Where Theology Meets Prophecy by Pastor Dolapo Lawal: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Theology is our understanding and knowledge of who God is. Prophecy is God making his mind, will, or intention known in a moment or within a specific context.

Where do the two meet? In the Bible. The Bible presents itself not merely as a collection of writings but as a prophetic revelation of God's plan from Genesis to Revelation. The storyline unfolds progressively — earlier texts in types and shadows pointing forward, and later texts showing their fulfillment. In the Old Testament you see types; in the New Testament you have the antitype manifest, which is Christ.

The Bible as Prophetic Writing — Theological Arguments

Hebrews 10:1 — The law has a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things. Shadow is frame, not content. You cannot see a face in a shadow — only a frame. The law is shadow; Christ is the very image.

Colossians 2:16 — Festivals, new moons, and sabbaths are a shadow of things to come, but the reality is Christ.

Hebrews 1:1-3 — God spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken by his Son, who is the brightness of his glory and the express image — the character — of his person. In the old covenant, the character of God was kept aside because there were commandments, a constitution. A judge before the law has no personal character — his disposition is the disposition of the law. In Christ, we now see the character of God revealed: a leper not supposed to be touched by a priest, and yet God comes and says, "I am willing," and touches him.

The theological arguments for why the Bible is a prophetic book:

1. Single Redemptive Story

   — Creation, fall, promise, redemption, and restoration. This structure means earlier texts anticipate later fulfillment.

2. Progressive Revelation

   — Later scriptures reveal what earlier scriptures declared. The Old Testament is the background of New Testament writings; the New Testament is the foreground of Old Testament writings.

3. Typology

   — Events, people, and institutions serve as prophetic patterns. Adam is a type of Jesus — 1 Corinthians 15:45 calls him the last Adam. The Passover lamb, the priesthood, and the temple all prophetically point to Christ. In typology, Jesus is everything good they were, and better — but not everything bad they were.

4. Christ as the Interpretive Center

   — John 5:39 — "You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they that testify of me." The entire Bible must be read as prophetic material pointing to Christ.

2 Peter 1:19-21 — "We have the prophetic word confirmed... knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." The scriptures are called prophecy of scripture — not historical record alone, but prophetic writings.

Acts 1:16 — When the disciples quoted the Psalms, they said, "This scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke through David." The Psalms are referred to as prophecy spoken by the Holy Spirit.

1 Peter 1:10-12 — The prophets inquired and searched carefully about the grace that was to come. The Spirit of Christ within them was indicating the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. What they were writing was not for themselves but for those who would receive the gospel — prophetic writings ministering forward through time.

Revelation 19:10 — "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Anyone speaking about Jesus is prophesying. Revelation 2:20 — A prophetess is rebuked for teaching falsely — prophets teach. There is nothing more prophetic than teaching, because teaching handles prophetic words.

Theology guides prophecy, and prophecy expresses theology in real time.

Scripture as Possibility, Not Yet Promise Received

Romans 15:4 — "All things that were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." What scripture provides is hope.

Hope and faith are not the same thing. Hope is what can happen. Faith is: I have received it. The language of faith is past or present. The scripture shows what God can do — but knowing what God can do is not the same as receiving what God wants to do.

John 5:39-40 — "You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they that testify of me. But you are not willing to come to me that you may have life." The scriptures testify of what God has. But a person must come to him to receive what the scripture says he has. Reading a promise does not mean possessing it.

The scripture shows how to be saved. But a person must hear the message of the gospel and put faith in it for what scripture says about salvation to work in their life. Seeing it does not mean having it.

How to Appropriate Scripture: The Example of Healing

God has made promises concerning healing throughout scripture:

• Exodus 15:26 — "I will put none of these diseases on you which I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you."
• Exodus 23:25 — "He will bless your bread and water and take away sickness from the midst of you."
• Psalm 103:2-3 — "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits — who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases."
• Psalm 107:20 — "He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destruction."
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Pastor Dolapo Lawal
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• Jeremiah 30:17 — "I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds, says the Lord."
• Jeremiah 33:6 — "Behold, I will bring health and healing. I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth."
• Matthew 8:2-3 — A leper came and worshipped, saying, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus put out his hand and touched him: "I am willing. Be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
• Matthew 12:15 — "Great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all."

Reading all of these, what forms in the mind is hope — the conclusion that God heals and is willing to heal. That is the first step. Theologically, God is a healer who wants to heal. But that conclusion alone is not receiving healing.

How People Received from Jesus: The Hearing of Faith

In Jesus's earthly ministry, people received healing through what the Bible calls the hearing of faith — a quickened word that comes as a person stays in the word or hears it preached. It can be a scripture, multiple scriptures, or simply a word, but it will never contradict scripture. Theology guides prophecy.

Romans 10:17 — "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God."

Romans 10:14 — "How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" Saving faith comes when the gospel is preached. Faith for a specific thing comes when that specific thing is preached or revealed.

Galatians 3:5 — "He who supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you — does he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?" Works of the law are ceremonies that attempt to qualify a person to approach God — trying to buy the miracle. The hearing of faith is different: when a word is heard and appropriated, that is walking in faith. And what was heard is prophecy.

The common thread in everyone Jesus healed: they heard something from Jesus or about Jesus first.

• Luke 5:1-6 — Before Peter launched his net and caught anything, he had first heard Jesus teaching. He concluded from the teaching that Jesus had power. That is why he said, "At your word, I will launch into the deep." The teaching created the faith.
• Mark 6:1-6 — When Jesus taught in his hometown, many were astonished at his wisdom. The text says mighty works were performed by his hands — the wisdom appropriated the works. But then others began preaching against him, saying, "Is this not the carpenter's son?" The people were offended. And he could do no mighty work there — he marveled at their unbelief. The antidote was to go about teaching in surrounding villages, because faith comes by hearing.
• Mark 5:25-34 — A woman with a flow of blood for twelve years heard about Jesus. As she heard, something was quickened in her: "If only I may touch the hem of his garment, I shall be made well." That was the hearing of faith — a prophetic word that came to her while she was hearing. When she acted on it, she was appropriating faith. Jesus said, "Your faith has made you well" — not "my anointing healed you." She operated a law of faith over his anointing. He called her out deliberately so she would know: this is the correct way to receive. Keep doing this.

Jesus Did Not Heal Everyone the Same Way

The reason many miss miracles is that they are not prophetic. Jesus healed some by touch, spoke to others, spat on the ground for another, told another to wash in a pool. Each method was a prophetic instruction — hearing what God wanted to do in that specific moment.

The same principle applies in ministry today. When there is a word of knowledge — a specific, precise revelation about what God is doing — the result is consistent. When there is no such hearing, it becomes guesswork. People miss miracles not because God is unwilling but because they did not approach it prophetically.

There is a proclivity in God to heal — but the hearing of faith is required to appropriate it.

God designed it this way deliberately. If the anointing worked mechanically whenever a person chose to apply it, two things would happen: the believer would stop needing God, and the gift would be merchandised. Instead, God says: the healing anointing is upon you, but you will ask me for authorization. I will tell you how to use it in each case. That is how humility is maintained — knowing that you are doing the healing but you are not the healer.

The Role of Prayer: Sharpening Discernment

Prayer in this context is not to convince God to heal, nor to empower a person with the gift of healing. The Bible already establishes God's willingness to heal and the gifts of the Spirit given for the profit of all. 1 Corinthians 12 — the gifts are distributed by the Spirit for the common good.

The purpose of prayer is to sharpen discernment — to quickly pick up the prophetic signals of what God wants to do.

Ephesians 1:18 — "That the eyes of your understanding may be enlightened to know the hope of your calling." Prayer of the spirit directs a person to the appropriate scriptures, and from those scriptures a prophetic word comes pertaining to the specific need and the specific action required.

Also note: Jesus did not heal people the same way. Timing matters. Why did he wait four days before going to Lazarus? He said, "This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God." He stayed in Bethany two more days because what God intended to do through that miracle required four days — because Jewish understanding held that after three days, a person could not come back. God specifically waited so that no one could say it was natural recovery. Jesus, as resurrection and life, had to act on day four. If someone had gone to Lazarus earlier with good intentions, they would have misappropriated the moment. That is the prophetic edge — even timing is part of what must be heard.

Prophecy Is Tailor-Made — It Cannot Be Borrowed

A prophetic word given to one person cannot be picked up and applied by another. When God told Moses to stretch the rod and part the Red Sea, that was a specific prophetic instruction to Moses. Joshua could not carry Moses's rod and invoke the same result — that would be idolatry. Every person must hear for themselves.

Hearing a testimony of what someone did in faith and then replicating the action without hearing is not faith — it is covetousness. They did their action as a prophetic instruction. Replicating it without that instruction is works of the law.

Proverbs 26:4-5 — "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly." Both instructions are in consecutive verses. They are not contradictions — they are demonstrating that this is a prophetic book. Sometimes you answer; sometimes you do not. The instruction for each situation comes from what God tells a person in that moment. Theology without the prophetic edge leads to mechanical application that will miss God.

What to Do When No Prophetic Word Has Come Yet

When there is a need and no scripture has yet been quickened, no prophetic direction has come — here is the process:

1. Search the Scriptures

   — John 5:39 — Begin with the testimony of God's willingness. Find every scripture related to the need. This is not yet faith — it is building hope. It is establishing theologically that God can and is willing.

2. Bring the Scriptures to God in Prayer

   — Acts 4:23-31 — When the apostles faced a threat, they did not immediately declare victory. They went to their companions, reported the problem, and then searched for a scripture that matched their situation — they found Psalm 2. They brought that corporate scripture to God in prayer: "Lord, you are God who made heaven and earth... why do the nations rage?" They were using theology as the basis of their supplication. The scripture is an invitation taken to God in prayer — not a declaration to name and claim. After they prayed this way, the place was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Filled with the Holy Spirit means they began to speak prophetically — and from that prophetic hearing came the boldness and the results.

3. Use the Scriptures as Capsules for Unbelief

   — The deeper problem is rarely "does God have the power?" — it is "will he do it for me?" Those scriptures are to be taken in daily, not as declarations, but as medicine against unbelief. As the truth is rehearsed, the power in the word of God begins to supply faith. At a certain point, the word that was read becomes a word that is heard — and when it is heard, it cannot fail.

James 5:14 — If anyone is sick, let him call for the elders. The prayer of faith is the prayer of hearing — what God tells the elders to do when they pray, God will answer. In case one person does not hear, another will. In case one hears, another will confirm. That is the value of corporate prayer — faith is built together and confirmed.

Anxiety is a tool of the enemy to distort prophetic words. The Lord is a shepherd who makes his sheep lie down — the rest is required to hear. A person who is driven by anxiety will not hear clearly. The scriptures must first bring rest, and from that rest, the prophetic word emerges.

You Cannot Route Your Spiritual Life Through Another Person

Moses was one of the most anointed men who ever lived — so anointed that he became an institution. Matthew 23:2 — Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees "sit in Moses's seat," meaning there was a seat in the temple dedicated to Moses four thousand years after his death. God took from the spirit of Moses and distributed it to seventy elders — a portion of one man's spirit, shared across seventy. That is the measure of his anointing.

And yet Moses, with all of that, could not lead the children of Israel into the promised land. Only two people made it — Caleb and Joshua — because they believed God's report for themselves, by themselves.

What a prophet or pastor does when they minister is what the prophetic office is meant to do: they create an encounter, they hear for those who have not yet learned to hear, they provide a point of contact. But the design of God is not dependency — it is that every believer develops their own altar, their own walk, their own capacity to hear. Doctrine creates that capacity. Application is for those in need; doctrine is for those who will produce the application for others.

The best that can happen to someone who routes their spiritual life entirely through a pastor is to die in the wilderness. The two who made it into the promised land did so because they believed God's report by themselves, for themselves.