176 Learning to be led by the Holy Spirit – Part 4 – Messengers

Holy Spirit Guidance Through Messengers 

At times, God the Holy Spirit uses messengers to convey guidance and direction to our path. God’s purposes and plans are not always clear to us. His strategies are often beyond our ability to comprehend. Therefore, God uses the Holy Spirit to send messages to us through His messengers. Some of the messengers He uses are angels, prophets, and other Believers.

Angels

Angelology, the study of angels, is beyond the scope of this message. However, we will look at angels as it applies to receiving guidance from the Lord.

Strong’s Dictionary defines it as to mean to bring tidings or communications; a messenger, especially an “angel”; by implication, a pastor; a messenger, envoy, one who is sent, an angel, a messenger from God. What is important to understand is that Angels are not human beings who have passed away. Angels are created beings by the Lord. 

The world has portrayed angels in very strange and fanciful ways. Nevertheless, angels are real beings, created by God with great power and authority. We are never to worship angels, as is the practice of some. 

God has used angels in many ways throughout biblical history. He continues to use them today. God has used angels to safeguard us, defend us, direct us, and, at times, protect us from evil that may befall us.

God has created the angels to minister to Himself, as well as to minister to those of us who have inherited salvation through Jesus Christ. “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” (Heb 1:14). 

Here are a few examples of angels that have been sent to minister to believers:

1. An angel releases Peter from prison. “But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out…” (Acts 5:19).
2. An angel directs Phillip to the Ethiopian eunuch. “Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, ‘Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza…’” (Acts 8:26).
3. An angel directs Cornelius to get Peter. “About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, ‘Cornelius!…’” (Acts 10:3).
4. Peter is released from prison again by an angel. “Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, ‘Arise quickly!’ And his chains fell off his hands” (Acts 12:7).
5. Paul, about to be shipwrecked, is assured by an angel. “For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve” (Acts 27:23).

From these few examples, among many in Scripture, we see that God frequently uses angels or messengers to accomplish His purposes.

Prophets 

In the simplest terms, the role of the prophet is to hear from God and speak for God. The prophet was also required to speak what was on God’s heart to the government, community and the Church. 

In the Old Testament, prophets were the ones who anointed kings. Accounts of Old Testament prophets such as Eli, Samuel, Nathan, Elijah and Elisha are well known. Many of the Old Testament books were written by minor and major prophets. The New Testament references many Old Testament prophets. However, New Testament prophets seem less common than in Old Testament times. Only three individuals are recognized as prophets in New Testament times:

1. Jesus: “So the multitudes said, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee’” (Matt 21:11).
2. John the Baptist: “For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28).
3. The prophet Agabus: “And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea” (Acts 21:10).

Why are there fewer references to the office of the prophet in the New Testament? Perhaps the reason is because the Holy Spirit operates differently today than in Old Testament times.

As stated previously, in Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit was “on” or “with” a person. Today, the Holy Spirit lives “within” the believer! God’s Spirit now speaks directly to the spirit of a believer. This new and living way has been opened to us by Jesus Christ and His completed work at the cross of Calvary (Heb 10:20).

The Prophetic Today

While the role of the office of the prophet may be limited today, the role of the prophetic has not been limited in any way. There are nine gifts of the Holy Spirit, as described in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. Three of those gifts have to do with the prophetic. In verse 10, the gift of prophecy is listed. The gift of tongues, when combined with the interpretation of tongues, is considered to be prophecy also. “I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification” (1Cor 14:5 emphasis added). There are two other spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, and they are the gifts of “word of knowledge” and “word of wisdom.” Since both of these are revealed by the Lord, they can also be thought of as prophetic because they are also spoken.

The prophetic (what God is saying) is such an important part of the life of the Church today. Therefore, it is essential that those who are called to move in the prophetic learn how to be good stewards of the gift of the prophetic in general. 

The prophetic has both a Holy Spirit component and a human component. The Holy Spirit is never wrong or inaccurate. However, the human part or component is subject to error. 

Let us examine the three parts of the gift of the prophetic word:

1. Revelation. The prophetic begins when God speaks revelation, and a person receives that revelation. The revelation is spiritually discerned – heard or seen.
2. Interpretation. The second phase of the prophetic is the interpretation of what is spiritually seen or heard. This requires a human interpretation of the revelation – our understanding of what is heard or seen. It is obvious that human error may occur at this point. This is because our interpretation is often subject to human limitations of our understanding.
3. Application. The final step is the application – what we are to do in response to what is heard or seen. This is the action that one takes based on the interpretation of the revelation. Since this is limited to a human understanding of what should be done in response to the word, the application can also be subject to error.

Since two of the steps of prophecy – the interpretation and the application – are subject to human error, you might wonder: Is prophecy safe? The answer is yes – when you apply a very important principle: Prophecy should confirm what you already know to be true. In other words, a valid prophetic word today will act as a confirmation of what God has already revealed to you. Prophecy should build you up in your faith concerning what has already been revealed. 

Of course, a valid prophetic word will also never disagree with what has already been revealed in the Bible, the written Word of God. 

A Lesson in Application

A clear example of the three steps or parts in a prophetic word – revelation, interpretation, and application – is found in. A prophet by the name of Agabus comes to meet with the Apostle Paul. Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Agabus brings forth a prophetic word by demonstration in verse 11: “When he [Agabus] had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit, “So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.”’ Apparently, Agabus had a vision of what was going to happen to Paul, and Agabus acted out what he saw: Paul being bound and handed over to the Gentiles. 

Agabus had a genuine revelation from the Holy Spirit. Agabus interprets the revelation correctly, describing with actions what will happen to Paul. In verse 12, we read that those who are present try to discourage Paul from going to Jerusalem. Their application of the prophecy is to discourage Paul from going to Jerusalem, but Paul, with confidence and assurance, states, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (v.13).

The revelation was correct. The interpretation was correct. But the application by those who heard the word was not correct. Paul’s companions did not want Paul to be arrested and turned over to the opposition leaders. However, Paul knew that his capture and arrest were part of his destiny because the Holy Spirit had already revealed what was ahead for him. Paul says, “And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:22-24).

The Agabus’ prophecy confirmed what the Holy Spirit had revealed to Paul prior to his encounter with Agabus. When the emotions of the prophecy’s application caused others to possibly miss God’s plan, Paul was steadfast in his decision to go to Jerusalem. Paul already knew what God had told him to do because it was revealed to him first. Agabus simply confirmed it.

As the Apostle Peter was approaching the end of his life, he wrote about the importance of prophets and prophecy and the danger of false prophets. Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:19-21, ”And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

Two important points to make with these verses: First, note the phrase “prophetic word confirmed.” The prophetic always confirms what is known or should be known. Second, note that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, is the true source of all genuine prophecy. Jesus says so in the following verses in the Gospel of John: John 14:17, John 15:26, John 16:13.

Believers Prophecy

As a final point, let me say that there are those who are in the office of prophets, and then there are Believers who will get a word of prophecy for a person or a situation. These Christians don’t operate in the office of the prophet but will manifest the gift of prophecy as revealed in 

1 Corinthians 12:7-11, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”

God loves you so much that He will get His message to you through angels, prophets, and other believers.