Acts 21 and 22
You can dowload the pdf file here
In Romans 12:6-8 Paul gives us one of his little lists of spiritual gifts. Imagine sharing a meal together on a cell group evening; your hostess is coming in with a tray loaded with food, trips and falls spreading the evening’s meal all over the carpet. People with different gifts react in different ways: one with the gift of serving immediately starts to clean up the mess; someone with the gift of teaching carefully explains the correct way to carry a tray to anyone who will listen, another with the gift of encouragement gets alongside the poor hostess and comforts her in her distressed state. Meanwhile someone with the gift of leadership starts telling everyone what to do to get things cleaned up and the person with the gift of giving slips out quietly to order a take-away for everyone.
All this is watched with detachment by the one who has the gift of prophecy, “Well of course”, he observes, “I knew this would happen!”
What is the gift of prophecy? How did it work in the earliest churches? Is this gift still around today or has it been rendered redundant by the completion of the New Testament?
Prophecy today?
About 26 years ago I was in a prayer meeting with a group of students at Keele University. While we were praying one of the group came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. Then he said, “David, God has told me to tall you that you will be a captain in his army, and that you will soon have to make a decision that all your most trusted friends will disagree with. The Lord says that you are to stand your ground and not back down”. A few weeks later Cathie and I decided to get married and all Hell broke loose – all the people whose advice I respected the most took time to tell me what a bad idea it was (she was only 19 at the time, I was 29 – they had a point, actually!)
I stood my ground, but it was difficult. That prophetic word helped a lot to stiffen my resolve when things were tough.
At around the same time, a new church was starting up in a northern university town. I can’t tell you which one because the main players in this story are still around. A lot of the people involved were students... clever but clueless... for them it was a very exciting time! One day a girl passed on to her friend a prophetic message that she felt came from the Lord, “God has told me that you are to commit yourself totally to him, and that you are never to marry but remain single all your life”.
The would-be prophet almost lost her friend that week, because the poor girl attempted suicide. Happily, she did not succeed.
The gift of prophecy is one of those abilities that can both heal and hurt. The genuine article is a real blessing, but the over-zealous interpretation of your gut feelings can be a curse. Extreme Church is not a church ruled by prophetic messages but a church that is extremely good at discerning what is genuine and weeding out that which is unwholesome. That is the purpose of this message.
First, did the gift of prophecy cease to be given once the New Testament was complete? I don’t believe it did because we will see that this kind of gift was never given the weight of the scripture-writing prophets of the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the apostles were regarded as the equivalent of the writers of the Old. Unlike the scriptures, those who had a gift of prophecy were expected to be evaluated and tested to see if they were any use.
Second, how does this gift work in practice? To answer that question we need to see it in action in the Acts of the Apostles.
Prophecy in action – Acts 21-22
In this incident Paul is on his way back to Jerusalem when he encounters a man called Agabus who had this gift. Agabus would have been highly respected because he had only recently successfully foreseen a famine and the churches had been able to support those affected as a result[1]. The words of a man like this carried some weight – let’s look at what he said to Paul (21:11-12).
When he gets to Jerusalem the Jewish leaders will arrest him and bind his hands before handing him over to the Romans: Paul’s friends see the meaning clearly and urge him not to go there.
Two important things happen next. First, Paul ignores the obvious meaning of the prophecy (13-14).
It is important to understand that God guides us in a number of significant ways, a prophetic insight is only one of these. Here is a short list:
- Knowing the guide personally – Paul tells us that a growing commitment to God and a transformed mind make guidance easier! (Romans 12:1-2)
- Knowing the guidebook – the Bible teaches us how he wants us to live and shapes out instincts accordingly (2 Timothy 3:15-16)
- Knowing right from wrong – God’s law is in itself guidance (Psalm 119)
- Knowing wisdom and folly – lot’s of things are right but only a few of them are wise (Proverbs 3:5-6 & 21-23)
- Knowing good people who will give us good advice (Proverbs 27:6, 9 & 17)
In addition to this he may give us a prophetic word, or flash of insight through other supernatural means. But look, Paul gets this here and then ignores it because he knows that prophecy is only one source of guidance and that it does not trump these other things. Weigh prophecy carefully, but don’t be bullied by a would-be prophet into doing things their way. You are free!
Here’s the second thing: Agabus was wrong! Oh, he got the broad picture but he was adrift on the detail. Paul went to Jerusalem, was beaten up by Jewish mob and taken into protective custody by the Romans – the Jews did not hand him over. This kind of inaccuracy would have dented the reputation of an Old Testament prophet, but no-one in this story seems to mind. Agabus was broadly right and that was good enough.
This tells us that someone with the gift of prophecy is not setting themselves up as a supplement to scripture. This gift is about receiving from God an insight into his will and purposes so that you can pass it on to others. It will encourage them, do them good, bring blessing into their lives and be one of those things they may take into account when making decisions. I think that this gift expresses itself in two important ways:
First, when individuals in the church feel that God is telling them something that others need to know. In that case find a way of gently passing it on, not as an ultimatum, but as a suggestion, “I think that God may be saying something to me about this...”
Second, effective preaching often flows from a prophetic gift working through the preacher: it is as though that person knew more about you than he really ought! We ought to pray for this and listen when God speaks to us this way.
Fan into flame God’s gift
How do you identify and develop this gift? Well if you find yourself getting inklings and insights that turn out to be right, you may need to take it seriously. This is what you do:
First, grow in grace and in the knowledge of God; through prayer and meditation draw near to him.
Second, grow in your knowledge of his word. @A thorough knowledge of scripture equips you for every good work, including this one.
Third, talk your insights over with a mentor who can help you discern if you are gifted or if you are fooling yourself.
[1] Acts 11:27-30