The most abu
CONTENT
Before we can truly understand the prophetic office , we need a basic understanding of the offices of the ministry and its purpose.
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men …
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
Eph.4:7-13
This is a letter of Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus, the letter applies to us today( the whole body of Christ). There are two basic things to understand in the first line of the scripture above (Eph. 4:7)
Firstly he tells us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that everyone of us in the body of Christ is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. That statement is deep and profound, this is what most believers have failed to understand we don’t have the same level of grace, it is according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Every one of us received grace when we got saved, because we are saved by grace(Eph. 2:8) – that grace is the same measure for everybody( it is also called saving grace) , but after salvation every believer is introduced to a new dimension of grace which is the grace of our calling in Christ – which is our assignment, our purpose , our destiny, that grace however is given in measure . It is not the same for everybody, it is according to the gift of Christ, it is important we understand this at this time and age because the revelation of that will naturally destroy envy, jealousy and also pride. It is best everybody understand his calling and abide therein( 1 cor. 7:20). We are not all called to do the same thing, and the kingdom of God is not like the world system it is not a competition market, appreciate your calling and celebrate it.
One of my most revered mentor in the faith Kenneth Copeland said something that touched me so deep, many years ago he was assisting Oral Roberts in ministry, in one of the meetings they had, he was helping him carry his suit while oral Roberts was ministering , he said he was straining his ears to listen because of where he was and the word of the lord came to him instantly, that he was where he wanted him to be tonight because he commanded him to assist Roberts, he said if he oral Roberts wins 2,000 souls , it will be recorded in his account but if he decides to preach and wins 2,000 souls , he won’t be rewarded because he will be walking in disobedience. Stay where he has commanded you per time and obey.
Secondly, grace is a gift of Christ, let us understand that a gift is anything you are given that you don’t pay for, or an endowment of an ability. So in the sense that everything given is a gift, grace is also a gift because we can’t earn it.
What is however particularly striking that we must understand is that grace comes from Jesus Christ,
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men …
When he ascended on high – this is talking about Jesus after his resurrection , he ascended up on high , he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.
There are two things to take note of in these passages of scripture
For better understanding let us take a look at the gifts,
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men …
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
Eph.4:7-13
All of these gifts (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) are given to men(the body of Christ), so they are to function principally within the body of Christ. So it brings the understanding of appreciating this gifts/graces , and maximizing the grace that they carry for your benefit. So your pastor is your gift, see your prophet as your gift from God and treat him as such and the grace upon him flows to you ceaselessly. The people of Jesus’s home town didn’t receive Jesus as their gift so he couldn’t do much miracles there.
These are not the only gifts given by the lord, but these are the cardinal gifts he gave to men, these are the crucial gifts given to the body of Christ. Their assignment first is to the body of Christ before outside the body. They are principally sent to the body first before any other assignment they have to those outside. These gifts are commonly referred to as the FIVEFOLD OFFICES. They are also called ministry gifts.
SO WHAT IS A MINISTRY GIFT?
A ministry gift is resident within a person who is called by God to the full-time ministry to stand in one of these five ministry offices: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher.
It is very crucial to understand that everybody is called by God into ministry, this is in the sense that every believer has a ministry and therefore is also called by God but not everybody is called into the fivefold ministry. Someone might be asking at this point, so what is my ministry? You would have to inquire from the lord what the ministry is, appreciate it and walk in faithfulness and he will reward you.
And God HATH SET SOME IN THE CHURCH, first Apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
— 1 Corinthians 12:28
Paul in his letter to the Corinthians so lists here the ministry gifts, he told us that God set them in the church ( universal church- body of Christ). He set apostles, prophets, teachers, (miracles, gifts of healings) – this refers to the evangelistic office, because that is the consistent manifestation of their ministry. Paul also mentions government which represents the pastoral office – the church government (which is headed up by the pastor), then helps – this includes music department (choir) , technical, it also includes financial partners, hospitality, welfare, security and so much more. So the fivefold offices is not the only gifts given by the lord, he also gave the gifts of helps, and diversities of tongues.
ROM. 12:6
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us , whether prophecy, let us prophecy according to the proportion of faith:
Or ministry,let us wait on ministering : or he that teaches on teaching;
Or he that exhorts, on exhortation : he that gives , let him do it with simplicity, he that rules , with diligence; he that shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
This scripture above gives us a broader view on the gifts of the lord to the body of Christ, it is however the duty of every believer to find his own ministry. So the lord gives graces to every believer in the body of Christ, but those called into ministry offices are called and separated as gifts to the whole body of Christ. Someone may ask for what purpose then?
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men …
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
Eph.4:7-13
ALSO READ : HOW TO DISCERN A TRUE PROPHECY FROM GOD
They are given as gifts to the body of Christ for three main purposes, and this is their first assignment before any assignment outside.
The Greek indicates that the meaning is “perfecting of the saints so the saints can do the work of the ministry, resulting in the edification of the Body of Christ”. This is a three-fold purpose of all the offices of the ministry. The word perfecting means maturing, the ministry gifts are given to mature the saints (believers), so they can do the work of the ministry- because every believer is called to do the work of ministry, and doing the work will result in the edification of the body of christ.
Some believers carry the thought once you have the Holy Ghost you can study the bible understand it and grow spiritually on your own. That is not true, if it were there will be no need for the offices of the ministry, and God will ne contradicting himself, their office is to bring believers(saints) to maturity . Every believer needs to understand the ministry gifts and the grace they carry, appreciate it and connect to it, off course you can connect to every ministry gift you see but the spirit of the lord will guide you on the ministry gift he has assigned to your destiny to bring you to maturity. The truth is that until we come to maturity we cannot enjoy the fullness of our inheritance in Christ, and the body of Christ cannot be truly edified. The root word for perfecting is “katartismos” which also means complete furnishing. Now let me ask you, Wouldn’t you want that? You need a complete furnishing in your spiritual life and every aspect of your life, please don’t let no devil distract you and disconnect you from the grace the lord has kept in these offices for you.
The ministry gifts will still be operating in the body of Christ till all believers come to the unity of faith and the knowledge of the son of God, I strongly believe we are getting there.
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men
(Now he that ascended,what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill all things.)
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
Eph 4.7-13
In the first chapter we briefly looked at the offices of the ministry and its 3-fold mission, which are
Emphasizing the need for every believer to understand the offices, appreciate it and maximize it. It is simply because the lord wants the very best for every believer and he has made the provision through the ministry gifts so that every believer would come into true sonship and fufill their destiny in grand style, it is important to understand without appreciating these gifts the destiny of a believer is at great risk.
It is true some of these offices are been perverted , some have idolized the offices to the point that have made people literally worship them, that is extreme, that is why the lord is bringing this truth to you at this time and hour. There are two basic ways people get into error, extreme or heresy
In this chapter, we will be going a bit deeper looking at the giver of the gifts/ graces and the intent on his heart.
The highlighted part of the scripture above tells us that he that ascended first descended into the lower parts of the earth, and he that descended is the same that ascended far above all heavens…
This is talking about Jesus, describing his journey to hell- the lower part of the earth, defeated the devil and took from him the key of hell and death(rev. 1:18, Col . 2:14-15), stripped him of all authority and brought out the saints that were held back captive in hell, when he left hell, he ascended back to heaven. The scriptures use the specific word far above all heavens –first and second heavens up till the third heavens(which is the heavens of heavens), the question is he descended and ascended above all heavens to do what?
The scripture tells us that he might fill all things, I love new living translation rendering- it gives us a better picture of what he ascended up to do.
And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.
Eph 4:10 (N.L.T)
This is a very interesting rendering of this scriptures , he ascended that he might fill the entire universe with himself. How?
Remember, while Jesus was on this earth he was limited by his physical body so he couldn’t be at two places at the same time, his death and resurrection freed him of that physical body and he possessed an heavenly body that can make him be anywhere without going through a boat on the sea or trekking on the land and he can get to any where even through the walls. Lord Jesus at this point can no longer minister salvation, hold crusades, heal the sick and all that he did while he was on earth because he has handed over the baton to man and he has commissioned the church to do it. So , the Lord is filling the entire universe with himself in us , that was why he gave the gifts so he can continue through us the work of the ministry he began. This is interesting because the bench mark the master set for us is “greater works than he did” (John 14:12) and we have nothing to fear because the good news is that he is continuing the work in us because without him we can do nothing (Jn. 15:5b).
This is one good reason we must submit our selves to the ministry gifts with this understanding.
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles ,the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.
Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s son that we will be mature in the lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lie so clever they sound like the truth
Eph. 4:11-14(N.L.T)
One of the major reasons believers are immature and tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine is because they have either not understood the ministry gifts and its benefits to them, or they have not met the true ministry gifts- and that could be very disastrous , this is specifically in the prophetic office, the deceit , toss to and fro is too heavy that you may sometimes begin to wonder if they are truly believers or not, but the lord is opening your eyes this hour, and you won’t fall victim to any of their schemes. There is nothing new under the sun even Jesus prophesied of the sign of the end of times, false prophets will rise and even the very elect might be deceived if he is not careful, this is why you need to connect to the true ministry gifts so you will mature enough to distinguish between good and evil and you won’t be a laughing stock to the enemy. Do the ministry gifts take the place of the Holy Ghost our teacher? No! It doesn’t and it will never, the Holy Spirit that leaves within us is our teacher and guide in the revelation of scriptures, it is the Holy Spirit also ministering through these vessels and building your inner man with the truths he unveils to them. The spirit of God is a spirit of order and God is not an author of confusion, he confirms what he ministers through them in your spirit, so it is the Holy Spirit teaching you but through a different operation.
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men
(Now he that ascended,what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill all things.)
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
Eph 4.7-13
There is a general purpose of all the offices of the ministry collectively and there is the specific purpose of each of the offices, each office has distinct characteristics which makes them unique. So there is the bigger picture which is the edifying of the body of Christ or building of the body of Christ. Some one may be asking why is it so important for the body of Christ to be built ? in the simplest explanation because the lord desires that the body be built, he is coming for a body without spot nor wrinkle (Eph. 5:27) , he owns the body and he is getting married to the church(the body of Christ) , the church which is the bride of Christ must make herself ready in purity and holiness. The lord wants the body edified , so he gave gifts unto men to edify the body .
That is one part of it, the other part is that the anointing on the head of the church (Jesus Christ) is spread across the whole body, one person cannot carry the whole anointing of the head but the whole body does(the church – the body of Christ) when the body comes together in unity and are edified the whole anointing on the head is manifested.
The prophet’s office is a unique office in the body of Christ because of the significant role it plays for the building up of the body of Christ.
WHO IS A PROPHET ?
A prophet is God’s spokesman, one who speaks on God’s behalf to affect the state and well being of God’s people. He receives from God for the people the counsel of God .Prophets are God’s confidants because he reveals deep secrets of his plans and purposes, his agenda for the hour, for the season and for generations to come. A prophet is not just someone who prophesies, that is part of his official duties but not a major part. Most believers have taken the major for the minor and the minor for the major because of the nature of the prophetic ministry most people try to take advantage of it (not in a positive sense). The prophet office is the most appealing to the senses because the prophet is most times granted access in the spirit to see major facts about individuals and situations, it is a very tempting office that takes discipline to maintain the anointing on the office.
Every office of the ministry has a specific measure of anointing working on it, this anointing can be increased through faithfulness, there is a measure of anointing on the prophetic office. Some have a combination of two or three offices and are walking in a greater degree of anointing in one than the other. The anointing will however manifest himself, so there is no point advertising yourself the anointing will advertise you.
Both questions are very important and sincere but before I answer that, I would like a sound a very important warning! Don’t put yourself into any office of the ministry because of the title people give you (Pastor , Prophet , Apostle, or any other title), or because someone prophesied to you or laid hands on you, there is some truth in the fact that if you are walking in any office people will observe it and honor it, but you need to inquire from the lord if he is calling you in to the full time work and what he has called you specifically to do.
So the first and authentic way to know God is calling you to the prophetic besides other ways is that he will inform you himself. Your calling cannot be without you, when you are the principal figure in the equation, when someone says God is calling me but I am not sure, I don’t think God is calling him. It maybe something else calling you , like your passion, your desire or any other thing, but one thing I know of God is that he is not an author of confusion, ok, God called you, I agree. To do what? Someone says to preach, every believer is called to preach.
Before I formed the in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified the, and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Jer. 1:5
This scripture gives us insight into when God calls, so the point is that you have been called not even in the belly but before you were formed in the belly and ordained, so it is not man that ordains you with laying of hands , man only confirms you, but God had ordained you long before you came to the world.
How do I know? Ask God. God told Jeremiah , he has been ordained. If God is calling you like we usually say in the charismatics, he will give you specific details and if he has not , I will advice you don’t move until he gives at least the purpose of your calling, what you are to do. Paul asked the lord what will you have me do, and God answered (Acts 9:6).
God told Jeremiah I have ordained you a prophet, so you were ordained before you came, but you are separated into your calling when you accept and begin and that can be done by man’s confirmation by laying of hands or by prophecy or the way the lord wants to have you go.
Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas and simeon that was called Niger , and lucius of cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with herod the tetrarch, and saul.
As they ministered to the lord and fasted the Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them.
And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
Acts 13:1-3
The Antioch church here had at least a prophet or a teacher or both in this meeting. As they were ministering to the lord, the Holy Ghost said separate me (or separate unto me) Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them. God wasn’t just calling them, he had called them but at this time he is separating them unto their calling. So like Jeremiah they had been called and ordained before they came into this world but was separated unto their call at the appointed time, and the lord will do the same for me and you.
The beautiful thing about the whole picture as painted to us from scriptures is that once you were called and ordained (before coming into this world) , God sees you that way and he will judge you as the called (a prophet, teacher, evangelist ,…) whether you answer the call or not, because the calling of God is without repentance. This is something we must meditate on and take seriously, if you run away from his call on your life , on the fateful day he will judge you on the office he called you in and not the business success you had or the academic accolades or even the office of the ministry you ventured into, and you will have to present your works .This is why we must understand that it is not what we do for the master that matters but what he asked us to do.
What are the signs to observe to know you are called into the prophetic office?
When we are talking of signs we are not talking about physical signs, although there are but specifically spiritual signs, and not signs in the sense of mathematical signs and symbols, but preferably the word gifts.
There are 9 specific gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are the gifts for service. These are the gifts for the manifestation of our calling in Christ, these gifts expresses the supernatural in our lives and it is available to every believer because every believer is called and has a specific ministry but the consistency of specific gifts in the life of a believer distinguishes the offices of the ministry.
For the manifestation of the spirit is given to everyman to profit withal
For to one is given by the spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same spirit;
To another faith by the same spirit; to another gifts of healing by the same spirit;
To another working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
But all of these worketh that one and self same spirit, dividing to everyman severally as he will.
1 Cor. 12 :7-11
The manifestation of the spirit is given to every man , the lord is not holding back any of the gifts from any man, and these does not mean every man on the street , we must understand that the letter( this scriptures written by Paul) was written to the church of God at Corinth not to everyman on the street.
Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints , with all that are in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our lord, both theirs and ours
1 Cor. 1:2
Every member of the body of Christ has access to any of the nine gifts even as much as the whole nine, because you can covet the gift you desire (1 Cor. 12:31)
For purpose of classification the gifts are divided into three categories
The prophetic office has a consistent manifestation of the revelation gifts and the utterance , then the power gifts. It is in that order, revelation gifts comes first. That is the most important gifts that manifests in the office of a prophet, then the utterance gifts , and the power gifts which is not mandatory for the office but it is a big plus for the office. What makes the prophet office special is that it must have at least minimum six gifts of the spirit in constant manifestation in his life or ministry, those are the necessary credentials that qualifies the office.
Some believers make a serious mistake by changing the order putting the utterance gifts first implying that a prophet must always prophesy, No! he must not always prophesy , he can as the spirit leads but that is not the major part of his ministry that is the minor.
THE REVELATION GIFTS
Revelation basically means uncovering something hidden or unraveling a mystery. It is making known something secret , exposing a hidden fact. Our God has a divine nature of concealing his plans, so he uses the gifts of revelation to uncover it to his prophets.
Revelation gifts consists of everything that receives from God , while the utterance gifts consists of everything that speaks for God.
Why revelation gifts comes first is that you receive before you speak, and it is not everything you receive you are permitted to speak. A prophet is not necessarily a speaking prophet but first a receiving prophet then God moves him when to speak and what to speak of all he has received. God does nothing without revealing it to his prophets.
Surely the lord will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
Amos 3:7(KJV)
Indeed, the sovereign lord never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets.
Amos 3:7(NLT)
Prophets are God’s confidants; he reveals to them first, before the people receive, this is why the revelation gifts are the most manifested gifts in the office of a prophet.
The word of knowledge is the supernatural revelation of facts in the mind of God of things, events and places in the past and present. This is a word of God’s knowledge, just a fragment of his knowledge because God is ball knowing but he does reveals certain facts to believers in some situations to bring forth solution to certain challenges. There is no possible way anybody could have known about that information but revealed it to bring forth solution.
While the word of wisdom is the supernatural revelation of his plans , agenda or things that will take place in the future. The word of wisdom points specifically to the future, it can also be used to bring solution to things present. The word wisdom is a word of God’s wisdom , his divine plans for man and his Agenda.
Discerning of spirit is a supernatural revelation of God of things in the spirit realm, in picture and video format. He reveals by opening your spiritual eyes to see. Discerning of spirit is the supernatural ability to see in the realm of the spirit places, people events, past, present and future, his plans , Agenda and his purpose for things. This is simply by the discretion of the spirit , you can’t decide to see things without the Holy Spirit opening your eyes , you will open yourself to demons. Discerning of spirit is also used by the spirit of God to enable you distinguish between spirits (angels and demons) in the spirit world, , because your eyes are open to see in the spirit, because some facts are covered in the natural realm like someone who is suffering from breast cancer and God opened your eyes and you see a cat sitting on the breast , you know it is no breast cancer at all, you deal with the situation differently, God uses it to bring deliverance to his people.
Most times two or more gifts work together to bring forth the revelation of God to you, for example if he reveals anything to you in the past or present , it is the gift of the word of knowledge at work, and if he opens your eyes to see those things then discerning of spirit is at work, so it is two gifts combined in that operation, so also the word of wisdom ,God can reveal his plans to you and make you see in details those plans, that is word of wisdom and discerning of spirit at work.
We can put it this way for easier understanding a revelation gift is a supernatural revelation of God about people, places, facts, his agenda ,past, present and future.
Indeed, the sovereign lord never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets.
Amos 3:7(NLT)
Prophets receive from God his plans through revelation gifts, their prophetic ministry consists more of receiving than speaking, and there are many examples in the bible of prophets that operated in this dimension.
ABRAHAM
Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live :…
Gen 20:7
Many believers today will not consider Abraham a prophet because he didn’t say “thus saith the lord”, but God himself called him a prophet.
The prophetic ministry of Abraham consisted more of receiving than speaking, the bible didn’t tell us of the prophecies he gave or personal revelations to people but he received divine counsel of things in the heart of God.
PROOFS THAT CONFIRMS ABRAHAM’S PROPHETIC MINISTRY
And the lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; …
Gen. 18:17
God revealed to Abraham the situation of Sodom and Gomorrah so he could stand in the gap for them, but even lot who was a righteous man living in the city of Sodom didn’t know anything about God’s plan. God reveals to prophets secret plans before he executes them on the earth.
God revealed so much to Abraham about events that would happen in the future many generations from him.
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward”
Gen. 15:1
In the old testament, there were those called the laymen- they are those who do not have the anointing of God upon them, apart from those chose for special assignments, only the prophet, priest and kings had the anointing on them. Prophets are the only ones who receive God’s word in visions. This also confirms the prophetic office of Abraham.
Now, when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on abram; and behold horror and great darkness fell upon him. Then he said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs , and will serve them, and will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve will I judge ; afterwards they shall come out with great possessions .
Gen. 15:12-14
It is important we understand that this was also a vision given to abram, God also reveals to prophets through dreams, it is not ordinary dreams or nightmares it is a vision of the night, it also happened to Daniel severally. Not all dreams are dreams some are night visions, this was a deep revelation Abram received many generations before it happened , and it was accurate, it happened just as he saw it. This also proves the prophetic office of Abraham.
Abraham also had strong prophetic insight and understanding of things to come in the new covenant, some how he had a revelation of resurrection of the death of God’s son , that was what sponsored his absolute faith in God to take Isaac to slaughter him, remember he said I am going to worship with a son as sacrificial lamb. That can never be ordinary it is product of a deep revelation.
Paul gives us what was in the mind of Abraham while he was going to sacrifice his son.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called”, concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
Heb. 11:17-19
Abraham had prophetic insight about the promise land, he knew the promise land was not a place (a physical land), but a person(Jesus Christ). Abraham was not searching for a physical promise land he was looking a spiritual one which is heaven.
He waited for the city which has foundations ,whose builder and maker is God.
Heb. 11:10
Abraham was no ordinary Prophet, he was deep in revelation, received angels , and saw Jesus our lord with his eyes(Gen. 18:1), even Jesus testified of it to the Jews (Jn. 8:56). Jesus is still referred today as the seed of Abraham in the flesh, the journey of redemption of man in the flesh began with Abraham . Although Abraham was not much of a utterance prophet, he was True Prophet of the old order (covenant).
There are other examples of major prophets who walked in this dimension both in the old and new order (covenant). I will share one more example of an Old Testament major prophet.
DAVID
David was one of the most anointed men in the old testament, he functioned in all the three ministry offices of the old testament. David was a Prophet ,king and priest. The prophetic office of David was very unique and significant to the body of Christ. David also as Abraham was not much of an utterance prophet but a revelation Prophet. He just like Abraham has a peculiar honor of being called the Father of Jesus in the flesh, for Jesus was constantly called by the people “son of David”, Jesus as lord right now in Heaven holds the key of David that shuts and no man opens and opens and no man can shut , that is the level of Honor David enjoys even now.
PROOFS THAT CONFIRMS DAVID’S PROPHETIC MINISTRY
Men and brethren , let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither did his holy one see corruption.
` Acts 2:29-31
David had one of the most descriptive revelation about Christ, his death and resurrection about 1000 yrs before Christ came into the world. He had a deep insight about the resurrection of Christ, not just the resurrection but the death and even the events that took place at his death and that led to it, like the parting of his garment, casting lot on it, and even the betrayal of Jesus by judas Iscariot. David’s insight in the prophetic was very deep.
… the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people…
David was a man after God’s own heart. God confided in David, that is one peculiar attribute of God’s prophet, he confides in them. God revealed to him several of his plans and purposes for his people.
David received from God diverse encounters through the revelation gifts, David said he saw the Lord speak to my lord (Ps 110: 1), he walked heavily in the word of wisdom, discerning of spirits and word of knowledge. David did not only walk in the revelation gifts he also was heavy in the prophetic.
UTTERANCE GIFT
Utterance gifts is another key gift in the office of the Prophet, which are prophecy , interpretation of tongues and diverse kinds of tongues. It is not the main responsibility of the prophet to prophesy.
To prophesy means to speak forth, to tell forth .The reason why it is not the major part of the prophet to prophesy is that it is a gift available to every child of God. A prophet can release a prophetic word from God, but his primary assignment is not to be prophesying over your life every now and them. Under the old covenant it could have been the responsibility of the prophet to do that because the people were not born again and didn’t have the spirit of God in them but it is different under this dispensation. A prophet can prophesy by revelation, as the lord wills but the gift of prophecy given by the Holy Spirit is the simple gift of prophecy whose purpose is to exhort, comfort and edify (1 Cor. 14:3).
Follow after charity(love), and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
1 Cor. 14:1
Paul particularly emphasizes that desire spiritual gifts especially prophesy , not because prophecy is the best gift but because it is the gift for the church, tongues is the gift for yourself, it edifies you and builds you up, but prophecy is the gift for the church, it builds up the church, we know lord is concerned about the building up of his body the church. The problem however right now is that what should build up the church is tearing the church apart, because of simple lack of understanding.
For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.
1 Cor. 14:31
Every believer can prophesy, prophesy is for all and like Pastor Chris Oyakhilome wrote in his book on prophecy, it is the power that controls your future.
Prophecy is speaking forth the mind of God concerning any situation, paul admonishes that he that prophesies should prophesy according to the proportion of faith (Rom. 12:6) – the faith is the key issue here, not even revelation, it is prophecy released as a faith utterance.
The operation of the Prophet’s office in the old covenant is different from that of the new covenant, it is important we understand it so we don’t get into error, for explicit understanding we need to understand this scripture below.
Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant…
There are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit.
There are differences in administration but the same Lord
And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
1 Cor. 12:1 – 6
There are three basic things we need to understand from this scripture, particularly as it pertains to the office of the prophet. The prophetic office has minimum of six gifts of the spirit actively working in it, and all these gifts are given by the Holy Spirit and are manifested as he wills( 1 Cor. 12:11). I explained in the opening chapter that everything given to you that you don’t or cannot earn is a gift. There are however specific gifts given by the spirit of God, which are listed in 1 Cor. 12:8-10, what the lord gives even though are gifts in proper words are graces, it is the lord that gives us our specific ministries, both the offices of the ministry and specific ministry to every believer. The bible says he descended and ascended and gave gifts unto men, so the gifts for the manifestation of these offices is what is given by the spirit, remember Jesus told the disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they have been endued with Power from on high, even though he had commissioned them, the anointing for manifestation comes from the spirit. If we understand this , it will help us shapen our understanding and put in the right position spiritually when it comes to the offices of the ministry. So in the same scripture we see the working of the father, son and spirit, though one but still have specific assignments. Now the father determines the operations, and these talks about dispensations, seasons, times. Jesus told us in (Acts 1:7) that the father determines seasons and times, not him, the dispensations are solely in the hands of the father. The dispensation determines the administrations which in turn determines the gifts to be manifested. This is trinity working together , and this was the revelation paul was trying to communicate to the church in 1st Cor. 12:1 – 11, it wasn’t particularly the gifts but its administration and operation, because the Corinthian church were already getting it wrong there they thought they could manifest the gifts anytime they like, coming from their background of being gentiles dealing with idols, they didn’t know much about the order in the spiritual realm, you will see this if you read on carefully from chapter 12- 14.
In the old testament , there were only 7 gifts of the spirit operating, two of the utterance gifts were absent which were diverse kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues, it is because it wasn’t the dispensation of those gifts.
The Operation of the Prophet office in the Old Testament and the operation in the new testament is different. This is because the dispensation also is different and the Father determines the dispensation. The major factor that contributes to the activities of dispensation is the Holy Spirit, because he is the doer of all works.
In the old dispensation, the Holy Spirit was not available to every believer, he was specifically on some people for special purposes, while in this new dispensation the Holy Spirit is available to every believer and it makes all the difference between old testament saints and new testament saints.
OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETIC OFFICE
In the Old Testament nobody has access to God because of the fall of Adam, God could not relate to anyone directly, in other to relate to man God had to chose some people specifically, anoint them and separate them so they can be the link with which God can get to his people. The people chosen were separated to 3 Specific offices of the ministry – Prophet, Priest and King in that order, apart from those the lord chose specifically for some assignment like Gideon, bazalel, aholiab and some others.
The Prophets were God’s mouth piece to the people, they reveal to the people the mind of the lord as touching any issue, both for the nation, and their individual lives. So it was more like God was using the Prophets to lead the people including their individual lives. The point is that nobody could access the mind of God and anything the Prophets said God said, the people believed whether it was true or not , nobody could know. The only way they could at least know the truth like Prophet Moses taught them was to verify the facts if it comes to pass or not. So they believed the prophet then if it doesn’t come to pass they don’t believe.
The lord your God will raise up a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him shall you hear,…
When a prophet speaks in the name of the lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
Deut. 18: 15 -22
Aside inquiring from the lord matters as pertaining to the people, the prophets also bring the word of the lord to the people, to direct the people and usher them into God’s plan for their lives.
The prophets of the old testament were more of foretelling – tell about future events, to tell about what the lord will do in the future, and most of their prophecies were pointing to one person (JESUS). Even from this scripture said a prophet like me will God raise from your midst (this is talking about Jesus). All they were doing was to align the people to the ultimate plan of the lord and thereby ushering in the coming of the lord.
Even though there are many similarities in the manifestation of the gifts , the administration and operation has changed in the new testament , the new testament doesn’t consist of laymen as believers but spirit men and women.
NEW TESTAMENT PROPHETIC OFFICE
From the very facts of scriptures we know that the new testament officially started from the book of acts of the Apostles and not the book of matthew. But for the purpose of chronological facts , we chose to accept that the new testament started from matthew. I don’t intend to go into that now, but for the sake of balance,
For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives
Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood.
Heb. 9:16-18
The testator is Jesus Christ, he brought in the new testament , the new covenant or new dispensation , but it wasn’t in force until his death, because every testament must be dedicated by blood. After the dedication of his blood in heaven , the testament officially began with the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the earth who was to write the testament in the minds of God’s people. This is not our emphasis , I won’t want to go deep into it, so for chronological facts let us take it as Matthew but for revelational facts the Acts of the Apostles.
The new testament prophetic office was not much of fore-telling but forth telling. They weren’t foretelling because Jesus was already on earth, only John the Baptist who was also a prophet did a foretelling of Jesus and remember he too functioned in the old covenant system. New testament prophets did more of forth telling- to forth tell means to speak about or tell forth of facts, events in the mind of God either by revelation or from his holy written word.
The dispensation of the new testament (by revelation) is the dispensation of God’s spirit upon all believers and it makes all the difference.
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaidens I will pour out in those days my spirit; and they shall prophesy :…”
Acts 2:17- 18
This is the new dispensation, the last days where God is pouring out his spirit upon all, giving visions to young men, these are days where sons and daughters will prophesy. These does not mean the office of the prophet will be extinct, it only means the office is expanded with greater responsibility. Prophets do not longer lead people by their office , that was under the old covenant with spiritually dead people.
For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom.8:14
God’s children are led by his Holy Spirit are not by prophets, he didn’t say as many as are led by the prophets or by the prophetic office. The prophetic office has a greater responsibility in the new covenant; they are not to lead but to guide. This is very important, they are confirmers. God uses the office most times to confirm what he has revealed to his sons and daughters, they are not to take the place of the Holy Spirit in your life as your guide either, but by the anointing of the spirit serve as fatherly guides when you go wrong. There are many believers who don’t understand the change in operation of the office, they still go about seeking to hear God from the office of the prophet, that is scripturally wrong. A prophet that leads people with is office is either scripturally ignorant or most likely a fake prophet, and most times the ignorant becomes fake with time. We said earlier that when the purpose of a thing is unknown abuse is inevitable, and the most abused office of the ministry today is the prophetic office. Prophets of the new testament weren’t really used of God for much of foretelling but in forth-telling. God uses prophets in the new testament to exhort his people from the word, to speak the mind of God from his holy written word. It is very important to understand that God’s word is highly prophetic, when the word is unveiled the prophetic is unveiled, this is where most believers miss it, they want to hear “Thus saith the lord” before they believe it is prophecy, every word of God is prophetic (2nd pet. 1:19) , when it is spoken over your life receive it as prophecy. Although the operation of the office has changed there are many functions of the office that are left intact but in a different operation. We said earlier that what constitutes the office of the prophet is more of revelation gifts than utterance gift, that is still left intact, Prophets both of the old dispensation and the new dispensation are still of revelation based Prophets than Utterance, they receive more than they speak, infact what is peculiar to the office especially in the new testament now is that they even speak by revelation from the word. When a Prophet speaks he speaks either by revelation from the lord , or by the revelation from the word. Most new testament prophets speak by revelation of the word , so they don’t have to tell you your name, address and phone number before you know they are prophets if you are a spiritually sensitive person, you should perceive the prophetic from the word and not from personal revelation to you.
God is changing things now in the body of Christ and bringing sons and daughters to maturity of the spirit, before a Prophet is known by giving you personal revelation about you, and that is why most prophets get into trouble, they want to perform, even when God is not speaking, they love the praise of men. Look at the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob.
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her,” you have five husbands , and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
Jn. 4:16-19
Though the Samaritan woman was correct that Jesus was Prophet, her perception of him being a prophet because of personal revelation under the new covenant, will be wrong. You need more than giving personal revelation to be a prophet. Under the old covenant , it would have been exactly right to call him a prophet because only a prophet could have such information about a person’s personal life, but in the new covenant every believer with a cordial relationship with God can have such information, calling him/ her a prophet will be wrong and could be dangerous especially a new convert he can get into spiritual pride, a prophet will need to be have been called before being formed in the womb and be separated into the office of the prophet at the appropriate time and constant manifestation of this gift which is the word of knowledge could be a sign that he is operating this office. It is important to strike an appropriate balance, you may not also have personal revelations for people but word revelations that is still a manifestation of the word of knowledge.
Most people’s perception of who a prophet is has pressured many prophets in giving personal revelations even when God is not sending them. A prophet must not always speak even though he always receives.
I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
Jer. 23:21
These were prophets of God, but they were eager to prophesy even though they were not sent, God poured his anger on them for what they did. A prophet must not always speak , a prophet must not always prophesy. Even there are times the lord gives you a message , you must know when and where he wants you to say it , that is even if he wants it said, there were things Daniel saw that God told him to seal his lips, even John in the isle of Patmos, it was not every thing he saw he said. The prophetic is a realm where we learn by spiritual experience, you learn on the job and we must be very careful not to get under pressure to prophesy, it can be very risky. Any one that perceive a prophetic ministry should take time out to study the prophetic ministry of Jesus who was the greatest prophet who ever lived and had the greatest success till date in the prophetic. There are some dimension of the prophetic that Jesus manifested that is completely indescribable. For those who think, your prophetic anointing is measured by the personal revelation for people, can I ask you, how many personal revelations did Jesus have for the people ? Even the encounter with the woman at the well led to her salvation and the salvation of others, yes! Jesus was used by the spirit to manifest word of knowledge at certain times, but most of the revelation gifts were revealed in his messages, teachings and preachings.
This is a common misconception in the body of Christ, many believers have this see for me mentality, this is owing to the spiritual laziness of most believers, and no prophet should encourage such unscriptural practices. Every one should be taught to grow and understand how the holy spirit leads him and guides him in personal affairs. Some people ask what is the lord saying about my business? What is the lord saying about my marriage, or my journey- I want to travel sir (what is the lord saying). It is so funny and a common occurrence that a brother will take the picture of two sisters to church and ask the prophet which one should I chose as my wife or a sister brings the picture of three brothers which one should be my husband. This is the job of the Holy Spirit that you are giving to a prophet, the Holy Spirit has a lot to tell you about your business, health, job and daily activities, he is closer to you than you can think and he knows everything about your life, your prophet does not know everything he might have a glimpse if the lord permits, he can’t know everything. Moreover the brother bringing the picture of two or more sisters is just confused and needs to check himself, for the sister I will prefer to seal my lips. The point here is don’t give the Job of the Holy Spirit to a prophet.
No prophet no matter how anointed he is knows everything, that will be unscriptural.
For we know in part and prophesy in part
1 Cor. 13:9
NLT Version puts it this way, now we know only a little, and even the gift of prophecy reveals a little. Nobody, No Prophet is all knowing, no prophet knows all about your life, any prophet that says that is a liar. The gift of revelation that reveals facts about your life in the past and present is called the word of knowledge not all knowledge. It is a word of knowledge, a fragment of God’s knowledge, even Jesus the divine son of God on the earth was not all knowing, he was working by the gifts of the spirit as the spirit willed, he knew in parts, he said as I hear judge( Jn. 5:30), everything he knew he was told. Jesus remains the greatest prophet who ever walked the surface of the earth, he holds the highest rank in the prophetic realm– a rank of his own by an immeasurable anointing upon him ( Jn. 3:34)- he walked in an anointing no mortal man will be able to walk in for that length of time( three and half years).To say a prophet is all knowing is a lie from the deepest pit of hell, so also prophecy reveals in the part, only the word of God is full prophecy that was why peter called it a more sure word of prophecy (2nd Pet. 1:19). Only God knows everything about your life, because he created you and gave you your destiny, but the spirit that abides within you (the Holy Ghost) also knows all about you and that is why you must listen to him as he guides you. The word of God also Knows all about you because he is a person, so if you want to know anything about your life you don’t need to seek a prophet to know what your destiny is because he doesn’t know and God won’t even reveal it to him, he may have a glimpse and that’s the best he can have only you is entitled to full knowledge of your destiny or your calling. Going to a prophet will only complicate matters, get into the word of God and be in the spirit, Jesus found his destiny there (Luke 4:18) so will every believer, something is written about you in scriptures and you need to find out. Most of the so called prophets who give people prophesies about their destinies are false prophets or let me call them professional prophets. I met one time that told my mum that I was going to walk in such and such place and I should bring honey he will pray on it and all that. Well to the glory of God I never walked there, and thank God I didn’t . The point is that they look so innocent and completely harmless but check the end of their prophecies there is no solution, every revelation given by God is for a divine solution, it is not for comedy or entertainment. We should understand God is not into Hollywood or Nollywood so he doesn’t do cinemas at all, he won’t show you anything to entertain your eyes. That is certainly not God, he reveals to release. The bible admonishes us to prove all things ( 1Thess. 5:21) , even what a prophet tells you , if it doesn’t line up with the word of God and what your spirit tells you, you have every right in Christ to discard it.
Every true prophetic ministry that will last must learn to put the word first before the manifestations of the spirit. The word must come first before the manifestations of the spirit and not the other way round. Every ministry that puts manifestation before the word will in no time get into trouble. A minister is not a performer, he must not always minister by the gifts of the spirit. The manifestations of the spirit which include word of wisdom, word of knowledge and the rest are manifested as the spirit wills, we don’t have control over their manifestations.
A Prophet is called first of all to preach and not to prophesy, so he must be diligent in the word for there to be a consistent manifestation of the gifts as the spirit wills. The prophetic office should not be brought down to prophesying, it is funny how some people think that the prophetic office is meant for prophesying so they go from house to house prophesying on people and giving people private revelations , they give every member of their congregation a word from the lord. I heard a preacher on t.v say something funny , he said “call me and I will give you a word from the lord”, that’s totally unscriptural and there are many of them who lead their congregations by prophecy, the truth is that they don’t have a congregation because only the word can keep people in the church and not prophecy no matter how powerful , if they stay they won’t grow because they are not being fed.
The prophets that God used mightily in scripture were all preachers, even though they gave personal messages to the people they always brought the word of the lord to the people, with messages focused on repentance from sins, getting back to God and many messages they preached. If that was old testament then how much more the new testament.
A True New testament Prophet is called first to preach the word, let us look at some Prophets in the new testament and their Prophetic ministries.
JOHN THE BAPTIST.
For I say among unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist :…
Luke 7 :28
Jesus called John the Baptist a prophet, and a greater prophet than all the old testament prophets. How did John operate in the prophetic?
In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea.
Matt. 3:1
People from Jerusalem and from every section of Judea and from all over the Jordan valley went out to the wilderness to hear him preach.
Matt. 3:5(NLT)
John was not giving personal prophecies or private revelations to the people, but rather giving them the word of the lord. The revelation gifts were manifested in his preaching.
JESUS CHRIST
He was obviously the greatest prophet that walked on the surface of the earth, the prophetic ministry of Jesus was also not in giving private revelations to everyone on the street.
The spirit of the lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted , to preach deliverance to the captives , and recovering of sights to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.
Luke 4:18
Jesus was anointed to preach, he didn’t say the spirit of the lord is upon me to prophesy to the poor. This was how Jesus manifested his prophetic ministry, by preaching.
Jesus travelled through out Galilee teaching in the synagogues , preaching everywhere the good news of the kingdom.
Matt. 4:23 (NLT)
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in the synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom,...
Matt. 9:35
Jesus started teaching and preaching through out galilee, and from there he went out through out all the cities and villages.
PAUL
Paul was one of the most anointed of prophets of the new testament, the prophetic ministry of Paul also did not consist of personal revelations to people. Paul did more of preaching and teaching just like his master Jesus.
Whereunto I am ordained a preacher and an apostle ,( I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the gentiles in faith and verity
1 Tim 2:7
Paul was first ordained a preacher, and he preached everywhere he had the opportunity.
… so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
Rom. 15:19
Every true prophet is first and foremost a preacher of the word and his prophetic ministry is manifested as he preaches, then also special manifestations can come as the Holy Spirit wills.
Every true prophet of God, exhorts the people. That is the primary purpose of the simple gift of prophecy , it is not to extort people, No true prophecy of God puts people under pressure. A true prophet is not after your pocket but your welfare, he is not after your bank account, your Gold wrist watch or any valuable thing you have. That is why prophecy must be rightly judged with scriptures.
Let the Prophet speak two or three, and let the other judge.
1Cor. 14:29
The revelations of prophets can also be judged to know if it aligns with scripture, if any prophecy is always going to your pocket be very careful.
He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
1 Cor. 14:3
Prophecy is to edify you, not to pressurize you, prophecy should make people comfortable , not in sins but in the joy of the lord, prophecy is for exhortation. You are not under any obligation to give any thing to any minister of God, if the spirit leads you, fine! But if you are not lead don’t give no matter the anointing of the prophet ministering. Any thing you give God under pressure is unacceptable, and God cannot ask you to give you what you don’t have, So you can’t borrow to give God because he commanded you not borrow in the first place. I have been under several ministrations where the minister of God says God said twenty people should give twenty thousand naira, when some people come out , he later says if you have ten thousand naira come out and from there till 5000. It is very easy to discern that’s not God but because the people said well he is anointed, and that’s wrong, I have seen those ministries rise and fall and even the Founder/G.O later died. It is risky using the prophetic office to prophesy into people’s pocket.
A true prophet exhorts and not extort, he is also not a prophet of doom
And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves , exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them.
Acts 15:32
The prophets in the New Testament didn’t go about prophesying money out of people’s pocket, they rather exhorted the brethren.
The Apostolic and the prophetic office are exclusive offices in the body of Christ. They are special and unique offices with strange unction upon them. This is not to despise other offices of the ministry, the truth remains that these two offices carry on them special unction for the body of Christ. The apostolic and the prophetic offices carry transferrable unction in the body of Christ, and are the highest ranked offices. This does not mean that they should rule over other offices of the ministry, they all have specific assignments and should work together for the unity of the body of Christ.
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men …
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
Eph.4:7-13
In the order of the gifts given to men, apostles and prophets are listed first before other gifts of the ministry.
And God has set some in the church , first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then the gifts of healings, helps, governments, …
Comparing these two scriptures, we see apostles and prophets listed first before other ministry gifts.
Apostles are ground breakers, territorial commanders. Apostles were used in the new testament to break new grounds for Christ. An apostles can walk in any of the offices of the ministry because they graduated from one or two offices before being appointed as apostles. It is important to understand that all apostles are prophets but not all prophets are apostles. The apostolic is a graduation from the prophetic office, and what accompanies a true apostolic office is special signs and wonders (2nd cor. 12:12). The new testament was built on the foundation of apostles and prophets.(Eph. 2:20).
Apostles and prophets are custodians of special revelation to the body of Christ, and we must appreciate their office to be beneficiaries of the grace they carry. In this book however our focus is on the prophetic office.
The question is, how can we connect to what they carry for our benefit.
HONOR YOUR PROPHET
Every prophet is ordained by God for the lifting of men and the only way we can receive the virtues God has placed upon them is by receiving their person first , and their gifting. It is very crucial we understand that when you do not receive a prophet , you are not doing the prophet any harm but yourself, because you didn’t send him, God sent him to you. One thing we must not lose in our heart is honor for men of God (truly called by God) because it can be very detrimental to your destiny, in case you don’t know those truly called then honour all men(1 Pet. 2:17), so you don’t lose their blessings.
Prophets carry transferrable unction in them that when you honor them you receive it, and when you despise them , they carry their blessings with them.
But Jesus said unto them, a prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his kin, and in his house.
And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid hands upon a few sick folk and healed them.
Mark 6:4-5
Jesus called himself a prophet here, and he links dishonor with the flow of virtues, he couldn’t do mighty works even though he wanted, because the people didn’t receive him. Dishonor is the major sponsor of unbelief, when you despise a prophet you don’t believe in him and what he carries can never get to you, and it will be to your detriment. He carries the virtues somewhere else, the worst part of it is that woe betides you on judgement day, it is that serious. When Jesus sent out his apostles, part of what he told them was that whosever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city shake of the dust of your feet Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgement that for that city. Any individual or city or nation that does not receive the prophet sent to it, woe unto it. It is as serious as that, we must see this as a spiritual thing , that is why it is dangerous for you to be familiar with your prophet, if your familiarity will bring dishonor to him then stay back, don’t see your prophet as just a human being but as a gift of God that must be highly treasured. I have discovered that the honor of men of God is gradually waning from the hearts of men, especially the young generation , it is simply a strategy of the devil to instill pride in you and rub you of your glorious destiny. Some one is saying , does it mean we should now worship them, No! but hold them as heroes in your heart, put them in a place of utmost honor, it is for your sake be smarter than the devil.
Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance.
Show them great respect and whole hearted love because of their work…
1 Thess. 5:12-13
If you have been dishonoring any man of God, repent! Right now, ask God to forgive, it has both consequences now and on the day of judgement. Don’t say because we are in the era of grace, if you dishonor a prophet of God, there are many times the result is instant judgement, sometimes it leads to an indiscernible spiritual problem and or according to the sovereignity of the lord, even ministers of God are not excluded I have seen many unimaginable things happen to people because they refuse to keep their mouth shut.
I want to spend a little time here to impress in your heart the danger of dishonoring a prophet, if your spirit does not agree with him then keep quiet and leave him alone. God said “ touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm” (Ps. 105:15). Whether with the pen, the mouth actions or reactions, any harm at all to a prophet is very dangerous for you. It is important I tell you this so you won’t fall victim to the other side of the prophetic anointing, when Jesus was born simeon told us by the Holy Ghost that he (Jesus) was born for the rising and falling of many. So there are two sides to his prophetic anointing (Luke 2:34). Because of the level of civilization in our generation ,and freedom of speech , it is the easiest thing to see some one write a false report about a man of God, say every rash and harsh things about his ministry and calling, both on national dailies and especially the social media platform, it is funny how you see believers commenting all sorts. Be sensitive, it is a trap of the enemy to set you against the anointing, and it is dangerous to your destiny.
We will look at some prophets in the bible and the consequence of dishonor.
We should understand no matter the times that we are the word of God is ever constant, and the spiritual controls the physical forever.
ABRAHAM
Gen. 20:2-8
Even though Abimelech was ignorant of the fact that sarah was abraham’s wife because Abraham told him that sarah was his sister, God appeared to Abimelech in a dream and told him he is a dead man because of sarah he took in his custody as his wife, God had plagued the whole family of abimelech for a Abraham’s sake. Why did God do that? Because was a prophet, and you must do a prophet no harm.
MOSES
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman…
And the anger of the LORD kindled against them; and he departed
And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and behold Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.
Numbers 12:1-10
Two things makes the story frightening ,
When it comes to the anointing God overlooks family matter, the funny thing also is that Miriam is the senior sister of Moses. This just tells us how we need to be careful with the anointing
And the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is dathan and abiram , which were famous in the congregation, who strove against moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD:
And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with korah, when that company died ,…
Numbers 26: 9- 10
Another company stood up against Moses and died a mysterious death, brothers and sisters save yourself, don’t go against the anointing. No one throughout scriptures stood against the anointed (especially the prophets) and survived. Nobody had any issue with the anointed of the lord and won the case, it is a spiritual mystery. When Absalom rose against David he fell (2nd Sam. 18:14), even the wise Ahithophel died with his wise counsel (2 Sa. 15:31). Someone said that is old testament, what of Ananias and Sapphira ( Acts 5:1-10).
All those who rubbish the name and reputation of men of God to make money or to earn reputation, well! Let them go ahead, but don’t join them, don’t follow the multitude to do evil (Ex. 23:1-2). The devil simply wants to cut off your access to your blessings so he gets them despised in your eyes, be smarter than that.
WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC VIRTUES IN PROPHETS?.
…Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
2nd Chron. 20:20
The prosperity of individuals, cities and nations is tied to the office of the prophet both in the old and New Testament, that operation has not changed. Any nation that does not receive and believe in his prophet will go down in poverty, Prophets are fathers over kings , and they are appointed by God as fathers over the territory they reside because they carry prosperity virtues.
He that recieveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward;…
Matt. 10:41
This is Jesus speaking himself reiterating the need to receive a prophet. What is a prophet’s reward? Prosperity ! Success. Other versions particularly NLT uses the word succeed in place of prosper. That is a prophet’s reward and it only comes when you receive, appreciate, recognize a prophet, then you are entitled to what he carries. Someone said, my prosperity is not with man or any prophet, it is with God. That’s true! It is with God but God is showing you the channel of it getting into your hands, it comes through the ministry of the prophet. Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every truth is established. I have given you two witnesses one from Jehoshaphat ( 2nd Chron. 20: 20), another from Jesus (Matt. 10:41), let me give you one more from David.
Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
Ps. 118:25
He is asking the lord for prosperity, for a now prosperity. Let’s look at God’s response.
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
Ps. 118:26
To get it , you have to look for him that cometh in the name of the lord , and bless him. Your prosperity will require your seed, it will require your sacrifice. You do not just appreciate your prophet and honor him in your heart to receive what he carries you have to bless him with a seed, and not just not your leftovers, but a sacrifice.
God is the LORD, which hath shown you light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
Ps 118:27.
Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD
God is the LORD, which hath shown you light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar
Ps. 118:25-27
Carry the mentality that your seed is not to make your prophet survive or feed him, that mentality carries no reward but your seed is to receive the blessings from the prophet of God. Every true prophet is not after your seed, but that is the avenue through which God can multiply the seed. The seed is about you not him. It is your way of honoring the grace of God upon his life.
I am adding an additional witness from one of the most anointed prophet that ever lived (Paul)
Now you Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me as concerning giving and receiving, but you only.
For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again unto my necessity.
Not that I desire a gift: but I desire fruit may abound to your account.
But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, a fragnant offering , a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Phil. 4:15-19
Paul called their giving (giving and receiving) . So it is a two way system, when you honor a prophet you automatically receive the prophet’s reward. Paul assured the givers that His God will supply all they need. It is more than financial need, it is having all your need met in all sphere of life. Prosperity is far more than monetary value or worth , it is more of favor and overflowing blessings, peace and tranquility. Prosperity mostly used in scripture is from the word “shalome shalome” meaning peace. When Jesus sent the Apostles he told them to declare peace upon the houses they enter, he uses the exact words (let your peace come upon it : but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you (Matt. 10:13)). The word peace also means prosperity, so Apostles and prophets carry prosperity virtues, peace virtues in their offices.
When God’s people are in any form of crisis, whether spiritual, economic, social or any other God uses his prophet to bail out his people.
And by a Prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt and by a Prophet was he preserved.
Hosea 12:13
God uses his prophet to bring his people out of bondage, depression and recession. God’s prophets are also agents of preservation, it is important we understand their ministry that we may maximize it for our benefits.
ELIJAH AND THE WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH
Arise, get you to zarephath, which belongs to sidon, and dwell there : behold I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain you.
So he arose and went to zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold the widow woman was there gathering sticks: and he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray you , a little water in a vessel, that I may drink
As she was going to bring it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray you, a morsel of bread in your hand.
And she said, as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a jar : and behold , I am gathering two sticks , that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.
And Elijah said unto her, fear not: go and do as you have said: but make me from a little loaf first, and bring it unto me, and after that make for you and for your son.
For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, the barrel of milk shall not run out neither shall the jar of oil fail, until the LORD sends rain upon the earth.
And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah : and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
And the barrel of meal did not run out, neither did the jar of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Elijah.
I Kings 17:9-16
God sent Elijah to bail this woman out of famine, because Elijah had declared no dew nor rain, and there was serious famine in the land. There was no way this woman could have survived throughout the famine. Some will say Elijah must be very wicked, how can he eat the woman’s last meal. No! He wasn’t wicked he only showed the woman how to operate the spiritual principle of honoring a prophet and receiving a prophet reward. We know from this story that she wanted to eat the food with her son and die, giving out of it to Elijah was a big sacrifice, and that is what triggers supernatural manifestation of abundance, especially in hard times like the global recession the world is in right now, you need your prophet. You need the prophet’s reward. What you have can never be enough, but the good news is that it is a seed, when sown guarantees a harvest. She sacrificed to Elijah out of the little and she ate so little but didn’t die, and she had enough food for three and half years throughout the period of the famine. What a miracle!. Prophets are bail out agents, God sends them ahead to bail out his people from all forms of crisis.
And there was great famine in Samaria: and behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver
And the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying , Help my lord, o king…
And the king said unto her, what ails you? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give your son ,that we may eat today, and we will eat my own son tomorrow.
So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give your son, that we may eat him: and she has hid her son….
2nd Kings 6:25-29
This was a terrible famine in Samaria, it was so terrible that two women had to agree to boil their sons and eat, the breach of the contract however brought the matter to the notice of the king. The king obviously didn’t know the famine had gotten to that point. The king got so sober that he tore his cloth and sent for Elisha in anger believing that Elisha should have a word from the LORD concerning the situation.
Then Elisha said, hear you the word of the LORD ; Thus saith the LORD, tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of samaria.
2nd Kings 7:1
God used prophet Elisha to bail the people out of this severe famine by the word of the lord. God always bail his people out by the prophetic word, and that word is the key to success and prosperity. The prophet’s reward is not money, the prophet won’t give you money as prophet’s reward but the word of the lord by revelation that sets you up for financial prosperity. It happened just as the prophet prophesied (2nd Kings 7:16-19).
Peter also enjoyed the prophet’s reward of Jesus by obeying his prophetic word, he had toiled all night and caught nothing but he said nevertheless at thy word and he caught a great multitude of fish in the same sea he had been toiling through all the night.(Luke 5:4-6). The children of Israel enjoyed manna for forty years through the wilderness under the prophetic ministry of Moses (Ex. 16:35).
The problem is not the famine because God always prepares his prophets ahead to bail out his People; it is never God’s plan for his children to suffer any form of hunger, thirst, poverty and sickness. God reveals ahead to his prophets any famine coming to any land and he gives the prophetic word to bail out his people. God sent Joseph ahead as a prophet to bail out Israel in season of economic failure (Gen. 45:7). God also send his prophets to get his people ready for any move of the spirit coming ahead and he gives them the prophetic word that aligns them into the move. That was what John was doing in the wilderness preparing the way with the prophetic word “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt.3:2) . It is to prepare the people’s heart and mind to the coming move of God, Jesus also came on the scene preached the same prophetic word “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand” to align the people’s heart to the coming move, Jesus also sent the apostles with the same message until the kingdom of heaven came to reside in the hearts of men by the Holy Ghost. God uses prophets to prepare the way for his move and to get the people ready.
We are right here now in the midst of a new move of God and the voice of the prophets are already sounding; let him that hath ears hear what the spirit is saying to the church.
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