For many believers today there is still a sense of wonderment and awe when they see prophecy in action, or when the personal details of one’s heart and life are made known through words of knowledge by certain individuals. Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with being in awe of God’s power and goodness, but when we begin to develop a “hero worship” mentality, or an unhealthy regard for men (or women) by viewing them as some type of special or super saint because of their ability to prophesy, something has gone awry.

The ability to prophesy is not some mystic art that is relegated to a select few. The Bible is very clear that we may all prophesy (1 Cor. 14:31). In fact, far from being an indication of one’s level of spirituality, maturity or doctrinal accuracy, prophesying is an elementary principle or activity in the Kingdom of God.

The Ephesian Believers

When Paul encountered a group of John’s disciples in Ephesus who had not yet been upgraded into the present truth of Christ Jesus, the very one who John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for, his efforts to remedy this situation marked the beginning and birthing of the church at Ephesus.

And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

 

(Acts 19:1-6 ESV, emphasis mine)

Not only had this group of disciples not been introduced to the gospel of Jesus, but they had never even heard of the Holy Spirit. They had repented of sin according to the teachings of John and were devotedly positioned at the door of the Kingdom, but they had never fully entered in because they were still ignorant of the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Paul led them into present truth and then re-baptized them in the name of Jesus – a unique occurrence that is never repeated anywhere else in the New Testament – thus ushering them through the Door (Jesus) and into the Kingdom of God.

These new converts then had hands laid on them by Paul for the baptism of the Holy Spirit when something interesting happens. Not only did they speak in other tongues, which is an activity believed by some to be the initial evidence of the Holy Spirit’s baptism, but they prophesied also!

These newly born-again believers were able to speak in tongues and prophesy upon their initial entry into the Kingdom of God. They hadn’t taken new believers class and didn’t even know that the Holy Spirit existed until minutes ago, yet the Scriptures tell us that they were able to prophesy. It would appear then that prophesying is not as complicated or advanced as many of us have believed it is, but is, in fact, an elementary principle that can be activated and practiced by even the newest convert, regardless of age, gender, or any other factor or status.

Most Pentecostal or Charismatic believers would never dream of placing a person on some type of pedestal simply because of their ability to speak in other tongues, because this type of activity should be commonplace and expected in every believer. It should be no different with prophecy, because it is the same Holy Spirit who empowers both. If we are bold enough to lead a new convert into an experience of speaking in other tongues and think no more highly of them when they do, then it should be no different with prophecy. It is available to all and functions according to the same principle.

The Issue of Character

So if prophecy is such an elementary principle that can be activated and practiced by any believer regardless of their spiritual maturity, what part, then, does character play in all of this? Can such a Holy Spirit inspired gift be discharged through an unclean or unholy vessel? I’m glad you asked, and the answer is yes! Even though it was never God’s intention for us to operate this way, a lack of godly character or holiness does not impede or restrict your ability to prophesy any more than it does your ability to speak in other tongues.

When king Saul was in a demonized and murderous state, rejected by God and consumed with a jealousy so deep and evil that he was willing to hunt and kill innocent blood, he was still able to prophesy (1 Sam. 19).

How could such a demonized man intent on committing murder and thoroughly rejected by God still be able to prophesy? Because prophecy is an elementary principle that does not require godly character or holiness by which to operate. None of the gifts of the Spirit do.

If you read the text regarding Saul’s prophesying in this particular instance, similar to the time when he prophesied just after being anointed king by Samuel (1 Sam. 10:1-11), no mention is made of him prophesying inaccurately. We have to assume, then, that Saul’s prophesying was spot-on even in his demonized and murderous state. Of course this raises the question as to how the Spirit of God could still come upon and flow through an individual in such a depraved condition, but it is beyond the scope of this essay to address that question.

We see this principle again in the Corinthian community of believers. The Corinthian community (church) was a very spiritually gifted company. Not only did they speak in tongues quite frequently, even during public gatherings, but it is quite apparent from Paul’s letters that they were quite familiar in the exercise of prophecy also (1 Cor. 14).

Paul has to put a cap or limit on their speaking in tongues and prophesying because so many of them were able and willing to do so that it was causing a bit of disorder (1 Cor. 14:27-30). In fact, it would appear that they were all capable of speaking with other tongues and prophesying (1 Cor. 14:5, 23-24, 26, 31).

There are many people today who would describe such an assembly as being a “prophetic church” because of all the prophesying that took place there. Perhaps they even held prophetic training seminars or conferences. However, regardless of whether or not there is actually any merit to such, there is no denying the fact that they did prophesy and that the exercise of prophecy was commonplace.

Far from being an iconic or prototypical Kingdom community, however, the Corinthian believers had many spiritual, moral and doctrinal issues, including sectarianism or division (1 Cor. 1-4), sexual perversion in the form of incest (1 Cor. 5), irreconcilable personal disputes leading to lawsuits (1 Cor. 6:1-11), sexual immorality and fornication (1 Cor. 6:12-20), marital issues and divorce (1 Cor. 7), pride and offense in abusing one’s personal liberties (1 Cor. 8), accusation (1 Cor. 9), idolatry (1 Cor. 10), violation of God’s divine order in creation (1 Cor. 11:1-22), desecration of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:23-34), misunderstanding and misuse of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12-14), lack of true love (1 Cor. 13) and doctrinal heresies regarding the resurrection (1 Cor. 15).

These are some very serious issues mentioned above. Not only were these Corinthians deficient in biblical holiness and moral character, but they had major doctrinal and internal issues as well, yet they were still able to prophesy just as easily and just as accurately.

They were a very immature community of believers despite their ability to continually exercise spiritual gifts, including prophecy. Some, like me, would describe these believers as being pathetic more than truly prophetic.