How do you know if a prophecy which you get from another person is really from God?

I think I'd be finding me another place to worship.
"Prophecies" can happen, I think, but they have to line up with the word of God, and a prophecy isnt necesarrily a word about something that is going to happen. I'd be leary of it.

 

Hello x,
If I were you, I would be finding a different house meeting. Sounds more like a freak show than a worship service. Expect to attend alot of different churches to find a somewhat stable group of christians. I usually attend, get very involved for about three months, then end up quitting. I did this for over a year until I finally found a church with overall, stable people. We have been at the same church for almost 10 years. We have a child so putting him around unstable folks wasn't an option.
Out of all of the churches in our area, there is probably only one out of 5 that are good. This means we have a handful of really great, godly churches here. I will pray for god's will for your life, and I would really like to see you get involved in a stable christian church in your area. I would stay away from Pastors or others who have "Prophesies", often they are cults. My prayers are with you raise:

 

I don't go for that kind of thing... I believe that their are people with the gift of prophesying but as for people who tell us the obvious - well I don't pay much attention to them. (They don't impress me) I've been in Christ for 20 yrs now and I can give witness of only one prophet. Anyway, I would find another church. After all, bad company corrupts good character. I think that these people are talking out of their imagination rather then being led by the Spirit of God. They have a very healthy imagination that is very unhealthy to others.

Test and prove all things - right! :thumbs:

 

You need to be in the Word, you need to be in prayer with God, you need to be in submission to God, & you need Christian fellowship.

In my experience, those that play the 'profecy game' come in two types. Those that are immature and those that are heretical.

Yes, God does use genuine profecy - but, by the Biblical testimony there is A LOT more narrative than there is 'profecy'. If a group (& individuals in the group) are not evidencing fruit of the Spirit (witnessing, acts of service, genuine worship, and genuine proclamation of the Gospel to fellow believers) I really do not believe they can be in accordance with Eph 4:11.

IMHO - you need a Bible based church (I do recommend Baptist), but you need to be in the Word of God and in fellowship with like minded men and women of God.

 

In response to xdisciplex only:

I was simply walking thru the house the other day when the Presence of the Holy Spirit embraced me. I could not stop my hands from lifting, my mouth from speaking words of adoration and praise. That is one of the wonderful ways that God communicates with His children. My response was out loud in English, not in tongues, and I did not prophesy. That stuff is salami, salami, baloney. There are no modern-day prophets. Forget utterances in an unknown language. Enjoy the young lady's guitar, tune out any so-called prophecy. We are to rest in Him, not disassemble Him, analyze Him, look to external sources to explain Him. God is. He manifested Himself as The Son, and is with us today as the Holy Spirit. Yield to Him, not endless Q&A. Find in HIM the answers as you yield, as you walk in harmony, in fellowship, with him. Here is a website for German-speakers that I listen to as I visit these forums.

http://tinyurl.com/r6m2g

I'd rather "spend" 15 minutes listening to it than a lifetime listening to any so-called "prophet". :thumbs:

 

Ah I wish I could help you but this is something your going to have to work out for yourself. I don't know what God wants for you... All I know is that if I wasn't sure that God wanted me somewhere and I didnt' like what I saw I would move on.

Guess you've got some soul searching to do huh!

No worries, God is at work and of course He's going to work it all out in the end.
Give Him thanks for that... :thumbs:

 

Babble. Tower of Babel. Confusion. Forget modern-day prophets, forget tongues. Genesis 1:1, John 1:1ff, Hebrews 1:1ff. We know Who God is. He needs no interpreter. In accordance with His Will, He visits us. Modern-day prophecy and tongues are not in accordance with His Will. Period.

 

Hebrews 1:1-2 speaks to that. NOW He speaks to us thru His Son. There WERE prophets and there WERE folks who could speak other languages at Pentecost, so that all gathered there could understand what was being said. Christians who speak in tongues today are fooling themselves ~~ it comes from the brain, the mind, the will, the emotions; it is not spiritual communication with God, no matter how sincere they may be. That doesn't keep them from being a follower of Christ. God tells them to stop it in His Word. They simply pick and choose in what some refer to as "majoring on minors." "Straining at gnats." You can "spend" your time in better pursuits.

 

x

IMHO - you are focusing upon different giftings and confusing them. Satan trembles in fear of Jesus - when was the last time that you trembled in fear of God?

I think you need a good Bible believing Church. Not that tongues or profecy are inherrently wrong - but, my experience is that WAY TOO many people in those circles are influenced by the latest and greatest fad. And I knew some godly, conservative people within Charismatic & Pentecostal churches - but, I have known some that are taken with their own 'word' and will not listen to God through His Bible.

 

xdisciplex,
bmerr here. My friend, when I read your posts, I can't help but think of Eph 4:14: "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive".

You often seem quite "tossed to and fro", x.

Paul knew that miraculous gifts were coming to and end. They had their purpose, (confirming the word - Mark 16:20), and when that purpose was fulfilled, there would be no more need for them. The word is long-since confirmed, the faith has been once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). There is no more revelation.

Consider Paul's command to Timothy in 2 Tim 2:15, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

If miraculous gifts (tongues, prophecy, knowledge) were going to be available, why would Timothy need to study?

Something else to consider is the fact that when these neo-Pentecostal groups send missionaries to lands where they don't speak the language, they need to study the language beforehand, or have an interpreter. in the Bible, those with the gift of tongues spoke the language of their audience, without learning it themselves first.

Might I suggest more time in study of God's word, and less time on-line?

In Christ,
bmerr

 

I had to go outside to clean out the water fountain, put in some clean water, and then use "birdspeak" to get them to return. It wasn't a confusing babble of sounds, but sounds that the birds clearly understood, because they came! :laugh:

Anyway, xdisciplex,

Lots of folks think that the Word of God is confusing. That's a pretty low opinion of God! God is not the problem, man is! Paul emphatically states that tongues (a language foreign to Believers) is not for Believers, but a sign for unbelievers who hear the Gospel truth in their own language. There were multitudes of Jews and Gentiles in the Middle East. The whole thesis of Paul addressing "tongues" in 1 Corinthians is that no one should be speaking tongues (speaking in a foreign language) in the presence of others hearers who could not understand what was being said. (1 Cor. 14:33-40). Come to the USA, stand up in a meeting of a Southern Baptist congregation, and began speaking German, during the Pastor's message. Paul said, "Don't do that!" If I were present I would surely interpret, but my response would be in the German language, directly to you, going something like this: "What the heck are you doing?!!" "eijeijei, was machen Sie denn da?!!" :saint:

Additionally, using tongues as prayer language clearly violates 1 Corinthians 14:22, and this condemns the modern tongues movement as deceived; they speak and teach in error. Go to the scriptures:

"Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language" (Acts 2:6). Verses 9-11 lists the sixteen languages which were spoken. These were languages, not mystical utterings. These Jewish pilgrims had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, as they had been done for centuries. God wanted the Jews to hear the "wonderful works of God." (Acts 2:11) The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem had rejected Jesus as the promised Messiah. Many of these pilgrims, being only recent visitors to Jerusalem, did not know about Jesus Christ and what He did. Those who lived in the areas of Jesus' travels spoke Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. Many of the arriving pilgrims did not!

The reason, clearly, for the ability to speak multiple languages (16 of them!), was in fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2:28f. Foreign languages were a special sign gift, given to the Galilean disciples to show the unbelieving Jews et al that Jesus whom they had crucified was indeed the Messiah.

Think for a minute. If God has a message specifically for you, why would he assign someone else to deliver it? God speaks directly to you in your Bible study, your quiet time, and in your prayer life. Go for it! :thumbs:

 

Because, He appointed some as Apostles, prophets, priests, kings, scribes, & one as Christ. And if God is not speaking to you through the appointed writers of the OT & NT, God is not speaking to you.

IMHO

 

x

what big cities are you near? there are some good baptist churches in Germany.