What exactly is the gift of prophecy?

I have just googled gift of prophecy and I am going to paste the following:
1 Corinthians 14:1:5

You should seek after love, and you should truly want to have the spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 2 I will explain why. Those who have the gift of speaking in different languages[a] are not speaking to people; they are speaking to God. No one understands them; they are speaking secret things through the Spirit. 3 But those who prophesy are speaking to people to give them strength, encouragement, and comfort. 4 The ones who speak in different languages are helping only themselves, but those who prophesy are helping the whole church. 5 I wish all of you had the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages, but more, I wish you would prophesy. Those who prophesy are greater than those who can only speak in different languages—unless someone is there who can explain what is said so that the whole church can be helped.

Now, I am sort of thinking that it’s about seeing something somehow maybe about some future events, or is it maybe something entirely different?

Thanks
 
I have just googled gift of prophecy and I am going to paste the following:
1 Corinthians 14:1:5

You should seek after love, and you should truly want to have the spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 2 I will explain why. Those who have the gift of speaking in different languages[a] are not speaking to people; they are speaking to God. No one understands them; they are speaking secret things through the Spirit. 3 But those who prophesy are speaking to people to give them strength, encouragement, and comfort. 4 The ones who speak in different languages are helping only themselves, but those who prophesy are helping the whole church. 5 I wish all of you had the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages, but more, I wish you would prophesy. Those who prophesy are greater than those who can only speak in different languages—unless someone is there who can explain what is said so that the whole church can be helped.

Now, I am sort of thinking that it’s about seeing something somehow maybe about some future events, or is it maybe something entirely different?

Thanks

To "Prophesy" is to give out the Word of God, to speak it simply and intelligently.

Actually.....what Paul was trying to do was to get the Corinthian Christians off their preoccupation with "Tongues".

Tongues in the Scriptures were actually known foreign languages. I am afraid the rules of the site will not allow us to debate the tongues we see done by people today. I will quote however some words used by others about this Scripture you quoted.

Dr. T.A. Robertson...…..
"Tongues seem to have ceased first of all the gifts".

Chryostom, one of the earliest church fathers said in the 4th century...….
This whole passage is very obscure, but the obscurity arises from our ignorance of the facts described, which, though familiar to those whom the apostle wrote, HAVE CEASED TO OCCUR".

Paul the Apostle spoke more on this in 1 Corinthians 13:8-10...…..
"Love never fails. But where there are (1) prophecies, they will cease; where there are (2)tongues, they will be stilled; where there is(3) knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part,(4) but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears."

That is the basis for what is considered "Cessationalism". Those who accept the LITERAL Word of God understand that when the Bible was completed, those gifts that were "FOUNDATIONAL" ended.

1. Prophesies...…...............……. future events given by Prophets speaking for God----------------"They will cease".
2. Tongues...……………...………. speaking in unknown languages MUST BE translated------------"They will be stilled".
3. Knowledge...…………………. The science of today will surpass the science of yesterday----- "it will pass away"
4. Compleness/Perfect ONE. The completed Bible/Word of God.----------------------------------- " what is in part disappears."

I would reccomend that you read 1 Corth. 14, the whole chapter as Paul elaborates on these Scriptures very thourouly.
 
I used to think prophecy was about seeing future events.

I thought I had a gift of prophesy because I had a few dreams that came true. But it never did me any good. It never saved me, in fact, it made me nervous, scared and depressed, because non of them were good dreams.

Of course, I wasn’t honouring God at the time.
So I honoured God and had a dream that came true.
It was a good dream, but still, it never saved me.
It made me crave more of these good dreams that came true.

Real prophecy is speaking forth the word of God.

If you get good dreams after that it’s a bonus
 
I used to think prophecy was about seeing future events.

I thought I had a gift of prophesy because I had a few dreams that came true. But it never did me any good. It never saved me, in fact, it made me nervous, scared and depressed, because non of them were good dreams.

Of course, I wasn’t honouring God at the time.
So I honoured God and had a dream that came true.
It was a good dream, but still, it never saved me.
It made me crave more of these good dreams that came true.

Real prophecy is speaking forth the word of God.

If you get good dreams after that it’s a bonus

There you go!!!!!!
 
To "Prophesy" is to give out the Word of God, to speak it simply and intelligently.

Actually.....what Paul was trying to do was to get the Corinthian Christians off their preoccupation with "Tongues".

Tongues in the Scriptures were actually known foreign languages. I am afraid the rules of the site will not allow us to debate the tongues we see done by people today. I will quote however some words used by others about this Scripture you quoted.

Dr. T.A. Robertson...…..
"Tongues seem to have ceased first of all the gifts".

Chryostom, one of the earliest church fathers said in the 4th century...….
This whole passage is very obscure, but the obscurity arises from our ignorance of the facts described, which, though familiar to those whom the apostle wrote, HAVE CEASED TO OCCUR".

Paul the Apostle spoke more on this in 1 Corinthians 13:8-10...…..
"Love never fails. But where there are (1) prophecies, they will cease; where there are (2)tongues, they will be stilled; where there is(3) knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part,(4) but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears."

That is the basis for what is considered "Cessationalism". Those who accept the LITERAL Word of God understand that when the Bible was completed, those gifts that were "FOUNDATIONAL" ended.

1. Prophesies...…...............……. future events given by Prophets speaking for God----------------"They will cease".
2. Tongues...……………...………. speaking in unknown languages MUST BE translated------------"They will be stilled".
3. Knowledge...…………………. The science of today will surpass the science of yesterday----- "it will pass away"
4. Compleness/Perfect ONE. The completed Bible/Word of God.----------------------------------- " what is in part disappears."

I would reccomend that you read 1 Corth. 14, the whole chapter as Paul elaborates on these Scriptures very thourouly.
Today, one would have the gift to prophesy when they have God given insight and understanding into applying the prophecy of the scriptures into application for today.
 
Today, one would have the gift to prophesy when they have God given insight and understanding into applying the prophecy of the scriptures into application for today.

I agree and that in fact would be called......"Teaching".

The Greek word translated “prophesying” or “prophecy” in both 1 Corth. and Romans 12:6 properly means to “speak forth” or declare the divine will, to interpret the purposes of God, or to make known in any way the truth of God which is designed to influence people. Many people misunderstand the gift of prophecy to be the ability to predict the future. While knowing something about the future may sometimes have been an aspect of the gift of prophecy, it was primarily a gift of proclamation (“forth-telling”), not prediction (“fore-telling”).

The spiritual gift of prophecy, in the sense of receiving new revelations from God to be proclaimed to others, ceased with the completion of the Bible. During the time that prophecy was a revelatory gift, it was to be used for the edification, exhortation, and comfort of men as seen in 1 Corth. 14:3. The modern gift of prophecy, which is actually to teaching, still declares the truth of God. What has changed is that the truth of God today has already been fully revealed in His written Word, while, in the early church, it had not yet been fully revealed.

What that means in common English, is that when anyone has a prophesy and that prophesy IS NOT found in the written Word of God then it is a false prophesy.

1 Corinthians 13:8-10 .......
"Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away."
 
If we read the Bible that in itself is prophecy.
A lot of people think that the Bible is just this closed book that everyone's already read, but to anyone who hasn't yet read it, everything will seem like prophecy to them --even the angels say at the end of book of Revelations - SEAL NOT the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. Meaning. Don't close it or chuck it away. Everyone needs to hear it.
 
If we read the Bible that in itself is prophecy.
A lot of people think that the Bible is just this closed book that everyone's already read, but to anyone who hasn't yet read it, everything will seem like prophecy to them --even the angels say at the end of book of Revelations - SEAL NOT the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. Meaning. Don't close it or chuck it away. Everyone needs to hear it.

Even if one has already read it, continued reading along with prayer reveals new depths in passages we thought we understood. Part of the Bible's prophetic nature is that it facilitates the Spirit speaking to our hearts and minds bringing new understandings to what we only partially know.
 
I think on the contrary theres a lot of study but not much reading lol.

I think there needs to be a balance, because much of the Bible is a STORY than a bunch of facts.
By story I mean a narrative, and that story needs to be told and shared, rather than dissected.
For most of Jesus ministry, he would tell parables, and people would get the spiritual meaning if they were open to it.

He was not one of those people who spouted a lot of statistics and quotes and soundbites or endless lists of things, that needed a lot of reference legwork to make sense. Mind you, we need a bit more these days since we are at a 2000 year remove from the events and also because for most of us, it's in translation, so all the Hebrew and Greek 'in jokes' or idioms would be lost on us.
 
I think on the contrary theres a lot of study but not much reading lol.

I think there needs to be a balance, because much of the Bible is a STORY than a bunch of facts.
By story I mean a narrative, and that story needs to be told and shared, rather than dissected.
For most of Jesus ministry, he would tell parables, and people would get the spiritual meaning if they were open to it.

He was not one of those people who spouted a lot of statistics and quotes and soundbites or endless lists of things, that needed a lot of reference legwork to make sense. Mind you, we need a bit more these days since we are at a 2000 year remove from the events and also because for most of us, it's in translation, so all the Hebrew and Greek 'in jokes' or idioms would be lost on us.
I understand what you are saying and agree that often we approach the Bible in a too academic fashion. There are many times when we need to put away commentaries and other references and let the stories speak to us.

It is great to know how the church fathers like Augustine or Luther approached faith, but there are times when He needs to speak to us in a personal way through His word.

A believer who studies but seldom informaly reads likely misses the uplifting of the soul. They are striving in their own power and trusting their own thought processes rather that letting the Word speak to as a friend.

We are not studying for a written test but preparing our hearts for the real test of living by faith.
 
I understand what you are saying and agree that often we approach the Bible in a too academic fashion. There are many times when we need to put away commentaries and other references and let the stories speak to us.

It is great to know how the church fathers like Augustine or Luther approached faith, but there are times when He needs to speak to us in a personal way through His word.

A believer who studies but seldom informaly reads likely misses the uplifting of the soul. They are striving in their own power and trusting their own thought processes rather that letting the Word speak to as a friend.

We are not studying for a written test but preparing our hearts for the real test of living by faith.

Agreed.

I can not tell you how many times I have READ a Scripture and realized a lesson in it that I had not seen before. Some people do exactly what you stated, but Personally I do not understand how anyone can say that they have "studied" the Word of God but have not READ the Word of God. But now that is just me.
 
Agreed.

I can not tell you how many times I have READ a Scripture and realized a lesson in it that I had not seen before. Some people do exactly what you stated, but Personally I do not understand how anyone can say that they have "studied" the Word of God but have not READ the Word of God. But now that is just me.
many of us can recite from our head biblical knowledge, knowing doctrines, but seeing them actually applied into our lives?
 
Back
Top