- One must be born again - truly born again. (John 3:16, Rom 10-9-10)
- One must be filled with the Holy Spirit. I suppose there is some debate about this, and when and how it happens. I believe that sometimes it happens when we are born again, and other times it is a separate experience. No one doubts that Paul was converted on the Road to Damascus. (Acts 9:3-8) Paul, however; received the filling of the Holy Spirit at a later date. (Paul was born again after the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost (Acts 2, and filled wit he Holy Spirit after he was converted.).
Acts 9:17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
For another account, here is a great one. (Acts 10:44-46)
- One must earnestly desire the gift - and because the Bible says that you can all prophesy, things should go well -
1 Corinthians 14:1 (AMP) EAGERLY PURSUE and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest]; and earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual endowments (gifts), especially that you may prophesy ( interpret the divine will and purpose in inspired preaching and teaching.
- well if you are not in for the ability, but to love your church family, and your enemies. As a prophetic person, you will be called to prophesy over, and for, the enemies of God.
The folks that seem to have the greatest ability to prophesy have cultivated a deeper and more inmate relationship with Jesus. They are passionate about him. This is not a hard-and-fast rule - but an observation. Of course a donkey can prophesy if need be.
It seems that for some to really get going, they may also need an impartation from someone that is able to give the gift. (Romans 1:11) This has been my personal experience. Even Elijah imparted not only his gift, but a double portion to Elisha.
2 Kings 2:9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.
Before you get launch out on this endeavor - I suggest that you read 1 Corinthians chapters 12, 13 and 14 as though they are one chapter. One of the problems with understanding the Bible sometimes, is that the chapter divisions cause us to see things in parts when they are meant as a whole.
I want to strongly recommend that you share your possibly divinely inspired predictions and things that you feel like you "know", with another Christian. Skeptics hate what I call 9/12 prophets. "Yeah, I knew the World Trade Centers were coming down. Now I am letting you know." Well, my question is this: Why didn't you tell everyone on 9/10? Also write them down and keep track of your accuracy. And finally remember, that what you speak, if it is negative, can become a curse. (James 3:9) New Testament prophecy should be a blessing and an edification.
Once you have established a track record, then there are lots of other things to look forward too. I will get to those somewhere along the way.
5 comments:
Prophecy is a dangerous thing...or haven't you read Deut. 13 and Deut. 18? I mean, you want it to be in line with the scriptures ,right? And you want to ensure it comes from god, right? Deut. outlines it pretty clearly.
If the person says something that comes true, it comes from god. If not, then it doesn't. If the person says it came from someone other than god, then that person was sent to test believers (because god made it happen to test you) and should be put to death. If the person says it came from god and is wrong, then it didn't come from god and the person should be put to death.
Personally, I wouldn't want to be a prophet, because if you get one thing wrong, it's death.
@GCT - Because of Jesus we are no longer under the law of death.
Prophecy is an exciting and wonderful part of being a true New Testament Christian. Prophetic people don't always get it perfectly, but I have met many that are very accurate, and humble men and woman of God.
And death for a Christian is glory - so even that isn't so bad if you can handle the stoning part.
As always - thanks for commenting.
How convenient that you can toss out god's words. Did Jesus do that when he admonished others for not following those laws more closely?
And, why would a prophet not get it right all the time? Wouldn't that be an indication that god is not giving anyone divine knowledge?
And, if death for a Xian is glory, why not wish for death? Why do Xians hold to life so dearly?
@GCT - The New Testament is the fulfillment of the old. If the Old Testament were the current covenant, which it s not since the death and resurrection of Jesus, then we would be sacrificing lambs on the altar and sleeping in separate beds when our wives menstruated.
Jesus fulfilled the law, and now all we need to do is have faith, hear God and do it. The fruit of which is love.
Christianity cold survive well without the Old Testament. In all the instances when the apostles were referring to the OT, they were referring to fulfilled prophecies, and laws which were invalid based on the new covenant.
Christians do well to study the roots of Christianity, but they are not under the law if they have faith in Jesus.
NT do not bring new doctrine of Kingdom revelation, and therefore they are not under the OT laws.
You on the other hand, without faith in Christ, are.
Then why does Jesus on his famous sermon on the mount claim that the problem is that people are not following the laws more closely?
You can't very well argue that the laws are to be done away with simply because you don't follow them anymore. In fact, there's a section in the book where it's not Jesus but Paul who is talking about whether non Jews (not Xians) must follow the dietary restrictions, and he makes a practical choice to not enforce dietary restrictions (kosher) on gentiles. IOW, it wasn't Jesus saying, "You don't have to follow the law" it was Paul saying, "We can get more converts if we don't hold them to the law." Jesus clearly says, "You have to follow the law so closely that even bad thoughts are worthy of hell." Additionally, he makes no distinction between different groups of people that must follow the law and those that don't have to.
Your explanation seems to be made up out of thin air. I understand that modern Xians do this in order to separate themselves from the barbarity of the OT, but it's simply not supported.
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