Paul gave instructions to the believers in Corinth about the body of Christ. His messages weren’t relevant only to believers in that one city, but in all places. Parents who read Paul’s letter shared what he wrote with their children and the generations not yet born. Paul’s message about the church applied to new believers who joined their company as well as to believers from distant places who read them. When Paul described the gifts God places in His church, that assurance is for all Christians: “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:27-28). Administration is still a needed gift in the church. Teaching and helping still function among believers too. In the same list of spiritual gifts, we see that God has appointed prophets, and we are to find them “in the church.” God’s church today is still in need of the gifts God promised to give.
Ephesians 4:11-13 includes a timeframe for when the gifts of the Spirit will continue to be needed in God’s church. “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ….” The tasks of ministry and edifying the body of Christ continue “till we all come to the unity of the faith….” The gifts in the church didn’t end in the first century. When we look at God’s church today, we see that it is still doing the work God gave for it to do. Therefore, God still makes His gifts available so the work can continue. The gift of prophecy is one of those gifts that works together with the other gifts in the church.
The gift of prophecy in God’s end-time church was predicted in the Old Testament. Joel 2:28-29 says “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” The gift of prophecy is part of what Joel saw among God’s people in the future. Verse 31 adds an important detail to the timing of when the fulfillment of this promise will be complete: “before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.” Joel was seeing spiritual gifts, including the gift of prophecy, being given by God in the time right before Jesus returns.
When Peter preached boldly in Jerusalem after Jesus’ ascension to Heaven, he referred to Joel’s prophecy in Acts 2:16-18 to show that its partial fulfillment had just taken place. At Pentecost, Jesus’ disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, enabling them to share the gospel in other languages (Acts 2:1-2). This supernatural gift of tongues showed everyone present that the Holy Spirit was making it possible to spread the gospel. When the foreigners who were still in Jerusalem after the Passover heard the disciples preaching the prophetic message in their own language, they in turn shared the message they heard when they returned to their homes in distant places.
But sharing the prophetic message in Jerusalem at Pentecost wasn’t the complete fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. Remember that before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He told His disciples that “you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In the time before Jesus’ Second Coming, the gospel will again be shared by Jesus’ followers with supernatural power. This is pictured by the gospel message going to the whole world attended by the three angels of Revelation 14:6-13. God could share His messages only through angels, but He always sends it through people who will be the messengers to others (see Revelation 1:1-2), and the final proclamation of the Gospel will be enabled by power from God’s angels in Heaven. Joel’s prophecy predicted that during this time before Jesus returns, the gift of prophecy will be present in God’s church to share the final proclamation of the gospel, “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28-29).
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:6-8 about Christians who are looking forward to the day Jesus comes, “…even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Notice how Paul desires that the body of Christ anticipating Jesus’ Second Coming would “come short in no gift.” In other words, when God’s church follows Him faithfully, it may expect to receive every spiritual gift that God promises. None of God’s spiritual gifts will be missing, including the gift of prophecy. This text tells us that the “testimony of Christ” (also called “the spirit of prophecy” in Revelation 19:10, “prophets” in Ephesians 4:11, “prophesying” in 1 Corinthians 14:22, and “prophecy” in Romans 12:6) will be present in God’s end-time church that is “waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul also tells us in this text that the gift of prophecy is one of the means God uses to confirm, or firmly establish, His church at the end time.
John, giving instruction for God’s church throughout the ages, says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). He didn’t say that there would be no prophets, but that we should hold every message to the test of Scripture. If we ignored every message that claimed to be prophetic, then we would miss the messages God sends by authentic messengers.
Jesus gave the same warning in Matthew 24:11, “‘Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.’” When He repeated the warning about false prophets in verses 24-25, He didn’t say that we should reject all prophets, but that we should be diligent to know the difference between the false and the true, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.” When we follow Jesus’ instructions, we will be able to reject the false prophets so that we can follow the true prophets God sends to His church. This is why we should “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
Revelation 12:17 describes the escalating spiritual conflict that Satan aims toward God’s people in the end-times before Jesus returns: “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” The timeline of Revelation 12 places “the rest of her offspring” after the Protestant Reformation, near the last days of Earth’s history before Jesus comes. This is God’s end-time church. Revelation 19:10 defines the “testimony of Jesus Christ” that will be present in God’s end-time church. “And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’” The “testimony of Jesus Christ” in God’s end-time church is called “the spirit of prophecy.”
Jesus told His disciples that there was more He would like them to understand, but they weren’t ready for it yet (John 16:12). Before Jesus returns, His people will be led by the Holy Spirit through the gift of prophecy to understand what is needed to be a people prepared for Jesus’ return. The prophetic message will be an important part of God’s end-time church that Satan is fixated on destroying. When God’s people throughout history have listened to the prophets, they have been protected from false beliefs. As God’s people pass through the prophesied events that lead to Jesus’ Second Coming, they will need encouragement to rightly understand and apply God’s Word. Satan knows this, so he wants us to ignore any message that God will send to encourage His people before Jesus returns. We thank God that He has promised to give His prophetic message to help His people at just the right time. When we find God’s church who keeps the commandments of God (Revelation 12:17), we should also verify that they have the prophetic message from God that exalts Scripture and points people to Jesus.