Prophesying Meeting

First Corinthians 14 reveals that the purpose of Christians coming together is to build each other up. It speaks of encouragement and consolation. These are not just matters of mood, but rather of the very God being dispensed into man. Paul calls this prophesying.

Prophesying in the bible has two primary definitions: To predict or foretell and to speak on behalf of or to speak for. The prophets in the Old Testament predicted things, but by far they mostly spoke for God, they spoke on God’s behalf. The same is true of the Paul in the New Testament. He also predicted some things, but for the most part he was speaking for God in opening up God’s progressive move and bringing people into it.

 

To Speak Forth God  Paul goes even further in defining propheshying in the New Testament, in particular in 1 Corinthians 14. In verse 4 Paul says “he who prophesies builds up the church.” Prophesying, speaking forth the Lord, builds up not only the individuals speaking but also the church. In 1 Corinthians 3 we see the church is God’s farm and God’s building. This building is something of life! Through our speaking our encouragement and enjoyment of Christ we can build the church of God!