The Spirit of Prophecy

Let’s imagine a clock or a watch without the hour hand, minute hand, or second hand. Have you ever seen a clock or a watch like that? Would you use it for telling time? Of course not!

In one of his illustrations, one of our pioneers tried to illustrate a Bible without prophecy. It would still be a wonderful book, but without prophecy we could not know the time. As a matter of fact, the Bible prophecies give strong support for the authenticity of Scripture.

Hosea wrote: “By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved” (12:13). Solomon declared: “Without prophecy the people become demoralized” (Proverbs 29:18, NAB).

Now let’s imagine a Bible without prophecy or a church without the Spirit of Prophecy.

The disastrous captivity that came upon the Israelites was due in great part to their rejecting the prophets. “The Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy” (2 Chronicles 36:15, 16).

Why did they reject the Messiah? Because of their spiritual pride, they had rejected and misapplied the prophecies. For instance, Isaiah 53 describes the true Messiah as a suffering Servant who had not come according to their expectations.

The apostle Peter, an eyewitness of Christ (since he lived 3½ years with Jesus) gave more importance to the prophecies than to his own personal testimony about the Saviour. He declared: “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

“For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:16-21, emphasis added).

God has richly blessed His people with the gift of prophecy, but we can receive no benefit from it if we do not take seriously its messages of warning, reproof, counseling.

“We must follow the directions given through the Spirit of prophecy. We must love and obey the truth for this time. This will save us from accepting strong delusions. God has spoken to us through His word. He has spoken to us through the testimonies to the church, and through the books that have helped to make plain our present duty and the position we should now occupy. The warnings that have been given, line upon line, precept upon precept, should be heeded. If we disregard them, what excuse can we offer?”1

Before winning a great victory upon his enemies, King Jehoshaphat addressed the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper” (2 Chronicles 20:20).

Here is the basic condition for our spiritual prosperity as individuals, as families, and as a church. Are we willing to fulfill this condition? May the Lord give us grace for that!