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Jesus Gave You Prophets, pt.2

In the previous issue, we discussed the importance of seeking out and listening to each of the five-fold ministries that are listed in Ephesians 4:11 (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher) and then we turned our focus to the ministry of the prophet.

Again, we need to find, listen to, and allow each of these five gifts from Christ to the church to speak into our lives. In other words, if we listen to only one of the gifts (most often the pastor), we are getting only one-fifth of the ministry—one-fifth of the spiritual food—that God wants in our lives. If we are going to grow up into the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, then we must receive ministry from all five of Christ’s gifts to the church.

Examples in the Bible

Everything a prophet says and does must be in line with God's word. From the bible, we can see how God uses His prophets. Here are some examples:

  • Prophets predicted victory, pronounced judgment, and identified the right time to attack (Deborah, Judges 4:6-7, Judges 4:9, Judges 4:14)
  • Prophets saw into the future by visions (Samuel, 1 Samuel 3:11-14)
  • Prophets anointed kings (Samuel, 1 Samuel 7:1)
  • Prophets criticized vain worship (Amos 5:23-24) and priestly failures (Amos 7:10; Malachi 2:1)
  • Prophets were allowed to see into the throne room or heavenly court (Isaiah 6:1-7; 1 Kings 22:19-23; Jeremiah 23:18-22)
  • Prophets were intercessors (1 Kings 13:6; 1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:18-37; Amos 7:2; Jeremiah 14:17-20,Jeremiah 14:21; Isaiah 59:16)
  • Prophets)
  • John the Baptist foretold that Jesus would baptize in the Spirit (Matthew 3:11)
  • Prophets predicted the future (Acts 11:28; Acts 20:23; Acts 27:22-26)
  • Prophets announced judgments (Acts 13:11; Acts 28:25-28)
  • Prophets acted symbolically (Acts 21:10-11)
  • Prophets were given insights led to missionary efforts (Acts 13:1-3; Acts 10:10-17; Acts 15:28, Acts 15:32)
  • And unfortunately, prophets were often viewed with contempt. Some were locked up (Jeremiah 37:1), others were ignored (Isaiah 6:9-13), and others were persecuted (1 Kings 19:1-2).

The church has a role in the ministry of the prophet in three distinct functions:

  • We are to evaluate the prophet’s message (1 Corinthians 14:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21)
  • We test the prophetic message on its loyalty to Christ (1 Corinthians 12:3; Revelation 19:10)
  • We are ‘fruit-inspectors’. Jesus said prophets (and false prophets) could be known by their fruit (Matthew 7:15-20). If their lives exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23a), receive their ministry. If their lives produce stinky, rotten fruit, avoid them.

Notice in the above three responsibilities, that we are to judge the prophet’s message and the prophet’s fruit—not the person.

John Paul Jackson gave an example that clearly illustrates how we can examine a prophet’s fruit. Years ago, John Paul used to hang with a particular group of prophets and one of those prophets had some bad fruit in his life. Whenever they went out to eat at restaurants, this prophet would speak very harshly and rudely to the waitresses. Recognizing that this was a consistent pattern, John Paul confronted the man, pointing out his bad fruit. (Unfortunately, this prophet was not willing to listen to John Paul and continued producing bad fruit.)

The true prophet is motivated by love. You can expect a more pure ministry from the prophet whose primary goal in ministry is to love God and to love people. 1 Corinthians 13:1–3 says, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” The true prophet isn’t puffed up by his gift and calling. The true prophet is driven by love and simply uses his gift to help him express God’s love.

Prophets help us to prepare for and influence the future. Jonah shows us a good example of this purpose. He went to a city that God was going to destroy and warned those people. Can you imagine the anointing that was on Jonah? Here’s just one man calling out in the “great city”—not a town or village, a city with a circumference of sixty miles—telling them, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." (This city was almost twice the size of Washington DC!) The bible says that all the people believed God! And even the king proclaimed that all should fast and repent! God revealed to a prophet that He was going to destroy Nineveh, the prophet revealed God’s plan to the people, but the people changed God’s plan and their own future because they believed a prophet. 

With everything about God and from God, Satan has a counterfeit. From God, we have love. From Satan, there is hate. From God, peace—from Satan, confusion. From God, the truth—from Satan, lies. From God, the prophet—from Satan, the psychic or fortune-teller or astrologer or false prophet, or anyone else who displays a knowing of hidden facts and tries to predict the future. I say, “tries” because the Bible tells us of only one fact that Satan does know regarding the future—that his time is short (Revelation 12:12). Other than that, Satan can only pretend to know the future or use his present knowledge of people and events to assume or try to create a specific future.

Part 3 of this topic focuses on the prophets that are among us today: who they are, their role, and their messages.

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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