This sermon discusses the role of prophetic words in the church, emphasizing the importance of genuine messages from God that edify, encourage, and align with Scripture. It explores the cautious yet open approach to receiving prophetic words, highlighting instances where God used individuals to speak into others' lives for healing and guidance. The sermon encourages a healthy balance of discernment and openness to the Holy Spirit's leading in prophetic ministry within the church.

Verse 10, do not fear any of those things which are about to suffer. And he tells them what is going to happen. And Jesus actually offers a prophetic word as a word of comfort. Uh-oh, there's controversial topic again. Did he just say what I thought he said? A prophetic word? Well, the Bible Paul says some he's given the gift to speak into people's lives and tell them something that will edify and encourage or maybe rebuke. See, I don't have a problem with that when people are filled with the Spirit of God and God put something on somebody's heart and go they go and they tell them something that helps them or rebukes them in love because it's a genuine word from the Lord. There's nothing wrong with that. It's in the Bible. It's in the New Testament. You have to actually see if I have some scissors. You have to go, if you don't believe that anymore, you have to go to Corinthians and cut out a whole chapter. It doesn't work. It doesn't apply anymore. Now, we have to be careful, but there are people that will speak into your life something that God has put on their heart that you're not going to find in John or Matthew. You'll find the truth there, and it doesn't go against the truth. It actually helps in a certain area. I'll just give you an example. I've given many times before, but many times, many years ago, I think 14, 15 years ago, me and Morgan were at an event, and this guy called me out of 300 people or 250, and he began to tell me things that me and Morgan prayed about that week, that God's calling you. It's not arrogance. It's boldness. God is giving you boldness, and you're to proclaim. I'm like, wow. I can read the Bible. I know boldness is good, but is it me? Lord, what's going on here? Help me process this. I'm reading another book by Leonard Ravenhill's son, David Ravenhill. I've got some copies out there. He talks about another guy who was given a word from the Lord, and I'm careful on this, right, because I know this side, a word from the Lord every week, and you can get really weird with this, and people go to church to hear from, okay, can I get a word from the Lord every week? No, just read the Bible. Hear what Jesus is saying to you. If God needs to speak to you a year, he gave Abraham one word that lasted 10 years. Go to a land that I will show you. So you don't have to get these things every week, but I'm open, but cautious. I've had a couple people now confirm, a half dozen can confirm the Wednesday night study, because I've been praying for that a lot longer than you think, probably for six months. Lord, you've got to show me this, and people are just out of the blue, and I run into people. So you can call it coincidence. I maybe call God helping me, because I see in Scripture a Wednesday night service would be good. I am convinced in Scripture it's good. I know it's your heart, but is it your will? Show me. You ever fight against the flesh, and is that the God voice, or is that just a good thing? Because I don't want to do a good thing if it's not a God thing. So anyway, I'm reading this book, and I've heard things like this many times before, but this guy who David Ravenhill knew, man of character, would never weird or anything. They were actually having a dinner for a missionary, a girl who was a missionary, and she's about ready to go out into the mission field, and this guy was praying for the dinner, and God put something in his heart, and he's like, there's no way I'm saying this. Nope, nope, nope. This isn't you. This isn't you. Because the Lord was impressing on him to say, I also hate mommies and daddies. See, that doesn't line up with Scripture, right? This is, we're not gonna go there. It's a wrong voice. So he's ignoring it, and ignoring it, and he said, you know what? For what it's ever worth, he said that. He said, the Lord wants it to stay to you. He also hates mommies and daddies, and the girl lost it because she was abused by her uncles, and they would say, let's play mommies and daddies. She was set free. She was completely set free from an abuse that she's been carrying for 20 years. See, that's how God works, when a church is open and teachable, when they're open to the things of God. Not weird. Lord, would you want to speak? Can you imagine that type of gifting on a person who is solid? They could speak life into people. And actually, a form of preaching, some preaching is prophetic in that element. There are teachers, and there are preachers, where God will go deeper into the heart, and he will convict, and draw, and speak these kinds of things. I can give you a list of many other examples of this, where God would speak through others. Can you imagine hearing that? But that's what this guy did. He didn't initially say something, and I've noticed with God, if it's on your heart, if it's on your heart, and you just keep, nope, nope, nope. God will keep just lovingly knocking. Answer the door. Nope. Answer the door. No, okay. So, you know, I don't know if this is of God, but, and then here you go. Now, in this church, I've been in churches where this is more common, but in this church, sad to say, this isn't very common. We don't have this happening very often, that I'm aware of, but we don't also disrupt services. We'd have, it usually would probably look like somebody in the prayer room over there praying with people, or I've been seeing this person for the last couple weeks, and I just, I feel God wants me to talk to them, and I remember one lady, she doesn't attend here anymore, it was in Lancaster. This person used to play for the Dallas Cowboys, didn't play very long there. He's a friend of mine, and got injured, I believe, and he was going through some marriages, marriage trials, tough guy, like 6'3", tough guy, and she went, and God was speaking to her all service. I don't remember what, maybe you can tell me later for the second service, but she went and said something to him, and he just, he just was on his knees, or got in a seat, and just began weeping, because God used her to go and speak to him. But, see, you can get, you can have this get carried away though, right? I mean, you could just, oh, Lord's saying, you need to sell your car, give it to me. You know, I think God wants you to move, you know, if it's not already, so you, but I'm, but when God's really moving in a person, or where, that's why I'm not worried about these types of things that are biblical. Paul said that God has given these gifts to what? To edify the church, to build the church up, so when somebody, and I remember he, she walked right over during worship, and that guy just lost it, and it was exactly, I think it had to do with, I don't want to get in details, but his marriage, and was not going in good direction. He's about ready to make a huge mistake, and God used her to go over, and warn him, and speak. She didn't even know who he was. I think she asked me, too. She goes, do you mind if I go over and tell? I go, what are you gonna tell? Please, because I knew, I knew who him, and I knew where it was going, and forgot to tell her, who doesn't know him, to go and tell him. But you see, you see things like that in a healthy, vibrant church that's growing for the Lord. You see things that where God will work in this area, so God will use these things, unless you want to cut out 1st Corinthians, in that 12, 13, 14 area, when it talks about when that which is perfect comes, that's which in part will be done away with, and people say, see all those things are done away with, and we say, no, that which is perfect is Christ, because Paul says, we see dimly right now in a glass. We can't see well, but when that which is perfect comes, we will see in complete. So we either see better than Paul now, and we see perfectly, or we're still waiting for that which is perfect to come, being Christ. So these things, that's why this church teaches this, and people have came once, and they've left. They never come back again, when they know that we do believe that the power, the giftings of the Holy Spirit are still valid today. I don't have a problem with that, because it's not weird. It's done according, I mean, Paul says it. When Paul says it, and it happens, and it lines up with Scripture, that can't be of the devil. It's a good thing. It's a God thing. The problem is, many people have never experienced these things, and what they've never experienced, they're afraid of. So they will say that these things no longer happen. They no longer occur. The problem with that is, you have a more difficult challenge, trying to tell me how things that were good, and in the Bible, are no longer good, and not applied. That's your challenge. My challenge is, just read the Bible. Oh, here's what 1st Corinthians 12 said. Oh, no, but that doesn't apply to, can you explain that? Why doesn't that apply to, because now we have the Bible. I have the Bible, and I still need God to speak to me. He does, through the Bible. He does, every day, through His Word, but I still need God, sometimes, to confirm things. I would have never planted this church, had I not heard from about ten people, right? While we're praying about it, we're praying about it, a friend from mine in Hawaii calls me. Have you ever thought about pastoring? I don't know, I haven't, no thanks. And then somebody else ran to me, you know, ran into, I ran into many different people. My aunt. Have you ever, I don't know, have you ever, no, I haven't, stop it, please stop it. And I'm getting, like, have you, I'm like, okay, this is weird. Alright, God, I got it. Because, see, I can read the Bible all day, every day, and not know for sure if I should plant a church. Yes, it lines up with His Word. Yes, it makes sense, but I've had too many chain thoughts, right, of you, and not God thoughts, to know, okay, God, I need confirmation. I need to know, because I'm not gonna fall flat on my face if I'm gonna try to do this. So He, people would come, and then we went to a, an event, 14 years ago, and the guy had me stand up, and he said, God's calling you. And he said, it's not arrogance, it's boldness, and you need to start being bold. God is stirring up this boldness in you, and you, and he, I'm like, oh my goodness, like, he just nailed it. We just, me and my wife just talked about this a week prior, and he, so that's, God will use those things. So see why it's not weird? It's, it's relevant within, because God knows we're broken people. Lord, I love Your Word, I know Your Word, I know it inside and out, but, but please show me, is that really You before I move across the United States? Is that really You before we, we give up everything and plant a church? God, I need to know. God says, you seek me, you will find me.