What is Prophecy & Why Does It Matter? | Phil Kniesel

Have you ever wondered what prophecy actually is? Does God still speak to people today? In this message, Pastor Phil unpacks the gift of prophecy, how it strengthens and encourages believers, and what it means for your faith. Discover how God speaks through His people and how you can grow in the gifts He’s given you.

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Transcript

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- Hey, this is Phil Kniesel, lead pastor at Hope City Church. Thanks for tuning into our podcast. My prayer is that this helps and encourages you, gives you some practical ways to live out your faith and ultimately fills you with hope. Enjoy the message.- Well, good morning, hope City. Before I get into my message, I, I wanna let you know that last Sunday the membership of this church spoke with a resounding 97.6%. Yes. Vote to the boring limit of $12 million toward the renovation and expansion of this very campus, the Millwood campus. Yeah, give it up for that. I mean, that's exciting. You know, I'm thankful for the unity that exists in our church. I'm grateful for the forward vision and the future oriented mindset. We say often we can't stay here and that's not just for you as individuals, but that's for us as a church as well. And so for all of you who attend the Millwood campus, I ask that in the year ahead, you are just patient with us as there's gonna be weeks where we're gonna be a little bit in a construction zone. And so thank you in advance for leaning in. Thank you for leaning in with your resources, your we're gonna need your help to complete this and with your patients. This building is actually 26 years old and through this we are setting this campus up for the next two decades to continue to be a light in our city to continue to bring, as our name says, hope to the city. There's this time, each fall season where I get a little bit of a sinking feeling inside of my gut. Now I love fall. Come on. We got pumpkin spice lattes. We got sweaters that hide all the Thanksgiving food we eat, we love fall. But there's this phenomenon that occurs each fall. And I'm not talking about teenage drivers rushing to school. I'm not talking about Christmas trees in the store in September. Jesus help us. I'm ta. I'm talking about the migration of geese. When I start to see geese in the air forming this V formation, I get this sinking feeling because it's really the exact opposite of what is happening now occurs. The days get shorter, the nights get longer, it's gonna get colder and colder and colder. And here's the thing, I actually really like snow. Do you ever wonder how geese decide when to fly south? It's said that they judge it by temperature and when the food availability is running out, which come to think of it as how most of us decide when to leave a party. That's this. It's fascinating because the geese make this decision as a group. They signal to one another by pointing their beaks up to the sky and they start honking. So if suddenly all of you start pointing your noise noses up to the ceiling and I hear some honking, I guess it means it's time to go. So seeing this V formation from the ground, it's, it's a thing of beauty for us. But to the geese, it's survival. Science has recently learned that the flock travels up to 71% faster and easier by maintaining this pattern at certain intervals relative to the strength of the wind. The lead bird who is doing most of the work by breaking the force of the wind, will drop off and fly to the end of the formation. And all the flapping winds create this uh, uplift of air and the effect is greater at the rear of the formation. And by working together, these geese achieve long migrations that otherwise would be exceedingly difficult. So basically it's kind of like this. The lead goose is flying and he's doing a lot of work and suddenly he says, man, I'm exhausted. And then another goose says, TEG, I got this and my friends, that is how the church should function. We're in a series entitled for the Common Good where we're talking about the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives Jesus followers. We're in the book of First Corinthians in the New Testament, specifically chapter 12. And in this chapter the apostle Paul is given us a glimpse into the V formation for the church. He's teaching us how to fly, how to go further together than we could alone. And he says it this way in one of the verses, verse seven, he says, now to each one, the manifestation of the spirit is given for the common good. So he's saying gifts are given to help each other, to build each other up, to do things that otherwise would be exceedingly difficult to do. And to date in this series, we have talked about the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, and miracles. We're gonna see what Paul talks about next in his list here. But before I do, maybe, maybe you're just wondering like Phil, why does this matter? Like what's the point of doing a series like this? I wanna take you to first Corinthians 12, the first verse that Paul writes here. And this is what he says now about the gifts of the spirit. Brothers and sisters, meaning Christians, all those who wanna follow Jesus, I do not want you to be uninformed. Well, that's a statement with a pointed direction. And when there's a direction given in scripture as Jesus followers, we should follow it. It's important for those who have made the best decision of their life to follow Jesus, to know about the gifts of the Spirit, to understand them, to realize what they are and to see their purpose, to not be ignorant of them. Plus, it makes this thing we call church, you know, all of us not the building, it makes church, not just something about you, but something that is about what you can bring to others. And friend, listen here, the truth is you are needed in the church because the church needs you. So that means upon following Jesus, you have been given a gift from the Holy Spirit. And the expectation is for you to use your gift for the common good to build others up. Now, I said this in week one of the series that all these gifts we're talking about aren't necessarily locked in and set for in your life. Meaning we can exercise different gifts at different times depending on our need for them and how the Holy Spirit gives them. And so maybe you're like, okay, cool man, I get this, but how do I find out what my spiritual gift is? I wanna ask you some questions that can help you discover your gift. What do you find joy in doing? What do you do that tires you out but never burns you out? What are some things you do that others are helped by and encouraged with? Those are good questions to ask. We've also created a gift survey for you to take and help you figure this very answer out. You can head to hope city.ca/gifts or even just scan that QR code on the screen. And and I wanna encourage you to take the time to do this even later today. Hundreds of you have done this already because the job of every Christian is to identify and employ their gift for the common good. This is actually a step of maturing in your faith. Peter, a disciple of Jesus writes it this way. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace. In its various forms, it seems like every time the Bible reminds us we are gifted, it also reminds us we need to use that gift to serve others, to build one another up. You know, by identifying your gift, you find your place in the flight plan, you become part of the V formation to move the church forward. And we all must do our part. In fact, if we all do our part, we can achieve things that otherwise would be exceedingly difficult. And so let's go to one Corinthians chapter 12 and see this list of gifts that Paul gives us and the one we're gonna talk about next today. He says this to one, there is given through the spirit a message of wisdom to another, a message of knowledge by means of the same spirit to another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one spirit to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits to another, speaking in different kinds of tongues and distill another, the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same spirit and he distributes them to each one just as he determines. So last week we talked about miracles. And the next gift that Paul addresses in this list is the gift of prophecy. Now, this gift has caused controversy and in my opinion, damage in the capital C Church. But as Paul says, we should not be uninformed. In fact, a little later on in First Corinthians, two chapters later in chapter 14, he says it this way, follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the spirit, especially prophecy. So here Paul is reminding his readers it's important to desire the gifts to desire to grow and mature as Jesus followers. But secondly, to also desire the gift of prophecy. And he was writing this to the Corinthian church because in their context they were a little bit misled. They were starting to play rank with the gifts they saw and believed that the gift of tongues, which is simply prayer in a language that isn't your own. So they saw the gift of tongues as the epitome of spiritual life. And by the way, I'm gonna be talking about tongues in two weeks here. They thought that the Corinthian church, if you spoke in tongues, you were all that spiritually. And Paul debunks this, he says it this way, for anyone who speaks in a tongue, does not speak to people, but to God indeed no one understands them. They utter mysteries by the spirit. But the one who prophesize speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. Remember that anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies, edifies the church. So Paul's saying tongues really does nothing for the church. It's a personal thing. Prophecy is something for the church. It builds up the church. It's for the common good. So what is prophecy and why does it matter? Why should we be informed about it? Well, what I'm gonna do today is I'm gonna look at prophecy in the Old Testament. I'm gonna look at it in the New Testament. And then for today, and I also want to give you the purpose and some guidelines of how prophecy should operate in the church. I'm can do a little bit of teaching and then I'm gonna drive it home by speaking hope into your life. And my intention is that this builds your faith. And by the way, if you're new or newer to Hope City, my prayer is that you would just understand how vital every single person is to the church. And that even includes you, my friend. So in the Old Testament, prophecy refers to divine revelation given to individuals to communicate God's will. It can be for telling, predicting future events or forth telling, declaring God's truth for guidance and correction. And we're introduced to a ton of prophets in the Old Testament. Now, these may be some names you may or may not know individuals like Abraham, Moses, and a guy named Baam. They may talked about God's plan for Israel as a nation. We have major prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. And they talked about the coming Messiah, God's judgment, the restoration of Israel and end times. We also have minor prophets whose words are recorded in short books near the end of the Old Testament. Individuals like Hosea, Amos, Jonah, and Micah to name a few. And they prophesied God's love for Israel, God calling the people to repent his mercy. And they pointed to the coming of Jesus. In summary, the Old Testament prophets did two main things. They called people out when they were missing the mark and following God, which is another way of identifying sin. And they continually pointed people to a coming Messiah, someone who would change everything for Israel and humanity. And that coming Messiah was Jesus. And so friend. Today I wanna land that same truth in your heart if your life is filled with missing the mark, meaning if you're feeling like you live in sin more than not, if you're feeling like you're struggling with some sort of an addiction, if temptation is frequently given into rather than overcome, if you don't want to do or you do what you don't wanna do, rather more often that you wanna do it. If you're feeling the weight of guilt, the weight of shame, man, you might even wonder, how could God ever love and receive me, let alone forgive me. If you feel like you've messed up too many times and you're continually missing the mark, listen friend, you are in the right place. Welcome to your family because we all deal with things like that. And so I wanna call you out and say, yeah, you might be missing the mark, but like the prophets did, I wanna point you to Jesus and say that he's come to give you grace. He's come to give you mercy. He's come to give you life in Jesus. You can find forgiveness because of what he did on the cross. He gave his life for you. He shed his blood for your sins. We remembered that during communion he died. But thank God he didn't stay dead. He victoriously rose and he offers life, hope, healing, and a next for you. And so friend, if it's your first time in church or if you are a lifer, don't ever think you're too far gone. Don't ever believe God has turned his back on you. Don't buy the lie that you cannot be forgiven. Jesus is standing with arms wide open saying, child, I love you. Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden. I will give you rest. And so friend, come to him this morning, lay down your burdens. Lay down your sin, lay down those things at his feet and find the hope, the forgiveness and the peace that you're craving. Truly Jesus gives each of us a a brand new start. So prophecy in the Old Testament called people out when they were missing the mark and it pointed to the Messiah, to Jesus. And what's cool about prophecy in the New Testament is that it fulfills much of the prophecies in the Old Testament. And in fact, in Jesus himself, the Messiah, we see over 300 Old Testament prophecies fulfilled. In addition, in the New Testament, we have a guy by the name of John the Baptist who foretold things about Jesus. Jesus himself prophesied about his own death and resurrection. He foretold of Jerusalem's destruction and he also spoke at the end times. And then we have other New Testament writers like John that tell us about future end time events. And so in a quick summary, here's Pur seven purposes of prophecy in the Bible. Number one, to reveal God's will, which is fourth tally number two, to reveal future events, which is for tally number three, to confirm God's sovereignty and control over history. Number four, to indicate where people were missing the mark and then point them to Jesus. Number five, to encourage and strengthen believers. Number six, to warn a future judgment. And number seven, to reveal end times. All this is helpful, all this is good. Prophecy, however shifts in the New Testament to something that is available for all believers in Jesus, not just for those who carried the title or office of prophet. We see this. Acts two describes the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given and he came to dwell inside of us. And upon addressing this event, Peter the disciple says it this way, in the last days, God says, I will pour up my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. The last days, just so you know, began back then at Pentecost and they will continue until Christ's return making prophecy a normative experience for all believers. During this period since Pentecost, since the spirit's empowering presence that was extended to all believers, we see that is available for all regardless of age, gender, race, or social rank. And that's why we're talking about the gifts that the spirit brings in church. And so prophecy for today can be defined as a supernatural ability given by the Holy Spirit to communicate divine revelation, encouragement or insight to the church or to individuals. It's not always predictive, meaning foretelling, but it's often forthtelling declaring god's will and truth. And the gift of prophecy always serves to edify others. It never tears someone down or puts them in a spot where they feel ashamed. It also doesn't elevate the person speaking it because it's for the common good. I wanna take you back to First Corinthians chapter 14 verse three. And Paul says it this way, but the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging, and comfort. There we have it, three purposes of prophecy. This is why this gift is given to the church so that we can fly further and greater. Number one for the strengthening. This is building up other believers. It's bringing edification. It encourages people in their faith. It helps them grow in their understanding of God's will. And a great example of this is someone speaking a reminder of God's promises into your life. And so church today, let me speak some of God's promises into your life. We have the promise that God will never leave you or forsake you. We have the promise that he is the one you can always depend upon. We have the promise that he is your rock and your firm foundation. We have the promise where he says, call out to me in the day of trouble and I will answer you. Promises like that strengthen your faith. That's what prophecy does. The second purpose Paul gives is encouragement. This is exhortation, it's motivation. Prophecy challenges, believers in Jesus to continue in faithful obedience. And this can then provide direction, instruction and even at times correction. And a really good example would be a word given to someone to take a step of faith or for someone to keep trusting God through the trial. And many of you, I know when you walk in here, you're going through the trial and I just wanna speak encouragement and say, keep trusting God in the trial. The third purpose of the gift of prophecy is comfort. This is consolation and reassurance to those who are discouraged or struggling. Prophecy reminds us of God's love, his faithfulness and his care for our lives. And this is realizing that God is very near in your pain and suffering. He is in distant, he isn't uninterested. He cares about all things in your life. The Bible says it this way, he cares about the sparrow. So how much more is he gonna care about you? Strengthening encouragement and comfort. That's what the gift of prophecy is intended to do for the common good. And that's essentially what I try to speak to you week after week with my sermons. That's what the team of speakers tries to do week after week. Because let's be honest, there's gonna be times when each of us need a little strengthening in our faith, right? There's gonna be times that because of life's challenges, we need some encouragement. And there's gonna be times because of the pain that we're walking through, we're gonna need some comfort. You know, I've been a pastor for over 28 years and unfortunately I've seen dangers in this particular gift. I've seen individuals claiming to have the gift and even go so far as call themselves prophets. And then Jesus followers would go and talk to this person and and they would then expect them to speak into and about their life. It's almost like this form of fortune telling, hoping someone can give them some future direction or information. And personally I think that route is super dangerous and needs to be avoided. Prophecy isn't about someone fortune telling into your life in insight and words about your life spoken to encourage, strengthen and comfort. So here's how prophecy should operate in the church today. Four ways. Number one, it should be done in love. Paul echoes this in one Corinthians 13 where he says, love is the highest virtue. See, false prophecy causes division, fear and control. True prophecy is humble and loving. Secondly, prophecy must be tested. Paul says two or three prophets should speak and the others should weigh carefully what is said. Prophetic words should be weighed and tested. This means it should always align with scripture because friends God will never contradict what's in here. And it also means it should align with your heart and what is going on in your life. Thirdly, prophecy should not cause confusion. Paul says, for God is not a God of disorder, but of peace. As in all the congregations of the Lord's people, God is never a God of confusion. Prophecy should always bring clarity, not this order. In fact, Jesus said you're gonna recognize false prophets by their fruit. Meaning true prophecy leads to righteousness, love and repentance. False prophecy leads to division, pride and disobedience. And I, I wanna say this because I know some people have been scarred by this over the years. Prophetic words should never feel like manipulation. If it does then run, it's not from God. In fact, this is some of the dangers I've seen in this gift over the years. It should never cause fear and anxiety inside of you. It should always create hope and encouragement. Now the final thing about prophecy in the church is this, it must be reliable. Meaning does it come to pass? Is it something that is foretelling? Biblical prophecy is always accurate and fulfilled. So if someone speaking words that consistently do not come true, they're not from God. And a great example of this, um, of this is the numerous times people have predicted the day Jesus will return throughout history. And they have always at all times, every single moment been wrong. Jesus plainly said, no one knows the day or the hour. So in using the gift of prophecy for the common good for the church, it should always be done in love. It must be tested, it should not cause confusion and it must be reliable. Now, on top of this, I want to say it doesn't have to be weird. Like if you feel that God has a word for someone, you don't have to walk up to them and say, hello brother . The Lord told me that this needs to happen. No, just go up to them and say, Hey, I feel like this is something you might resonate with. If it lands with you, awesome. If not, okay, I'm just being obedient here. You know, case in point, this happened in my own life. Immediately upon graduating Bible college, I was working a summer job at one of our district offices for our denomination in Ontario. I was working alongside a veteran pastor in ministry and my main role was operating and leading summer youth camps across the province of Ontario. And one day we were driving home from one of these camps and this longtime pastor looks over at me in the passenger seat and says something what I felt was kind of random and something that just stopped me. Literally, he said this, he said, Hey Phyllis, we've been driving here for the last little while. God has put a thought into my head and I wanna share it with you. Notice it's not weird, it's just normal conversation. And he says this, at some point in the future, I feel like God is saying you're gonna be living out in Western Canada speaking to thousands of people week after week. But before that ever happens, God wants and needs to prep you for this. I just wanted to tell you that because God put that on my heart and I felt I should share it with you. So first of all, notice how he did it. It was normal conversation behind the wheel of a car. Nothing weird, nothing demeaning. And I can just remember sitting there thinking, Hmm, cool, thanks Mark. That seems unique, yet hopeful. That's strengthening. It's somewhat encouraging. And here's the thing, I was 23 years old at that time and as I started my life in pastoral ministry, I gotta be honest, I totally forgot about that moment. I forgot about that word of prophecy given to me in a very real normal way. But it was around seven years ago, which was 22 years later. And if you do the math now you guys know how old I am, . I was driving through Edmonton and out of the blue, God reminded me of that conversation and I was like, wow, God, how cool are you? How amazing are you? You knew when I was 23 back then what today would look like. And you called and you set me apart back then for today. And that word was strengthening, encouraging, and comforting. But my buddy Mark had to step out and speak it. And that takes some courage. Friend, listen to me. You have no idea what God wants to do in and through your life today, tomorrow, let alone 22 years from now. We are in this series about desiring the spiritual gifts in your life in order for you to grow in your faith. And my heart is that you would do just as Paul says here, eagerly desire, the spiritual gifts go after them, that you would be someone who wants to bring value to the church, to others. That you're not just a consumer in church, that you get involved, that you give, that you lean in, that you learn your gift, that you allow yourself to make a difference in the life of others. Why? Because God has made a difference in your life. Friend, about the gifts of the spirit, brothers and sisters, Christians, Jesus followers. I do not want you to be uninformed. I want you to know about this stuff because what you do, it takes your faith to a deeper level. You're gonna begin to grow. You're gonna begin to mature. You recognize church is not just about what you can get. And I get it. We all go through seasons where we need that. And if you're in a season where you're like, man, I just came 'cause I need something, I pray that you just receive and receive, but you never stay there. Yes, there's seasons about what we can get, but then it's about leading into what can I give for the benefit of others for the common good? What did Paul say? Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the spirit, especially prophecy, the one who prophesy speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging, and comfort. And so in closing, today I want to prophesy over you. I wanna speak strength, encouragement, and comfort into your life. Friend, no matter where you are at, no matter what you are facing, no matter the trial or situation, remember God is present able and good. He is ready, willing and capable. He will not let you fall, slip or flounder. He is your rock, your fur foundation, the one you can depend upon. And this God, through his spirit, gives good gifts to the church. And he invites each of us to eagerly desire them and to go after them so that we too can grow and become spiritually mature. And listen, I get it, you might not be at the front of the V formation, breaking all the wind and leading the way, but you're in the lineup behind someone and friend, listen to me. At some point it's gonna be your turn to break free and lead the way. At some point it's your turn to fly because you've embraced what it means to operate in the gifts God has given you. And it's through this, you're gonna realize the joy of following Jesus', richer, deeper, and greater than you ever thought or imagined. So hope city, let's go. May you get in line for the ride of your life. May you take your place in the church and lean in where God has gifted you. May you fly with confidence, assurance and hope. And may you experience life and life to the full as you step out. And as you use your gift for the common good. I'm gonna ask you to stand if you are able to. I'm a close in prayer. Jesus, I thank you so much that through your Holy Spirit, you empower your church today. I thank you that these are things that we don't have to be afraid of or think that they're just from the past, but they are for the church now in these end times. And so, God, I pray over my friends today that they may eagerly desire these gifts in their life, that they may eagerly desire to grow and have your Holy Spirit move in and through them. Father, I just ask that you do that for your glory and for your honor. And if someone here today needs strength or encouragement and hope, I pray that you speak deeply to their mind, deeply to their heart, deeply to their soul. I pray that they understand who you are, your promises, they understand what you bring, your assurance, and they understand that they can depend upon you at all times, in all things, through all ways. God, I ask this over every mind and heart for your glory and for your honor, may you strengthen, may you encourage, and may you bring hope today. You know, maybe you're joining us and you don't know Jesus personally, friend, you heard it. You saw it in communion, experienced it. You heard in my message, he just wanted to cross and die for a, you die for your sins. He rose and he offers you life both now and forever. And all you have to do is make the best decision of your life to follow him. And it changes everything for you. And so if you have this stirring in your heart this morning, if you're feeling like, man, I wanna make that decision, that's the Holy Spirit drawing you. And I pray that you respond to that. And I'm gonna help you respond to that by praying a prayer that helps you put into the words the beginning of following Jesus. So pray along with me. Jesus today I see my need for you. Thank you for going to the cross, for dying, for my sins, for rising, and offer me life and hope both now and forevermore. And so today I wanna make you Lord and leader of my life. And I ask you to help me to follow you in and through all things. Thank you that you have given me this gift of a reset. Thank you that I can know you and walk with you and have this hope both now and for forever. And Lord, I pray over every individual, every couple, and every family. I ask that as they go into this week, may they experience you in a way that perhaps they haven't yet I I pray that they may understand that your Holy Spirit is there leading, guiding, and directing and that they may know in and through all things they have a God they can depend upon trust and look to. And so I thank you for these incredible people today, and I pray blessing and strength and your gifts over them in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen. You know, if you prayed that prayer surrendering your life to Christ today, I wanna say a way to go friend and making the best decision of your life. Can I ask you to scan the QR code on the screen? It's a way of us getting a digital booklet inside of your hands that talks about knowing and following Jesus. It's also a way for us to get to know you personally. We would love that if you're joining us in person and you want prayer about anything in your life, we're gonna have a prayer team available down at your front, left after the service. Before you go, I wanna speak a blessing over you. Hope city, the Lord bless you, and the Lord keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you. And the Lord be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace. Love you guys. Thanks for being in church today. Have an incredible week.