THE SPIRITS OF THE PROPHETS ARE SUBJECT TO THE PROPHETS

"And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets" (I Corinthians 14:32)

Paul wrote about our spirit in union with the Holy Spirit, "and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." This simply means that the Holy Spirit will never make us do anything and can do nothing through our lives without our conscious willful cooperation first, whether you have the Holy Spirit or not.

Paul writes in Second Timothy, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound-mind." (II Tim 1:7). If you have been in church services or revivals where people were shouting at the top of their lunges and doing things which were not in order in the name of the Holy Spirit, and it left you in confusion; whether you saw the gifts in operation or not, what you encountered was not the Holy Spirit, but rather the wills and personalities of the people through whom the gifts of the Holy Spirit were being manifested. The gifts were from the Holy Spirit, but the way they were being ministered and used was not the Holy Spirit but was the manifestation of the individuals whose presence you were in. The Holy Spirit is subject to us and our wills. However, we are responsible for how we represent God's Spirit.

When the gifts of the Holy Spirit are ministered, how loud a person shouts has nothing to do with their effectiveness. When the Holy Spirit manifests itself in a person, if he whispers, he will get the same results. If you have had these kinds of encounters please do not associate them with the operation of the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:33, "for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints." When you witness confusion and disorder with the gifts of the Holy Spirit manifested, what you are witnessing are God’s gifts manifested with the flesh of men being manifested. You must learn to distinguish between that which is Spirit and that which is flesh.

We are not saying that when we gather together in Jesus’ name that there will not be times of great joy in the awareness of Jesus’ goodness that may not lead to loud shouting and excitement, but when this happens we believe it will be in evidence to all. All will sense this in the Spirit and be a part of it, not confused, wondering what is going on. The Psalmist writes, "Worship the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." (Psalm 2:11). The implication of this Scripture is that we are to be discerning in our worship, not out of control. God is a God of order and leads us in order in our worship through His Spirit.

Jesus will never do anything to harm us. If the gift that is being manifested is from Him, whether we understand its purpose at present or not, it is good and will lead to good. This is true of the other spiritual gifts as well. Paul states, "Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophecy." (1 Cor 14:1). Why? Because only through the spiritual gifts, brought into submission to the Word of God, can we come to the truth about our needs, all our needs whether spiritual, soulish, or physical. Anything we do without God’s spiritual gifts is worldly and in league with and in control of demonic forces. Anything that comes from God is good and will lead to our edification and deeper knowledge of Him and our well-being spiritually, soulishly, and physically; for that is the purpose of spiritual gifts.