Who Me, Gifted?Smakprov

The Gift of Prophecy

It seems like every time we turn on the news, we hear about global disasters, terrorism, and political unrest. The frequency of these events seems to be increasing at an unprecedented rate and that has led to a greater interest in the gift of prophecy.

Unfortunately, even some religious leaders are creating confusion by predicting the date of the end of the world. Never before have we needed to understand what the true gift of prophecy is and what it is not.

In Matthew 24, Jesus clearly states that no one can predict the hour or the day of His return and the end of the age. Only the Father knows the time. Therefore, anyone who says he knows the exact date of the end of the age is speaking contrary to God's Word.

Although speaking about events in the future is related to the gift of prophecy, Christians must make sure that what they believe about prophecy lines up with God's Word. The word prophecy is composed of two words that mean, "forth" and "telling." Forth-telling is very different from foretelling or predicting the future.

Any Christian can speak forth what he knows to be true about the past, present, or future when his foundation for Truth is the Word of God's revelation of Himself. In writing the Scriptures, God gave authority and inspiration through the Holy Spirit to a group of prophets and apostles to record His Truth as the Holy Word, and then He closed the book. No one can add or subtract from what God has included in His Word. The source of prophecy today is the Bible. Anyone who speaks anything that is inconsistent with the Truth expressed in His Word is not speaking for God.

Prayer: God, thank You for giving us Your Word as our source of guidance. Help me know Your Word well so that I will know when someone is speaking something that is not consistent with what You have said in Your Word. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

"Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people" (Matthew 24:11).