Song of Songs 1:9-11 - “I liken you, my darling, to a mare harnessed to one of the chariots of Pharaoh.  Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels.  We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.”

The Song of Songs is more than just a love poem about Solomon and his wife. It is a prophecy about Christ and His Bride, the faithful church. The New Testament often refers to the true church as the Bride of Christ, and Jesus as the Bridegroom. “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband…Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb…” (Revelation 21:2, 9). “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her . . . to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless…” (Ephesians 5:25-32)

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1 Corinthians 13:5 – “Love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”

Love is not self-seeking. More than any other aspect of love listed in 1 Corinthians 13, selflessness distinguishes this kind of love (“agape”) from all other sentiments that we call “love.” Infatuation or romantic love is inherently self-seeking; it is no different than “desire.” Friendship or familial love are good and may be sacrificial at times, but these relationships serve our own self-interest so much that even wicked, completely selfish people have friends and families (see Matthew 5:46-48). Love for our own nation, people, or tribe  is also self-interested. Nationalism merely prefers those who share our self-interests to those who do not.  Apart  from Christ’s love, all other forms of human affection, appreciation, and allegiance are arguably self-interested or self-seeking.

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“…It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” - Ephesians 4:11-13

PROPHETS ARE PART OF THE FIVE FOLD MINSITRY: Prophets are also pastors, like apostles, except they are used extraordinarily often in spiritual gifts, particularly ones that point to the future – either warning of events about to take place, or directing the church about new things to do. continue

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.”  – 1 Corinthians 12:7-10   continue

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 - ”The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink…”

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1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 - “Do not treat prophecies with contempt.  Test everything. Hold on to the good.” 

1 Corinthians 14:29 - “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should test what is said.”

TESTING THE GIFTS – The New Testament says that we should test all prophecies in the church – and this is true whether the prophecy comes as a verbal revelation, a vision, or a dream.  Unfortunately, very few Pentecostal or Charismatic churches today test any prophecies.  They accept everything people say, even though many so-called “prophets” today mix up their own imaginations with true divine revelations.  In the true Work of the Holy Spirit, we must develop a consistent practice of testing the spiritual gifts.  The Bible commands this and the Spirit requires it.  If we allow false prophecies into the church alongside true words from the Spirit, then the Holy Spirit will stop speaking in that place completely, leaving us to our own imaginations.  This happens even with seemingly “harmless” false prophecies that promise people prosperity or victory over their problems. 

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“He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.” – 1 Samuel 28:6

There are three main ways that God speaks to his servants today.  One way is through dreams.  Most of our dreams are not from God, of course – they are just from our minds, usually the things we have been worried about during the previous days.  Even so, most Christians have had some dreams where God spoke to them, or He showed them something that would happen and then they saw the fulfillment later, just as the dream foretold.  Some people have even converted because Jesus revealed himself to them in a dream.  This is also one of the main ways He spoke to people in the Bible.  The second main way that God speaks directly to us today is through a direct revelation from the Holy Spirit while we are awake.  This type of experience belonged to the prophets had in the Old Testament, but now it can happen to any true believer.  Sometimes this experience is visual, as when we see a vision while we are praying.  Other times, the Holy Spirit gives a revelation that is verbal, as when words come into our hearts while we are praying, interrupting our own thoughts.  Occasionally, we may even hear an audible voice speaking words while we are in fellowship with the Lord.  These direct revelations – the experience the prophets had – are the second way that God speaks to each individual.  

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Hebrews 4:12 - “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

 All true Christian believers know that the Bible is God’s Word.  Every believer knows that the Bible was verbally inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16), and that it is relevant for our lives today.  The problem is that many Christians think of the Word only as something from the distant past.  True believers hold to the Bible, study it, teach from it, and base their lives around it.  Yet many do so as if the Bible were merely a document given long ago, like a Constitution of their religion.  There is another dimension to the Word of God.  It is alive and active.  God is still speaking through the Word today. 

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1 Corinthians 12:7-8 - ”Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit…” 

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are a very important characteristic of the Work that the Lord performs.  Even so, it is very important to be able to discern between what is from the Lord and what is not from the Lord, and to handle the operation of spiritual gifts properly.  Otherwise, we are doomed to have unnecessary disappointments.   continue

1 Corinthians 12:7-8 - ”Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit…”

When churches try to have spiritual gifts without wisdom controlling them, horrible results follow.

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