The Gift of Prophet

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The Gift of Prophet

The Gift of Prophet is a leadership gift. It's distinguishing characteristic is inspired utterance, just as the gift of prophecy.
That is, God fills the words of a prophet with more than the mind of that Prophet contains.

Remember,

when the Bible says –

"Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said"

1 Corinthians 14:29

the instruction is within the context of the public ministry of the Gift of Tongues and the Gift of Prophecy:
two Gifts of inspired utterance.

That

does not mean that any Christian who prophesies is a prophet, but in first century Christianity the congregation's most frequent experience of the Gift of Prophecy was in the leadership ministry of the prophets among them.

As in all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, it is not for personal advantage or gain. It is a ministry of Grace from God – because the Lord cares!

God had given prophets among the people from the beginning as recorded in our Old Testament, from Balaam (a genuine prophet who went bad) to those faithful ones whom the Spirit of God used to give us Holy Scripture. Yet these prophets were not so on the basis of the Gift which was given at the Christian Pentecost, although the same term is used because the same essential principles apply.

Before

the Spirit was given at Pentecost, those who heard God were given words from God for others, such as young Samuel. In addition, offices of responsibility which God had inaugurated in founding the nation Israel at Sinai were honoured by the inspiration of His Spirit, even when occupied by ungodly men, such as Israel's high priest Caiaphas. As is written of him –

"He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation"

John 11:51

a consequence of the new relationship of the Holy Spirit to believers in Christ which began at Pentecost there is no longer any anointed 'office'. The anointing belongs directly and only to those individual persons joined to Christ.

"he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him"

1 Corinthians 6:17.

The inspired ministry of the Holy Spirit resides in the person and not in the structure of an organisation, any organisation. Hence there is no such thing as a prophetic 'office' as though that same office could be filled by another person. 'Prophet' is not a position in an organizational structure. It is an inspired character of spiritual ministry attached to an individual person wherever that person may be.

The

Holy Spirit Gift of Prophet is demonstrated in our New Testament in the ministry of Agabus. He stirs the Church to compassionate action in preparation for a future situation which could otherwise not have been anticipated.

"Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius) [two-years-later]."

Acts 11:27-28

Years

later, the same prophet comes to the home of Philip in Caesarea to which Luke, Paul and others had come on their way to Jerusalem. Agabus –

"took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, 'Thus says the Holy Spirit,
This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles'."

Acts 21:11

Was it an instruction not to go?

No,

even though it stirred the group's concern for Paul. It was God's compassion to prepare them emotionally/mentally for the radical change which lay ahead of them as a consequence of Paul's arrest, which would change the direction of his ministry as no previous arrest had done.

is significant to note (as a view of this leadership gift of prophet within the fellowship of Christ's Church), that in the Christian manual 'Didache' of the mid-second century AD which was used among Syrian churches, that, after laying down guidance as to how to celebrate Holy Communion or Eucharist, it reads –

"But suffer [allow] the prophets to hold Eucharist as they will."

Didache X:7.

This is because the principle characteristic of this gift is immediate inspiration.

with all the Gifts of the Spirit for the Christian Church's leaders, the Gift of Prophet is for the building up of the ministry of the Body of Christ, the people of God themselves (not an organisation or institution).

But

unhappily, fake 'prophets' such as Rick Joyner (MorningStar Ministries), are being used today to violate the spiritual identity of Christ's Church by seducing it into a spiritual fraternity with Messianic Judaism, as though the Holy Spirit is differentiates when the Bible says there is neither Jew nor Greek in Christ. Further, Rick Joyner even announced in 1997 that modern 'prophets of God' are not required to be 100% accurate in their prophecies (in case they get caught-out as frauds) for the following reasons: 1. prophecy is a learning experience; and 2. the Church isn't mature enough to know and handle the truth. He perversely stated that –

"Bob [Jones] was told that the general level of prophetic revelation in the church was about 65% accurate at this time. Some [prophets] are only about 10% accurate, a very few of the most mature prophets are approaching 85% to 95% accuracy. Prophecy is increasing in purity, but there is still a long way to go for those who walk in this ministry. This is actually grace[?] for the church now [what a lie!], because 100% accuracy in this ministry will bring a level of accountability to the church, which she is too immature to bear at this time; it would result in too many 'Ananias and Sapphiras.' That so many the [sic] prophetic ministries are still missing so much is also meant to work humility and wisdom in them so that they will be able to handle the authority and power coming in the near future."
(PROPHETIC MANDATE -- LEVELS OF INTEGRITY, TRUTHFULNESS, AND RESPONSIBILITY, http://www.harvestnet.org/articles/godmanDec97.htm ;The Prophetic Ministry, The Morning Star Prophetic Newsletter, Rick Joyner, n.d., Vol. 3, No. 2, pg. 4.)

False Prophets

The Holy Spirit is God and He does not need guidance from Bob Jones or anyone else. False prophecies are not His grace!

Messianic Judaism, because it sees itself as distinct from the Christian Church, is a deception of Satan, for there is only one Holy Spirit, given to Christ's Church at Pentecost, and without whom no-one belongs to God!

"when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true,
that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously.
You need not be afraid of him [need not respect him]."

Deuteronomy 18:22

Nevertheless,

the Holy Spirit has not changed since Pentecost in His relationship to Christ's people and so, although not displaying 'prophet' as a clergy-title, they continue to minister among us today in this gift of grace. But remember, the Lord Jesus cautioned us –

"A prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household."

Mark 6:4.

The Gifts of the Spirit

What Really Happened at Pentecost

Praying In Tongues