Introducing the Prophetic Grace

The  prophetic also comes with a unique set of challenges that you don’t get with the other four gifts and consequently, there has been a tendency to shut down the prophetic in churches. 

• The prophetic has a way of disrupting things and ruffling things up. 

• 1 Corinthians 14:29 let two or three prophets speak and let the others weigh what is said.  

•We make a grave mistake if we don't weigh what is said because we have a responsibility to weigh up all the gifts operating in the body. – How do we do that? 

• Is it Christ centred? Is the message gospel centred?, Is the teaching sound?, Does it build, encourage and equip the body? 

• 1 Corinthians is in the context of the gathered church where the office of prophet is at work, not just the grace of the prophetic. 

• We are not told listen to the preaching of the word and then evaluate what is said but we are with the prophetic because it carries a unique set of challenges.  

• The prophetic can be very powerful but it can also be very dangerous and has caused some to distance themselves and others to be fearful of the possible dangers. 

• Paul, Silvanus and Timothy wrote to the church in Thessalonica 

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. 

• The body of Christ needs the prophetic. 

• Over the years there have been stories, moments, events and activities where people have said ‘God says this’. And it has not come true and it’s caused problems in the community. 

• The prophetic has its own challenges but the Bible gives an answer… it says weigh up the prophetic not close it down. Weigh it up  

• There is the danger with prophetic people that they think they should always have something new to say.  

• If not stewarded well prophetic people can come across as self- righteous because they’re always the one that sees what no one else does. – in the work place 

• The prophetic is supposed to reflect the heart of God not the heart of the person bringing the word.  

• To prophesy the person must be in good relationship with the body of Christ. There are too many floating prophets who are injured, hurt, feeling rejected. 

• Prophetic needs to be someone who has died to self. Prime role of the prophetic is to reveal His heart, His love not His judgement. 

• Even when it is His judgement, it is out of a love that desires our hearts turn back to His. To be restored and reconciled. Revealer - God always takes the initiative in communicating. 

• Prophetic needs to be accountable. 

• Honours the lord word and nature are utterly true and dependable. 

• But we are not called to be insolation we need the other graces to challenge and say no.  

• Jesus is the full representation of God in the world John 1:1 – 14, Colossians 1:15-20, Hebrews 1:1-3 

• Jesus shows us and makes possible a new way to relate to God (a new covenant) 

• Jesus claims us as His own through his sacrificial death. 

• Jesus establishes His unique role as the mediator and high priest, representing His people before the Father. 

• Jesus is our saviour and Lord. 

• Jesus creates a new humanity the body of Christ in Himself. 

• Jesus sets the absolute standard for the church. 

• Jesus is the Starter and finisher, author and perfecter the alpha and the Omega. 

• So the identity, purpose and function of the church all centres on who Jesus is and what He has done.  

• His life and teachings show us what it means to faithfully live in the kingdom of God and we look to Him to find out who we are (identity) and what we are called to do (purpose). 

• Our authenticity is measured by the degree to which we conform to, represent and bear a living witness to the life, work and teachings of Jesus.  

•Jesus didn’t shy away from truth. Jesus stood courageously before power, confronting evil and unrighteousness wherever they appeared. In Him, we see the fullness of God's perfect prophet. 

• This is the heart of the prophetic grace, a holy people called to reflect God in the world.  

• When a community rises to uphold covenantal justice and invites all people into the love of God, into true worship, obedience, repentance and prayer, it lives out the authentic identity of the Church. 

• A church shaped by the prophetic spirit will be marked by a deep devotion to worship and prayer, a readiness to engage in spiritual battle, a hunger for holiness, a passion for justice, and a life that bears witness to Christ in the world.