 Good morning and welcome to today's session on understanding the prophetic. Let's pray and begin. I'll just say a word of prayer. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You that You are establishing us in Your Word. Line upon line, precept upon precept. Father God, we thank You that it is Your Word which builds us up, O God. It is Your Word that, Lord, causes us to arise in our faith. And Lord, even as we grow in our faith, we pray that, Lord, we will see Your mighty works in our lives, O God. Father, we speak blessings upon every single student on all the platforms and their families, all the faculty, and we just commit ourselves into Your hands. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, so today we move on to chapter 3 which is about the prophetic ministry in the Old Testament. As we've been seeing, the prophetic ministry is not something new like 21st century discovery. Now only now we started seeing prophets and they are prophesying. It's not like that. In the Old Testament, we have seen there are people whom God chose to prophesy. In the New Testament also, there was a move of the prophetic anointing. The first person who is called as a prophet in the New Testament, any guesses? Prophet, New Testament prophet. Correct. John the Baptist. Okay, so he is known as a prophet because this is what the Bible says about him. In Luke chapter 1 and verse 17, if anyone is there, you can kindly read it. Luke chapter 1 verse 17. The spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedience to the wisdom of the just to make ready a purpose prepared for the Lord. We look at John the Baptist as someone who carried the spirit and the power of Elijah. Who was Elijah? He was a prophet in the Old Testament. Now, do you remember we studied in the previous chapter about transference of anointing? So that's what this is talking about. The transfer of the anointing from a prophet to John the Baptist. And it also tells us the purpose of that anointing. What does it say? The spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. So that is something that God did through John the Baptist. When we study about the life of John the Baptist, we use terms like he was the waymaker, he was the way preparer. He carried anointing because whatever he did before Jesus prepared the hearts of people to receive Jesus. You remember he went around saying repent and then turn to God. So that's what he did preparing people for the work of salvation that the Lord Jesus was about to do. But when we consider John the Baptist, he doesn't seem like a typical prophet. We don't see anywhere where John the Baptist says thus says the Lord, I prophesy to you. He just did his work through the anointing which he carried. So again what comes to our minds is what we learnt earlier. That even if there is a transfer of the anointing or an impartation of the anointing, what happens is the part that gets imparted is in line with the calling. So John the Baptist's ministry looks so very different from Elijah's ministry. Science wonders miracles. That was Elijah's ministry. But prepare the way for the Lord was John the Baptist's ministry. Anointing, same anointing. But very different outcome or very different manifestation. Let's quickly take Neena's question. Neena did you have a question? I see your hand raised. Yes, can you hear me question? Yes, I can hear you. Just a little clarification on John the Baptist. Because I mean Jesus said the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. From the point of view of that I thought so he was really part of the Old Covenant in that sense. Yeah, you're right. So that's what that scripture implies. He's part of the Old Covenant. So the least in the kingdom is greater than he would refer to all the blessings that a new Covenant believer has, which are so much better than even John the Baptist because he comes under the Old Covenant. So that means that but as far as being a prophet is concerned, he's considered a New Testament prophet? Yeah, that's a good question. One second, let me see if I can. He is called as the last of the Old Testament prophets as far as I remember. Last of the Old Testament prophets, that's the name given to him. Just that I don't remember the scripture for that. Let me see if I can find it for you. Yeah, so it is said that he is the last of the Old Covenant prophets. I think it's in Luke. Just a moment, Nina. I'm trying to locate the scripture. Okay, so there is one scripture in Luke 1616, which says the law and the prophets were until John. So law and prophets, as I said, Jesus referred to the Old Testament as law and prophets. So it says law and prophets were until John. So then what comes after John is part of the, it comes under the New Covenant. Is that okay, Nina? Okay, you're on mute. Yes, thank you first. Okay, sure. Thank you so much. All right, so let's move on now. So we've seen about John the Baptist and how he carried the prophetic anointing, but the anointing obviously looked so different from what the anointing of Elijah looked like. Now coming to Jesus, do we think that Jesus was a prophet? Why? Why do you think Jesus was a prophet? He prophesied. Okay, he prophesied. Okay, prophesying is fine. But why is he, how do you say that he's a prophet? Okay. Okay. Oh, okay, okay. Okay, I accept, I'm accepting everything. Give me the most solid answer. All answers are correct only. But why are we calling him a prophet? When we say prophet, what is the difference between someone who prophesies and someone who's a prophet? What deutronomy is, 1815? Yeah, Moses said, correct. But give me a confirmation from the New Testament that Jesus is a prophet. Pifal ministry, okay. Pifal ministry, correct. Everything is correct. But why is he a prophet? When we say he is a prophet, what are we saying? We're saying that he's in the Pifal ministry, right? How can we say that? That's my question. How can we say that he is in the Pifal ministry? It's, it's what? It's not in the material. Okay. He did everything. But how do we confirm that he was in the office of a prophet? Because he said, follow me. Follow me? So you're all students of scripture and, you know, interpreting scripture. Yeah, but would that, would that make somebody a prophet? Okay, very simple answer. Jesus called himself a prophet. So when Jesus is confirming that he is a prophet, then we have to accept it, right? Got it. So he confirmed that he's a prophet. He was moving in the prophetic. That's what all of you are saying. I agree with you. But you remember, we talked about the progression. When we just prophesy, it doesn't make us a prophet. Being a prophet is what? I, I, we shared one, one term. What does a prophet carry? Anointing, yes. One more, very, very important phrases there. Governmental authority. Okay. So when we keep saying that somebody's prophesying, that's fine. But it doesn't mean they are carrying governmental authority or governmental responsibility. So when Jesus himself is saying that a prophet is not honored, you know, in his own house, he's saying, I am a prophet. I'm carrying governmental authority. That is in Mark chapter six verses four to six, where Jesus calls himself a prophet. Yeah. Six. Verse four to six. Yeah, wherever he has stated that he is a prophet. Okay. As long as all those passages are confirming that Jesus is saying, I am a prophet. Okay. Now, in addition to that, you're right. There were prophetic words which was spoken by the early, like the Old Testament fathers, like Moses, he said, another prophet will come. And, you know, he will be the fulfillment, right? Like, ultimately of what God wants to do. And we see people and they saw the Lord Jesus coming. There was a confirmation that, hey, this is a prophet. This is a prophet of God. When he moved in the prophetic anointing, that also showed that he was carrying the prophetic anointing. So through all these things, we recognize that the Lord Jesus was a prophet. There were many manifestations in and through his life that revealed that he had the prophetic gift as well. Okay. Now let's move on. Let's look at the early church. There are examples. I'm not going into those examples. If you recall the woman at the well, a Samaritan woman, didn't Jesus prophesy? Yeah, he prophesied to her. And, you know, he said that he revealed the condition of her life. That is prophetic anointing. When we consider Nathaniel, Nathaniel was sitting under the tree. Jesus saw him and he said, here is a man without any guile. How can somebody do that unless the prophetic anointing is moving them off? Somebody who looked at Jesus looked at Peter and Peter at that time was so raw. He was not strong in the Lord and all that. But Jesus looked at him and said, hey, you are going to be the rock. So all this is part of what prophetic anointing. If you go to Matthew 24, you find that Jesus is talking about the end times. He's talking about nation will rise against me. Like this is all serious prophecy about what is coming up. Obviously, he's flowing through the prophetic anointing. But he himself mainly confirmed that he is that prophet. And we have other passages as well. So we are quite clear Jesus was a prophet. Now let's come to the early church. So in the early church, we know how the church was born. They were waiting as God told them for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. 120 people were waiting in the upper room and then it happened. And they were in prayer. The Holy Spirit came upon them as a rushing mighty wind and they began to speak in tongues. So that was the first instance which we term as the birth of the church. So that's where the church was born from that point onwards. We see the church is growing, growing in numbers, growing in the demonstration of God's power. So it's growing in every way persecution happens. But in the midst of all this, how does the prophetic anointing look in the early church? That's the question that we are asking. So we see that the power of God was always there. Because we see people like Stephen, Philip, they were all moving in signs, wonders and miracles. So the church believers themselves are moving in signs, wonders and miracles. When we go back to people like Elijah, Elisha, the prophetic anointing was connected with miracles. So we find that even volunteers like Stephen and Philip, they demonstrated miracles through their lives. And as we keep going on, we find that there are prophetic teams that arise. So this is in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 11 over there. We read that there were a set of prophets who came to the church in Antioch. Antioch was a branch church of, like branch church, I don't know if we can say church of Jerusalem. But there were a lot of branches because people had spread all around and churches had been started. So from the Jerusalem church, a team of prophets came to the church of Antioch. And part of that team is a very well known prophet by the name of Agabus. Have you heard of this person Agabus? So the book of Acts confirms that he was a prophet. So it's not that he was prophesying alone, but he was a prophet. He came and he spent time in the church of Antioch. And that was one of the ways to actually equip the leaders and the believers of Antioch. So you can see that a prophet is going to strengthen the church to strengthen the work of the ministry in one of the churches. So let's keep moving on. We find that when this kind of an equipping was done, see already the church of Antioch had teachers of the word. People like Barnabas, people like Paul, who were spending their time, who were training the people, raising them up. So teaching was already going on. But later, who came? Agabus and a team of prophets from the church of Jerusalem came, spent time in Antioch. And then we read in Acts chapter 13. The scripture says, now in the church that was at Antioch, there were certain prophets and teachers. So what happened after a prophet came or a team of prophets came to the church? Suddenly, after a couple of years, like two to three years, there are prophets in the church. So the prophetic anointing, the way we understand this, it was stirred up. People began to understand more of it and slowly, now people are moving in the prophetic. And even prophets have arisen in three years, two to three years, there are prophets in the church of Antioch. So we see the importance that the early leaders placed on prophetic ministry. Even in the church, there are prophets now. It was kind of normal, nothing so new. So we will see that they have the five-fold ministry happening like a team. You have the apostles, you have the prophets, you have the teachers, you have the pastors, you have the evangelists, they're all working together. So that is the picture of the early church. So today, when we talk about having five-fold ministry in our churches, it's nothing new. It was already happening. How did it happen in the church of Antioch? Earlier, there were only teachers, but a prophet came, a team of prophets came. They ministered and there must have been the stirring up of the anointing, the teaching about the prophetic and then you have it in two to three years. Prophets have risen up in the church. So that's how it took place. Now, as we keep looking at the book of Acts, there will be other names also that are mentioned out with regard to prophecy. People like Silas, Judas, these were all in the prophetic ministry. And they were prophets in the church of Jerusalem and they went to strengthen other churches. And later on in Acts chapter 21, there is this record of Philip and his daughters. Philip, he is an evangelist, but he had four daughters who were virgins, but they were moving in the gift of prophecy. So all four of them they prophesied, the Bible says. What is our understanding? We go back to Acts chapter 1 verse 8 where it says, And you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. And then you go to Acts chapter 2 where the Holy Spirit was poured out and Peter stood up and he made that sermon in which he said your sons and daughters. So it was given, the power of the Spirit was given to both the genders. In the book of Acts, it's in Acts 21. You see that the daughters of Philip were prophetic. They were flowing in the prophetic gift. So these are all about prophets and prophecy in the book of Acts. We also observe that when it came to prophesying the problems that Paul is going to face. Paul was headed towards Jerusalem and what was going to happen to him? He was going to be caught by the Romans and then he would be imprisoned. So this was prophesied by Agabus to Paul. Not just if you notice how the prophecy came to Paul, it came a couple of times. A few people told him again and again, Paul don't go there, you're going to get into trouble. And Agabus was one of the main persons to tell Paul. He took Paul's belt, he bound himself and he said, He whose belt this is, he's going to be bound. So even Agabus prophesied but Paul knew that it was just part of his ministry. He can't avoid getting into trouble so he has to go towards Jerusalem. Even though he knew it's going to happen, he went ahead and we know that he got caught and then he was imprisoned, went into a couple of trials after that. So in the early church, were there prophets? Yes, it was common, it was normal. People were prophesying, it was common, it was quite normal. And yeah, so that is about prophecy in the early church. Now coming to the writings of Apostle Paul, we read about the prophetic gift. In 1st Corinthians chapter 12, there is a listing of 9 gifts of the spirit, one of which is prophecy. So in the churches, was there encouragement to prophesy? Yes, because Paul is writing about it and he is explaining about the gift of prophecy, the gift of tongues. That means it was practiced and it was encouraged. Now the most basic scripture for all of us regarding prophecy is 1st Corinthians chapter 14 and verse 3. 1st Corinthians chapter 14 and verse 3. If there is anyone at that passage, can you please read it? 1st Corinthians 14 verse 3. 1st Corinthians chapter 14 and verse 3. But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. Comfort. Which version did you read? NIV, okay. NKJV, can somebody? Okay. Hero prophesies, speaks, edification, exhortation and comfort to men. So when we speak in tongues, who do we speak to? Who do we speak to when we speak in tongues? God. Where do we see that scripture? Yeah. He who speaks in a tongue speaks to God. Where do you see that? 1st Corinthians 14 and 3 is prophecy. Correct. It's just in the previous verse. So I want us to notice that. In verse 2, okay, just see that. No, it's there, right there. It says, for he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. For no one understands him. However, in the spirit, he speaks mysteries. That's about tongues. 3 is, but he who prophesies speaks edification, exhortation and comfort to men. So when we speak in tongues, we are speaking to God. When we are prophesying, we are speaking to the people, to men. Now, what is edification, exhortation, comfort? We'll again come to it in detail. We'll look at it. But for right now, edification simply means strengthening. Strengthening. So if I want to strengthen myself, which gift? If I want to strengthen myself spiritually, which gift should I operate in? Yeah, tongues. Because when we speak in tongues, we edify ourselves. Okay, but if we want to strengthen the church or strengthen the body of believers, then which gift should we operate? Prophecy. That's what it says. When we prophesy, we speak edification. Meaning strengthening, spiritual strengthening of people happens. When we prophesy edification, that is the meaning. Second, exhortation. Exhortation means encouragement. So when people hear what God is saying, encouragement comes to us. So that is exhortation. Third is comfort. Comfort is like finding peace and you know, we'll come to it later. Actually, the word there, like comfort, when we understand, it means speaking tenderly, softly with compassion. When we hear from God, sometimes we sense that we feel so comforted that God is speaking to us. So when we prophesy, what are we doing? This is how you describe simple gift of prophecy. What should it do? It should edify, exhort and comfort. That's what it's supposed to do. So when we prophesy, we all prophesy, right? Supernatural, our prayer times, otherwise also we prophesy. What should it do? Edify, exhort, comfort. So it's like you can sort of put it through the test. We prophesy. Is it really edifying, strengthening them, encouraging them, bringing comfort to the hearts of the people? If yes, okay, fine. It falls in the category of prophecy. First Corinthians chapter 14 and verse 3. Okay, don't forget. First Corinthians 14 verse 3. That's about prophecy. And what does verse 4 say? Yeah, correct. That's exactly what we were discussing till now. It's quite clear, isn't it? Yes, sir, Prince. Correct, it is. So, see I'm saying simple gift of prophecy. Do you remember the progression we said? Simple gift of prophecy. Grace gift of prophecy based on Romans chapter 12. Then we said office of a prophet. So, when it comes to simple gift of prophecy, we are discussing about all of us as believers flowing in prophecy. So there, we may not find those many warnings, judgments. But we can sometimes. We can sometimes, sometimes, yeah. But mostly people who are flowing in the prophetic office, it tends to be a lot more for them, like warnings, judgments and how to release it with that authority. So they tend to do more of that. Okay, fine. Yeah. Oh, Jack in has answered a question here. Yeah, thank you, Jack in. So what we'll do is we'll probably stop right here. And then we will continue in the next class. We are going to study about the progression a little bit more. So just now we said simple gift, grace gift and the ministry of a prophet. So all of this is in the New Testament. We took it from Paul's writings. So we have to look at the passages where he mentions these things and form a good foundation before we move on to other things. So we'll move on to other things and we will study about how is the prophetic released next. Okay, how is it released? What are the common ways in which the prophetic is released? So we will, at that point, we will talk about the prophetic word, how the word comes forth and it does what God wants to do. So I'm just going to stop here. But if you have any queries, anything that you want to discuss, we can pick it up. Okay, we are quite clear, I think. Yes, Nina, please. Nina, did you want to say something? No, sorry, by mistake. Okay, sure. All right, so then let's wrap up our class. And I request one of us to pray either online on campus, either one of us. Okay, Nikhil, pray for now. So we thank you for this time, Lord. We worship you, we praise you, Lord, as we learned about your word, Lord Jesus. Help us to understand deeply so we can learn your word, Lord Jesus. Thank you for teaching us through Najima. In Jesus' name and pray. Amen. We'll connect next class on Friday. Thank you. Bye.