No Prophetic Message From Man

NO PROPHETIC MESSAGE EVER CAME JUST FROM THE HUMAN WILL, BUT PEOPLE WERE UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THEY SPOKE THE MESSAGE THAT CAME FROM GOD. 2 Peter 1. 21 (GNB)

These are days when there is a resurgence of the gift of prophesy, as with the gift of tongues. I believe that some of the prophesies are truly Holy Spirit inspired and revealed, but not all. The reason being, God Himself warned His Old Testament people of false prophets who were many! Again in the New Testament where the apostle Paul teaches about the gift of prophecy, he tells the Corinthian believers, “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge” (1 Cor 14.29). If all prophecies were true, there would be no need to judge!

I pray often and sometimes with fasting and tears that the Sovereign Holy Spirit may grant me and my fellow believers all the nine gifts of the Spirit. We need not just tongues and some prophecy!’ We need faith, miracle and healing as well. I long to be able to minister to the vast number of those in dire need in the church and in the world. When someone insists that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been withdrawn, I find it difficult to accept it. The argument that we now have the written Word of God and therefore there is no more need for the gifts is not tenable! The mere possession of the canon of the Scripture is no cure for all the diverse and distressing needs of the people! What we need today is a fresh outpouring of the Spirit on all people as God promised!

However, I am sadly aware that only rarely do we see those genuine gifts of the early church today. We cannot blame God for it, only ourselves! I believe that it is our ignorance about the Spiritual gifts and our lack of desire and longing for them that are our stumbling blocks! I would to God that the more physical, material and spiritual afflictions and calamities we see around us, the more we would press against heaven’s door for a fresh outpouring of the gifts of the Spirit on us!

We should be vexed in soul and spirit greatly as we witness the multiplied afflictions of the saints and the sinners of our world. But instead of ministering to those desperately needy people, many of the ‘great prophets and prophetesses, local and foreign’, are sparing no time or effort to utter ‘prophetic words’ about financial windfalls or wonderful holidays abroad or children scoring top grades in studies! I believe this is a misuse of spiritual gifts, if at all they are! When most people in the church are clamouring for such ‘material prospects’, what else can you expect?

Some years ago, a well-known ‘prophet’ was brought in by a Christian organisation to give a financial talk. The place was packed! He advised all to buy ‘gold’ because he had a revelation from the Lord! Lately, one world-renowned prophetess came and prophesied a boom time for the country in a few years! Neither Jesus nor his apostles prophesied of such ‘mundane matters of wealth and prosperity’. Instead they predicted times of testing and trials and even great falling away from faith, climaxing in the ‘Great Tribulation’ of the end times.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I pray and long for the gifts of the Holy Spirit for myself and others. Many are those who need a touch from You through us, ‘one another’, as members of Your church! Amen.