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Jesus Gave You Prophets, pt.1
There are Christians, there are churches, and there are denominations that ignore the word “prophets” in Ephesians 4:11: “It was he [Jesus] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers”. Refusing to accept the fact that God has placed prophets in our midst today deafens our ears to their wonderful ministry. And in these days of wars and uncertainties, we need to hear insightful and prophetic words from our Father.
Most of us can name at least one pastor that we grow from. And we can probably name a teacher or two that we grow from. But, many Christians bring only the pastor and teacher gifts into their lives.
Each of us needs to recognize those among us that are called and functioning in each of the five-fold ministries. Are you growing from the ministry of apostles? How about prophets? Are you growing from evangelists? We should all be able to identify men and women in each of the five-fold ministry gifts and allow them to help us grow into Christ’s fullness.
People that hear God’s voice are often given insight into the past, present, or future—much like the prophet’s ministry. When God tells you something, He is speaking from His timeless viewpoint. Let’s look at a quick overview of the prophet’s ministry—you might find some similarities in your own walk with God.
Our Attitude
There are many Christians who feel that no one can have the title of “Prophet”. But that somehow, it’s okay to have pastors, teachers, and even evangelists, but not prophets.
There are many other Christians who believe that God has placed prophets in our time, but are very cautious about them. It seems that when a pastor or teacher says something that’s not perfectly in line with God’s Word, we forgive or overlook it much more quickly than if a prophet says something that turns out to be false. We have a tendency to label a man as a “false prophet” more easily than we would call a man a “false pastor”, for example.
But the Bible says, “do not treat prophecies with contempt.” (1 Thessalonians 5:20) and, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” (Acts
Our attitude should be to believe that God has placed prophets in our midst and that we should accept their ministry—after all, it’s in His Word that we should do this.
Goof-ups
One of the reasons many are hesitant to accept those called to be prophets is because of past misuse of this gift.
There was only One Who walked this earth sinless and without mistakes.
It’s true that prophets can and sometimes do say things that come from their soul and not from the Holy Spirit. For example, a prophet once exhorted a man that he no longer had to be concerned about his unsaved little brother because he would soon be saved. But the man had no little brother.
Okay, the prophet missed it big-time, but what was most important at this point was that after the prophet was made aware that there was no little brother, the prophet repented and realized that he needed to be more careful.
A sign of a godly prophet is that he is willing to be corrected. Prophets who are not willing to be corrected should not be in public ministry and should be avoided.
If you are serving God and you are given a word from a prophet, that word is usually a confirmation of something that He has already spoken to you—your spirit should bear witness that the prophet’s words are from God. If you are given a word that seems too far-fetched or weird, don’t receive them. Pray about them, discuss them with your spiritual leader, or toss them in the trash can.
Giving words from the soul and not the Spirit is wide-spread among those not called to be a prophet. In fact, some preachers in nationwide and worldwide ministries have said that many different people will often give them a “prophetic word form the Lord”—some even get up to a couple dozen in one day! Unfortunately, over 95% of those “words” contradict each other!
Prophets are called and gifted to be God’s spokesman/spokeswoman. We should give ear to any prophet whose ministry has been proven and whose life produces the fruit of the spirit. That’s an important point! The evidence of the fruit of the spirit (Galatians
The Function of a Prophet
Old Testament used three key terms for the word “prophet”: Ro'eh and hozeh (translated as “seer”) and nabi (usually translated “prophet” meaning, “one who is called to speak” for God).
Amos 3:7 gives us insight into what God tells prophets: “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” God desires to reveal what He is going to do!
Prophets can see things in your life that you are aware of and things that you are not aware of. But, they cannot see confessed sin. This fact is important because some Christians avoid prophets from fear that their (confessed) sins will be revealed. Ego-driven prophets have given strength to that fear because they have pointed out specific people during church services and told them—and everyone else—the very sin that they have been committing. Yes, there are times that God will use prophets to publicly expose sins, but that is usually done as a last resort.
Part 2 of this topic discusses how God uses prophets and some of the prophets that are among us today.
It is my prayer for you that Father will continue to help you to hear His voice, and more and more frequently.
With God’s grace and in His peace,
Gary
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