God uses our uniqueness and gives unique gifts and roles. He does not make interchangeable, cookie-cutter believers for our administrative convenience. Examples: the first deacons, Stephen, Philip. Paul and the anomalous New Testament prophets.
Here is the link to the video presentation that accompanies this blog post:
Slide 2: The Calling of the first Board of Table Waiters and its Outcome.
Seven men were called to wait tables. But some of them had much larger roles than their formal appointments. God did not use the “deacon” designation as a limiting cookie-cutter creating identical, fungible menial “church officers.”
Slide 3:
Now at this time, as the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint developed on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily service of food. So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. Instead, brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.
Acts 6:1-4 (NASB)
As stated in earlier parts, even though the church servants, the “deacons,” of Jerusalem, were chosen to perform a menial task, spiritual qualifications were required.
Slide 4:
5 The announcement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. 6 And they brought these men before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.
Acts 6:5-6 (NASB)
Seven deacons were chosen, and the apostles laid their hands on them to commission them to their new jobs waiting tables. Under a more modern way of thinking about roles in a human organization, this action would have limited the seven to just waiting on tables, or other similar menial activities assigned to them by their superiors, unless and until some of them were formally promoted to more responsible positions. Did the first seven deacons understand they were limited in this way? Read on…
Slide 5: Stephen the Table Waiter
Slide 6:
7 The word of God kept spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. 8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 But some men… rose up and argued with Stephen. 10 But they were unable to cope with his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.
Acts 6:7-10 (NASB) (excerpt)
Stephen obviously didn’t believe his appointment limited him to waiting tables. He was faithfully waiting tables AND performing great wonders and signs in support of the message he was apparently preaching. Preaching and performing miracles usually aren’t in the job description of a waiter!
This continued until some men rose up against Stephen and questioned the content of his preaching. These men were not members of the church, they were Jews who objected to the message, who in the next scene in Acts dragged Stephen before the Sanhedrin for trial. But, in this scene, they merely argued against Stephen’s message—and found that the simple table waiter’s wisdom was so great that they could not win their argument. Notably, it is not said that any of these Jews were won to faith in Christ by Stephen’s preaching or by his wisdom in response to their arguments. Their only response was to become so angered that they had Stephen arrested.
Slide 7:
51 You stubborn and hardheaded people! You are always fighting against the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors did. 52 Is there one prophet that your ancestors didn’t mistreat? They killed the prophets who told about the coming of the One Who Obeys God. And now you have turned against him and killed him. 53 Angels gave you God’s Law, but you still don’t obey it. 54 When the council members heard Stephen’s speech, they were angry and furious.
Acts 7:51-54 (CEV)
I have gone into some of the details of Stephen’s trial in an earlier part. Instead of recanting his preaching and seeking the Sanhedrin’s mercy, Stephen allowed the Holy Spirit to preach a long sermon accusing them of refusing to listen to the Holy Spirit, just as their fathers had repeatedly done throughout their history. And the conclusion of all of this resistance to the Spirit was that they had now killed their Messiah. This accusation made the members of the Sanhedrin murderously angry, and they dragged Stephen out of the city to stone him.
There is no record that any of the people to whom Stephen preached his sermon in Acts 7 immediately repented and believed in Jesus.
Slide 8:
55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:55-60 (ESV)
Even while dying, Stephen left the Holy Spirit in control. He was rewarded with an open vision of Jesus, who always sits in his Father’s presence, standing up to receive him—and he told the members of the Sanhedrin and the assembled crowd what he was seeing. The crowd understood the meaning of Stephen’s vision—and to a man stopped their ears and shouted so they wouldn’t have to hear any more of it.
And there is no record that even hearing of Stephen’s dying vision convinced anyone who was present to repent and believe in Jesus that day.
In fact, there is no record that Stephen had any converts during his lifetime. The record of his stoning only mentions one other person by name—”a young man named Saul” who assisted the officials by taking charge of their outer garments while they stoned Stephen (which could be very messy). Ironically, Saul’s role in the stoning helped the members of the Sanhedrin maintain their ritual purity while murdering an innocent man who was telling them the only truth by which they might be saved!
Slide 9: A Few Words About Philip the Waiter A/K/A Philip the Evangelist
Slide 10:
3 But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would drag away men and women and put them in prison. 4 Therefore, those who had been scattered went through places preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the Christ to them. 6 The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.
Acts 8:3-6 (NASB)
Saul reappears in this passage, which introduces the further career of another table waiter, Philip. Saul was “converted” by Stephen’s sermon and stoning. But he was not “converted” into a Christian. Instead, Stephen’s words so bothered him that he was “converted” into a committed enemy, the leading persecutor of Christians.
Young Saul was, in fact, a well-placed Jewish legal expert, a leading disciple of the great Gamaliel the Elder, fully qualified to lead an inquisition into a new Jewish heresy. The proceedings he initiated were so effective that most of the church in Jerusalem scattered. But here lies another irony. By scattering the Jerusalem church, Saul merely forced them to fulfil Jesus’ final instructions to go be his witnesses “in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:8.
Philip went to Samaria. Did he wait tables there? Apparently not. He preached Christ to the Samaritans and performed “signs” in support of his message. And, unlike Stephen’s audience in Jerusalem, the Samaritans listened to Philip. They paid attention with one mind, and benefited from the message…
Slide 11:
6 The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. 7 For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed. 8 So there was much rejoicing in that city…
14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit…
25 So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
Acts 8:6-8, 14-15, 25 (NASB)
Not only was Philip preaching and performing signs, but the Samaritans’ attention to his message also permitted the Spirit to cast out demons and perform many healings in Samaria. There was much rejoicing in Samaria. And the apostles in Jerusalem subsequently heard what was happening in Samaria, that the whole city had received the word of God and sent Peter and John there to confirm the people in their faith and introduce them to the Holy Spirit.
However, Stephen did not remain in Samaria after Peter and John came. We will see where he went next…
Slide 12:
26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get ready and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) 27 So he got ready and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot and was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” 30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
Acts 8:26-30 (NASB)
Philip was apparently told by the Holy Spirit not that he was to go to another city and start preaching there, but simply that he was to go from Samaria, well north of Jerusalem, out to a road southwest of Jerusalem in the middle of a desert. There are no crowds to preach to in the middle of a desert!
But Philip obeyed and went. When he got to the place he was supposed to be, a chariot passed him, and the Spirit told him to do something athletic and rather difficult: run, catch up to the chariot, and speak to the man sitting in it.
Slide 13:
31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:
“He was led like a sheep to slaughter;
And like a lamb that is silent before its shearer,
So He does not open His mouth.
33 In humiliation His justice was taken away;
Who will describe His generation?
For His life is taken away from the earth.”
34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.
Acts 8:31-35 (NASB)
The Holy Spirit had prepared the man in the chariot—he was reading the scroll of Isaiah in his chariot, had just read a passage predicting Jesus’ death, and wondered what it meant. Philip had the answer. He was able to explain the whole Gospel, starting from the passage the man was reading.
Slide 14:
36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he ordered that the chariot stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him but went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through, he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
Acts 8:36-40 (NASB)
The man noticed some water—next to the road in the middle of the desert—and suggested that he be baptized. Philip then baptized him.
Philip’s new convert was a wealthy and powerful man—the treasurer of the queen of Ethiopia. We might expect that Philip would rejoin him in his chariot, go to Ethiopia with him, lead great evangelistic meetings in Ethiopia and found a national church there.
But that is not what happened. The Spirit “snatched Philip way,” so that the Ethiopian official never saw him again, and placed Philip in Azotus, halfway between Gaza and Joppa in Galilee. There he preached and continued preaching in all the towns between Azotus and Caesarea. We next see Philip, years later, in Caesarea.
Slide 15:
7 When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting the brothers and sisters, we stayed with them for a day. 8 On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses.
Acts 21:7-9 (NASB)
This final reference to Philip finds him settled in Caesarea. This occurs during Paul’s final trip to Jerusalem, during which Paul and his companions stayed in Philip’s house while in Caesarea. So, it obviously occurred many years after the events of Acts 8. In this record, Philip is given the title “the evangelist,” not “the deacon.” Philip ultimately became known for his ability to equip others to preach, not for his table waiting skills. He was also, apparently, successful in imparting his faith to his own children, as his four daughters are called “prophetesses.”
Slide 16: Now About Saul of Tarsus
**The Goad Stephen Planted
**Stephen’s Only Named Convert—posthumously!
**Did not, and does not, fit any known mold.
Slide 17:
3 For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
1 Corinthians 15:3-9 (NASB)
Remember young Saul, the persecutor?
He did not remain a persecutor. Jesus appeared to him in person and won him. Here Paul states simply that, though he was unfit to be called an Apostle because he had persecuted the Church, the resurrected Jesus appeared to him and made him an Apostle. He also says he was the last Apostle to whom Jesus appeared bodily.
Slide 18:
Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them in shackles to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6 but get up and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do.” 7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Acts 9:1-9 (NASB)
This is Luke’s account of the appearance of Jesus to Saul on the Damascus Road. The points stressed are, first of all, that Jesus appeared, in such brilliant glory that it left Saul temporarily blind, but then also that the others who were with Saul saw the brilliant light and heard that a voice was speaking to Saul (thus, were witnesses that something supernatural had occurred) but did not understand the voice. Luke also stresses that Jesus said that, in persecuting his Church, Saul was persecuting him. Saul was told to go to Damascus and wait for instructions.
Slide 19:
12 “While so engaged, as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13 at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who were journeying with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you as a servant and a witness not only to the things in which you have seen Me, but also to the things in which I will appear to you, 17 rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’
Acts 26:12-18 (NASB)
This is Saul/ Paul’s own account of the same event, as told in his hearing before Governor Festus and King Herod Agrippa late in his life. It also stresses that Jesus appeared, in glory all those traveling with Paul could see—they all fell on the ground when they saw it—and that Paul was told he was persecuting Jesus personally. It goes into more detail than Luke’s account concerning the instructions given Paul on that occasion—Jesus told Paul he was commissioning him as his witness to the Gentiles, so that we also may receive forgiveness and an inheritance among those Jesus has set apart to himself.
But Paul’s own account also contains the following provocative statement made by Jesus but not recorded by Luke: “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
What “goads” was Saul “kicking against?” What irritant had started him persecuting the Church in the first place? Stephen’s final message to the Sanhedrin and his vision as he was dying!
Saul spent years trying to get Stephen and his message out of his mind. Then Stephen’s message appeared to him personally on the road to Damascus.
No Stephen, no Paul.
The Apostle Paul is Stephen’s only named convert!
Slide 20:
10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints in Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.”
Acts 9:10-14 (NASB)
Jesus sent one of his followers in Damascus, one Ananias, to visit blind Saul and return his sight to him. This is the only thing Ananias is recorded to have done. Ananias didn’t want to go. He objected that knew what harm Saul had done in Jerusalem, and that he had been sent to Damascus with the authority to arrest Christians (including Ananias himself).
Slide 21:
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
Acts 9:15-16 (NIV)
I’ve talked about Jesus answer to Ananias‘ objection before. He told Ananias to “go!” He also told Ananias the task for which Saul had been commissioned, and that Saul would suffer doing it.
Slide 22:
17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like fish scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; 19 and he took food and was strengthened.
Acts 9:17-19a (NASB)
Ananias obeyed, Saul regained his sight and was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Slide 23:
Now for several days he was with the disciples who were in Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not the one who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ. 23 When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were also closely watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; 25 but his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.
Acts 9:19b-25 (NASB)
After receiving his sight, Saul didn’t go back to school. Instead, he immediately started doing what he was commissioned to do. He started preaching, proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues. His message was so powerful that it “confounded the Jews,” who didn’t have any answer to his arguments other than to try to kill him. All of which sounds like… Stephen!
God had other plans for Saul, though. Saul learned of the plot against his life, and the other disciples in Damascus helped him escape that city alive.
Slide 24:
15 But when He who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace was pleased 16 to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus. 18 Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him for fifteen days… 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
Galatians 1:15-18, 21 (NASB)
This passage confirms that, immediately after his conversion, Saul/ Paul did not consult with anyone on Earth about his commission. He left Damascus, went to Arabia for awhile, then returned to Damascus. He did not go to Jerusalem until three years later, where he met Peter and stayed with him for 15 days. He then went to first Syria, then Cilicia (the province of Tarsus, his home city).
Slide 25:
26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried repeatedly to associate with the disciples; and yet they were all afraid of him, as they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus at Damascus. 28 And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. 30 Now when the brothers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.
Acts 9:26-30 (NASB)
This passage gives more detail. When Paul first went to Jerusalem, the believers did not believe he was one of them until Barnabas vouched for him and for the work he had done in Damascus. He then stayed in Jerusalem and preached until the Jewish leaders there plotted to kill him, after which the believers in Jerusalem sent him back to Tarsus.
Slide 26: Meanwhile in Syria
Slide 27:
19 So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.
Acts 11:19-21 (NASB)
Meanwhile, in another part of Syria—Antioch, the third largest city in the Roman Empire—believers who were scattered from Judea by Saul’s persecution had founded a church. That church was, at first, exclusively Jewish believers. But later some of the believers there started to preach to the large Gentile population of Antioch, and many Gentile believers had started to come in. Then, just as had been the pattern with Philip and Samaria…
Slide 28:
22 The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. 23 Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; 24 for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And considerable numbers were added to the Lord.
Acts 11:22-24 (NASB)
The Jerusalem church sent one of their leaders, Barnabas—the same one who had vouched for Saul—off to Antioch to see what was happening. When he saw that the grace of God was authentically at work there, he encouraged them.
Slide 29:
23 Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; 24 for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And considerable numbers were added to the Lord. 25 And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers of people; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
Acts 11:23-26 (NASB)
Barnabas then recognized that he needed some help shepherding the rapidly growing Antioch church and went to Tarsus to find Saul to help him. Barnabas and Saul then taught—discipled—considerable numbers of people in Antioch. Their work was so effective that the disciples in Antioch became recognizable by their different behavior from the unbelievers around them. They were first, derisively, called Christians—“little Christs”—by unbelievers in Antioch.
Slide 30:
Now there were prophets and teachers at Antioch, in the church that was there: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set Barnabas and Saul apart for Me for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, when they had fasted, prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
Acts 13:1-3 (NASB)
Here we see a later stage of the development of the church in Antioch. The church had developed its own local leaders, including Simeon, Lucius and Manaen who are here called “prophets and teachers,” a description which also applied to Barnabas and Saul. While all of these leaders together were “serving the Lord and fasting,” the Holy Spirit told them to set apart Barnabas and Saul for a new work. As no distinction is made between the five named leaders, the Holy Spirit apparently spoke to all five of them—Barnabas, Saul, Simeon, Lucius and Manaen—saying the same thing to each. Taking this as sufficient confirmation, the church prayed, laid hands on Barnabas and Saul, and sent them off to preach to Gentiles over a large area. We know the full extent of that today; the Antioch church didn’t.
But note that the five named leaders were called both “teachers” and “prophets.” This confirms that there were “prophets,” whatever that means, who were not also Apostles, still active in the church at that time. This is not the only place where their presence in the early church is confirmed.
Slide 31: Those Anomalous New Testament Prophets:
- Lots of instructions
- Few examples
- No fixed pattern!
Slide 32: Prophets’ Presence Confirmed
Slide 33:
27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, and various kinds of tongues. 29 All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? 30 All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? 31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And yet, I am going to show you a far better way.
1 Corinthians 12:27-31 (NASB)
This passage also says on its face that God has appointed “prophets” in the church, who were still active at least as late as the date First Corinthians was written.
Slide 34:
11 And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-13 (NASB)
This passage also confirms that God gave some people to the church as “prophets” on the date it was written. It also indicates that the reason the “prophets” were given was “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith…” just like all of the other people given to the Church. I explained this at length in the last part of this presentation.
Slide 35: Back to the Dictionary:
Strong’s Concordance, Greek #4396, from BibleHub: prophḗtēs: Definition: a prophet (an interpreter or forth-teller of the divine will). Usage: a prophet, poet; a person gifted at expositing divine truth.
Helps Word Studies in the Bible Hub Concordance: prophḗtēs (from pró and phēmí,), properly, one who speaks forth by the inspiration of God… A prophet … declares the mind (message) of God, which sometimes predicts the future (foretelling) – and more commonly, speaks forth His message for a particular situation. [A prophet] then is someone inspired by God to foretell or tell-forth (forthtell) the Word of God.
Slide 36: A few notes from this definition:
1) By its simplest definition, prophecy is nothing more than speaking forth, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, God’s truth applicable to a situation.
2) prediction of the future is not a necessary component of prophecy.
3) under this broad definition, all true preaching is prophecy—it speaks to the situation of its hearers and speaks forth God’s truth applicable to that situation.
4) it would appear, under this definition, that no one has any business preaching who is not simultaneously aware that they are also prophesying—that is, speaking forth God’s message applicable to their hearers.
5) As a rule: Speak God’s message in the Spirit’s power or shut up.
6) If this is true, there has always been a lot of false preaching in the church.
Slide 37: Lots of Instructions About Prophets
These instructions generally suggest misunderstanding and abuse of the role.
Slide 38:
5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Romans 12:5-8 (NRSVUE)
Speaking forth God’s words—prophesying—is only genuine if done in the analogy of the faith of the speaker—as an outflowing of the speaker’s faith. One must believe that God is speaking, and deliver his message, not some other message. This was explained in the last part.
Slide 39:
8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
1 Corinthians 12:8-11 (NASB)
This instruction clarifies that each of the “gifts”—the special abilities given to members of the Body—are given by the Holy Spirit as he wills. I don’t decide which gift I will be given, either on a single occasion or on a more regular basis, the Spirit does that. And I don’t decide on which occasions a gift will be available for me to use, the Spirit does that. The only choice I make is whether I will leave the Spirit free to exercise the gift when the opportunity is presented to do so.
Slide 40:
27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, and various kinds of tongues. 29 All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? 30 All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? 31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And yet, I am going to show you a far better way.
1 Corinthians 12:27-31 (NASB)
There are at least three important points here: 1) Some people are chosen, and given to the church, to exercise specific functions that also involve the exercise of specific gifts on a regular basis. 2) Not everyone has any one of these specific functions—i.e., apostle, prophet, teacher, miracle worker, etc. So we are dependent on each other. 3) I should desire the greater gifts—the ones most needed by the church. All of this applies as much to the role of “prophet” as it does to any of the other roles.
Slide 41:
31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And yet, I am going to show you a far better way. 13:1 If I speak with the tongues of mankind and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give away all my possessions to charity, and if I surrender my body so that I may glory, but do not have love, it does me no good.
1 Corinthians 12:31-3:3 (NASB)
The reason I should earnestly desire the gifts that are most useful to the church is that all of the gifts are worthless without love. So, for example, even if it is assumed that true prophecy—speaking forth God’s message—were possible without love (it isn’t), prophets who speak without love are nothing; their words do them no good.
Slide 42:
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with. 9 For we know in part and prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:8-13 (NASB)
Slide 43:
Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For the one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people, but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for edification, exhortation, and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but the one who prophesies edifies the church.
1 Corinthians 14:1-4 (NASB)
So we are here given instructions that, to our modern minds, sound self-contradictory: First of all, pursue love. That was the message of the previous chapter, as well. But, while pursuing love, earnestly desire spiritual gifts. This only sounds contradictory to us because we are used to churches and their members either denying the gifts altogether, or, like the Corinthians, seeking them—or, often, faking them—to build up their own personal prestige or as a form of church advertising.
But Paul’s letter was trying to correct this abuse. The instructions to pursue love and, simultaneously, earnestly desire spiritual gifts does not contradict itself once it is realized that the gifts themselves are given in love, to serve and show the love of God.
That is also why, by contrast to the generally less useful gift of speaking with languages the speaker has not learned, Paul says particularly to desire the gift of speaking for God in a language the speaker (and the others present) understand, that is, prophecy. God can speak to the lives of the hearers if the message is spoken in their language. But speaking in another language only gets in the way, unless an interpreter is present to put the message into the hearer’s language.
So prophecy builds up the church. Love, therefore, prefers prophecy over speaking in an unknown language.
Slide 44:
3 Those who prophesy speak to people, building them up, and giving them encouragement and comfort. 4 People who speak in a tongue build up themselves; those who prophesy build up the church.
1 Corinthians 14:3-4 (CEB)
Love prefers exercises that build up the church, that help other people, to exercises that only build up the speaker.
Slide 45:
24 But if everyone is prophesying when an unbeliever or outsider comes in, they are tested by all and called to account by all. 25 The secrets of their hearts are brought to light. When that happens, they will fall on their faces and worship God, proclaiming out loud that truly God is among you!
1 Corinthians 14:24-25 (CEB)
Paul also speaks of the effect of his example gifts, prophecy and tongues, on unbelievers who visit an assembly. Prophecy spoken in the unbeliever’s language brings the secrets of their heart to light and invites them to believe. Words spoken in other languages do not have this effect.
Slide 46:
29 Have two or three prophets speak, and have the others pass judgment. 30 But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, then the first one is to keep silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; 33 for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.
1 Corinthians 14:29-33 (NASB)
This instructs that prophecy during an assembly is to be done in an ordinary way, presented one at a time. Multiple people are not to be speaking at the same time. “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets”—that is, a prophet knows when to keep their mouth shut. Pressure of speech—a nice, modern psychological term—doesn’t characterize people led by the Spirit of God. “I just had to shout over you” is not how the Spirit works. The Spirit, if we cooperate with him, will keep things orderly, not confusing. After all, God wants the people present to understand his message!
Slide 47:
13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue is to pray that he may interpret…
39 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.
1 Corinthians 14:13 & 19 (NASB)
The focus at present is instructions for prophecy. Paul says again that we are to eagerly desire to prophesy, in contrast to speaking in tongues. The reason remains the same—love wants God’s message to be understood. This was obviously a problem in Corinth!
Slide 48: Few New Testament Examples of Prophets
Which show no fixed pattern!
Slide 49:
27 During this time some prophets from Jerusalem came to Antioch. 28 One of them was Agabus. Then with the help of the Spirit, he told that there would be a terrible famine everywhere in the world. And it happened when Claudius was Emperor. 29 The followers in Antioch decided to send whatever help they could to the followers in Judea.
Acts 11:27-29 (CEV)
This is an example of prediction of the future. Agabus of Jerusalem, identified as a prophet, went to the more affluent Antioch to predict a coming famine, which subsequently actually occurred. The apparent reason for giving the prophecy was to cause the church in Antioch to send financial aid to the already impoverished church in Judea in preparation for the famine. The Antioch church did so. But Agabus didn’t tell them to do so, he only told them what was going to happen.
Slide 50:
Now there were prophets and teachers at Antioch, in the church that was there: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set Barnabas and Saul apart for Me for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, when they had fasted, prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
Acts 13:1-3 (NASB)
This instance of prophecy involves no prediction of the future. It also involved five “prophets and teachers” receiving substantially the same message about two of their number: Barnabas and Saul were to be commissioned and sent on a new assignment. If it was accompanied by any prediction of the future success of that mission, those details aren’t recorded. The important part of the message was only that the two were to be set apart and commissioned to their new work, which was done.
Slide 51:
30 So when they were sent away, they went down to Antioch; and after gathering the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32 Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers and sisters with a lengthy message. 33 After they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers and sisters in peace to those who had sent them out.
Acts 15:30-33 (NASB)
This instance of prophecy also involves no prediction of the future and looks like preaching. Judas and Silas, identified as “prophets,” were sent among the party that went from the Jerusalem church to Antioch to deliver the decision that Gentile believers do not have to be circumcised and taught to obey the full Law of Moses. They “encouraged and strengthened” the church in Antioch with a “lengthy message” when they delivered the decision from Jerusalem.
Slide 52:
8 The next day we went to Caesarea and stayed with Philip, the preacher. He was one of the seven men who helped the apostles, 9 and he had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. 10 We had been in Caesarea for several days, when the prophet Agabus came to us from Judea. 11 He took Paul’s belt, and with it he tied up his own hands and feet. Then he told us, “The Holy Spirit says that some of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will tie up the man who owns this belt. They will also hand him over to the Gentiles.” 12 After Agabus said this, we and the followers living there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 13 But Paul answered, “Why are you crying and breaking my heart? I am not only willing to be put in jail for the Lord Jesus, but I am even willing to die for him in Jerusalem!”
Acts 21:8-13 (CEV)
Here we see Agabus of Jerusalem again, once again predicting the future—if Paul goes to Jerusalem, he will be arrested. But this message appears to have been intended only to publicly confirm Paul’s determination.
We also see Philip’s four “prophetess” daughters, but we have no idea what they said.
Slide 53: The Five Examples of New Testament prophets:
1. Agabus of Jerusalem predicted famine in Judea.
2. The five named “prophets and teachers” in Antioch commissioned Saul/ Paul
3. Judas and Silas delivered a “lengthy message” encouraging and strengthening the church in Antioch on the occasion of the letter from the “Apostles and elders” in Jerusalem
4. The four daughters of Philip were prophetesses, but we don’t know what they said
5. Agabus of Jerusalem predicted Paul would be arrested if he went to Jerusalem, already knowing that Paul was determined to go and face death for Jesus there if needed.
Slide 54: The Big Question
The question is:
