you are called to prophesy

[jonathanbchristian]

The Bible says to desire to prophesy; thats calling. It says you all may prophesy; thats qualification. It says do all prophesy? No, many are called and few answer the call. Moses wished all Israel would prophesy; Jesus wishes you all would prophesy.

 

[rdclmn72]

The problem then becomes that of defining prophecy itself.
Going beyond the obvious future tense pronouncements, there is also past and present that are described in scripture.

 

[ByTheSpirit]

Prophecy in the New Covenant is defined/broken down as:

For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10 ESV)

testimony - Gr 3141
marturia: testimony
Original Word: μαρτυρία, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: marturia
Phonetic Spelling: (mar-too-ree'-ah)
Short Definition: witness, evidence, testimony
Definition: witness, evidence, testimony, reputation.

What does this look like outside the obvious "go into all the world and preach the gospel" (Mark 16:15) context:

On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. (1 Corinthians 14:3 ESV)

This is what prophecy does. New Covenant prophecy builds believers up. It encourages them. It also consoles/comforts them. Why? Because all prophecy, points to Jesus! Any prophetic word that does not glorify the Lord nor point the recipient of said prophecy to him is highly subject to falsehood, or even a lying spirit.

Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:20, 21 ESV)

Some have received prophetic words in the past in such environments and because they were false and said individuals had not received wise counsel on what to do with such words, they gave up on "prophecy" at all. I think we need to understand who gave such words, mark them, and avoid them, but never give up on hearing from the Lord. In context of 1 Thes 5:20-21 even, despising prophecy is a portion of quenching the Spirit (1 Thes 5:19) Confess such failings and hurts to the Lord and allow him to replenish you.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. (1 John 4:1-3 ESV)

Any time you receive a prophetic word, test it. As I stated already, all true prophecy points to Jesus. Whether prophesying to the lost, or to the saints, prophecy always points people to Jesus. John even said so much.

So remember, the testimony (or witness) of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Prophecy edifies (builds up), encourages, and consoles (comforts) the saints. Never despise prophecy, test it, hold to it if it is found to be true, reject the bad.

 

[ToBeBlessed]

The Bible says to desire to prophesy; thats calling. It says you all may prophesy; thats qualification. It says do all prophesy? No, many are called and few answer the call. Moses wished all Israel would prophesy; Jesus wishes you all would prophesy.

I am not convinced. Could you please include the scripture that you have for this?

 

[K2K]

It is written that if we believe in a righteous man, we get a righteousman reward, and if we believe in a prophet that we get a prophets reward. Isn't there really only One righteous man, our Lord Jesus Christ, and isn't there only One prophet, our Lord Jesus Christ whose name is called the Word of God.?

We are suppose to believe in Jesus Chris who has been given all the things of the Father, which would included the very words of the Father. So if we indeed listen to Him by faith, how is it we are not at times going to be given prophecy? Have we not heard Him talk to us about what is going to happen like we might talk about what has happened?

If we indeed believe in Jesus Christ, and He is One with God, and listen to what He says, we are going to get information about what is going to happen. It will of course be what He wants to tell us. So the question comes down to believing and being open to accepting the free gifts the Holy Spirit, who He sends to speak to us what He says, or not believing and/or wanting to recieve all God has for you.


Heb 2:1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.

What we have heard is the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ, so we need to pay much closer attention to it, His voice.

Heb 2:2 For is the word spoken through angels proved unalterable and every transgression and disobedience received a just penaly, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

We need to stop neglecting to hear from Him, and stop rejecting what He wants to tell us.

 

[Optimus Fortis]

The Bible says to desire to prophesy; thats calling. It says you all may prophesy; thats qualification. It says do all prophesy? No, many are called and few answer the call. Moses wished all Israel would prophesy; Jesus wishes you all would prophesy.

Mmm I happened to be meditating on Moses' prayer a few days ago as I read through Numbers. Joshua meant well but he was too zealous about wanting to restrict the unction of the Holy Spirit to Moses' control.

Compare with Joel 2:28-32 and of course Peter's Pentecostal speech in Acts 2.