DRAWING NEAR
August 6
Prophecy Without Love
"If I have the gift of prophecy . . . but do not have love, I am
nothing" (1 Cor. 13:2).
Love motivated God to communicate with fallen humanity. That must be
your motivation too.
The word prophecy as used in 1 Corinthians 13:2 is the ability to
publicly proclaim God's truth accurately and authoritatively. It's a
greater gift than tongues because tongues were given as a sign to
unbelieving Israel in the first century (1 Cor. 14:21-22), whereas
prophecy instructs and edifies believers throughout the centuries.
Paul said, "one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and
exhortation and consolation [and] edifies the church (1 Cor. 14:3-4).
Prophecy has two aspects: revelation and reiteration. When an Old or
New Testament prophet received new information directly from God,
that was revelation. Whenever that information was repeated through
preaching or teaching, it was reiteration. For example, the sermons
of Peter and Paul combine new revelation with a reiteration of Old
Testament truth. That's a common element in New Testament preaching.
With the close of the New Testament canon, direct revelation from God
ceased. All preaching and teaching today is reiteration. New
Testament prophets policed one another to ensure that every prophecy
was truly from God (1 Cor. 14:32). Today, Scripture itself is the
standard by which we test someone's message. As the prophet Isaiah
said, "To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak
according to this word, it is because they have no [light]" (Isa.
8:20).
Paul is saying 1 Corinthians 13:2, "If I have the ability to speak
direct revelation from God, or to reiterate divine truth forcefully
and dramatically, but lack love, my ministry is meaningless." In its
broadest sense, that principle applies to every believer because we
all are proclaimers of God's Word. You might not teach a class or
preach a sermon, but whenever you tell someone about Christ or share
a biblical principle, you're reiterating divine truth. That's why you
must always speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). Then the Holy Spirit
can empower your words to minister to others.
Suggestions for Prayer:
Ask God to help you guard your words so that everything you say will
be clothed in His love.
For Further Study:
Read Deuteronomy 13:1-5 and 18:20-22.
What tests did Moses give for determining false prophets? What
punishment did false prophets receive?
Drawing Near, Copyright 1993 John F. MacArthur, Jr.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
http://www.gty.org
~~~
1 Corinthians 14:21-22
21 In the law it is written: "With men of other tongues and other
lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will
not hear Me," says the Lord.
22 Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to
unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who
believe.
1 Corinthians 14:32
32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
Ephesians 4:15
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into
Him who is the head; Christ
Deuteronomy 13:1-5
13:1 "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams,
and he gives you a sign or a wonder,
2 "and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to
you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods'; which you have not known;
'and let us serve them,'
3 "you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer
of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you
love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 "You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His
commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold
fast to Him.
5 "But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death,
because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from
the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD
your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from
your midst.
Deuteronomy 18:20-22
20 'But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I
have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other
gods, that prophet shall die.'
21 "And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which
the LORD has not spoken?';
22 "when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does
not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not
spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be
afraid of him.
~~~
These devotions are posted with permission from John MacArthur's
first (1993) devotional work, _Drawing Near_, and they are also sent
out daily for free to several folks via e-mail.
In addition, John's second (1997) devotional, _Strength for Today_,
is also available free via e-mail only. _Strength for Today_ follows
the same format as what you have seen here from _Drawing Near_, but
with different monthly themes.
If you would like to receive daily devotions via e-mail from either
of these series, just let me know (via e-mail), and I will gladly add
you to the list(s) of your choice.
You can hear John MacArthur daily via the Internet by visiting:
http://www2.oneplace.com/Ministries/Grace_to_You/
and
http://www.gty.org.uk/
You may email John MacArthur in care of Grace to You at:
letters@gty.org
NOTE for those of you reading via newsgroups: If you wish to reach
me, please contact me via e-mail for quickest results.
In Christ,
Peter
Peter G. Chase :: Columbus, Ohio, USA
pchase1@wideopenwest.com
STOP! Who do you think Jesus is?
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To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and to discover that the prisoner was you. -Alistair Begg
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