Spring 1998
The Spirit of Prophesy
Tom Worth
Pinecrest Staff

Prophecy is the human articulation of what God is saying, the combining of God's sovereignty and man's free will. The Lord desires to speak, but without human expression, this Word will never come to birth. To function prophetically is to give God the freedom to express Himself through us, either by tongue, deed, or pen.

At the core of each human expression of what God is saying lies His supreme expression: "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us" John 1:1. Behind a specific word that proceeds from the mouth of God, is the eternally proceeding Word who is our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, the unveiling of the Lord Jesus is the basis for all prophetic utterance.

John relates an experience in Revelation 19:20 that gives insight into the motive and underlying principle behind prophecy.

"And I fell at his feet to worship him. And
he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy
fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have
the testimony of Jesus: Worship God: for the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy" Rev 19:10.

Here John's misdirected worship is turned toward God, and the true nature of the prophetic state is revealed. Prophecy is not simply a fore-telling of events, but rather the forth-telling of the Person of Jesus.

The name of Jesus speaks of His nature and His character as seen in the Gospels. As we behold Jesus, we see what God is like. When we prophecy, the word of God comes to us and finds expression through our humanity. Thus it bears witness to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God expressed in humanity.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God" John 1:1.

"And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood:
and His Name is called The Word of God" Rev 19:13.

Prophecy is that combining of God and man which testifies of that One who is both God and Man, Jesus Christ.

To exercise "The Spirit of Prophecy" is to move in the same Spirit in which Jesus operated, where our attitudes, words, and deeds are really those of Jesus Christ finding their expression through us. The Spirit of Prophecy is the compassion of Jesus finding its expression in us; it is our obedience to God's will, an echo of that supreme submission to the Father that was exhibited in Jesus. It is where our lives become prophetic of the life of Jesus.

Consider the question asked in Isaiah 53:8,

"and who shall declare his generation? For he was
cut off out of the land of the living; for the
transgression of my people was he stricken."

There is a declaration yet to take place. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father has declared God, whom no man has seen at anytime (John1:18). The Holy Spirit is moving on His people today to declare the life of Jesus to this generation.

This probing question in Isaiah seems to say there must yet be an expression of that life which was cut off from the land of the living. Although Jesus fulfilled His mission and rose again and ascended to the Father, He was cut off from the earth in the prime of His human life. There must yet be an expression of the rest of our Lord's life here on earth - the testimony of Jesus to be declared in a generation of people.

Who shall declare His generation? We must answer this question with our lives. For this question is in reality a commission from God (for those who will answer (Isaiah 6:8)) to become witnesses unto the Lord Jesus Christ, endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8). This power is not a force but a Person, the Holy Spirit, functioning in the spirit of prophecy. In this way He enables us to declare the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why did Paul say, "Covet to prophesy" (1 Cor. 14:39)? Why did Moses declare "Would God that all the Lord's people were Prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them" (Num. 11:29)? Why did Peter and Joel proclaim the following concerning the last days?

"And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will
pour out in those days of my Spirit and they shall
prophesy" Acts 2:8.

Today, the Lord is dealing prophetically in His Church. We are living the last days spoken by Joel the prophet, days when the "Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come" (Matt. 24:14).

The Gospel of the Kingdom is not a set of divine principles, but rather the living testimony of Jesus, the witness that must be declared to all before the end comes. Arising from our worship and adoration of the Lord, we will be shered into that combining of the sovereign moving of God and the obedient response of man which results in our becoming a prophetic witness.

"Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus
is the Spirit of Prophecy."