Prophetic Evangelism - Vineyard Biblical Institute

Prophetic Evangelism – Mark Stibbe - 6Introduction‘You can’t write a book on prophetic evangelism. Prophecy is for believers only!That’s what the Bible says’.So said a Christian leader who also happens to be an expert in evangelism. Myheart sank. Could it really be true? Was I wrong in my understanding ofScripture? Had I been mistaken to run all those conferences both in the UK andaround the world on ‘prophetic evangelism’? Were all the testimonies ofprophesying into the lives of unbelievers really invalid or worse still unbiblical?For years now I have been convinced that God wants believers to be more andmore open to receiving prophetic revelation about those who are not yetChristians. In other words, I believe that the Holy Spirit is wanting to speakthrough Christians to lost people, waking them up to the reality that Jesus is aliveand he knows their every thought, word and action. At the same time I amconvinced that God has been wanting to speak directly into the lives of the lost,through prophetic phenomena such as dreams, visions, pictures, messages, and soon. To put it succinctly, I believe that our heavenly Father wants to use the gift ofprophecy in evangelism!Why do I think that?First of all, I believe it because the Bible clearly teaches it. There are manyexamples of God’s people using prophecy in their witness to unbelievers. Evenin the Old Testament there is evidence, as I will show throughout this book.Certainly Jesus used prophecy in his ministry to seekers. He saw propheticallyinto the life of Nathaniel, Simon Peter, the Samaritan woman, the paralysed manwho was lowered through the roof, and of course Zacchaeus – and these are justthe selected highlights! After Pentecost, Jesus gave the gift of prophecy tobelievers as one resource among many in their witness to the world. Apostles likePeter and Paul operated in the gift of prophecy as they evangelised the lost, as thepages of the Book of Acts demonstrate. In many places in the Bible we seeprophetic visions, dreams, pictures, messages, impressions and even riddles usedto move people from a place of unbelief to faith.The second reason I believe our heavenly Father wants to use prophecy inevangelism is because of my experience and the experiences of many others.Now personal experiences can be very subjective, I know. They always need tobe secondary to the more objective testimony of the Bible. At the same time, youneed to know that you are about to embark on a journey in this book, a journey inwhich you will read of many ordinary people who have received prophecies forVineyard Bible InstituteOfficial CurriculumThis course material is intended for registered VBI students only. Any reproduction for other purposes constitutesan infringement of copyright. If any such infringement comes to your notice, please report it to office@vineyardbi.org

Prophetic Evangelism – Mark Stibbe - 7those who did not know Christ, often with immediate and life-changing effects.Not only that, but you are going to read about unbelievers who have receivedrevelations of Jesus through visions and dreams. This has happened to people ofother faiths and no faith.So both Scripture and experience show that our Father wants to use prophecy inevangelism.If that is the case, why was I told that prophecy is only for believers?The number 1 cause of this view is, in my opinion, a wrong interpretation of 1Corinthians 14.22. The New International Version reads as follows: “Tongues,then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is forbelievers, not for unbelievers”. This is part of a notoriously difficult passage andwe will look at it in more detail in chapter 5. Let me just say at this stage thatPaul is emphatically NOT saying that the church isn’t to use prophecy withunbelievers. He goes on to say the following:But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in whileeverybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner andwill be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he willfall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!" (vv.24-25)If Paul is saying ‘don’t use prophecy with unbelievers’, he would hardly havegone on to show how life-changing it is when unbelievers are exposed to theprophetic!So what IS Paul saying here?We will find out in chapter 5! But a summary of his argument would run asfollows:Prophecy (given in church worship services) is a sign primarily for believers. Itsprimary function is to demonstrate to those who already believe that God is in thehouse and that they are under favour! Paul goes on to say that even thoughprophecy is a sign primarily for believers, it can also have a secondary effect onunbelievers. It can take them very quickly from a negative to a positive view ofGod and his people. So even though prophecy functions as a sign to believersthat ‘God is among us’, it can also demonstrate the same truth to unbelievers aswell! Prophecy can be used with those who don’t know Christ as well as withthose who do!Let me give you an example from my personal experience just this last week.Vineyard Bible InstituteOfficial CurriculumThis course material is intended for registered VBI students only. Any reproduction for other purposes constitutesan infringement of copyright. If any such infringement comes to your notice, please report it to office@vineyardbi.org

Prophetic Evangelism – Mark Stibbe - 9So this book is really a user-friendly exploration of how this happens in Scriptureand in our experience today. It is the first book (to my knowledge) ever writtenon this subject. My prayer is that it will inspire you to use the gift of prophecy asyou witness to those who don’t yet know the Lord Jesus Christ. My prayer is alsothat you would become so wise and mature in using prophecy with seekers, thatone by one you hear them say to you, ‘truly God is among you’.Mark Stibbe, Summer 2003.Vineyard Bible InstituteOfficial CurriculumThis course material is intended for registered VBI students only. Any reproduction for other purposes constitutesan infringement of copyright. If any such infringement comes to your notice, please report it to office@vineyardbi.org