(Please note: I am very much for personal prophesy and words of knowledge. Last week I was given words of knowledge at a meeting. The giver gave a time of 2 weeks. The word of knowledge has already come to pass! Thank you Jesus!!!!!!!)
In this day and age, many who prophesy or give a word of knowledge add a contingency clause. They include an understanding that the one receiving the prophecy or word of knowledge has a responsibility to help bring to past the received words.
For example a Christian is told:
‘God says you are going to stand before kings and dignitaries with the Gospel.’
Thirty years has gone by; the Christian hasn’t been remotely close to a king or a dignitary. When one would ask those who give such ‘words’ why did this not come to pass, one maybe told ‘you did not do enough in your life to prepare to meet kings and dignitaries’. Is their excuse, biblical?
Jeremiah spoke to kings and dignitaries. Did he have to prepare? Did he have a choice? NO! What God said He would do He made sure it came to pass!
“Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. 6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. 7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. 8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. 9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. 10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” Jeremiah 1:4-10
In the Old Covenant, God prophesied Judas Iscariot’s betrayal. Did Judas cast out demons, heal the sick, etc. like the other apostles? Yes. God didn’t make Judas sin. God simply foretold what Judas was going to do. By Judas’ own will he decided to betray Jesus. My point is God knew it was going to take place, so the prophecy is going to take place because it is a future fact.
When a prophecy or a word of knowledge doesn’t come to pass, does that mean God didn’t know the future? No. It means the person giving the prophecy or word of knowledge wasn’t hearing from God.
Some who give prophecy or a word of knowledge give a word that is so generic the word could be applied to anyone. Why? He or she is not hearing from Jesus.
Some Christians think a prophecy or word of knowledge must be nice and soft.
Why can’t a public prophesy expose an individual’s sin(s)? Today in many churches a complete prophecy or word of knowledge is not given because the giver knows he or she would be kicked out of the church for exposing sin!
Was Jeremiah's prophecy against the king of Judah, comforting? No, it exposed sin!
"Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, 2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates: 3 Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. 5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation." Jeremiah 22:1-5
Was Jeremiah's prophecy against Pashur, comforting? No, it exposed sin!
"And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib. 4 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword." Jeremiah 20:3-4
Looking at Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 is it about the same topic? No, it covered the knowledge Jesus wanted explained.
Why do some think every point in a meeting must flow together? In a meeting, why couldn’t there be teachings on love by some and about war by others? Why must the meeting have the same meeting topic? My point is it can have many different points as Peter’s sermon did.
In Jesus,
Bruce
