask you to do?
No. Well, let me tell you something.
The prophet’s gonna say, don’t come back to me and talk to me until you do what I told you the first time.
Now sometimes they’re misunderstood by that, but the gift of prophecy listen, that person has a very clear discernment about things.
And they know that if you don’t take the first step in getting this straightened out, don’t come back talking to me because you just wasted my time in yours.
If you don’t intend to do something about it. And so that person is very strong in those areas.
Now as we said, Peter, for example, at Pentecost, uh, when the time comes to somebody to preach, who steps up to it?
It’s not that he was all that, uh, more intelligent than anybody else.
That was his spiritual gift, and, certainly, god gave him that because he intended to use him.
And the person with a gift of prophecy God will use you.
That doesn’t mean you have to get on a platform and speak, whether you’re a homemaker, uh, or or whatever the situation may be.
You’re going to operate out of that gift in your in your on your job, in your vocation, your family, among your friends, among strangers, that’s who you are.
A second characteristic is this, and that is that person has a very strong ability to discern the character and motives of other people.
For example, a person with a gift of prophecy can oftentimes walk in a room where there’s a group and can discern just like that something’s not right.
There’s a wrong attitude here. There’s no spirit of harmony here. They can discern what’s going on.
Oftentimes, they can hear somebody speak and discern whether there is hypocrisy, insecurity, or that they’re real.
And god has given the personal gift of prophecy, that sense of discernment And it’s very important because the personal gift of prophecy is so deeply committed to the word of god that anything that looks like that it is untrue.
Looks like that his deception looks like that his dishonest just rye something rises up inside of the gift of prophecy because they wanna correct it.
Now it’s not that they’re correcting in anger.
It’s they wanna correct it because the person that gift of prophecy knows, if you don’t correct this now, the future consequences are gonna be something you do not wanna have to deal with in life.
And so they come on strong as a result of that, Sometimes, oftentimes, they make and they can make quick judgments because of their discernment.
And oftentimes, they are misunderstood because of those quick judgments.
Now, of course, uh, who, uh, is a good example of that, Peter, uh, for example, when Ananize and Sephira brought their gift to lay it down at the apostle’s feet, uh, like other people had been doing, uh, as soon as they did, As soon as the analyze came, uh, Peter didn’t say, well, I’m so glad you came to give that gift.
And, uh, we’re very grateful, and I’m sure god’s gonna be of you. You know what he said to him?
He said, and ask why have you lied to god?
The gift of profit is not concerned about people’s feelings They’re concerned about truth and righteousness and about doing the right thing and not being hypocritical and dishonest and deceptive about it.
Now listen carefully. That doesn’t mean that every time a prophet sees this, that they’re just gonna be that blunt, but there is some time that tendency And as we said in, uh, and we come toward the end, we’re gonna talk about how the prophet operates when they’re walking in the spirit, what this is all about.
And when they’re walking in the flesh, they’re gonna operate a certain way.
Then, of course, the as the whole issue of wholehearted involvement, when the person who is to get the prophecy, when they decide to get involved in something, they throw everything they’ve got into it.
They’re gonna do their best. They’re gonna do whatever’s necessary to get the job done. Because that’s their commitment.
That’s the way they see things.
And a good example of that is that when, uh, Peter was in the storm with his fellow disciples, And he said to Jesus walking on the water that night, he said, Jesus, if that’s you, bid me to come to you.
Jesus said, well, Peter come, The average person would look at the water and said, oh my goodness.
I I need to think about this thing.
This this is and the storm and suppose I step in, you know, what happened?
When Jesus said, come, he jumped in the water.
The quick response to opportunities and situations and circumstances, that is the gift of prophecy.
And oftentimes, the gift of prophecy has little listen, has little patience with people who make a decision they vacillate.
Well, now, I know I made that decision, but I gotta consider this and consider that and consider the other.
No. The gift of prophecy makes a decision, gets with it, works at it, Whatever it takes, no vacillation, no going back and forth, which oftentimes confuses a lot of situations.
Then the personal gift of prophecy is open. It’s very open to correction.
The gift of prophecy listen, who is committed to righteousness and walking in obedience to god’s word following the scripture is likewise listen, likewise committed to being open for correction and open to blind spots.
Why? Because not only do they wanna see righteousness and holiness in other people’s lives, but they also more than in their life.
So if you see someone like that as they get to prophecy and you were to say to them, you know, I’ve watched how you treat so and so.
And, you know, I think you’re a little blind to the effect that you’re having on them.
You’re coming across a little harsh, and, well, the the gift of of some other gift may say, well, now let me tell you why.
The gift of prophecy more than likely is gonna say, well, I really do appreciate you pointing that out to me because I don’t wanna come across that way.
I wanna come across because that’s not what I feel.
If I come across that way, please forgive me, and I will do my best to correct that. Why?
Because they’re committed to doing the right thing, the right thing in the right way.
The word of god, following the scripture, is extremely important to them, and it governs and guides, uh, everything that they do.
And so they’re open to that.
And, uh, when you look at Peter, for example, And do you remember when they were going fishing, and he didn’t wanna go to begin with?
He said, well, you know, it fished all night. Well, they went in away.
And finally, when they came up, all these fish in the boat, that thing about to sink, what did he do?
Fell on his face and said depart from me, I’m a sinful man. Oh god. Willing to be corrected.
And that’s true on the life of Peter, and it should be true in the life of all of us.
No matter what your spiritual gift is, when you reach the stage, it’s you’re so high and mighty, and you think your position is such that it’s threatened because you can’t take rebuke or you can’t take, uh, a suggestion then you have reached a level in your life that is not godly.
Because the script is very clear about being open to correction because a wise man, a woman is open to correction.
And the gift of prophecy is open to correction because the person in the gift of prophecy wants to grow.
Desires to have this discerning spirit and knows the importance of living a godly life and being wise enough to make correction when those corrections are necessary.
Likewise, The whole issue of loyalty is very important in the life of the gift of prophecy.
Because here’s what you’ll find the gift of prophecy.
They are very loyal to those with whom they work or to those to whom they are responsible, to whom they’re accountable, very loyal, for example, whether it’s in their marriage, among their children, their parents, or whatever it might be, loyalty goes a long ways.
And in this society in which you and I live loyalty, doesn’t seem to mean much.
Because, you know, you can have friends today, and you think that you’re great friends and intimate friends, and they just walk away as if nothing ever happened as if you never knew them.
And you think, how can you just walk away? Gift of prophecy will never walk away. Never prove listen.
Only when they get in the flesh could they do that, but in the as they walk in the spirit, what’s natural for them is is to prove to be loyal.
Now watch this. Even to a mistake sometimes, their loyalty, they would stick beside somebody who’s done wrong.
Listen, not because they want to justify their wrong, but because they that’s their sense of loyalty.
I want to help you. And so they’re the kind of person who doesn’t walk away.
All of us have had friends who walked away. We don’t understand.
Our our husbands or wives who’ve just walked away and you think, how can I live with you so long, or how could you and I have been friends this long?
How could we have gone through the experiences we’ve gone through?
And you just walk away as if there’s nothing there, the gift of prophecy, very strong in loyalty.
And when that person is when you prove to be disloyal to them, it is extremely, extremely painful to them.
And, of course, you remember that, uh, the reason, of course, is because they’re so committed to the word, loyal to the word, And, for example, when Jesus says to his disciples in the 6th chapter of John, y’all walking away too, because they were just walking away.
The crowd walked away. They didn’t like what he said.
Anytime he start talking about suffering and death and crucifixion and and, uh, did self denial, they just start thinning out.
And finally, he turned to him and said, uh, well, are you all walking away too?
And Peter said, in essence, he said, where are we going?
He said, lord, you’re the one who has the words of eternal life. Very, very loyal to the lord, Jesus.
Somebody says, well, no, wait a minute.
If he is so loyal, if he was so loyal to Jesus, what about what happened to the garden?
I’m gonna come to that. When you get in the flesh, a lot of things happen.
And then, for example, willing to suffer, the person who has the gift of prophecy is willing to suffer.
That is when they see unrighteousness and when they see things going on that are not right, they’re willing to take a stand for what is right.
They’re willing to stand firm for its right, even if it cost them if it cost them their friends, if it costs, for example, they’re gonna be loyal and truthful to the word of god.
Even if being true to the word of god costs them relationships, they’re gonna be true to the word.
If they have to decide whether it’s word or relationship, they’re gonna be true to the word.
And they’re willing to suffer the consequences of being obedient to god, doing what god calls them to do, walking in righteousness, they’re willing to suffer.
In fact, you’d recall that Peter said he counted a privilege of joy to suffer for the lord.
And so many people today, they don’t wanna suffer.
And if they think something’s going on, it’s gonna cost them a little suffering, you know, what they’re gonna leave, they’re gonna evaporate.
They’re gone. You can’t trust them to stand by in times of difficult and hardship.
Listen, when you’re going through troubles and trials and heartaches in your life and you wanna do what’s the gift of prophecy will stand by you, defend you, if at all possible, if if, unless it’s something that you really need to be corrected about, then they’ll try to correct you if at all possible and stand with you and help you get corrected, and they’re willing to suffer other people’s criticism and judgments no matter what.
There’s something about the gift of prophecy rooted and grounded in the truth, rooted and grounded in the word that makes them an awesome friend.
A loyal devoted friend who will confront you when they you need to be confronted, who is willing for you to confront them when they need to be confronted, but they’re gonna be there.
And likewise, they’re very persuasive, very, very persuasive in defining truth.
For example, the gift of prophecy is not going to leave you with a lot of questions and a lot of doubts.
First of all, you’re gonna know exactly what they believe.
Secondly, with the word of god, they’re gonna validate what believe, and they’re gonna make it crystal clear.
The gift of prophecy would never, for example, if the if the person the gift of prophecy was a teacher or speaker, whatever it might be, they’re gonna be sure that their explanation is on your level, whatever our level may be, simple and plain, easily understood because they want you to do what’s right and they get to prophecy knows that if you if if you don’t hear the truth and understand the truth, you’re not gonna live a godly life.
And so they’re gonna work hard and making it clear, crystal clear, and understandable so that you can become the person god wants you to be.
So here’s some characteristics of the godly person. Now they can be very easily misunderstood.
So let’s look at those misunderstandings.
And as we said, these misunderstandings have caused people to divorce.
People leave that job, people to be fired, kids walk away from their parents, parents just walk away from their kids.
All kind of relationships break up, because she said, I don’t wanna I don’t wanna you know what?
You can’t be a friend of that person. Look how they act.
Uh, they don’t care anything about this friendship when they may be listen, not only devoted to the friendship, but a bit of dependent upon the friendship and relationship.
But the person, when they are misunderstood, It’s very difficult.
Now how are they misunderstood in the light of those things we’ve talked about? Well, here’s one way.
And that is their sense of right and wrong, and insistence on that is oftentimes judged as being intolerant.
And, uh, because you bring up an issue here or you point out something that is not, uh, what it ought to be.
For example, the gift of prophecy doesn’t see many things as gray.
It isn’t sort of this and sort of that. It’s either this or it’s that.
Now you and I know that everything in life isn’t necessarily black and white. It’s not necessarily right and wrong.
There are some areas that may have some greatest to them, but in the prophet’s mind, not many.
And the very few that he or she would not have a very clear uh, understanding and a very clear opinion and a biblical opinion from their perspective of what’s right and what’s wrong.
And so sometimes that person is misunderstood because let’s say he’s a wife who says, well, all a little bit of this is not gonna hurt our son or our daughter, it’d be okay for her to dress this way.
It’s, I mean, after all, and dad says, you know what? It’s not gonna happen.
It’s not gonna happen because that’s a sensuous way to address them.
Let my daughter address that way, no matter what, and that’s it. Well, uh, he comes across that way.
Why? Because the gift of prophecy is always, always has the big picture in mind and always looking at the future consequences of what goes on in a situation or circumstance or in somebody’s life.
And so they’re gonna come across.
That isn’t gonna be misunderstood as being, a little harsh and, uh, um, little judgmental at times when the truth is they’re just trying to protect And the gift of prophecy has protection in mine often times.
A second, uh, way they’ll be misunderstood is this.
That their strong desire to proclaim truth is oftentimes interpreted as being disinterested in listening to the other person.
Now every woman will tell you at some time, well, you know, I’m just trying to tell you uh, what’s going on.
Now most husbands say, well, just give me the bottom line. In other words, give me the destination.
Don’t take me on the trip. That is don’t give me all of these experiences and all these things.
And when she starts and it’s not a man can be the same. When she starts, she loves the trip.
And so she tells the trip, and she tells all the things that have happened and where are we going and how are we gonna get them?
And those who are sitting over here and say, okay. What’s the investment. Just tell me what you want.
Don’t don’t give me this long line. Just give it to him straight.
Well, that’s the way he sees things.
And he may be generous as he can be, loving and caring, but but he just, in other words, all that detailed stuff is just superfluous.
All you gotta do is just tell him what you want. He’s gonna say yes.
Or he’s gonna say no.
And so you’re priming the pump doesn’t really affect mister gift of prophecy for the simple reason If it’s right, it’s right.
If it’s what he decides to if he thinks that’s right and and husband, Leah, whatever it might be, he’s gonna do it.
But if he doesn’t, the answer’s gonna be no. So he’d waste all that time taking him on the trip.
Now you what you’ve done, you’ve had lots of fulfillment on taking him on the trip, and you just love telling about it.
And you just know that when you get through, you’re gonna be so persuasive. He can’t say no.
But then he does say no. Then what happens?
You say, well, if you if you you don’t care about me because you didn’t listen to me at all.
Well, he did listen to you.
And he and while you were talking, he’d count up ten reasons why he’s not gonna do And so the truth is it’s not that he’s not listening.
The truth is he is listening, and what he’s doing is validating his reason for saying no.
You don’t think that’ll cause lots of problems? Yes. It will.
But that’s the difference between people who understand each other.
And a woman, for example, is married to a man who has the gift of, uh, of prophecy.
She figures out pretty quickly. You know just just give it to him straight because he’s gonna appreciate giving it to him straight.
Then if he says, well, I don’t know about this. I’ll know. So, okay, well, let’s consider so and so.
But everybody likes to be listened to.
And sometimes, not all the time, and he doesn’t have to be that way necessarily that strong sometimes.
But it’s easy to be misunderstood, but that’s the way he thinks. It’s not the trip. It’s the destination.
A third misunderstanding is that oftentimes, Frankness is viewed as harshness, harshness.
And, for example, let’s take Peter and Jesus.
And, uh, when Jesus said to Peter, Peter, or he said to his disciples, the 16th chapter of Matthew, he said, uh, the son of man must uh, be crucified and then die and be resurrected.
And Pito Horloren said, that is what’s gonna happen. It’s not gonna we’re not gonna let that happen to you.
And Jesus said, Peter, you’re acting like the devil.
He didn’t just caress Peter and say now, Peter, Let me let me explain this.
He just said, you acting like the devil.
Peter was telling the son of god what was not gonna happen when what Jesus was saying is, here’s god’s predestined plan for me to come into the world, and I came for the purpose of dying on the cross and atoning for your sins, and I’m going to die.
I’m gonna be burned. I’m gonna rise again, fulfill the father’s plan.
Now you were telling me I’m not gonna do it, Peter.
Get thee behind me, Satan, This is what you’re talking about is not the will of god.
Jesus was speaking the truth in a strong fashion because he must correct, Peter, for the simple reason.
He knew that Peter he had to keep his hand on.
Peter was re wouldn’t they go to war for him?
You talk about loyalty, Get in the garden, he had taken on the whole Roman army with one sword if necessary to defend Jesus.
But he had his weaknesses and his areas of fault like everybody does.
Then, of course, um, the person with a gift of prophecy can be misinterpreted as, um, thinking that he’s only or she’s only interested in groups of people and not individuals.
And so what happens is the person says, you don’t care about me.
You just care about, in other words, you just interested in lots of things. You don’t care about me individually.
Now no one likes to feel that the person they’re talking to is sharing their heart with, is just one of a big group.
We all want to feel individually that somebody cares for us.
And sometimes people walk through the line on Sunday morning and say, Well, I need to have a conference with you.
And I need I need a better hour. And you know what I have to say?
I have to say, you know what?
One of the greatest difficulties of being a pastor in a large churches, as much as you want to listen, and I do.
As much as I want to hear how you’re hurting, because it helps me to hear how you’re hurting.
It helps me to understand how god’s answering a prayer.
You need to capsule it in about 60 seconds and give it to me standing right here, and most people can if they have to.
It’s not that I don’t care, and it’s not that I don’t want to hear.
It’s just that the situation of circumstances are such that If I did that for all the people who want to talk, for example, you know what?
Come Sunday morning? I wouldn’t have anything to say.
That’d be the end of And so, uh, the person who doesn’t understand that has a feeling oftentimes, well, you know, you just don’t really care because if you did And you see, the the issue is this.
The issue is that the person has a gift of prophecy sees the big picture, but at the same time, they see the individual each individual that makes up the big pictures, not that they don’t care their circumstances at all in time prevent that from being true.
Then, of course, there’s the issue of believing and feeling that the person has a gift of prophecy, um, because maybe of the way they go about things, that, um, their their efforts to get results in what they’re doing is that they use gimmicks.
That is instead of, uh, trusting government, the truth is that’s not true at all.
Now I agree that oftentimes some churches, they’ll use all kind of gimmicks to get people to come and again, to do this or do that other, which we do not do in this fellowship.
And I’ll tell you why. I believe if you preach the word of god, You tell people the truth, you show them the truth, you show them why you’re doing what you’re doing, and you’re giving them biblical reasons for doing so and answers, then you trust god to speak to those people to do what they need to do and not use some kind of gimmicks to motivate them to do this, that, and the other.
The person with the gift of prophecy, for example, will use methods to accomplish, uh, what they believe god wants them to accomplish, and everybody doesn’t agree with the way that necessarily that one group may do a thing.
But the truth is oftentimes that their desire to do the will of god and to be what god wants them to be and maybe use some method that somebody says, well, you know what?
Uh, you just using a gimmick.
When in the mind, of the person with the gift of prophecy, they just wanna see god’s work done.
What they’re interested in is is the end result.
And to them, this justifies the end result because it helps get god’s work done.
But if a person misunderstands that, misinterprets that, sometimes it can create a real difficulty in hardship.
And then, of course, the emphasis on decisions appear that, uh, you don’t care about a person’s spiritual growth.
Now the gift of prophecy, because that person is so scripturally anchored, scripturally anchored, they wanna be sure that a person, for example, who makes a decision, they understand what they were doing, they understand the word of god, they understand they wanna be sure that you understand this, that you understand eternal security, for example, a person being saved, they don’t wanna go away with a person not clear about that decision.
So their emphasis on making a decision is sometimes interpreted. Well, you just don’t care about my spiritual life.
And the only thing you just want me to make a decision, you don’t care about That’s not true at all.
It’s that that emphasis is there because the person with the gift of prophecy has the big picture looking at the future consequences and knowing if you’re uncertain, not quite sure, have some questions, not answered about the decision you’re making, in the future.
Listen. When the heat gets on, you may wobble and walk away and disobey god.
So they’re always looking for the future consequences of what happens in the decisions that we make.
But sometimes, that’s oftentimes misunderstood.
Then, of course, There’s the whole issue of public boldness and sort of strict, uh, rules and regulations that sometimes they gift their privacy can come across that way.
And it’s not that they don’t care.
What what happens is sometimes a person can be so intimidated by someone else’s boldness that they back up and say, you know what?
You don’t care about relationships. If you care about relationships, you’d be soft and calm and sweet and loving.
And people can be salt in kind and sweet and loving in different ways.
And when a person in the gift of prophecy is misunderstood, Then what happens is they think, well, you don’t really care, uh, you’re more interested in yourself, and, uh, you don’t wanna have a personal intimate relationship, Intimacy involves mercy.
You know, I’m not talking about sex. We’re talking about relationships.
We’re talking about genuine love and how you operate with each other and understand each other sensitive one and talk to each other and forgive each other.
And intimacy involves all those things.
And a person we get to a prophecy can be just as intimate as anyone else can be.
But oftentimes, if they’re misunderstood, they will take something as, well, you know, that’s not who you really are and I’ve got my feelings hurt, and it’s amazing what happens to relationships when people are misunderstood.
What is the driving What’s the driving underlying, uh, motivation to this person’s heart?
And because a person is bold in what they say. Doesn’t mean they don’t care.
Doesn’t mean they’re not sensitive to to a person, but that’s that’s what god’s given them.
That’s the way they operate. And once you understand that, then you don’t have that misunderstanding.
Now with those things in mind, let’s talk about something very important here.
We’re talking about walking in spirit, which means to walk in obedience to god.
That’s the way, uh, operating in our spiritual gift, we’re the most productive, the most fruitful, We do our best.
We get our best. We’re the most fulfilled, the most satisfied, the happiest, no matter what your vocation or what you’re doing, relationships, friends, you name it, when we’re walking in the spirit, what happens is we profit from it, and everybody else does too.
Now what happens when you’re out of the spirit.
For example, if god calls you to do something that you don’t want to do, what is your first response?
Your first response is not sad. I’m gonna do that.
Your first response is to come up with some kind of a excuse a reason to justify your desire not to do it.
And then the spirit of god works in your heart, he shows you, of why you can.
You come up with another reason why you can’t.
And then he works on you a little bit deeper, and you come up with another reason why you can’t and watch this carefully.
What happens is each time you do that, you choose to disconnect.
The spirit of god is within you, goding you, showing you what to do and you choose not to do what you disconnect from him.
I don’t mean that you’re lost, but I mean, in your relationship to him, you say, no.
So make a disconnection. No. No. No. No. No. Disconnect. And here’s what happens.
This is what causes kids to rebel against their parents.
It’s what causes husbands and wives to ultimately leave, separate, divorce from each other.
It also causes people to lose their job.
It also causes people, for example, to lose their positions in life, whatever it might be, because because they continually disconnect And if husband and wife, if somebody doesn’t deal with this excuse for their conduct and they disconnect and disconnect and disconnect and finally, you know what happens, they just walk in the marriage.
Kids just walk away from their parents. Parents just walk away from their kids.
The employer says, you know what? You’re gone.
So this whole issue of disconnecting is because we choose not to do what we know in our heart we ought to do.
And so let’s look at this for a moment because and then I want you to see I want you to see the consequence of this.
Let’s say, 1st of all, for example, a person, uh, who the gift of a prophecy, when they’re walking in the spirit, they are very truthful very truthful about everything and make clear.
In other words, they they want to be truthful. Uh, they they walk in truth. They operate out of truth.
When that same person gets in the flesh, what happens? They can become very deceptive. They can lie.
They can become very deceptive. Now you say, well, how can you be so committed truth and become very deceptive?
Well, you know what? You get in the flesh and all kinds of things can happen.
The second thing I want you to notice is A person with a gift of prophecy is committed to obedience and righteousness.
But when they get in the flesh, they can become will and very rebellious.
I want you to watch this. Very rebellious.
Thirdly, a person who has the gift of prophecy is naturally very sincere.
You can tell that they’re very sincere in what they do. They’re meaningful.
They They know that they believe what they say.
When that person gets in a flash, listen, they’re an example of hypocrisy.
They say one thing, do something else. They say they believe this, but they operate in a certain way.
And so what happens is in the flesh, they’re the very opposite of what they could could be and ought to be.
Likewise, a person of the gift of prophecy is very committed to morality. Of walking morally at all times.
When that person gets in the flesh, they can become very sensuous and morally impure.
Every single one of these has its positive and negative effect when that person gets into flesh.
A person who has the gift of spirit is naturally very bold in what they do and what they say in their confidence and assurance because they keep bringing it back to the word of god.
But when that person gets in the flesh, the same person can become very fearful.
And when they become very fearful, they become very, very ineffective.
But when they get the flesh, instead of trusting god, look into his word, believing him, they become very fearful.
A person who has the gift of of prophecy, uh, is very forgiving.
Even though, for example, they see this person doing what is wrong, They’re very forgiving.
Wanna reach them and help them. Bring them out of that.
Show them the future consequences of their wrongdoing and help them.
When they get in the flesh, they can reject that other person without any problem.
Just absolutely shut them out, turn them off, reject them, walk away.
When they get in the flesh, well, you should have done what I told you to do.
Whether you put it on so and so, and so they just reject the other person.
Likewise, a person with a gift of prophecy, uh, is very persuasive because that’s the gift that god has given them.
When they speak in a very suasive.
But when they’re in the flesh, they’re so contentious and so aggressive and warlike. Nobody wants to believe them.
And so everything has its effect. Now watch this carefully because we forget this.
Each one of these is related to the other.
Let’s say, for example, a person who is very truthful gets in the flesh and becomes deceptive.
Now watch what happens. That deception is go listen, that deception is gonna show itself because deception means that I’m rebelling against god.
So that person is also willful.
It also means, if I’m not truthful, that my sincerity, now now I’m living the life of a hypocrite, And likewise, that person who is rebellious, no longer sincere, and no long and very willful, that person can become very sensuous and very immoral.
Why? Because they’ve already set themselves up for it.
Likewise, they’re gonna become fearful because they know they’re living in disobedience to god, and they feel guilty.
And then they come fearful. Likewise, they are going to do what?
They’re going to be they’re going to reject people who tried to correct them.
For the simple reason, now they’re having to deal with this issue of their disobedience.
And, of course, instead of being persuasive, they’re gonna be on the aggressive war like to defend their conduct.
Here’s what I want you to see.
When the person with this gift chooses not to walk in the spirit, they’re not affected in just one area, they’re affected in every single area.
And this is why people walk away.
This is why people that you and I have known in the past who are who are godly people committed to walking and the Christian life.
And we think, what happened to them? How could they be living this way? I know that they’re safe.
How can they be living this way?
Now when they were so committed to you, I tell you why, somewhere along the way, they got in the flesh in some area.
And because they refused correction, because they refused repentance, because they defended their wrongdoing.
Now what’s happened, what’s happening is they dug themselves a hole so deep. They don’t know how to get out.
Now they’re living in hostility, anger, bitterness, resentment. They’ve broken relationships, their life is no longer productive.
It’s no longer fruitful, and they keep digging. Listen.
It may be a spoonful a day, but they’re digging a hole so deep.
They don’t understand why, and how did I get this way?
And then on the defensive, not willing to anybody to correct them.
What I want you to say is this, a person with the gift of prophecy or any other gift who chooses to walk away, who chooses to deliberately, willfully disobey god in some area.
If it’s not corrected, then it can have lifetime consequences.
If it isn’t corrected, you can ultimately destroy your Christian testimony on your witness. You can destroy relationships.
You can destroy your children. You can destroy that marriage.
You can destroy yourself in the area of vocation that you have.
It’s very important that you and I stay connected to the Holy Spirit.
That is so intimately connected with him that when he brings up something that’s not right, we correct it.
We deal with it right then.
We don’t defend ourselves and And if somebody has to come to you and say, here’s what I see in your life, listen, whoever you are Listen, they may be dead wrong, but listen to them and at least considered because, you know, what happens?
Let’s say that they’re dead wrong about it and their motivation’s wrong. Listen in a way.
You don’t have to do it, but suppose they are dead right and suppose their motivation is love.
If they love you and just like you as a parent, you if you love your children, and I certainly trust that you do, you love your son.
You love your daughter. And you say sweetheart, The reason I’m saying that this this is not wise, you must not do it.
You cannot do it. Why? Because you’re motivated by genuinely. You may come on strong and say, you know, what?
You cannot. And the reason you cannot is because I’m looking out for your future.
I I I’m looking out for your moral appearance.
I’m looking out for you I want you to be able to have a godly man.
How you can have a godly man in your life as a husband and when you not live the godly life, in other words, you may come on strong.
And I would say to you as a teenager, you better listen to that.
Because your parents have not only today in mind, they have your future, they have your whole future in mind.
You can wreck it early in life.
And we have a world of people about us who are kids, who are absolutely destroying their whole life before they reach the age of twenty one years of age.
Those of us who live belong beyond that, you never come to a place in your life where you are not listening where you are not temptable in some area.
Walking in the power of the Holy Spirit means, I daily choose to walk in obedience to the voice of god in my heart.
And when he brings something to my mind, he may bring it through somebody I don’t even like.
If god just corrected me with people who just love me to doubt, that’d be one thing.
But when god brings somebody to a point of correction in your life that you don’t like them, at least listen.
Because you see, we’re all subject We’re all subject to misusing our gifts and oftentimes hurting other people.
And causing them hurt and pain and suffering. And you know what happens?
You know, you whenever you and I get out of the wheel of god, we don’t hurt just one person.
Can’t do it. You can’t hurt just one person. You’re gonna hurt this person.
It’s gonna spill over into this person’s life, and this person’s life.
When somebody says, well, it’s my own business, and I’m not hurting anybody else, yes, you are.
The personal gift of prophecy It’s a very important gift like all the other 6.
Can they be misunderstood? Yes. Can they get in the flesh and be guilty? Yes.
That’s why it’s incumbent upon all of us not to disconnect to the spirit and start giving excuses for not doing what god’s call us to do, but say, yes, lord, because I want good relationships first of all, follow with you, good relationships with my friends, my fellow my fellow employees, my fellow students, whatever it might be, That’s a decision you have to make.
It’s a decision you want to make. If you could see the consequences of your conduct, you’d say yes, God.
If we could all see the consequences of sin in our life and what it would ultimately lead to, no no doubt we’d say yes God.
Yes. Yes. Yes. I don’t want to walk through that.
And always keep an open heart available for somebody if it’s just the Holy Spirit himself.
To give correction when corrections needed. And you know what’ll happen? You operate out of that gift.
You do your best. You’ll enjoy the best, most fruitful, most productive, most enjoyable, most fulfillment, and most joy in your life.
Amen? And father, how grateful we are, that you have made these gifts so crystal clear.
And you have given us warnings about disobedience and about obedience.
And you’ve promised us that you would walk with us through every single experience in life.
In fact, you said you never forsake us or leave us.
So I pray that every person who hears this message and maybe identifies themselves as a person with a gift of prophecy help them to see how they can be misunderstood and, therefore, to be careful.
And the person who lives with that person would understand, oh, now I understand why it appears the way it appears when that’s not their heart at all.
Thank you, father, for loving us and forgiving us and cleansing us, and thank you for a love that knows no limits and no conditions.
May we live and respond and relate to other people in the same way in Jesus’ name?
Amen.
I don’t mean just bad conduct, but good conduct. Why don’t they act the way they do?
Well, there are probably many reasons, but one of the primary reasons is what I wanna talk about in this message.
Because one of the primary reasons that you and I act the way we act is because of our spiritual gift.
When you and I trust that Jesus Christ is our personal savior, He gave us many gifts, but of those many gifts that he’s given us and talents and so forth, One of those is a motivational gift.
There is a gift that drives us.
There’s one that underlies everything else that we do And when you and I operate out of that spiritual gift, we can do our best.
We have our greatest sense of fulfillment greatest sense of accomplishment, achievement in life, and we’re the most productive.
When we don’t act out of that gift, all of those things are less than they could be.
And you will recall how often we’ve talked about the Holy Spirit of who he is, a person of the Trinity.
He’s the promise of the father, the seal of the believer for all eternity.
He’s our teacher and our guide and our helper.
And the scripture says that he’s involved in every single of our life, our salvation, our sanctification, and our service.
And the primary reason he’s given us spiritual gifts, and especially that motivational gift is that you and I would serve him in a fashion that would be most fruitful and productive and good for the kingdom of god.
But at the same time, It also enables us to understand other people, enables them to understand us, and why we act the way we act.
Because you see, the truth is if we are not understood by other people, it’s severance relationships.
And there are many marriages that have fallen apart because somebody didn’t understand the other person’s spiritual gift, and they reacted in a negative fashion.
They didn’t understand. And so little by little, they were either driven away or felt that they were, or the other person just walked away.
And so there are 7 major gifts here that we’re speaking of, and today, I wanna talk about the gift of prophecy.
Now I want you to turn, if you will, to the 12th chapter of Romans, and while there are 3 different divisions of the gifts by the apostle Paul in Romans, first are in his and evisions, and he speaks not only of the motivational gifts, but other manifestations of the gift of the Holy Spirit in our life and the many, many areas of ministry.
There are 7 primarily motivational gifts found in this 12th chapter.
And, uh, as we go through them, you’re gonna find yourself somewhere.
If you will listen carefully to each one of these and not miss a one, It’s going to affect your relationships to other people.
It’s all go so going to affect the feelings that you have, the emotions that you have about whatever you do in life.
Because if you wanna do it at your best and you wanna glean the best out of your activity and your involvement with people and things in life, that you operate out of your gifts.
So listen to what he says in this 12th chapter beginning in verse 4.
For just as we have many members in one body, and all the members do not have the same function speaking of the body.
The hand does one thing to add to something else.
So we who are many, are one body in Christ. And individually, members, one of another.
That is the whole church, the body of Christ.
Not talking about denominations, but talking about the whole body of Christ, we each individually have our particular part.
And so he says in verse 6, since we have gifts that differ, According to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise that gift accordingly if prophecy according to the proportion of his faith.
If service in his serving or he who teaches in his teaching, he who exhorts in his exhortation, he who gives with liberality, He who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness.
And so all of us are gonna have one of those underlying motivation drives or gifts that god has given us as believers in order to serve him, and in order to live out the godly life that he has for us to give.
So let’s begin today with this gift of prophecy.
And let me begin also by saying, let’s understand what that word prophecy means.
Naturally in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.
It also meant foretelling that is foretelling today things that are gonna happen in the future.
But that’s not the only meaning for it because it also means to tell forth that is to proclaim.
And so while in the Old Testament and the New Testament, when there was no Old Testament and New Testament, as we know it, no Bible, god oftentimes spoke and foretold through his prophets, through his servants, things that would happen.
And today, we cannot say that god does not sometimes warn us sometimes tell us, maybe not tell us specifically what’s going to happen, but give us a very strong warning that something is about to happen.
And so he still does that.
But when somebody says I have a word of prophecy from god as if to add to the scripture, forget it.
Because it is not true. God’s word is complete, but individual in their lives, and maybe even a word of caution for a whole nation, Can god still do that?
Yes. He can. Does he? No doubt that he does.
But it’s very specific and very seldom, and it is not something that everyone who has the gift of prophecy does not have the gift to foretell the future.
So primarily, what he’s speaking of here is speaking forth the truth.
Now let me say a couple of things.
Number 1, first of all, don’t sit and listen to this and say, oh, I know somebody acts just like that.
Or, especially, you do not wanna look at your wife or husband and say, well, that’s the problem.
Now you now I understand you have the problem in its marriage.
Or to your parents or to your children, you need to listen carefully for yourself.
What you’re going to discover is this.
You’re gonna discover in one of these gifts while you act the way you act.
Likewise, you’re gonna discover why other people act the way they act. And you know what?
When two people have 2 different gifts, begin to understand the reason why the other person acts the way they do, it’s not because they can tankers and don’t love you and obnoxious, It’s because that is a gift.
And if you don’t understand that, you can have misunderstandings. So what we’re gonna do in these messages is this.
We’re gonna give the characteristics of the person who has these gifts.
Secondly, we’re gonna describe the misunderstandings the ways those people are misunderstood as a result of exercising their gift.
And thirdly, we’re going to describe how the person with that gift acts when they’re walking in the spirit and how you can expect them to act when they’re walking in the flesh or in their humanness or in disobedience to god.
You don’t wanna miss any of this.
And beginning with the gift of prophecy, and so the first thing we wanna deal with here is simply this, and that is what are the characteristics of a person with a gift of prophecy?
Well, the first one is simply this. They have a strong need to express themselves verbally.
And, usually, they’re the kind of person who’s gonna speak first.
They’re gonna they they’re gonna be very prone to speak first, and especially You’ll see them rise up if there’s a sense of injustice going on.
Somebody has been mistreated. And oftentimes, the person with a gift of prophecy will help take up their offense and speak exactly what they feel needs to be done.
And in each of these gifts, what I’d like to do is to give you a biblical character that best describes them.
And, of course, of all the disciples, of all the apostles who is the one who’s always doing the talking, always out front.
We know his name by the name of what? Peter, that’s right.
Because if you’ll think about it, He’s always up front, telling Jesus what he ought to do and telling him why he ought not to do this and jumping in the water and doing all kind of things.
One thing you’ll have to admit about him, he lives up to his characteristics.
And so when a person with a gift of prophecy desires to and is willing to speak to someone about their life.
And that person comes to him and says, you know, here’s what I’m going through in life, and the person they give the props, he says, well, then On the basis of that, here’s what you ought to do.
And they go away and and they come back and say, well, did you do what I ask you to do?
No. Well, let me tell you something.
The prophet’s gonna say, don’t come back to me and talk to me until you do what I told you the first time.
Now sometimes they’re misunderstood by that, but the gift of prophecy listen, that person has a very clear discernment about things.
And they know that if you don’t take the first step in getting this straightened out, don’t come back talking to me because you just wasted my time in yours.
If you don’t intend to do something about it. And so that person is very strong in those areas.
Now as we said, Peter, for example, at Pentecost, uh, when the time comes to somebody to preach, who steps up to it?
It’s not that he was all that, uh, more intelligent than anybody else.
That was his spiritual gift, and, certainly, god gave him that because he intended to use him.
And the person with a gift of prophecy God will use you.
That doesn’t mean you have to get on a platform and speak, whether you’re a homemaker, uh, or or whatever the situation may be.
You’re going to operate out of that gift in your in your on your job, in your vocation, your family, among your friends, among strangers, that’s who you are.
A second characteristic is this, and that is that person has a very strong ability to discern the character and motives of other people.
For example, a person with a gift of prophecy can oftentimes walk in a room where there’s a group and can discern just like that something’s not right.
There’s a wrong attitude here. There’s no spirit of harmony here. They can discern what’s going on.
Oftentimes, they can hear somebody speak and discern whether there is hypocrisy, insecurity, or that they’re real.
And god has given the personal gift of prophecy, that sense of discernment And it’s very important because the personal gift of prophecy is so deeply committed to the word of god that anything that looks like that it is untrue.
Looks like that his deception looks like that his dishonest just rye something rises up inside of the gift of prophecy because they wanna correct it.
Now it’s not that they’re correcting in anger.
It’s they wanna correct it because the person that gift of prophecy knows, if you don’t correct this now, the future consequences are gonna be something you do not wanna have to deal with in life.
And so they come on strong as a result of that, Sometimes, oftentimes, they make and they can make quick judgments because of their discernment.
And oftentimes, they are misunderstood because of those quick judgments.
Now, of course, uh, who, uh, is a good example of that, Peter, uh, for example, when Ananize and Sephira brought their gift to lay it down at the apostle’s feet, uh, like other people had been doing, uh, as soon as they did, As soon as the analyze came, uh, Peter didn’t say, well, I’m so glad you came to give that gift.
And, uh, we’re very grateful, and I’m sure god’s gonna be of you. You know what he said to him?
He said, and ask why have you lied to god?
The gift of profit is not concerned about people’s feelings They’re concerned about truth and righteousness and about doing the right thing and not being hypocritical and dishonest and deceptive about it.
Now listen carefully. That doesn’t mean that every time a prophet sees this, that they’re just gonna be that blunt, but there is some time that tendency And as we said in, uh, and we come toward the end, we’re gonna talk about how the prophet operates when they’re walking in the spirit, what this is all about.
And when they’re walking in the flesh, they’re gonna operate a certain way.
Then, of course, the as the whole issue of wholehearted involvement, when the person who is to get the prophecy, when they decide to get involved in something, they throw everything they’ve got into it.
They’re gonna do their best. They’re gonna do whatever’s necessary to get the job done. Because that’s their commitment.
That’s the way they see things.
And a good example of that is that when, uh, Peter was in the storm with his fellow disciples, And he said to Jesus walking on the water that night, he said, Jesus, if that’s you, bid me to come to you.
Jesus said, well, Peter come, The average person would look at the water and said, oh my goodness.
I I need to think about this thing.
This this is and the storm and suppose I step in, you know, what happened?
When Jesus said, come, he jumped in the water.
The quick response to opportunities and situations and circumstances, that is the gift of prophecy.
And oftentimes, the gift of prophecy has little listen, has little patience with people who make a decision they vacillate.
Well, now, I know I made that decision, but I gotta consider this and consider that and consider the other.
No. The gift of prophecy makes a decision, gets with it, works at it, Whatever it takes, no vacillation, no going back and forth, which oftentimes confuses a lot of situations.
Then the personal gift of prophecy is open. It’s very open to correction.
The gift of prophecy listen, who is committed to righteousness and walking in obedience to god’s word following the scripture is likewise listen, likewise committed to being open for correction and open to blind spots.
Why? Because not only do they wanna see righteousness and holiness in other people’s lives, but they also more than in their life.
So if you see someone like that as they get to prophecy and you were to say to them, you know, I’ve watched how you treat so and so.
And, you know, I think you’re a little blind to the effect that you’re having on them.
You’re coming across a little harsh, and, well, the the gift of of some other gift may say, well, now let me tell you why.
The gift of prophecy more than likely is gonna say, well, I really do appreciate you pointing that out to me because I don’t wanna come across that way.
I wanna come across because that’s not what I feel.
If I come across that way, please forgive me, and I will do my best to correct that. Why?
Because they’re committed to doing the right thing, the right thing in the right way.
The word of god, following the scripture, is extremely important to them, and it governs and guides, uh, everything that they do.
And so they’re open to that.
And, uh, when you look at Peter, for example, And do you remember when they were going fishing, and he didn’t wanna go to begin with?
He said, well, you know, it fished all night. Well, they went in away.
And finally, when they came up, all these fish in the boat, that thing about to sink, what did he do?
Fell on his face and said depart from me, I’m a sinful man. Oh god. Willing to be corrected.
And that’s true on the life of Peter, and it should be true in the life of all of us.
No matter what your spiritual gift is, when you reach the stage, it’s you’re so high and mighty, and you think your position is such that it’s threatened because you can’t take rebuke or you can’t take, uh, a suggestion then you have reached a level in your life that is not godly.
Because the script is very clear about being open to correction because a wise man, a woman is open to correction.
And the gift of prophecy is open to correction because the person in the gift of prophecy wants to grow.
Desires to have this discerning spirit and knows the importance of living a godly life and being wise enough to make correction when those corrections are necessary.
Likewise, The whole issue of loyalty is very important in the life of the gift of prophecy.
Because here’s what you’ll find the gift of prophecy.
They are very loyal to those with whom they work or to those to whom they are responsible, to whom they’re accountable, very loyal, for example, whether it’s in their marriage, among their children, their parents, or whatever it might be, loyalty goes a long ways.
And in this society in which you and I live loyalty, doesn’t seem to mean much.
Because, you know, you can have friends today, and you think that you’re great friends and intimate friends, and they just walk away as if nothing ever happened as if you never knew them.
And you think, how can you just walk away? Gift of prophecy will never walk away. Never prove listen.
Only when they get in the flesh could they do that, but in the as they walk in the spirit, what’s natural for them is is to prove to be loyal.
Now watch this. Even to a mistake sometimes, their loyalty, they would stick beside somebody who’s done wrong.
Listen, not because they want to justify their wrong, but because they that’s their sense of loyalty.
I want to help you. And so they’re the kind of person who doesn’t walk away.
All of us have had friends who walked away. We don’t understand.
Our our husbands or wives who’ve just walked away and you think, how can I live with you so long, or how could you and I have been friends this long?
How could we have gone through the experiences we’ve gone through?
And you just walk away as if there’s nothing there, the gift of prophecy, very strong in loyalty.
And when that person is when you prove to be disloyal to them, it is extremely, extremely painful to them.
And, of course, you remember that, uh, the reason, of course, is because they’re so committed to the word, loyal to the word, And, for example, when Jesus says to his disciples in the 6th chapter of John, y’all walking away too, because they were just walking away.
The crowd walked away. They didn’t like what he said.
Anytime he start talking about suffering and death and crucifixion and and, uh, did self denial, they just start thinning out.
And finally, he turned to him and said, uh, well, are you all walking away too?
And Peter said, in essence, he said, where are we going?
He said, lord, you’re the one who has the words of eternal life. Very, very loyal to the lord, Jesus.
Somebody says, well, no, wait a minute.
If he is so loyal, if he was so loyal to Jesus, what about what happened to the garden?
I’m gonna come to that. When you get in the flesh, a lot of things happen.
And then, for example, willing to suffer, the person who has the gift of prophecy is willing to suffer.
That is when they see unrighteousness and when they see things going on that are not right, they’re willing to take a stand for what is right.
They’re willing to stand firm for its right, even if it cost them if it cost them their friends, if it costs, for example, they’re gonna be loyal and truthful to the word of god.
Even if being true to the word of god costs them relationships, they’re gonna be true to the word.
If they have to decide whether it’s word or relationship, they’re gonna be true to the word.
And they’re willing to suffer the consequences of being obedient to god, doing what god calls them to do, walking in righteousness, they’re willing to suffer.
In fact, you’d recall that Peter said he counted a privilege of joy to suffer for the lord.
And so many people today, they don’t wanna suffer.
And if they think something’s going on, it’s gonna cost them a little suffering, you know, what they’re gonna leave, they’re gonna evaporate.
They’re gone. You can’t trust them to stand by in times of difficult and hardship.
Listen, when you’re going through troubles and trials and heartaches in your life and you wanna do what’s the gift of prophecy will stand by you, defend you, if at all possible, if if, unless it’s something that you really need to be corrected about, then they’ll try to correct you if at all possible and stand with you and help you get corrected, and they’re willing to suffer other people’s criticism and judgments no matter what.
There’s something about the gift of prophecy rooted and grounded in the truth, rooted and grounded in the word that makes them an awesome friend.
A loyal devoted friend who will confront you when they you need to be confronted, who is willing for you to confront them when they need to be confronted, but they’re gonna be there.
And likewise, they’re very persuasive, very, very persuasive in defining truth.
For example, the gift of prophecy is not going to leave you with a lot of questions and a lot of doubts.
First of all, you’re gonna know exactly what they believe.
Secondly, with the word of god, they’re gonna validate what believe, and they’re gonna make it crystal clear.
The gift of prophecy would never, for example, if the if the person the gift of prophecy was a teacher or speaker, whatever it might be, they’re gonna be sure that their explanation is on your level, whatever our level may be, simple and plain, easily understood because they want you to do what’s right and they get to prophecy knows that if you if if you don’t hear the truth and understand the truth, you’re not gonna live a godly life.
And so they’re gonna work hard and making it clear, crystal clear, and understandable so that you can become the person god wants you to be.
So here’s some characteristics of the godly person. Now they can be very easily misunderstood.
So let’s look at those misunderstandings.
And as we said, these misunderstandings have caused people to divorce.
People leave that job, people to be fired, kids walk away from their parents, parents just walk away from their kids.
All kind of relationships break up, because she said, I don’t wanna I don’t wanna you know what?
You can’t be a friend of that person. Look how they act.
Uh, they don’t care anything about this friendship when they may be listen, not only devoted to the friendship, but a bit of dependent upon the friendship and relationship.
But the person, when they are misunderstood, It’s very difficult.
Now how are they misunderstood in the light of those things we’ve talked about? Well, here’s one way.
And that is their sense of right and wrong, and insistence on that is oftentimes judged as being intolerant.
And, uh, because you bring up an issue here or you point out something that is not, uh, what it ought to be.
For example, the gift of prophecy doesn’t see many things as gray.
It isn’t sort of this and sort of that. It’s either this or it’s that.
Now you and I know that everything in life isn’t necessarily black and white. It’s not necessarily right and wrong.
There are some areas that may have some greatest to them, but in the prophet’s mind, not many.
And the very few that he or she would not have a very clear uh, understanding and a very clear opinion and a biblical opinion from their perspective of what’s right and what’s wrong.
And so sometimes that person is misunderstood because let’s say he’s a wife who says, well, all a little bit of this is not gonna hurt our son or our daughter, it’d be okay for her to dress this way.
It’s, I mean, after all, and dad says, you know what? It’s not gonna happen.
It’s not gonna happen because that’s a sensuous way to address them.
Let my daughter address that way, no matter what, and that’s it. Well, uh, he comes across that way.
Why? Because the gift of prophecy is always, always has the big picture in mind and always looking at the future consequences of what goes on in a situation or circumstance or in somebody’s life.
And so they’re gonna come across.
That isn’t gonna be misunderstood as being, a little harsh and, uh, um, little judgmental at times when the truth is they’re just trying to protect And the gift of prophecy has protection in mine often times.
A second, uh, way they’ll be misunderstood is this.
That their strong desire to proclaim truth is oftentimes interpreted as being disinterested in listening to the other person.
Now every woman will tell you at some time, well, you know, I’m just trying to tell you uh, what’s going on.
Now most husbands say, well, just give me the bottom line. In other words, give me the destination.
Don’t take me on the trip. That is don’t give me all of these experiences and all these things.
And when she starts and it’s not a man can be the same. When she starts, she loves the trip.
And so she tells the trip, and she tells all the things that have happened and where are we going and how are we gonna get them?
And those who are sitting over here and say, okay. What’s the investment. Just tell me what you want.
Don’t don’t give me this long line. Just give it to him straight.
Well, that’s the way he sees things.
And he may be generous as he can be, loving and caring, but but he just, in other words, all that detailed stuff is just superfluous.
All you gotta do is just tell him what you want. He’s gonna say yes.
Or he’s gonna say no.
And so you’re priming the pump doesn’t really affect mister gift of prophecy for the simple reason If it’s right, it’s right.
If it’s what he decides to if he thinks that’s right and and husband, Leah, whatever it might be, he’s gonna do it.
But if he doesn’t, the answer’s gonna be no. So he’d waste all that time taking him on the trip.
Now you what you’ve done, you’ve had lots of fulfillment on taking him on the trip, and you just love telling about it.
And you just know that when you get through, you’re gonna be so persuasive. He can’t say no.
But then he does say no. Then what happens?
You say, well, if you if you you don’t care about me because you didn’t listen to me at all.
Well, he did listen to you.
And he and while you were talking, he’d count up ten reasons why he’s not gonna do And so the truth is it’s not that he’s not listening.
The truth is he is listening, and what he’s doing is validating his reason for saying no.
You don’t think that’ll cause lots of problems? Yes. It will.
But that’s the difference between people who understand each other.
And a woman, for example, is married to a man who has the gift of, uh, of prophecy.
She figures out pretty quickly. You know just just give it to him straight because he’s gonna appreciate giving it to him straight.
Then if he says, well, I don’t know about this. I’ll know. So, okay, well, let’s consider so and so.
But everybody likes to be listened to.
And sometimes, not all the time, and he doesn’t have to be that way necessarily that strong sometimes.
But it’s easy to be misunderstood, but that’s the way he thinks. It’s not the trip. It’s the destination.
A third misunderstanding is that oftentimes, Frankness is viewed as harshness, harshness.
And, for example, let’s take Peter and Jesus.
And, uh, when Jesus said to Peter, Peter, or he said to his disciples, the 16th chapter of Matthew, he said, uh, the son of man must uh, be crucified and then die and be resurrected.
And Pito Horloren said, that is what’s gonna happen. It’s not gonna we’re not gonna let that happen to you.
And Jesus said, Peter, you’re acting like the devil.
He didn’t just caress Peter and say now, Peter, Let me let me explain this.
He just said, you acting like the devil.
Peter was telling the son of god what was not gonna happen when what Jesus was saying is, here’s god’s predestined plan for me to come into the world, and I came for the purpose of dying on the cross and atoning for your sins, and I’m going to die.
I’m gonna be burned. I’m gonna rise again, fulfill the father’s plan.
Now you were telling me I’m not gonna do it, Peter.
Get thee behind me, Satan, This is what you’re talking about is not the will of god.
Jesus was speaking the truth in a strong fashion because he must correct, Peter, for the simple reason.
He knew that Peter he had to keep his hand on.
Peter was re wouldn’t they go to war for him?
You talk about loyalty, Get in the garden, he had taken on the whole Roman army with one sword if necessary to defend Jesus.
But he had his weaknesses and his areas of fault like everybody does.
Then, of course, um, the person with a gift of prophecy can be misinterpreted as, um, thinking that he’s only or she’s only interested in groups of people and not individuals.
And so what happens is the person says, you don’t care about me.
You just care about, in other words, you just interested in lots of things. You don’t care about me individually.
Now no one likes to feel that the person they’re talking to is sharing their heart with, is just one of a big group.
We all want to feel individually that somebody cares for us.
And sometimes people walk through the line on Sunday morning and say, Well, I need to have a conference with you.
And I need I need a better hour. And you know what I have to say?
I have to say, you know what?
One of the greatest difficulties of being a pastor in a large churches, as much as you want to listen, and I do.
As much as I want to hear how you’re hurting, because it helps me to hear how you’re hurting.
It helps me to understand how god’s answering a prayer.
You need to capsule it in about 60 seconds and give it to me standing right here, and most people can if they have to.
It’s not that I don’t care, and it’s not that I don’t want to hear.
It’s just that the situation of circumstances are such that If I did that for all the people who want to talk, for example, you know what?
Come Sunday morning? I wouldn’t have anything to say.
That’d be the end of And so, uh, the person who doesn’t understand that has a feeling oftentimes, well, you know, you just don’t really care because if you did And you see, the the issue is this.
The issue is that the person has a gift of prophecy sees the big picture, but at the same time, they see the individual each individual that makes up the big pictures, not that they don’t care their circumstances at all in time prevent that from being true.
Then, of course, there’s the issue of believing and feeling that the person has a gift of prophecy, um, because maybe of the way they go about things, that, um, their their efforts to get results in what they’re doing is that they use gimmicks.
That is instead of, uh, trusting government, the truth is that’s not true at all.
Now I agree that oftentimes some churches, they’ll use all kind of gimmicks to get people to come and again, to do this or do that other, which we do not do in this fellowship.
And I’ll tell you why. I believe if you preach the word of god, You tell people the truth, you show them the truth, you show them why you’re doing what you’re doing, and you’re giving them biblical reasons for doing so and answers, then you trust god to speak to those people to do what they need to do and not use some kind of gimmicks to motivate them to do this, that, and the other.
The person with the gift of prophecy, for example, will use methods to accomplish, uh, what they believe god wants them to accomplish, and everybody doesn’t agree with the way that necessarily that one group may do a thing.
But the truth is oftentimes that their desire to do the will of god and to be what god wants them to be and maybe use some method that somebody says, well, you know what?
Uh, you just using a gimmick.
When in the mind, of the person with the gift of prophecy, they just wanna see god’s work done.
What they’re interested in is is the end result.
And to them, this justifies the end result because it helps get god’s work done.
But if a person misunderstands that, misinterprets that, sometimes it can create a real difficulty in hardship.
And then, of course, the emphasis on decisions appear that, uh, you don’t care about a person’s spiritual growth.
Now the gift of prophecy, because that person is so scripturally anchored, scripturally anchored, they wanna be sure that a person, for example, who makes a decision, they understand what they were doing, they understand the word of god, they understand they wanna be sure that you understand this, that you understand eternal security, for example, a person being saved, they don’t wanna go away with a person not clear about that decision.
So their emphasis on making a decision is sometimes interpreted. Well, you just don’t care about my spiritual life.
And the only thing you just want me to make a decision, you don’t care about That’s not true at all.
It’s that that emphasis is there because the person with the gift of prophecy has the big picture looking at the future consequences and knowing if you’re uncertain, not quite sure, have some questions, not answered about the decision you’re making, in the future.
Listen. When the heat gets on, you may wobble and walk away and disobey god.
So they’re always looking for the future consequences of what happens in the decisions that we make.
But sometimes, that’s oftentimes misunderstood.
Then, of course, There’s the whole issue of public boldness and sort of strict, uh, rules and regulations that sometimes they gift their privacy can come across that way.
And it’s not that they don’t care.
What what happens is sometimes a person can be so intimidated by someone else’s boldness that they back up and say, you know what?
You don’t care about relationships. If you care about relationships, you’d be soft and calm and sweet and loving.
And people can be salt in kind and sweet and loving in different ways.
And when a person in the gift of prophecy is misunderstood, Then what happens is they think, well, you don’t really care, uh, you’re more interested in yourself, and, uh, you don’t wanna have a personal intimate relationship, Intimacy involves mercy.
You know, I’m not talking about sex. We’re talking about relationships.
We’re talking about genuine love and how you operate with each other and understand each other sensitive one and talk to each other and forgive each other.
And intimacy involves all those things.
And a person we get to a prophecy can be just as intimate as anyone else can be.
But oftentimes, if they’re misunderstood, they will take something as, well, you know, that’s not who you really are and I’ve got my feelings hurt, and it’s amazing what happens to relationships when people are misunderstood.
What is the driving What’s the driving underlying, uh, motivation to this person’s heart?
And because a person is bold in what they say. Doesn’t mean they don’t care.
Doesn’t mean they’re not sensitive to to a person, but that’s that’s what god’s given them.
That’s the way they operate. And once you understand that, then you don’t have that misunderstanding.
Now with those things in mind, let’s talk about something very important here.
We’re talking about walking in spirit, which means to walk in obedience to god.
That’s the way, uh, operating in our spiritual gift, we’re the most productive, the most fruitful, We do our best.
We get our best. We’re the most fulfilled, the most satisfied, the happiest, no matter what your vocation or what you’re doing, relationships, friends, you name it, when we’re walking in the spirit, what happens is we profit from it, and everybody else does too.
Now what happens when you’re out of the spirit.
For example, if god calls you to do something that you don’t want to do, what is your first response?
Your first response is not sad. I’m gonna do that.
Your first response is to come up with some kind of a excuse a reason to justify your desire not to do it.
And then the spirit of god works in your heart, he shows you, of why you can.
You come up with another reason why you can’t.
And then he works on you a little bit deeper, and you come up with another reason why you can’t and watch this carefully.
What happens is each time you do that, you choose to disconnect.
The spirit of god is within you, goding you, showing you what to do and you choose not to do what you disconnect from him.
I don’t mean that you’re lost, but I mean, in your relationship to him, you say, no.
So make a disconnection. No. No. No. No. No. Disconnect. And here’s what happens.
This is what causes kids to rebel against their parents.
It’s what causes husbands and wives to ultimately leave, separate, divorce from each other.
It also causes people to lose their job.
It also causes people, for example, to lose their positions in life, whatever it might be, because because they continually disconnect And if husband and wife, if somebody doesn’t deal with this excuse for their conduct and they disconnect and disconnect and disconnect and finally, you know what happens, they just walk in the marriage.
Kids just walk away from their parents. Parents just walk away from their kids.
The employer says, you know what? You’re gone.
So this whole issue of disconnecting is because we choose not to do what we know in our heart we ought to do.
And so let’s look at this for a moment because and then I want you to see I want you to see the consequence of this.
Let’s say, 1st of all, for example, a person, uh, who the gift of a prophecy, when they’re walking in the spirit, they are very truthful very truthful about everything and make clear.
In other words, they they want to be truthful. Uh, they they walk in truth. They operate out of truth.
When that same person gets in the flesh, what happens? They can become very deceptive. They can lie.
They can become very deceptive. Now you say, well, how can you be so committed truth and become very deceptive?
Well, you know what? You get in the flesh and all kinds of things can happen.
The second thing I want you to notice is A person with a gift of prophecy is committed to obedience and righteousness.
But when they get in the flesh, they can become will and very rebellious.
I want you to watch this. Very rebellious.
Thirdly, a person who has the gift of prophecy is naturally very sincere.
You can tell that they’re very sincere in what they do. They’re meaningful.
They They know that they believe what they say.
When that person gets in a flash, listen, they’re an example of hypocrisy.
They say one thing, do something else. They say they believe this, but they operate in a certain way.
And so what happens is in the flesh, they’re the very opposite of what they could could be and ought to be.
Likewise, a person of the gift of prophecy is very committed to morality. Of walking morally at all times.
When that person gets in the flesh, they can become very sensuous and morally impure.
Every single one of these has its positive and negative effect when that person gets into flesh.
A person who has the gift of spirit is naturally very bold in what they do and what they say in their confidence and assurance because they keep bringing it back to the word of god.
But when that person gets in the flesh, the same person can become very fearful.
And when they become very fearful, they become very, very ineffective.
But when they get the flesh, instead of trusting god, look into his word, believing him, they become very fearful.
A person who has the gift of of prophecy, uh, is very forgiving.
Even though, for example, they see this person doing what is wrong, They’re very forgiving.
Wanna reach them and help them. Bring them out of that.
Show them the future consequences of their wrongdoing and help them.
When they get in the flesh, they can reject that other person without any problem.
Just absolutely shut them out, turn them off, reject them, walk away.
When they get in the flesh, well, you should have done what I told you to do.
Whether you put it on so and so, and so they just reject the other person.
Likewise, a person with a gift of prophecy, uh, is very persuasive because that’s the gift that god has given them.
When they speak in a very suasive.
But when they’re in the flesh, they’re so contentious and so aggressive and warlike. Nobody wants to believe them.
And so everything has its effect. Now watch this carefully because we forget this.
Each one of these is related to the other.
Let’s say, for example, a person who is very truthful gets in the flesh and becomes deceptive.
Now watch what happens. That deception is go listen, that deception is gonna show itself because deception means that I’m rebelling against god.
So that person is also willful.
It also means, if I’m not truthful, that my sincerity, now now I’m living the life of a hypocrite, And likewise, that person who is rebellious, no longer sincere, and no long and very willful, that person can become very sensuous and very immoral.
Why? Because they’ve already set themselves up for it.
Likewise, they’re gonna become fearful because they know they’re living in disobedience to god, and they feel guilty.
And then they come fearful. Likewise, they are going to do what?
They’re going to be they’re going to reject people who tried to correct them.
For the simple reason, now they’re having to deal with this issue of their disobedience.
And, of course, instead of being persuasive, they’re gonna be on the aggressive war like to defend their conduct.
Here’s what I want you to see.
When the person with this gift chooses not to walk in the spirit, they’re not affected in just one area, they’re affected in every single area.
And this is why people walk away.
This is why people that you and I have known in the past who are who are godly people committed to walking and the Christian life.
And we think, what happened to them? How could they be living this way? I know that they’re safe.
How can they be living this way?
Now when they were so committed to you, I tell you why, somewhere along the way, they got in the flesh in some area.
And because they refused correction, because they refused repentance, because they defended their wrongdoing.
Now what’s happened, what’s happening is they dug themselves a hole so deep. They don’t know how to get out.
Now they’re living in hostility, anger, bitterness, resentment. They’ve broken relationships, their life is no longer productive.
It’s no longer fruitful, and they keep digging. Listen.
It may be a spoonful a day, but they’re digging a hole so deep.
They don’t understand why, and how did I get this way?
And then on the defensive, not willing to anybody to correct them.
What I want you to say is this, a person with the gift of prophecy or any other gift who chooses to walk away, who chooses to deliberately, willfully disobey god in some area.
If it’s not corrected, then it can have lifetime consequences.
If it isn’t corrected, you can ultimately destroy your Christian testimony on your witness. You can destroy relationships.
You can destroy your children. You can destroy that marriage.
You can destroy yourself in the area of vocation that you have.
It’s very important that you and I stay connected to the Holy Spirit.
That is so intimately connected with him that when he brings up something that’s not right, we correct it.
We deal with it right then.
We don’t defend ourselves and And if somebody has to come to you and say, here’s what I see in your life, listen, whoever you are Listen, they may be dead wrong, but listen to them and at least considered because, you know, what happens?
Let’s say that they’re dead wrong about it and their motivation’s wrong. Listen in a way.
You don’t have to do it, but suppose they are dead right and suppose their motivation is love.
If they love you and just like you as a parent, you if you love your children, and I certainly trust that you do, you love your son.
You love your daughter. And you say sweetheart, The reason I’m saying that this this is not wise, you must not do it.
You cannot do it. Why? Because you’re motivated by genuinely. You may come on strong and say, you know, what?
You cannot. And the reason you cannot is because I’m looking out for your future.
I I I’m looking out for your moral appearance.
I’m looking out for you I want you to be able to have a godly man.
How you can have a godly man in your life as a husband and when you not live the godly life, in other words, you may come on strong.
And I would say to you as a teenager, you better listen to that.
Because your parents have not only today in mind, they have your future, they have your whole future in mind.
You can wreck it early in life.
And we have a world of people about us who are kids, who are absolutely destroying their whole life before they reach the age of twenty one years of age.
Those of us who live belong beyond that, you never come to a place in your life where you are not listening where you are not temptable in some area.
Walking in the power of the Holy Spirit means, I daily choose to walk in obedience to the voice of god in my heart.
And when he brings something to my mind, he may bring it through somebody I don’t even like.
If god just corrected me with people who just love me to doubt, that’d be one thing.
But when god brings somebody to a point of correction in your life that you don’t like them, at least listen.
Because you see, we’re all subject We’re all subject to misusing our gifts and oftentimes hurting other people.
And causing them hurt and pain and suffering. And you know what happens?
You know, you whenever you and I get out of the wheel of god, we don’t hurt just one person.
Can’t do it. You can’t hurt just one person. You’re gonna hurt this person.
It’s gonna spill over into this person’s life, and this person’s life.
When somebody says, well, it’s my own business, and I’m not hurting anybody else, yes, you are.
The personal gift of prophecy It’s a very important gift like all the other 6.
Can they be misunderstood? Yes. Can they get in the flesh and be guilty? Yes.
That’s why it’s incumbent upon all of us not to disconnect to the spirit and start giving excuses for not doing what god’s call us to do, but say, yes, lord, because I want good relationships first of all, follow with you, good relationships with my friends, my fellow my fellow employees, my fellow students, whatever it might be, That’s a decision you have to make.
It’s a decision you want to make. If you could see the consequences of your conduct, you’d say yes, God.
If we could all see the consequences of sin in our life and what it would ultimately lead to, no no doubt we’d say yes God.
Yes. Yes. Yes. I don’t want to walk through that.
And always keep an open heart available for somebody if it’s just the Holy Spirit himself.
To give correction when corrections needed. And you know what’ll happen? You operate out of that gift.
You do your best. You’ll enjoy the best, most fruitful, most productive, most enjoyable, most fulfillment, and most joy in your life.
Amen? And father, how grateful we are, that you have made these gifts so crystal clear.
And you have given us warnings about disobedience and about obedience.
And you’ve promised us that you would walk with us through every single experience in life.
In fact, you said you never forsake us or leave us.
So I pray that every person who hears this message and maybe identifies themselves as a person with a gift of prophecy help them to see how they can be misunderstood and, therefore, to be careful.
And the person who lives with that person would understand, oh, now I understand why it appears the way it appears when that’s not their heart at all.
Thank you, father, for loving us and forgiving us and cleansing us, and thank you for a love that knows no limits and no conditions.
May we live and respond and relate to other people in the same way in Jesus’ name?
Amen.
