Wednesday's Word: The Spirit of Prophesy

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit." Joel 2:28-29 (KJV)

A few Sundays ago we were challenged to pray for Deborah's anointing. God gifted her to prophesy, lead, fight, and worship. We will spend the next few Wednesday nights exploring these important realities. Tonight we will study the prophetic anointing.

I am working through Eckhard J. Schnabel's massive two volume "Early Christian Mission." In it he explores the spirit of prophesy in the NT. He lists five aspects:
1. The Spirit grants visions and dreams that convey divine guidance.
2. The Spirit grants revelatory words of instruction and guidance.
3. The Spirit grants wisdom and revelatory discernment.
4. The Spirit inspires invasive charismatic praise.
5. The Spirit inspires preaching, witness and teaching.

Tonight we will see how these operate in the church and see how they operated in the lives of historical Christian leaders like Charles Spurgeon.