"But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort." (I Cor 14:3)
Dont see this as the only standard for prophesy. Because-
1-
"And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.
29 Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea:
30 Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul." Acts 11
2 -
"And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.
11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles."
"Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." Acts 21
These don't sound like for "edification, and exhortation, and comfort."
Or what am I misunderstanding?
Just as there are two kinds of speaking in tongues (new tongues and diversities of tongues), there are two kinds of prophesying.
One is of the Holy Spirit, which only ever operated by the Holy Spirit through whom and when He desires,
The other is from the same source as new tongues, which is the spirit of Christ that has been born again in you.
All believers can both pray in new tongues and prophecy from out of the spirit of Christ within us. Obviously, not all will operate in the Holy Spirit-enabled "diversities of tongues."
From the book: "
The Mechanics and Practice of Prophesying"
Sources of Prophetic Speech
Utterance for Prophecy
A section from “The Mechanics and Practice of Speaking in Tongues.”
“All tongues (as well as prophecy) originate from an “utterance” generated by a spirit. Common Christian thought holds that all utterance issues from the Holy Spirit. Yet a study of scripture shows that utterance may issue from any number of sources. Tongues originate from one of five possible sources.
Utterance Source #1.
Utterance issuing from the (Holy) Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 12:10). Also called “Charismatic Tongues,” this form of tongues is always supernatural in nature in addition to being spiritual. We call these supernatural because they originate exterior to ourselves. Not all believing Christians are able to manifest this sort of tongues because it is manifested only as the Holy Spirit wills and through whom He wills.
Utterance Source #2.
Utterance issuing from the regenerate spirit of man (i.e. the spirit of Christ in all born again believers. (Mark 16:17, 1 Corinthians 14:14) Also called “devotional tongues,” “simple tongues,” or “private tongues.” This study will refer to these as “spiritual tongues.” These are called “merely spiritual” and not “supernatural” because they originate from within our own spirit being, and not from an exterior source (i.e. the Holy Spirit). We also will refer to “spiritese” as the utterance that generates the utterance for these tongues. The present study deals mainly with utterance from the spirit of Christ in all believers.
Utterance Source #3.
Utterance issuing from demonic spirits (inferred from 1 Corinthians 12:2-3). One might question to what degree these tongues are supernatural. Many pagan and non-Christian religions that practice tongues may draw utterance from demonic spirits. It is this writer's opinion that because they originate from a source outside the speaker, they are supernatural in nature.
Utterance Source #4.
Utterance issuing from the unregenerate spirit of man (inferred from 1 Corinthians 12:2-3). These tongues are spiritual in nature and do not involve the supernatural. This is merely the soul of an unregenerate man by force of will, vocalizing the movements of the unregenerate spirit within him. If these tongues were to address the subject of Jesus and if we were given to interpret these tongues, they would curse Jesus and deny all aspects of the gospel. These are the “tongues” of heathen and cultic religions. The utterance for these tongues is also “spiritese” howbeit from a fallen human spirit.
Utterance Source #5.
Utterance issuing from the soul or mind of man in the context of emotional or psychological tongues. This is neither spiritual in nature nor supernatural. Technically this is not even tongues by our definition. Since this is not the result of utterance from a spirit and is merely the product of the conscious or subconscious mind of the speaker, it is the proverbial “gibberish.”
There are groups that would say “true” tongues are only #1 listed above (“charismatic” as in the Holy Spirit enabled gift “diversities of tongues”). But this is in no way a universally accepted position. There are many cases and testimonies of tongues being manifested by pagan and even humanistic religions throughout history and even today.
Pertaining to the Christian experience, this study presents only two valid tongues phenomena: Charismatic (supernatural from the Holy Spirit), and spiritual (from the spirit of the regenerate).
(Pages 74=76)
Prophecy, like tongues, can originate from any of the above sources.
1. Saul prophesied with the utterance of an evil spirit.
2. It is possible for an unregenerate man to speak forth from his own spirit.
3. Men can speak forth from their own souls (mind, will, emotion).
4. Man can prophesy forth from the Spirit of God.
5. Man can prophesy forth from the spirit of Christ that has been born again into him.
