I have just finished listening to the second seminar in the Training Track on the Prophetic by Guy Miller - and once again it was of an extremely high calibre. I am constantly amazed that again and again each session was not about simply impartation of information (although we all did learn lots) but it was about an impartation of the Spirit. Guy Miller (like Julian the day before) seemed so eager to deliver his information so that they could "do the stuff"! Enjoy and may it stir up a greater degree of the prophetic wherever it is read.
TT2 on Prophecy – Guy Miller and Julian Adams – TOAM 07
Julian Adams – It is only appropriate that we start off by loving on Him a little bit. In hearts and minds engage with Him. We are all leaders so we have got free access – we don’t need Kate Simmonds up here! It is our free and wonderful privilege to be sons of the Living God. We can enjoy any part of God that He has to offer us. Let us pack this place with the glory of God. You are a speaking, laughing, loving God! What an exciting time we have had. Feel a personal call to see the level of prophecy and revelation increase among us as a family of churches. Too much dodgy weird mystical stuff going on. We need a clear call for truth as we weigh the prophetic. My Bible says unbelievers should be convicted by the prophetic among us, fall down and say God is among us in this place. It is vitally important that we are equipped in the area of weighing so that we can spot the false. This is prophetic – we will see an increase in the false manifestation of the prophetic. We must be equipped to weigh. Guy is going to speak to us on this.
Guy Miller – At Christmas the great excitement is the wrapping paper with children! The risen ascended King of Kings has given to His church power gifts to allow us to know Him, to love Him and to extend His kingdom. These power gifts can be trivialised like wrapping paper and we are told that they are not really necessary to extend the Kingdom of God. Paul wrote “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire – do not treat prophecy with contempt”. We want to honour the gift of prophecy here today! In the battle for truth we want to look at prophecy in meetings. If we are to fully understand this – we must trace the roots of prophecy back into the OT in order to understand this wonderful gift. (Gen 20:7) Abraham was called to be the first prophet but the normative OT prophet by which all prophecies and prophets were aligned through the OT was Moses himself.
(Deut 18:14). “As for you the people of God … will raise up for you a prophet like me”.
1. There must be clear calling.
He stood before God before he would stand before men. We need face to face encounter with God. The fear of God must grip the prophet’s heart not the fear of man. It will hold the prophet. We all have access to the throne of grace.
2. There must be clear place for prophets.
Prophets were never side-lined. They weren’t incidental to the people of God. They were not weirdoes – they occupy a major role in the people of God! Samuel was sought by the people. These people spoke about future events and summoned the people away from sin and idolatry. This is an important gift!
3. Their role was to be clear proclaimers.
The prophet’s primary call was to bring the living connection and knowledge of a holy God into the worshipping community.
There was to be a connection of the living God into the community. Don’t get so caught up with prediction that we miss out on the fact that God is present and wanting to encounter His people! “Our God reigns!”. (Isaiah 40). His primary task was to remind them that God is on the throne.
4. Clear Prediction (Amos 3).
A clear mark is to see something on the horizon – that God is impressing upon them. Something future and demonstrated now with a present word. In prediction the prophet demonstrates the sovereignty of God and shows Him to be the Lord of history intimately involved in the affairs of man. The scope of the prophet is wide encompassing words of knowledge, teaching, dreaming, and visions. Almost clairvoyant words of knowledge at times! (2 Kings 6:8-12). Sometimes you can think your life is safe and hidden and you come to a meeting where a prophet will read your emails!
5. Clear Prayer.
These were ordinary men who knew where the power came from. They knew how to draw aside and spend time with God. When the battle was raging Moses was on the hillside with his arms raised in prayer. If we want to raise the bar in prophecy we must come to our meetings prepared in prayer.
Prophets come in a number of shapes and sizes. They don’t come all in Julian shapes or Sam Poe shapes!
True or False?
The prophet in the OT was not the final judge on the validity of his message.
False prophets can get it right. The true test to be applied is much more theological. The false prophet will draw people away from a living relationship with God and drive them into sin and self and idolatry whereas the true prophet will draw people into worship and closer relationship with Jesus Christ the Living One.
NT – prophecy and prophets is all over the NT. In Jesus all prophecy was being fulfilled. All around Jesus birth there was prophecy after prophecy. The church promise when the Day of Pentecost approached was covered and marked by the prophetic. The revelation of Moses (Numbers 11) finds it’s fulfilment at Pentecost when the Spirit of God is poured out and the church is birthed into the dynamic of the Holy Spirit.
Questions
(1 Corinthians 14:1-5). NT gift in operation. “Especially the Gift of Prophecy!”.
Who is to prophecy? Everyone and anyone! All men and women – young and old! We want this gift poured out continuously on the Church!
Who are the prophets? – people who move consistently in this gift.
Why prophecy? They are loving gifts given by a loving God to a loving church to be administered lovingly. (1 Cor 13) if we are not motivated by the love of God then the power manifested is a clanging gong.
What is this gift? It speaks to men for their strengthening.
The prophetic is intelligible words given from God administering direction to those it is addressed.
Prophecy is not adding in any way to the Bible. We don’t put prophecy over the Bible – we weigh prophecy by the Bible. But when we go walking – we take a map and a compass. The map is our final authority. It tells of the pitfalls, and the end destination. But the compass sets us clearly on the map. Of course we need Scripture – it’s full and final and everything we need. But we need to know where we are on the map. The compass will direct us when the fog comes in. Of course we believe in the supremacy of Scripture but it’s never either or. Preaching must occupy a high place in our communities but prophecy needs to be released and heard.
How? How do we prophecy? How do we use it and see it in our meetings? Be submitted to authority! We must recognise the importance of biblical authority. It must be in the context of the local church. The prophecy is not authoritarian. God gives us permission to use it but there are boundaries. The boundaries are within the loving community of the local church, under the Word of God and submitted to eldership. Met many people who have been in a meeting and God has spoken to them – they have taken it out of context and run into anti-eldership and eventually into spiritual backsliding. “God told me through a prophecy to marry a non-Christian” or “God told me I need never give to the local church”. It is foolishness! Submit ourselves willingly to those in authority!
The gift is clear. It must be clear! Make sure what you say is intelligible, Scriptural, truthful and in line with what others have spoken! Don’t miss what God is genuinely prompting by getting the language wrong!
How many? 2 or 3. After 23 have been given the power is lost and dissipated. You don’t need to go and add to 2 or 3 if you are saying the same thing. Need to wait after those 2 or 3 – be mindful and let the Holy Spirit speak clearly without overburdening. One person never gets it all. We need to work in a team!
God speaks in visions – a vision of the future which induces passion and faith to change how we live now! Through actions, pictures, the world around us.
Where? Not out in the isolated lone ranger world but in the community – the Spirit-filled community of the Body. There is so much for us to experience in these seminars.
The fruit of prophecy? (v3) “Strengthening, encouraging, edification and comfort”. Tongues is for private devotion.
1. Edification. When prophecy comes it should build something. We should feel closer to God and to our brothers and sisters when we receive this gift.
2. Encouragement. There should be a courage transfusion taking place when prophecy is in action. The prophetic speaks and courage is imparted! A prophet speaks and we feel like we can walk on water!
3. Unbelievers falling down. This is real seeker-sensitive meetings! These are the meetings they need to be in because this is where the power of God is!
We must be a people of the Spirit of God where the spirit of prophecy is operating on a daily basis! More unbelievers have responded to the prophetic than through my Gospel preaching!
Don’t try and tame our meetings – let them be truly charismatic with the wild dynamic of the Holy Spirit!
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