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-- © GodSpeak International 2009 --
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND CONTRIBUTING RESOURCES
Authors: Jane Fitz-Gibbon <jane@icmi.org> http://www.icmi.org
Michael Gerner <mgerner@aol.com>
Teresa Seputis ts@godspeak.net http://www.godspeak.net
Editors: Al Vesper, Teresa Seputis

Judging Prophecy; 2nd Edition

Lesson 7

By Michael Gerner

The Importance Of Testing Prophecy

I want to share a little about why it is important for us to test prophecy and then offer some guidelines on how to do it. I could say a lot more about this subject than I am sharing here; I am sort of briefly covering the topic rather than doing an exhaustive study on it. All the same, I hope that you will find what I share here helpful when you are in situations where you need to test prophecy.

Before we start discussing the actual tests we use to judge prophecy, I'd like to quickly look at three things that lay a foundation for us to build upon. They are:

So, let's look briefly these three things...

1. THE NEED TO TEST PROPHECY

The New Testament actually commands believers to test prophesy. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 says, "Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil."

Indeed, God intends that type of testing to be a part of the normal New Testament ministry process, where "Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said" (1 Cor 14:29).

Please note carefully the context of this passage in 1 Thessalonians. First, God did not want them to have a negative attitude towards the gifts. He did not want them to resist the moving of the Holy Spirit (specifically prophecy) so that the fire of the Spirit is quenched in their lives. The Greek word "sbennumi" (sben'-noo-mee) means to extinguish. The picture is of a fire that has been started, but is deliberately put out. How awful a thought, that one can, without proper reason, deliberately chose to put out or damp down something started by Almighty God!

Secondly, don't treat prophecies with contempt. There are two opposite dangers here.

The first (and most obvious) danger is if we treat prophecy as something which is not of God for today. If we do that, we are treating a precious gift that God sent to edify the church (1 Corinthians 14:4) as if it were a contemptible thing. That type of attitude, at best, comes from our flesh. And, at worst, it comes from the devil. Either way it is very bad and we need to avoid it.

The second danger is more subtle. The danger is that we accept prophecy as being something God still does today, but then we treat it much too casually. We tend to treat things we value with great care, and treat the things that are of little value to us very casually. Let me give you an example: which one would you handle with more care--an ornate gold jeweled watch worth $1,000,000 or a cheap plastic watch worth about $1? I suspect that you'd probably be much more careful with the very expensive watch than the cheap one, wouldn't you? You'd be careful to keep it from getting scratched or from falling off of your wrist. But you probably would not put a whole lot of care into protecting the cheap watch because you can easily replace it if it gets damaged or broken. In short, you "value" the expensive watch a lot more than then cheap one, and that effects how you treat it.

The danger here is that we start treating the gift of prophecy as if it were the cheap watch that we don't care much about. If we treat this precious gift from God in an offhanded and casual sort of way, then there is a real danger that it will be lost or misused.

So how are we to treat prophecy carefully? The answer lies in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 21--test it! Make sure that it's the genuine article. If it is, then we hold onto it and treat it with respect and heed what the Lord has to say. But if it isn't genuine, then we avoid it.

The Attitude Of The Tester

There is a passage in the bible that is quoted a lot when people talk about using Scripture to test a prophesy. It refers to the Jews at Berea, and it is found in Acts 17:11. "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."

Many people consider that this passage proves the importance of examining Scripture, since the Bereans were regarded as "having a more noble character" for doing so. Actually, that is not the full story: I missed out a bit. Here is the full reference, with the section I deliberately omitted earlier capitalized for emphasis.

"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they RECEIVED THE MESSAGE WITH GREAT EAGERNESS AND examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11 NIV)

Do we get the point? If we have a heart that is closed to new revelation and reluctant to acknowledge that something radical and different may be the truth, we are in trouble. With that attitude, it is probable that no amount of examining Scripture (however commendable that is) will ever change our minds. We need both the eagerness to hear from God and the willingness to check things out by examining Scripture. In other words, our heart must be right in this BEFORE we can test anything properly.

The attitude of our heart is very important to God, as per 1 Sam 16:7. "... The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

The Importance Of Scripture

2 Tim 3:16-17 NIV
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

I'm not going to debate hermeneutics (methods of interpreting Scripture) here. For various reasons, I believe the bible is the inspired word of God in accordance with its own claim outlined above. It is therefore very important to me when considering how to train myself (or others) in methods of testing prophecy that I base my approach on biblical standards. This I have tried to do.

Please understand that I do not exclude tests of prophecy which are not specifically mentioned in the Bible. But I would weigh up those tests themselves in the light of what Scripture does say!

Ways To Test Prophecy

The tests to be conducted are ranked in my personal order of priority. Your mileage may differ and you will probably think of other tests to apply as well. Please feel free to do so!

I am going to list my tests here, and then I will develop them in the next lesson. Here are 10 tests you can use to judge prophecy.

  1. Does It Contradict Scripture?
  2. Did The Prophecy Come True?
  3. Does The Prophecy Uplift Jesus Or Somebody Else?
  4. What Is The Character Of The Prophet?
  5. Is There An Inner Witness Of The Holy Spirit?
  6. Is There An Independent Witness?
  7. Does The Word Set Us Free?
  8. Does The Prophet Testify That Jesus Is God In The Flesh?
  9. What Does Your Church Leadership Say?
  10. What Is The Prophet's Attitude Towards Other Brothers/Sisters?


-- © GodSpeak International 2009 --
-- Do not republish without written permission from <copyright@godspeak.net> --

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