THERES SO MUCH FALSE “prophecy” in the church these days. Somewhere, someone lied to you and told you that all prophecy was to only be “encouraging”. I knew a lady that claimed to be an Old Testament prophet. First of all, you are in the wrong generation. Second, I asked her if she ever addressed sin. To which she replied, “not my job”.
I’m telling you right now, if you claim to be a prophet and never address sin; you are not a prophet of God. You might be a prophet of Baal. Prophets address sin. In fact, it’s one of the main functions of a prophet. But most these days want to prophesy of future events and have the multitudes love them. Therefore, we have false prophets inflating people’s egos and “always prophesying good things” instead of blowing the life of the Spirit into lives and building a strong church. Paul tells us that spiritual gifts are for the “edifying” of the church,
“Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.” 1 Corinthians 14:12
This word “edification” is not what you think. It has to do with architecture. It’s about building up a strong structure that can and will withstand any storm. So spiritual gifts seek to build the church Body, yet no building built with straw can withstand a storm. A weak and poorly built structure will collapse under any amount of pressure. Let me share a building moment with you.
Years ago, I framed houses with my stepdad. He was well known in his area for building strong custom built homes. The contractor, a man named BK, whom my step dad did a lot of work for had purchased two side by side plots. One was given to us to build from the frame work, walls and roof, right up to the paint and shingle stage. The other was given to another crew to frame and then we would work on it the same as the other.
Now there was only two of us framing the one house- my stepdad and myself. My stepdad makes well built homes so he picked out the best wood and would send the rest away. It took us a few weeks to frame the house, but when it was done it was sound and level. During this time, I watched the other crew put up the other house. They were much faster than us, but they didn’t care what the wood looked like or from my POV, care about much else. They were done in three days
. I realize in the house building world, people want fast homes. But at the expense of integrity of the building? After we finished framing, we wanted to start putting up the walls on both houses at the same time. We walked over to the other frame and guess what? It was not level. The walls were leaning, even with the roof trusses on. We had to spend a few days fixing their frame.
If all “prophesy” and quite frankly “preaching” does is to tell you how good you are; your structure is not sound. Your frame is leaning and the first big wind storm is going to blow you over. Edification speaks to constructing a solid building and a crooked frame produces a crooked house.
If you’ve been called to preach a word or deliver a word of prophecy, be very very careful how you handle it. All prophecy will exalt Jesus as Lord. Every Word of God is pure. It should be done in reverence and in the fear of the Lord. What ever became of the fear of God? If you want deep understanding of how the Lord works and His marvelous ways, operate in the fear of the Lord.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 1:7; 9:10
It’s always wise to sit on it and pray over it for a period of time. For those super spiritual types, not every thought that crosses your mind is a word of prophecy. One day, we will answer for every idle word. Handle His Word with care, especially when prophesying to the church.
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