However, those who operate in the word of knowledge or the word of wisdom through
prophecy do not necessarily stand in the office of the prophet, because, as we saw earlier,
there are other qualifications needed to stand in that office. Also, revelation gifts are ministered
more on a continual basis in the office of the prophet.
The Simple Gift of Prophecy Is Not Prediction
Many people think the gift of prophecy is prediction. The simple gift of prophecy, however, is
not prediction but is speaking unto men ". . . to edification, and exhortation, and comfort" (1
Cor. 14:3).
When it comes to the gifts of the Spirit, you don't have them when you are born into this world.
You must first be born into the Kingdom of God through the new birth (2 Cor. 5:17), and then
you must receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4).
Then the Bible says the Holy Spirit divides the gifts of the Spirit to every man severally as He
wills (1 Cor. 12:11). Also, you must then be in the Spirit for the gifts of the Spirit to operate;
gifts of the Spirit do not operate in the flesh. In other words, you must wait upon the unction of
the Holy Spirit for the manifestation of spiritual gifts. That is not something we do apart from
God.
It is amazing how many people have followed the wrong teaching along this line. But there is
no use in backing off from the real and the genuine because of the counterfeit. No, that is all
the more reason we need to allow the Holy Spirit to demonstrate the genuine gifts of the Spirit
through us and show people from the Word of God what is genuine.
It is unfortunate that even some Christians are misled about spiritual gifts. For example, one
fellow told me that before he went to work every morning, he waited for the Lord to give him a
word of prophecy to know which tie to wear. God is not interested in which tie you wear! That
wasn't a word of prophecy; actually he was opening himself to deception by the devil.
Someone once wrote asking me to prophesy to him which church he should attend. This is
unscrip-tural! Each believer has the Holy Spirit as a Guide and Counselor on the inside (John
16:13). And the primary way God leads His children is by the inward witness (Rom. 8:14), not
by someone else prophesying to them.
On another occasion while I was holding a meeting in Colorado, some folks from New York
called the owner of the motel where I was staying at 4:00 in the morning and said that it was
an emergency and they needed to talk to me.
My wife and I had no phone in the room where we were staying, so the owner came knocking
on our door. He said I had a telephone call. I got out of bed and about half awake, I put my
shirt on and started out the door to the motel office. My wife called out to me, "Honey, aren't
you going to put on your pants?" Only half awake, I hadn't realized that I wasn't wearing them!
I went back and put on my pants.
When I answered the phone, the person on the other end said, "Brother Hagin, we are having
an all-night prayer meeting and we just got to thinking we would call you and see if you had a
word for us." She meant a word of prophecy. Well, I had a word for them, all right, but it wasn't
a word of prophecy! And I didn't give it to them because it wouldn't have been from the Lord —
it would have been from my flesh!