Last week I introduced this subject area of spiritual gifts by sharing the “Categories of Gifts.” Based on 1 Corinthians 12.4-7 I shared that there are Motivational Gifts, Ministry Gifts and Manifestation Gifts. Every Christian, every believer, every born again child of God is given a spiritual gift. This spiritual gift is a desire, a drive, a motivation which is given by the Holy Spirit and activated at salvation for the purpose of achieving God’s supernatural goals through your life. A spiritual gift is a supernatural motivation, it’s your HEART. It’s the gift that God has built into you, made a part of you to be used for the benefit of others and for His glory. It’s the grace of God given as the desire, motive and power to accomplish His will. It’s a spiritual endowment, a divine gratuity that enables you to minister to the needs of the members of the Body of Christ. Your spiritual gift is what gives your life meaning and purpose, it’s what shapes your personality, it’s your HEART, who your are!
Now, how do you go about discovering your spiritual gift? Well, first of all you must accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Next initiate the process of your discovery by prayer. Then you must be desiring to allow Christ to live His life out through you, living a Christ-dependent and Christ-directed life. That means you sincerely desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to live a Spirit-empowered life. In the process of studying the Bible or participating in a conference like we had this past weekend or participating in a worship service where the spiritual gifts are taught the Holy Spirit has the opportunity to reveal to you an “Ah ha” wherein you come to a realization “this is who I am,” “that’s me!” That’s my hope as I preach on the 7 motivational spiritual gifts in the weeks ahead. As we look at the gift of prophecy today, let’s look at:
I. The Context of the Gift of Prophecy
There are several things that will help set the context for our understanding the gift of Prophecy. First of all, the person who personifies the profile of a prophet or perceiver is the apostle Peter. He spoke more often than any other disciple and also became the spokesman for the early Church. Peter was always having something to say. Whether it was on the Mount of Transfiguration speaking about building booths for Moses, Elijah and Jesus, or the Confession of who the Christ was – the Son of the living God at Caesarea Philippi, Peter was always opening his mouth and many times he was sticking his foot into it. A prophet is one who clearly perceives the truth or the will of God. He or she readily perceives, prays about, proclaims and promotes the will of God.
Of course, we’re given some Guidelines for the use of the gift by the Holy Spirit in the context of the aftermath of the list of gifts in verses 9 -15. The Guidelines for the gift of prophecy is in verse 9, “Love must be sincere, without hypocrisy.” If you’re going to “speak the truth in love” then you must be true in your love for your fellow believers. You must be sincere, genuine, honest, real and true in your love for others. Paul also says in the exercise of the gift of prophecy you must “abhor evil or hate evil.” You must dislike, despise, detest and deplore that which is wrong or unrighteous or evil. Then, cling to what is good. Hold fast or hold tenaciously to what is good and right and true and holy.
The OT prophets of course predicted the future – often in terms of the judgment of sin. But they also spoke forth a message from God for the current time as well. Today the motivation of a prophet is to use Scripture “to reveal unrighteous motives and actions in the lives of God’s people.” One of the most needed principles for practicing it in the life of a prophet or perceiver in order to exercise your motivational spiritual gift is a clear conscience. If you’re to perceive the truth and speak the truth in love you must have a clear conscience. The reason being is because basically the gift of prophecy is used today to proclaim truth and expose sin. Well, let’s look at:
II. The Characteristics of the Gift of Prophecy
The Greek word for Prophet is “propheteia” which means, an inspired speaker – to show or make known one’s thoughts, to speak, say or affirm. The prominent idea is the inspired delivery of warning, exhortation, instruction, judging and making manifest the secrets of the heart. So in the context of motivational gifts it refers to one who is especially sensitive to perceiving the will of God and then proclaiming it or depending upon the Lord’s direction, praying for it to be accomplished. The perceiver is usually called to intercession. More specific characteristics include:
1. Need to express themselves
This person needs to express their thoughts and ideas verbally, especially when matters of right and wrong are involved. You feel a responsibility to correct those who do wrong. Peter spoke more often than any other disciple and also became the spokesman for the early church.
2. Quick impressions of people
Prophets tend to make quick judgments on what they hear and see. You can quickly discern a person’s character. They quickly and accurately identify good and evil and they hate evil. They usually view people or situations as either in or out of the will of God. They are bold and outspoken. They tend to express their views before others speak. In fact, Peter speaks first more than any other disciple.
3. Alertness to Dishonesty
This person has an amazing ability to sense when someone or something is not what it appears to be. They react harshly to any form of deception or dishonesty. You separate yourself from those who refuse to repent of evil. You see everything as either black or white; no gray or indefinite areas. You form quick evaluations and make decisions easily, decisive.
4. Open about their own faults
They are open about their own failures just as they want others to be about theirs. You’re quick to judge yourself when you fail. You’re eager to see your own blind spots and to help others see theirs. You feel the need to verbalize or dramatize what you see. You let people know how you feel about important issues. But the light you shine on them, shines back on yourself.
5. Wholehearted involvement
Once committed to a cause, you’re wholeheartedly involved in it. Within the context of your commitment, you’re quick to respond to situations and opportunities. When Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, he asked Jesus to bid him to come. You desire to be obedient to God at all costs. You enjoy people who are completely honest with you.
6. 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). You’re willing to do right even if it means suffering alone for it.
7. Willingness to suffer for right
These persons are willing to suffer when it comes to standing for the truth or doing what is right. They view the Bible as the basis for truth, belief, action and authority. They also grieve deeply over the sins of others as well. They have strict personal standards and strong opinions and convictions.
These are not all of the characteristics that we could talk about, but does this describe you? Do you hear the Holy Spirit say “that’s you?” Well, there’s one other area we need to look at that’s:
III. Carrying the Gift of Prophecy too far
You can carry your spiritual gift too far. You can abuse the use of your gift or misuse your gift. You can utilize the gift while walking after the flesh and cause more harm than good in ministering to members in the Body of Christ. Here are some ways you can carry the Gift of Prophecy too far:
1. By exposing without restoring
By being concerned about stopping the spread of evil, it tends to cause a prophet to expose a sinner rather than restoring or redeeming him. In doing so, he fails the spiritual test of Gal 6.1. Of course, the prophet believes that exposure of sin is the first step of restoration.
2. By Jumping to conclusions
Prophets tend to draw conclusions from a few known facts. Once a hasty conclusion has been made, prophets tend to look for confirming evidence. That can result in their taking words and actions of the accused out of context in order to prove their point.
3. By Being unforgiving
It’s very difficult for this person to make a separation between sin and the sinner. Therefore, he tends to reject them both with equal vigor. And those who hear his harshness interpret his denunciation as angry tirades.
4. By Condemning themselves
The harsh judgments which prophets have for others, they also have for themselves. They tend to be extremely self-critical and feel worthless when they fail. For that reason they struggle with self-image issues.
5. By Being impetuous
That is impulsive, quick and rash. Because of the tendency to make quick decisions, one can be very impulsive and can vacillate between extremes. At first Peter refused to allow Jesus to wash his feet; then he asked Jesus to wash his whole body John 13.6.
6. By Lacking tactfulness in rebuke
Prophets tend to be painfully direct when correcting others, no matter who they are. They tend to be judgmental and blunt. It’s that case of foot-in-the-mouth disease.
7. By Dwelling on the negative
Prophets tend to divide everything into two classes – right and wrong. Once they label a person or activity, that judgment tends to be fixed in their minds and they often feel compelled to persuade others to agree with them. In doing so they can become negative and critical in their spirit.
Understanding your motivational spiritual gift is so important to the effective and joyful living of your Christian life. It will elevate your self-esteem and produce joy in your life. At the same time, the Body life of the church will take on new life and ministry involvement will increase as every member of the Body functions in useful and meaningful ministry. Does this sound like you? If not there are six more opportunities for the Holy Spirit to reveal your gift. However, the first step in receiving a spiritual gift is to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior – have you? Perhaps, the Lord has convicted you of sin in your life or called you to make a re-affirmation of His Lordship – would you respond?
