things spontaneously that come from his spirit rather than his head. But that is only one phase
of the operation of the gift of prophecy.
I have heard people say, "I was witnessing to someone about the Lord and I said things to
them that were in line with the Word but that were beyond my own thinking. I didn't think it and
it didn't come out of my mind. I was just inspired by the Holy Spirit to say it." That is a part of
the operation of this gift of prophecy because prophecy is inspired utterance. The gift of
prophecy goes beyond speaking by our own reasoning processes and intellect.
"To preach" means to proclaim, to announce, to cry, or to tell. The scriptural purpose of the gift
of prophecy is different from the purpose of preaching.
For example, Jesus didn't say that men would be saved by the foolishness of prophesying, but
by the foolishness of preaching (1 Cor. 1:21). The supernatural gifts of the Spirit are given to
arrest people's attention, not to save them. Even on the Day of Pentecost when people were
speaking in tongues, none of those sta