SPEAKER_00: You're listening to the VFC Sermon Podcast.
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SPEAKER_00: We hope that this message helps you in your walk with Jesus and encourages you to belong, believe, and become.
SPEAKER_01: But here's the tension.
SPEAKER_01: How did I know that he wasn't hearing from God?
SPEAKER_01: Because the moment someone says God told me, stuff gets really complicated, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Elephants in the Room.
SPEAKER_01: Every August we talk about tough topics and sensitive subjects, and you guys, we are so excited.
SPEAKER_01: We have Ernie the Elephant back on stage.
SPEAKER_01: I had no idea when I hired Cynthia that she was the elephant whisperer.
SPEAKER_01: It was not on a resume, but she was able to resuscitate.
SPEAKER_01: We'll just say resurrect.
SPEAKER_01: Ernie the elephant, at least for now.
SPEAKER_01: We'll see how long he makes it.
SPEAKER_01: Reminder as we talk about these tough topics, four rules I want us all to abide by.
SPEAKER_01: First of all, I'm not targeting anyone through this message.
SPEAKER_01: I never will.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, please give me time to formulate points and cover the subject fully.
SPEAKER_01: It's my job not only to tell you what you already believe, but to stretch you and make sure what you believe lines up with the word.
SPEAKER_01: Three, you have not only the right but the responsibility to check up on what I say, verify it.
SPEAKER_01: If I share a statistic, if I share a Bible verse, make sure it says what I say it says.
SPEAKER_01: And then lastly, if you disagree with me or get offended about something, please reach out to me personally.
SPEAKER_01: I'd love to talk with you.
SPEAKER_01: I don't consider disagreement a sin.
SPEAKER_01: We can just talk through things, okay?
SPEAKER_01: So today we're talking about prophecy and false prophets.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've heard someone share something that they said was from God and it didn't sit right with you.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they didn't hear from God.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they heard from him, but they didn't share it well.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe it was from God and your heart wasn't ready to receive.
SPEAKER_01: How can you tell?
SPEAKER_01: How do we deal with the idea of prophecy?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've also heard about some well-known prophets on social media who've been discovered to be false prophets.
SPEAKER_01: One guy in particular, and I only name him just because I'm not trying to pile on, but I'm naming him so that you know, first of all, he's a false prophet, but second of all, he's a great example of something that's recently been happening.
SPEAKER_01: But there's a guy named Sean Bowles who was recently discovered to be hot-reading congregations.
SPEAKER_01: He would request attendance lists for church meetings and conferences, then he would look them up on social media, do a little data mining, and then he would find out information about them and pass it off as prophecy, as if he received it from God.
SPEAKER_01: Made him look really good.
SPEAKER_01: Sold lots of books about how to prophesy, and he was invited to speak in many places.
SPEAKER_01: Problem, he wasn't prophesying, he was prophetlying.
SPEAKER_01: It was fake, really bothered a lot of people, and in some cases it caused people to doubt the role of prophecy in the church today.
SPEAKER_01: But consider this, just think about this.
SPEAKER_01: Counterfeits don't prove that the real thing doesn't exist, they prove the real thing is valuable enough to counterfeit.
SPEAKER_01: So if we see a counterfeit of something, we know that that thing is valuable.
SPEAKER_01: We see a counterfeit$100 bill, it's because$100 is worth something.
SPEAKER_01: If we see counterfeit prophecy, it's because prophecy is important.
SPEAKER_01: So what do we do?
SPEAKER_01: If we reject everything prophetic, we ignore something Scripture tells us to desire.
SPEAKER_01: But if we accept everything labeled prophetic, we expose ourselves to deception.
SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about our framework we like to use jeering elephants in the room.
SPEAKER_01: It's called the messy middle.
SPEAKER_01: It's the messy middle.
SPEAKER_01: This is where we take two truths, hold them together at the same time in order to find the most accurate version of truth available.
SPEAKER_01: Now we do this all the time.
SPEAKER_01: Is our church located on Highway 19 North?
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Is our church located right off of Georgia Highway 202?
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_01: Well, which one is it?
SPEAKER_01: It's both.
SPEAKER_01: And in holding both of those truths at the same time, we have the most precise location of the church.
SPEAKER_01: It's the same way when it comes with biblical truth.
SPEAKER_01: So I want to share with you two messy middle statements about prophecy and false prophets, and we're going to work our way through them this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Here they are.
SPEAKER_01: First, God still speaks through the gift of prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: End of sentence.
SPEAKER_01: That's true.
SPEAKER_01: He is still speaking through prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: But here's the other statement that's true.
SPEAKER_01: Not everyone who claims to speak for God actually does.
SPEAKER_01: These are both true statements that we have to hold in tension with one another.
SPEAKER_01: The first truth statement is that God still speaks through the gift of prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: Well, that should make you ask, okay, what is prophecy?
SPEAKER_01: What is prophecy?
SPEAKER_01: The word prophecy comes from the Greek word propheto, which means to speak by inspiration of God.
SPEAKER_01: Or, I'm a simple man, as I like to define it, prophecy is saying what God is saying.
SPEAKER_01: If God has said something, he communicates it to us, and then we say it to another individual or group.
SPEAKER_01: We have just prophesied.
SPEAKER_01: That's what prophecy is.
SPEAKER_01: Contrary to popular belief, prophecy is not simply predicting the future.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I think this is going to happen.
SPEAKER_01: That's predicting, and prophecy can be about the future because God certainly knows the future, but prophecy is primarily declaring God's heart in the present moment.
SPEAKER_01: It's saying what he is saying now.
SPEAKER_01: How cool is that?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, think about it.
SPEAKER_01: With the gift of prophecy, we get to be God's microphone, speaking his messages to his children.
SPEAKER_01: In 1 Corinthians, Paul is correcting the church.
SPEAKER_01: They had an overemphasis on speaking in tongues.
SPEAKER_01: And he tells them, if you really want to be the most helpful, you should desire to prophesy.
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at it.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Corinthians, we're going to look at chapter 14, verses 1 and 3.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Let love be your highest goal.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, before you hear anything else, it's all about love.
SPEAKER_01: It's all about loving other people, it's all about loving the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: If you make it your goal to love the Lord well, love other people well, you're going to be okay when it comes to prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: Let love be your highest goal.
SPEAKER_01: But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives.
SPEAKER_01: These are spiritual gifts.
SPEAKER_01: Look, can I just say this?
SPEAKER_01: It's okay for you to desire spiritual gifts.
SPEAKER_01: I've heard people say, well, I don't want the gift.
SPEAKER_01: I just want the giver.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, cool.
SPEAKER_01: But what if the giver wants to give you a gift?
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of rude not to accept it.
SPEAKER_01: That's weird.
SPEAKER_01: I got a birthday coming up.
SPEAKER_01: Tiff's gonna give me some sort of present.
SPEAKER_01: It'd be weird if I was like, no, babe, I don't want that present.
SPEAKER_01: I just want you.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I want both.
SPEAKER_01: And there's nothing wrong with that.
SPEAKER_01: So earnestly desire the special abilities the Spirit gives, especially, okay, so he's highlighting especially the ability to prophesy.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 3 the one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them.
SPEAKER_01: So, first of all, we're defining prophecy here.
SPEAKER_01: First of all, it strengthens.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I've heard some people say that if a prophetic word is not 100% positive and affirming and happy, then it's not prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: But I don't know if you notice this or not, but you only get stronger through resistance.
SPEAKER_01: You don't get stronger through affirmation.
SPEAKER_01: Corrective words are good because they grow us.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, we need to hear that God loves us.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, guess what?
SPEAKER_01: God loves you.
SPEAKER_01: But also, we need reminders to get our act together and stop being stupid.
SPEAKER_01: Because that grows us.
SPEAKER_01: God loves you enough to tell you the truth.
SPEAKER_01: And the truth is, there's always room for improvement in our walk with Christ.
SPEAKER_01: So prophecy strengthens, but prophecy also encourages us too.
SPEAKER_01: Encouragement helps us keep going when we're tempted to quit.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes God will use another person to remind you of something he's already been saying to you, to call out a gifting or an ability he's placed inside you, or to simply say, hey, you're headed in the right direction.
SPEAKER_01: Keep going.
SPEAKER_01: Prophecy doesn't just reveal where you are currently, it often helps you see where God is taking you eventually.
SPEAKER_01: And so, in that way, prophecy encourages.
SPEAKER_01: And then lastly, prophecy comforts us.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit's called the comforter.
SPEAKER_01: You know why?
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we need comfort.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes this life can be tough.
SPEAKER_01: Things don't go the way we expect.
SPEAKER_01: We get disappointed.
SPEAKER_01: And in these moments, God uses prophecy to remind hurting people that He sees them and we're not alone.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean that prophecy magically removes the pain or the disappointment or the grief.
SPEAKER_01: But as we go through difficult circumstances, God will use prophecy, saying what God is saying, to give you the strength to walk through it.
SPEAKER_01: Now let me tell you something else about prophecy that's sometimes misunderstood.
SPEAKER_01: Prophecy is no longer reserved for a select few.
SPEAKER_01: When the Holy Spirit was first given at Pentecost, Peter explained with the first New Testament sermon what was happening.
SPEAKER_01: Acts chapter 2, 17 through 18, he's quoting an Old Testament passage, Joel chapter 2.
SPEAKER_01: He says, In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit upon all people.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, how many people?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, cool.
SPEAKER_01: You're paying attention, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
SPEAKER_01: So is it just men or is it also men and women?
SPEAKER_01: Men and women.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, just making sure you're listening.
SPEAKER_01: Your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
SPEAKER_01: Is it based on age?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, cool.
SPEAKER_01: I will pour out my spirit even on my servants, my men and women alike, and they will prophesy.
SPEAKER_01: Guys, man or woman, young or old, no matter your socioeconomic bracket, no matter what you do for a job, white collar, blue collar, hey, if you've been saved for two years, you've been saved for 20 years, the Lord has poured out and made available his spirit of prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: Unlike the Old Testament, when the Spirit of God came upon a specific person for a specific task, now the Holy Spirit is available to anyone who is willing to be used by him.
SPEAKER_01: Paul tells us to pursue prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: It's now available to us.
SPEAKER_01: Now, that doesn't mean that all Christians can prophesy equally.
SPEAKER_01: It also doesn't mean that there aren't some people who have a greater gifting when it comes to prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: But in the old covenant, people had to look for a prophet.
SPEAKER_01: In the new covenant, God has made the spirit of prophecy available to his people.
SPEAKER_01: That's good news.
SPEAKER_01: That means you don't have to, if you've got a question, if you've got an issue, you've got a situation, you don't have to get on the internet and say, okay, where's the nearest prophet near me?
SPEAKER_01: They did that in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: We got to find a prophet.
SPEAKER_01: Now you get to hear from the Lord yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Holy Spirit's available to you.
SPEAKER_01: And in your home church, the Lord wants to speak to his body.
SPEAKER_01: Other thing you should know about prophecy is that the church is instructed to still pursue prophecy today.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Corinthians 14, again, Paul is talking about the correct use of spiritual gifts in a church service, and he's comparing and contrasting the usefulness of tongues and prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: And he's saying, look, I know y'all like speaking in tongues, but it's only really helpful to others.
SPEAKER_01: It's helpful to you, but it's only helpful to others if it's interpreted.
SPEAKER_01: So what you should do is, first of all, interpret it, and second of all, pursue prophecy because that has the greater yield.
SPEAKER_01: That helps even more.
SPEAKER_01: And he summarizes this entire chapter with these two verses.
SPEAKER_01: So, my dear brothers and sisters, that's you.
SPEAKER_01: Be eager to prophesy, and don't forbid speaking in tongues, verse 40, but be sure that everything is done properly and in order.
SPEAKER_01: There's no instruction anywhere in the New Testament to stop seeking or stop pursuing or stop using gifts of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, Paul's writing this passage to a church that's misusing spiritual gifts.
SPEAKER_01: Corinth was a charismatic mess.
SPEAKER_01: They were doing it all wrong.
SPEAKER_01: They were even messing up the Lord's Supper by getting drunk at it.
SPEAKER_01: They needed a lot of instruction.
SPEAKER_01: That's why we use Jews, because some of y'all.
SPEAKER_01: But Paul's solution, now pay attention, this is really important.
SPEAKER_01: Paul's solution to the abuse of prophecy wasn't to eliminate it, it was to learn how to do it correctly.
SPEAKER_01: Or we could say it this way: the answer to bad prophecy isn't no prophecy, it's good prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: So the New Testament picture is clear.
SPEAKER_01: Prophecy is something the Holy Spirit gives to his church.
SPEAKER_01: Prophecy strengthens, it encourages, and it comforts people, and we're told to desire it, practice it, and continue to use it for the benefit of the church.
SPEAKER_01: That also includes protecting it.
SPEAKER_01: When something is not prophetic and it's claimed to be prophetic, in order to honor prophecy, we gotta call it out.
SPEAKER_01: We gotta call out the fake to preserve the real.
SPEAKER_01: Same Bible that tells us to desire prophecy also tells us not to believe every prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: So let me remind you of our second messy middle statement.
SPEAKER_01: Not everyone who claims to speak for God actually does.
SPEAKER_01: The New Testament repeatedly warns believers about false prophets and false teachers.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said this, Matthew 7, 15.
SPEAKER_01: Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really vicious wolves.
SPEAKER_01: All right, we immediately learn two things from this verse.
SPEAKER_01: First, there are false prophets.
SPEAKER_01: It's something you need to be aware of.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need to, you know, get up every morning and be afraid of it.
SPEAKER_01: Start biting the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: But you just need to be aware, not everything you hear, especially on social media where you don't know the person, not everything you hear is from God, even though it may be claimed to be from God.
SPEAKER_01: But here's the second thing: they'll be hard to recognize at times.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that what he says?
SPEAKER_01: They come disguised.
SPEAKER_01: They don't show up wearing name tags.
SPEAKER_01: Hello, my name is False Prophet.
SPEAKER_01: No one ever comes and meets with me in my office and says, Hey, Pastor Jamie, so I'd like to get involved in the false prophecy ministry here.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01: It's disguised.
SPEAKER_01: It's not going to be obvious.
SPEAKER_01: It's not going to be immediately evident.
SPEAKER_01: It's going to take some time to figure out what's right and what's wrong.
SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about how to recognize a false prophet.
SPEAKER_01: Well, Jesus continues, Matthew 7, 15.
SPEAKER_01: He says this, we recognize a false prophet by their fruit.
SPEAKER_01: Starting at verse 16 and 17, he says, by their fruit you will recognize them, false prophets.
SPEAKER_01: Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm pretty sure y'all haven't been picking grapes and figs lately.
SPEAKER_01: The answer to that question is no.
SPEAKER_01: Grapes come from grape vines, figs come from fig trees, not from other sources.
SPEAKER_01: Likewise, or in the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
SPEAKER_01: So again, he says you can know them by their fruits.
SPEAKER_01: Now, y'all want to nerd out with me for a second?
SPEAKER_01: Just a second, like 60 seconds.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: If we take a closer look at the actual Greek words used in this passage, where it says good produces good and bad produces bad, these translations are an oversimplification.
SPEAKER_01: There are actually different Greek words used in each instance of good and each instance of bad.
SPEAKER_01: The verse could just as easily be translated this way: a healthy tree produces beautiful fruit, and a rotten tree produces spoiled fruit.
SPEAKER_01: Now, you know that to be true, right?
SPEAKER_01: If a tree, a physical tree planted in the ground, is healthy, that means the fruit, the flowers, the buds, the leaves, they're going to be healthy looking, right?
SPEAKER_01: It's going to be beautiful.
SPEAKER_01: And it'll be helpful to you.
SPEAKER_01: But if a tree is diseased, there may be no fruit.
SPEAKER_01: Or if there is fruit, it's going to be spoiled, rotten, and not correct.
SPEAKER_01: So the number one way to identify a false prophet is not by their prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: Take that in for a second.
SPEAKER_01: Because a good prophet can sometimes not say things right.
SPEAKER_01: And a bad prophet can sometimes say the exact right thing.
SPEAKER_01: So that's not the primary way we determine whether or not someone is a false prophet, it's by their fruits.
SPEAKER_01: Do they exhibit fruit of the Spirit?
SPEAKER_01: Love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness.
SPEAKER_01: If they don't exhibit that fruit, when someone's sharing something that's from God and they don't exhibit that fruit, pay close attention.
SPEAKER_01: Be careful.
SPEAKER_01: They may say some true things, but their character reveals the spirit they're operating under.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, never trust a prophet who can't admit when they're wrong.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone gets it wrong.
SPEAKER_01: I was a youth pastor many moons ago, and uh I took my youth group and some other regional youth groups, and we had a youth camp together every summer.
SPEAKER_01: We would bring in a guest speaker, and so uh after a few years of this, we brought in a fairly well-known youth camp speaker.
SPEAKER_01: He had been associated with a pretty well-known revival that had happened years before.
SPEAKER_01: And uh we had him come, and man, he was amazing.
SPEAKER_01: Like some of the best preaching, especially for youth I had ever heard.
SPEAKER_01: He was funny, his points were great, and then he started praying for those kids.
SPEAKER_01: And man, it was just like fireworks.
SPEAKER_01: It was awesome.
SPEAKER_01: So the next year we were like, we got to have this guy again.
SPEAKER_01: So we had him again, same thing.
SPEAKER_01: It was awesome.
SPEAKER_01: Third year, it was a little different.
SPEAKER_01: For whatever reason, everything was just it was just different.
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't what it was.
SPEAKER_01: It was still the funny jokes and the really good points, and and still pray for the kids, but I don't know, something seemed off.
SPEAKER_01: Fourth year, there was something going on.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't know what was going on because everything looked the same on the outside.
SPEAKER_01: And then one of my friends who was the worship leader for camp came to me and the other pastors and said, Look, I don't know how to tell you this, but this guy back in the green room, which is where the band and the speakers hang out before service, he's like talking about the looks of the different girls in the youth groups.
SPEAKER_01: He's saying stuff that, like, like I got a sense of humor, but like, this is wild.
SPEAKER_01: Of course, we never invited him back because of that.
SPEAKER_01: Even though the ministry continued, it was the fruit that we were like, okay, that's a problem.
SPEAKER_01: Two years later, he had an affair, got divorced.
SPEAKER_01: Tale as old as time.
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't his ability, it was his character.
SPEAKER_01: Your gifting can get you on a platform, but your fruit tells the rest of us whether you should keep it.
unknown: That's good.
SPEAKER_01: Because of this, Scripture says prophecy should be tested.
SPEAKER_01: Not only are there false prophets out there, but there are people who mean the best, they mean well, but they they get it wrong sometimes.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Corinthians 13, 9, Paul says, For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
SPEAKER_01: Prophecy is partial because we are partial.
SPEAKER_01: We don't see everything God sees or know everything God knows.
SPEAKER_01: That's why prophetic words should be treated as, not be treated as unquestionable, but should be tested.
SPEAKER_01: And if I ever see someone get upset that their prophetic word is examined for accuracy, I know we have a problem.
SPEAKER_01: The phrase, God told me, should make you more humble, not less accountable.
SPEAKER_01: God told me, or I heard from the Lord, is not a way of protecting yourself from being tested.
SPEAKER_01: 1 John 4 1 says, Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: You must test them to see if the Spirit they have comes from God.
SPEAKER_01: For there are many false prophets in the world.
SPEAKER_01: Many false prophets in the world.
SPEAKER_01: So we don't automatically believe.
SPEAKER_01: What do we do?
SPEAKER_01: We test it.
SPEAKER_01: When we hear a prophetic word, we have a job to do.
SPEAKER_01: Guys, we practice prophecy here at VFC.
SPEAKER_01: Usually after worship, before the announcements, we call it flex time.
SPEAKER_01: We're listening to what the Lord said.
SPEAKER_01: We had a great word today.
SPEAKER_01: We were testing it, it was good.
SPEAKER_01: It led us closer to the Lord, it led us into ministry.
SPEAKER_01: It was fantastic.
SPEAKER_01: But you, if anyone ever gets up here on the stage, including me, if you hear a prophetic word, when someone is saying what God is saying, you have a job to do.
SPEAKER_01: You don't just automatically reject it, and you don't just automatically believe it.
SPEAKER_01: You have to weigh it and consider it.
SPEAKER_01: And we ask God, what do you want me to take away from what I just heard?
SPEAKER_01: 1 Thessalonians is so clear.
SPEAKER_01: I love this.
SPEAKER_01: Chapter 5, 19 through 21.
SPEAKER_01: Don't stifle the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: That Greek word means suppress.
SPEAKER_01: Don't suppress the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Do not scoff at prophecies.
SPEAKER_01: Look, some of y'all, because you've seen false prophecy, anytime there's anything prophetic, you're like, oh, here we go again.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, you need to check your heart, man.
SPEAKER_01: Prophecy, it's important, it's real, it's needed, it's helpful.
SPEAKER_01: Don't scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said.
SPEAKER_01: And hold on to what is good.
SPEAKER_01: Why do we hold fast to what is good?
SPEAKER_01: Because sometimes only some of it is good.
SPEAKER_01: You've heard eat the meat, spit out the bones, or don't throw the baby out with a bathwater.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know why we're throwing babies.
SPEAKER_01: Or bath water.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what's up with that one.
SPEAKER_01: But this applies to prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: There'll be times when you hear a word, part of it will resonate with you.
SPEAKER_01: You're like, that's it, thank you, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And then the other part, you're like, wait, what?
SPEAKER_01: That's okay.
SPEAKER_01: We were told about this.
SPEAKER_01: Take what's good, ignore the rest.
SPEAKER_01: Let me go over some questions we should ask when we test prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the first one.
SPEAKER_01: Does it point to Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: When someone's giving a prophetic word, they're saying what God is saying.
SPEAKER_01: Does that word ultimately point to Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: Revelation 19, 10 says, the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, the spirit of prophecy is always going to testify of who Christ is.
SPEAKER_01: It's always going to point us back to Him.
SPEAKER_01: As you listen, ask yourself: does the word point me to the cross or does it point me to a church?
SPEAKER_01: Does it point me to a candidate or a pastor or a platform instead of Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: Prophecy should leave people more impressed with Jesus than with the person giving the prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: If your takeaway from a prophetic word is, wow, that person's pretty cool, then you're not either listening right or you may be picking up on a problem.
SPEAKER_01: So we got to be careful with this.
SPEAKER_01: Does it point us to Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: Here's another one.
SPEAKER_01: Does it confirm what the Lord is already saying?
SPEAKER_01: Does it confirm what the Lord's already saying?
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is especially important if you've ever been given a personal prophetic word.
SPEAKER_01: You know, where someone says, Hey, can I share something with you?
SPEAKER_01: I feel like the Lord is saying this.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe that hadn't happened to you, but uh for a lot of people it has.
SPEAKER_01: And so this is important.
SPEAKER_01: When someone gives you a personal prophetic word, don't act on it immediately, especially if the information in that word is brand new to you.
SPEAKER_01: If it's something you've never considered, thought of, I'm not saying it's wrong.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying, hang on for a sec.
SPEAKER_01: You don't immediately react to that.
SPEAKER_01: True prophetic words very often confirm or echo what the Holy Spirit's already been whispering to your heart.
SPEAKER_01: I'm from here, but I went to school in Birmingham, Alabama, and that's where I met Tiffany.
SPEAKER_01: We got married, we started a family.
SPEAKER_01: And then I just started having a longing to move back to Thomasville.
SPEAKER_01: And I and it wasn't because I didn't like Birmingham, I loved it, I still do.
SPEAKER_01: I just I was just the Lord was leading me, and I brought it up to Tiff and I was like, what if we move back to Thomasville?
SPEAKER_01: She was like, Oh, yeah, right.
SPEAKER_01: I was like, okay.
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
SPEAKER_01: I just said, Lord, if it's you, speak to her.
SPEAKER_01: And over some time, the Lord began to deal with her.
SPEAKER_01: She said, You know, I've been thinking about moving back to Thomasville.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, yes.
SPEAKER_01: We were considering it, we were weighing it, and then one of our friends, who was a pastor in another church, uh, one other than the one we attended, looked at us one day out of the blue and was like, Don't your parents have a church?
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't it a healthy church?
SPEAKER_01: And we said, Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: He goes, Well, I don't know what you're doing here.
SPEAKER_01: And it just hit us.
SPEAKER_01: We were like, we're moving.
SPEAKER_01: Now it wasn't only because he said that that we moved.
SPEAKER_01: Do you see?
SPEAKER_01: But it confirmed what was going on.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, we I didn't have a job, there was no ministry position here at VFC at the time.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone was like, You're moving?
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, we had people who we love in our lives that said, You're missing God.
SPEAKER_01: But we knew we had heard.
SPEAKER_01: And I could not have predicted what the Lord has done through VFC in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: But in that case, a personal word confirmed what we were already feeling.
SPEAKER_01: A prophecy can confirm God's direction, but it should never replace your own hearing from God.
SPEAKER_01: If your first thought is, I need to get it, I need to get a prophecy, all right, probably a little bit out of balance.
SPEAKER_01: Go seek the Lord first.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe, yes, you did.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's that's okay to want to hear from the Lord through someone else.
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't say it's your first thing, though.
SPEAKER_01: It's on down the list.
SPEAKER_01: And let me just say this too.
SPEAKER_01: Be extremely cautious with parking lot prophecies.
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01: Like when someone just, oh, by the way, yeah, I just felt like the Lord, blah, blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_01: It's good for them.
SPEAKER_01: Since we want to do things biblically, that means every word gets tested.
SPEAKER_01: If you give a word to someone, it's just the two of you, how can it be tested by anyone else?
SPEAKER_01: That there's no objective person.
SPEAKER_01: I encourage you, if you feel like you have a word from the Lord for someone, you should give it.
SPEAKER_01: But you should also pull someone nearby and say, Hey, would you listen as I share this real quick and ask their permission?
SPEAKER_01: Hey, can I give you something I feel like the Lord's telling me for you?
SPEAKER_01: Ask permission.
SPEAKER_01: Don't just come in there and kick down the door and say, Thus saith the Lord, right?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, show some humility.
SPEAKER_01: Be careful giving words to someone of the opposite sex.
SPEAKER_01: Be super careful with words directing major life decisions, like who someone should marry, selling your house, having babies, taking a job.
SPEAKER_01: All right, if you got a word for someone about one of those, be super careful.
SPEAKER_01: You might want to run it by me or Eric or Cynthia or Tim or just to make sure, because that's a big deal.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that can that can really change someone's life, right?
SPEAKER_01: So we don't want to be cavalier with that sort of thing.
SPEAKER_01: God gave you a brain, a Bible, and a body of believers to help.
SPEAKER_01: So use them.
SPEAKER_01: Use them.
SPEAKER_01: Don't just throw common sense out the window because someone said that God told them.
SPEAKER_01: Here's a third question to ask when we're testing prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: Does it agree with the Bible?
SPEAKER_01: When the Holy Spirit speaks through prophecy, he'll never contradict how we spoke in the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Same author.
SPEAKER_01: And so if he says one thing in Scripture, that's our anchor, that's our foundation, he can still speak through you as well to a specific circumstance, but not if it contradicts Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Someone gives you a prophetic word that goes against God's written word.
SPEAKER_01: It's like the opposite of what Scripture says.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need to fast and pray about it.
SPEAKER_01: Just chunk it in the trash.
SPEAKER_01: That's not for you.
SPEAKER_01: That's that's this is our protection, this is our anchor.
SPEAKER_01: The word of God is.
SPEAKER_01: God still speaks, but he never overrides scripture.
SPEAKER_01: He never overrides scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Number four, fourth way that we can test.
SPEAKER_01: Does it correct with grace?
SPEAKER_01: Remember, Jesus is the fullness of grace and truth.
SPEAKER_01: When you hear a word from someone, do you feel convicted or condemned?
SPEAKER_01: Do you feel hopeful or do you feel helpless?
SPEAKER_01: Does it draw you towards God or does it drive you into shame?
SPEAKER_01: Now, when I say grace, grace doesn't mean the word will always make you feel good.
SPEAKER_01: But God's correction is always redemptive, not destructive.
SPEAKER_01: It's always to help you, not to beat you down.
SPEAKER_01: Feel beaten up after a prophetic word, it wasn't from the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Alright, fifth question, the final question when we're testing prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: Does it produce faith or fear?
SPEAKER_01: Man, there's big money in fear.
SPEAKER_01: Can I just be honest?
SPEAKER_01: The quickest way to gather a crowd, to get clicks, to go viral, is to make everyone angry or to make everyone afraid?
SPEAKER_01: To create a them for us to rally against.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, they're gonna come and take this from you.
SPEAKER_01: And they are that's how you get a crowd, and ultimately how you get money from them.
SPEAKER_01: Now, God can certainly warn us about danger.
SPEAKER_01: So a prophetic word isn't automatically false because it's concerning.
SPEAKER_01: But biblical prophecy shouldn't use fear to manipulate, control, or create unhealthy dependence on anything or anyone other than the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I remember years ago there was a prophecy, air quotes, online that had kind of made a couple people send it to me.
SPEAKER_01: And in this, y'all may remember that in this uh the the a vacuum cleaner came out of heaven was and was vacuuming up all the money out of the banks.
SPEAKER_01: Did anyone hear this?
SPEAKER_01: And the guy was like, I don't, you know, if I'm wrong, I'll admit it, which he was wrong.
SPEAKER_01: He had a date assigned to it and it didn't happen.
SPEAKER_01: And he he said, Well, he started making excuses.
SPEAKER_01: I remember I saw that video, I was like, all right, I'm moving to Montana.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna sell everything I have, we're gonna cash out, baby, we're gonna go to the mountains, we're gonna homestead.
SPEAKER_01: I I would be a terror, I would die the first month.
SPEAKER_01: But it was fear.
SPEAKER_01: It was fear, and it was a false prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: Not only did it not come true factually, but it didn't resemble the character of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: God may warn you about something by using a prophetic word, but his purpose is preparation, not panic.
SPEAKER_01: If you feel panic, be careful.
SPEAKER_01: Be careful.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the last thing I want to say.
SPEAKER_01: Guys, God wants you to say what he is saying.
SPEAKER_01: By his spirit and humility, he wants you to say what he's saying.
SPEAKER_01: But but be careful, please.
SPEAKER_01: When you don't love the person you're ministering to, you'll make ministry about yourself.
SPEAKER_01: And that's a guaranteed way to hurt other people.
SPEAKER_01: If you have a word for this church, for someone here at VFC, the first thing you should do is pray.
SPEAKER_01: Make sure it's from the Lord, check your motives.
SPEAKER_01: Do I just want to be seen?
SPEAKER_01: Do I just want to be heard?
SPEAKER_01: Is this genuinely from the Lord?
SPEAKER_01: And then give it with humility.
SPEAKER_01: Instead of God told me, you could just say, I feel like the Lord is saying.
SPEAKER_01: This is there's and then give the word.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to feign confidence, you don't have to earn respect of the hearer by saying how amazing this word is.
SPEAKER_01: When you prophesy, here's how I want you to think about it.
SPEAKER_01: When you prophesy, you are a delivery driver delivering a gift from God to someone else.
SPEAKER_01: Don't get in the way of the delivery and don't damage the gift.
SPEAKER_01: This is a picture from a few years ago when a FedEx delivery guy delivered our package by throwing it 25 feet from his truck onto our porch.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he just chunked it.
SPEAKER_01: I saw the video on our doorbell.
SPEAKER_01: I was like, I mean, is he playing cornhole or horseshoes or what's going on here?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he.
SPEAKER_01: I covered his face in the picture.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to give him a hard time.
SPEAKER_01: He made a mistake.
SPEAKER_01: But how many times are we like this delivery driver?
SPEAKER_01: God has asked us to deliver a message and we just throw it at the recipient without care.
SPEAKER_01: There could have been something really important in that box that we ordered.
SPEAKER_01: Something we had been saving up for over a long time.
SPEAKER_01: He could have broken a birthday present or damaged an anniversary gift.
SPEAKER_01: Don't worry, it wasn't broken, it was probably just TIFF supplements.
SPEAKER_01: But just like we handle other people's property with care, we have to handle prophecy with care because it's for other people.
SPEAKER_01: God is speaking through you.
SPEAKER_01: You are the delivery person.
SPEAKER_01: And there's no need to take a picture to prove it was delivered.
SPEAKER_01: I know this guy's doing part of his job.
SPEAKER_01: He's taking a picture of it to prove that it's there.
SPEAKER_01: If you give a prophetic word, no need to humble brag on Facebook.
SPEAKER_01: So honored that God chose me to deliver such an amazing word at church today.
SPEAKER_01: Fire emoji.blessed.
SPEAKER_01: I want VFC to be a church that operates in prophecy but is known for humility.
SPEAKER_01: We can do both.
SPEAKER_01: Let's say what God is saying with confidence, but also with reverence, knowing that He's a good God who is using us to give a good gift to a son or daughter.
SPEAKER_01: Let's not quench the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And let's not leave our discernment at home.
SPEAKER_01: Let's eagerly desire prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: And let's faithfully test prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: Let's refuse the cynicism that scoffs at prophecy and the gullibility that believes everything anyone says.
SPEAKER_01: God still speaks through his people, he wants to speak for you.
SPEAKER_01: What an incredible privilege that is.
SPEAKER_01: So let's listen carefully.
SPEAKER_01: Let's test humbly, let's speak courageously and deliver his words with love.
SPEAKER_01: Because the goal of prophecy isn't to impress you with how well the speaker hears from God.
SPEAKER_01: The goal is to help people hear from God themselves.
SPEAKER_01: And my question is this are you willing to pursue prophecy and test prophecy?
SPEAKER_01: Let's stand for prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Next week, our next elephant is going to be Catholics and Protestants.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I just sounded like audibly, like I didn't, like I punched someone.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, we're gonna be fair, we're gonna be truthful, we're gonna do what we do here.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, grace and truth.
SPEAKER_01: But y'all been asking, and that's what we're gonna do.
SPEAKER_01: That's what we're gonna talk about.
SPEAKER_01: But before we get to next week, let's let the Lord speak to us about this week.
SPEAKER_01: Close your eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Ask him the question.
SPEAKER_01: Think this thought towards the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: The same one I just asked you.
SPEAKER_01: Phrase it this way.
SPEAKER_01: Am I pursuing prophecy?
SPEAKER_01: Or have you been afraid?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've been scoffing.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you thought it passed away.
SPEAKER_01: Ask him this.
SPEAKER_01: Am I appropriately and adequately testing prophecy?
SPEAKER_01: Or am I just rejecting or receiving automatically?
SPEAKER_01: Let the Holy Spirit reveal to you where your heart is in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: If you would, let me lead you in a prayer where we surrender this part of our lives to Him.
SPEAKER_01: If you would just pray this after me.
SPEAKER_01: Say, Father, thank you that you're a good Father who gives good gifts.
SPEAKER_01: And you use us, your people, to deliver them.
SPEAKER_01: I want to be a good delivery person who handles gifts with care.
SPEAKER_01: Who loves the people I minister to.
SPEAKER_01: Give me wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: Give me discernment.
SPEAKER_01: Help me prophesy in the biblical way.
SPEAKER_01: And help me test prophecy so that I won't be enticed and drawn away by the ways of the world.
SPEAKER_01: Holy Spirit, speak to me in this area of my life.
SPEAKER_01: I surrender to you.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to the VFC Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: If you live in the Thomasville area, we would love for you to connect with us in person.
SPEAKER_00: For more information about our weekly gatherings, including service times and directions, you can visit us at VFCThomasville.org.