PIETISM & PROPHESY

PROPHETIC PEOPLE

Which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? If they had stood in his council they would have proclaimed his words to his people and they would have turned from their evil ways and from their evil deeds.   (Jeremiah 23:18,22)

Leonard Ravenhill was a revivalist Christian evangelist and author who challenged the Church to compare itself with the early Church as chronicled in the Book of Acts. This is from  Picture of a Prophet by Leonard Ravenhill:

"The prophet in his day is fully accepted of God and totally rejected by men...  

The group, challenged by the prophet because they are smug and comfortably insulated from a perishing world in their warm but untested theology, is not likely to vote him "Man of the year" when he refers to them as habituates of the synagogue of Satan! The prophet comes to set up that which is upset. His work is to call into line those who are out of line! He is unpopular because he opposes the popular in morality and spirituality. In a day of faceless politicians and voiceless preachers, there is not a more urgent national need than that we cry to God for a prophet! The function of the prophet, as Austin-Sparks once said, "has almost always been that of recovery." The prophet is God's detective seeking for a lost treasure. The degree of his effectiveness is determined by his measure of unpopularity. Compromise is not known to him. He has no price tags. He is totally "otherworldly." He is unquestionably controversial and unpardonably hostile. He marches to another drummer! ... His truth brings torment, but his voice is never void. He is the villain of today and the hero of tomorrow. He is excommunicated while alive and exalted when dead! He is dishonored with epithets when breathing and honored with epitaphs when dead. He is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, but few "make the grade" in his class. He is friendless while living and famous when dead...  He carries the lamp of truth amongst heretics while he is lampooned by men. He faces God before he faces men, but he is self-effacing. He hides with God in the secret place, but he has nothing to hide in the marketplace. He is naturally sensitive but supernaturally spiritual. He has passion, purpose and pugnacity. He is ordained of God but disdained by men. 

There is a terrible vacuum in evangelical Christianity today. The missing person in our ranks is the prophet. The man with a terrible earnestness. The man totally otherworldly. The man rejected by other men, even other good men, because they consider him too austere, too severely committed, too negative and unsociable. "

But test everything; hold fast what is good.  (1 Thessalonians 5:21 ESV)

This is from a powerful article on prophet motivated Christians and their place in the Church. I encourage any reader to deeply look at this resource and pray for the prophets in your family and Church to not be discouraged, and to mature in faith and develop their unique gift. 

"A prophet is a spokesperson for God. The prophet admonishes, warns, directs, encourages, intercedes, teaches and counsels. He brings the word of God to the people of God and calls the people to respond. "

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

One Body with Many Members

12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. (From 1Cor 12)

Nothing disrupts a dying Church faster than the Truth of a prophet-motivated member  - whether mature in his gift or early in learning. The beauty of God's plan for the Body is the coordinated use and cooperative refinement of the skills and gifts of its members.  None of these Biblical responses to a prophet is common:

• Seek first to understand before seeking to be understood
• Listen for Truth;  Be a Berean (Acts 17)
• Use discernment when responding
• Let down your worldly guard
• Correct cautiously and fairly
• Don't use your Truth to reject another Truth
• Teach
• Learn

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.    (2 Timothy 4:3-4 ESV)

This is from a valuable resource for Churches describing the strengths and weaknesses of prophets in your Church. This is about the person who  the Body is most likely to ignore, reject, and discourage, but desperately needs for the whole working of the Body.

Alertness to Dishonesty

Prophets have an amazing ability to sense when someone or something is not what it appears to be. They react strongly to any form of deception or dishonesty. Peter may have sensed deception in Ananias and Sapphira, because he was prompted to question them about it. His condemnation resulted in their deaths. (See Acts 5:3–10.)

Desire for Justice - Prophets tend to cut off those who sin so that justice will be done, others will be warned, and evil will not spread. Peter desired to cut off his offenders, and he asked Jesus how often he would have to forgive them. (See Matthew 18:21.)

Quick Impressions of People - Prophets tend to make quick judgments about what they see and hear. They also tend to express their views before others speak. In the Gospels, Peter spoke first more than any other disciple did. (See Matthew 14:28; 15:15; 16:16, 22; 17:4; 19:27; John 6:68, 13:6.)

Need to Express Themselves - Prophets need to express their thoughts and ideas especially when matters of right and wrong are involved. In the written account of the Gospels, Peter (who clearly had the gift of prophecy) spoke more often than any other disciple. He also became the spokesman for the early Church. (See Acts 2:14, 3:12, 4:8, 11:4.)

Open About Personal Faults

Prophets are as open about their own failures as they want others to be about theirs. When Christ appeared to the disciples, Peter fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8).

Wholehearted Involvement - Once prophets are committed to a cause, they are wholeheartedly involved in it. Within the context of their commitment, they are quick to respond to situations and opportunities. When Peter recognized Jesus walking on the water, he asked Jesus to bid him to come. (Matthew 14:28.)

Loyalty to Truth vs. People

Prophets are loyal to truth even if it means cutting off relationships. When Jesus asked the disciples if they were also going to leave Him, Peter replied that he would stay because Christ had the words of eternal life. (John 6:67–69.)

Willingness to Suffer for Right

Prophets are eager to embrace suffering when it comes as a result of standing for the truth or doing what is right. When he was beaten for obeying God rather than men, Peter rejoiced that he was counted worthy to suffer shame for Jesus. (See Acts 5:29–42.)

Persuasive in Defining Truth

Prophets have a special ability to be articulate in defining what is right and what is wrong. Great conviction was brought to thousands on the Day of Pentecost when Peter pointed out, “Ye have taken [Jesus], and by wicked hands have crucified and slain [Him]” (Acts 2:23).