Why It’s Right to Embrace Prophecies in the Local Church

In today’s podcast, we take a look at prophecies in the local church. Now, the simple gift of prophecy is speaking unto men for edification, exhortation, and comfort. Sometimes this gift of the Spirit goes hand in hand with some of the other gifts listed in First Corinthians twelve. Check this story out from the life of John Wesley for example. Wesley was not an advocate of sensationalism in preaching. But on one occasion, he interrupted his own sermon and shouted, “Lord, is Saul also among the prophets? Is James Watson here? If he be, show Thy power!” And James Watson dropped to the floor and began to cry loudly for God’s mercy!¹ Wesley called this man’s name out when he didn’t even know who this man was — the result of this remarkable manifestation was the salvation of that man. There’s a story where Charles Spurgeon, at a Monday evening prayer meeting, suddenly interrupted his sermon, pointed in a certain direction, and said, “Young man, those gloves you are wearing have not been paid for; you have stolen them from your employer!” After the meeting, a young man came to the vestry and begged to see Spurgeon. Pale and trembling, the young man confessed that he had stolen the gloves he was wearing! He promised never to steal again and begged Spurgeon not to expose him to his employer.² Manifestations of the Spirit — Gifts of the Spirit — Prophecies that come from the Spirit — that’s our focus today. Why It’s Right to Embrace Prophecies in the Local Church all on this week’s Light on Life.

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
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Have you received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost since you believed? This is available for every born-again child of God.

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Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
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Question: What’s your testimony of being filled with the Spirit? Share your story in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of First Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 47 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Prayer

Father God, your word said that we are not to be ignorant of things pertaining to and of the Holy Ghost. We ask you today to open up the eys of our understanding. Help us to see prophecy as we should in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Podcast Notes

Working with the Spirit of God and Prophecies

1 Thessalonians 5:19–22 (ESV) 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.

So, we saw in a previous podcast where we saw that there were three verses linked together as Paul closes out his first letter to the Thessalonians — rejoice — pray — and give thanks.
Here we have the same kind of thing: four verses with four commands, all linked together.

Don’t quench the Spirit.
Don’t despise prophecies
Test everything and hold fast to what is good.
Abstain from every form of evil.

These verses deal with how believers should work with the Spirit of God.
These are linked instructions — they are not independent.
If your heart’s desire is to work with the Spirit then, don’t quench the Spirit – we will talk about what that means.
Allow prophecies to flow — that’s the simple gift of prophecy listed in First Corinthians Twelve, as well as tongues and interpretation of tongues.
Test those prophecies to see if they are in line with the Word — if they are, hold to them and if they are not, let them go.
And lastly, keep yourself pure — abstain from evil so that the Spirit can flow through you as untainted as possible.
So, let’s drill down a bit into this.

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies in Acts

First Thessalonians is the first letter to a church that Paul wrote.
The first letter to the Corinthians, which addresses the Nine Gifts of the Spirit, which addresses tongues, interpretation of tongues in a local assembly had not been written yet.
That’s significant because it gives us a clue as to what was happening in the early church.
There were manifestations of the Holy Ghost — the gifts of the Spirit were in manifestation without any teaching on what or how these movings of the Spirit work.
God was moving among the Thessalonians!
He was being who He is in their midst.
This didn’t just happen in Thessalonica.
You see God’s moving upon those uneducated in the things of the Spirit of God in the book of Acts.

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Saved But Not Filled

Acts 19:1–2 (ESV) — 1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

So, here we have disciples, that’s what the scripture calls them.
Jesus said, go into all the world and make disciples — so these people in Ephesus are ‘made disciples.’
Then this passage in Acts says that these people from Ephesus believed.
Did you hear that from verse two?
Adding weight to this comes this verse in Mark’s gospel.

Mark 16:16 (ESV) — 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

So we got the believing part of this – The Ephesians were disciples and they believed.
But, Mark 16:16 says that if you believe and are baptized, you will be saved.
That’s still not a problem because the next part of Acts 19 is verse three and it says.

Acts 19:3 (ESV) — 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.”

So, they are called disciples, they believed and, they were baptized.
So, what you see here are born-again people who did not receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
That’s what the scripture says plain and simple.
The Greek literally says, “Having believed, did you receive?”
That clearly separates the two events — salvation and the Baptism of the Holy Ghost
An individual can come to Jesus and not have the Baptism of the Spirit.
“Having believed — did you receive.”
Doesn’t that communicate that to receive, you must believe first?

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies Takes A Bit of Knowledge

So, to this question ‘Did you receive the Holy Ghost since you believed, these Ephesian believers said, ‘Nope, we didn’t even know there was a Holy Spirit.’
Well, if you don’t know, how can you believe?
You know that’s what Romans 10 says.

Romans 10:14 (ESV) — 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

So, they couldn’t receive because they lacked knowledge of the availability of the promise of God.
It takes a bit of knowledge.
Knowing what the promise of God is, helps.
Understanding what Jesus did — what He provided by His life, death, and resurrection is needful.
Once again, receiving the Baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with tongues is a distinct experience separate from salvation.

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: The Spirit Within

Now, let’s get out into the water a little deeper with this truth.
Every person who comes to Jesus enthroning Him as Lord of their life has the Holy Spirit already in them.
Let me prove that to you — so hold the original thought — you can be a Jesus disciple and not have the Baptism of the Spirit.
Let me prove to you that every born-again believer has the Spirit of God in them.
Let’s go to Romans eight.

Romans 8:8–9 (ESV) — 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Did you hear that?
If you don’t have the Spirit of God in you, you’re not even saved.
Flip that around then.
Saying ‘Yes’ to Jesus which is part of the born-again experience, part of ‘if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature which is 2 Corinthians 5:17, is having the Spirit of God come into your heart.
The Spirit of God is not a commuter or a hitchhiker — He doesn’t get on and off the train.
He doesn’t come and go or jump in and out of the vehicle.
Born again folk have the Spirit of God in them.
All believers can be led by the Spirit, receive leadings from the Lord, and get direction for their life because He is in them.

Romans 8:14 (ESV) — 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Then, of course, you must couple this with verse sixteen.

Romans 8:16 (ESV) — 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

How could the Spirit of God bear witness with your human spirit if He’s not in your human spirit to start with?
He must be inside for you to get directions from inside.
So, this is further proof that all born-again children of God have the Spirit of God in them or else they couldn’t get direction.
How would you obey God without His leading?
How could you fulfill the particular will of God for your life without direction?
Are you just going to head out on your own?
How has that worked for you in the past?

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: How Do You Know You’re Full?

These believers in Ephesus were saved.
They had the Spirit of God in them but they weren’t filled with the Spirit.
It’s like drinking water.
It’s one thing to take a sip of water — that’s having a little water in you — it’s another thing to be full of water.
So then, it’s one thing to have the Holy Spirit in you — it’s another thing to be filled with the Spirit.
It’s important to be filled.
How do you know if you’re full?
There’s one sure way of knowing.

Acts 2:4 (ESV) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

We covered a bit of territory here for a reason.
There’s a vital clue in this Acts nineteen passage — these people didn’t even know there was a Holy Spirit.
Yet, look what happens to them.

Acts 19:4–6 (ESV) — And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

They didn’t even know there was a Holy Spirit, yet when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and tongues flowed up out of them.
When you’re full, you get to talking.

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Spirit Within Spirit Upon

Now, reread verse six again.

6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

So, the Spirit of God is in these believers.
We’ve proved that.
But, the scripture says that the Spirit came upon them.
And, when He came upon them, they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
So, get it now — He was already in them but He came upon them.
Spirit upon – Spirit within.

Acts 8:14–16 (ESV) — Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

He, the Holy Spirit, had not fallen on any of them.

Acts 10:44–45 (ESV) — 44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.

Again, the Spirit fell on them.

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Spirit Upon for a Reason

This thought contains at least one clue that can help people receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.
When the Spirit of God comes on you, He does so for a reason.
Look for the reason.
If you’re in a group of people, and the Spirit of God comes upon you, be open to the fact that maybe God wants to minister to someone.
Maybe start asking the Lord – who is this for?
Look for someone to minister to.
Now, if you are by yourself and the Spirit of God comes upon you, it’s obvious who He wants to minister to – you!
But, in either case, you have to yield to the reason why He came upon you.
Now, that gets us right back to our verses in First Thessalonians.

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Don’t Quench the Spirit

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies,

You can yield or you can quench.
The Greek word ‘quench’ is the one we want to look at and with that thought, here’s the Definition of the Day.
The Greek word ‘quench’ means to put out; extinguish, stifle, suppress, stop burning; to extinguish a fire.

Luke 3:16 (ESV) — 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Now, jump over to the Book of Revelation.

Revelation 4:5 (ESV) — 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God,

You can see from these passages that the Spirit of God is associated with fire.
Since you can, then understand why the word quench is used here is evident.
Quench means to put out the fire.
The Word of God is saying don’t put out fire, yield to it.
Give into it – exercise your will and yield to Him.

Acts 2:1–4 (ESV) — When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Again, can you see the Spirit upon here?
Divided tongues sat upon them.

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Speaking with Tongues

Look at this dynamic when speaking with tongues.
When a person speaks with tongues, that utterance comes out of their spirit.
The brain doesn’t have anything to do with tongues.
Tongues bypass the cerebral cortex.
God is not a brain — He’s a Spirit.
But, when the Spirit of God comes upon.
Notice three things in this passage.

The Spirit came upon them — rested on them.
They got filled.
They spoke with tongues.

Naturally, when you get full emotionally, you speak.
When you get full of excitement, you speak.
When you get full of Him, you speak.
Now, you can quench that.
You can drain off that anointing by doing things other than what that anointing was intended for in that given moment.
I’ve seen this.
In the Holiness church, I was raised, the Spirit would fall like rain in that church but most of what people would do is dance or shout.
Now, they did that because that’s all they knew.
But, we see here in this passage in Acts that the Spirit of God didn’t come upon them to dance and shout but to speak out in prophecy.
Now sometimes when the Spirit comes upon you you need to dance and shout.
Other times, you need to lay hands on people for various reasons – that anointing that’s on you needs to be imparted to others.
At times when He comes upon you, it’s for healing — at times it’s for direction — at times it’s for encouragement — at times it’s to impart gifts.
The more we know, the more we can yield and allow the Spirit of God greater expression.
Repeating – He was in them but He came upon them.
Here’s another thing we can learn about Acts nineteen.

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Laying on of Hands

Acts 19:6 (ESV) — 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

There is a special anointing whereby an individual can lay hands on a person and instantly speak with tongues.
My spiritual dad, Kenneth Hagin had this anointing.
He would lay hands on someone and say ‘Be filled with the Spirit’ and as fast as you snap your fingers they would speak with other tongues.
He got tens of thousands of people filled with the Spirit just by the laying on of hands.
He got more people baptized in the Holy Ghost by accident than most do on purpose.
There were meetings where an entire altar call full of people just instantly started speaking in tongues all at the same time.
The Spirit of God fell suddenly on all of them at once.
Now, it’s super important that we talk about these kinds of manifestations.

Mark 16:15–17 (ESV) — 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

Signs accompany those who believe — it didn’t say signs accompany those who are saved.
Now, there shouldn’t be a difference but there is.
Saved people should believe all of the Bible but they don’t always do.
So, what’s the answer to this?
Keep reading.

Mark 16:18 (ESV) — 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.

The Lord works with the message.
KJV has it confirms the Word.
The Lord confirms the Word with accompanying signs — that’s how He works.
So, there should be manifestations of the Spirit — that’s how the Lord works —if there are not, the problem is with the message.
To get miracles, you have to preach miracles.
To have signs, you’ve got to preach signs.
To get people healed, you have to preach healing.
To dance in the Spirit, to sing in the Spirit you have to teach in these areas.
To have visions and manifestations of the nine gifts of the Spirit, you have to talk about them.
This is how you get these things to work.
Unusual anointing(s) — special manifestations have to be given space — God works with the message.
The problem is not God — He’s ready — the problem is the message.
So these disciples in Ephesus, who never had heard about the Holy Spirit, when Paul laid his hands on them were filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke with tongues and prophesied.
The point is that these people had no clue about the Holy Ghost but didn’t stop the manifestation from occurring.
There was no written teaching because the Corinthians hadn’t even been written — yet, they prophesied.
That’s marvelous.

Now, Father God thank you for the simple gift of prophecy. We will obey your word and not quench the Spirit. The fire that you start we will not put out. Thank you for teaching us your way. Thank you for opening to us the ways of the Spirit of God in Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen.

Why It’s Right to Embrace Prophecies in the Local Church.
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

The Secret to Prophecy

__________
References:

Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching and Preachers, W. Wiersbe, (Moody Press, Chicago; 1984), p. 247 ↩
Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002). ↩

emeryhorvath.com

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Why It’s Right to Embrace Prophecies in the Local Church

Podcast: Light on Life Season Ten Episode Forty-Two

by Emery Horvath

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Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of First Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

Working with the Spirit of God and Prophecies

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies in Acts

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Saved But Not Filled

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies Takes A Bit of Knowledge

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: The Spirit Within

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: How Do You Know You’re Full?

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Spirit Within Spirit Upon

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Spirit Upon for a Reason

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Don’t Quench the Spirit

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Speaking with Tongues

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Laying on of Hands

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of First Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

Working with the Spirit of God and Prophecies

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies in Acts

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Saved But Not Filled

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies Takes A Bit of Knowledge

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: The Spirit Within

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: How Do You Know You’re Full?

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Spirit Within Spirit Upon

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Spirit Upon for a Reason

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Don’t Quench the Spirit

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Speaking with Tongues

Working with the Spirit and Prophecies: Laying on of Hands

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