Prophetic Ministries Today

The gift of prophecy is for all members of the body of Christ, but not all who prophesy function in the office of a prophet. There are four functions which distinguishes the office of a prophet We covered one of the most familiar function that of ministering in the prophetic gifts.

The second function of the office of a prophet deals with imparting spiritual gifts. Now we all know that the prophet does not have the authority or right to chose who will receive a spiritual gift. However, we do see that Biblical prophets were sent by God to prophesy the destiny and purpose of His gift and calling for a person and proclaim His will for their life.

Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. I Timothy 4:14

It is clear that we receive spiritual gifts by prophecy and the laying on of hands. Not all who prophesy are prophets, but all who are prophets do have the gift of prophecy. A prophet can only do what he sees the Father do and can say only what he has heard the Father speak. If a prophet speaks anything that the Father has not spoken, that thing will never come to pass. Seeing in the spirit is how a prophet knows what the Father is doing. If the vision that a prophet has received is truly from the Father, and that prophet does exactly what he saw the Father do in the vision, it will come to pass. The prophet does not have the same authority as an apostle. There is evidence that the authority of an apostle differs greatly from that of a prophet; however, we will not go into the different functions of these two offices at this time. We will find in this study that the church is to be built upon the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ being the Corner Stone of its foundation.

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22

I am not trying to imply that the apostle and prophet do the actual construction on a building that will be used for church services. Nor am I saying that they should heard up a bunch of people into a building and say they have started a church. What the Lord is building is not made of wood, stone, and steel. The Lord is building a spiritual house of living stones.

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. I Peter 2:4,5

Another function of the office of a prophet is to carry the word of the Lord into spiritual warfare. There are many battles found in the spirit realm that do effect our natural surroundings. At present, the battle is an intense warring for lost souls. Every time the false prophets rise up to draw people into their beliefs, God will raise up His prophets to battle in the spirit for those who are looking for spiritual guidance. I am not implying that we are to come against the psychics today, but rather reveal the power of our God and let the people decide whose God they will serve. Presently the psychics are ahead in the battle, but it does not take a lot of prophets to convert thousands of people into the Kingdom of God (ref. I Kings 19:21-40).

In the future, we will cover some interesting battles that took place in the early church. Also, we will see that the power to deal with the psychics in the Bible is the same source of power that is available to us today. This power over the psychics will eventually be put to the test in public places, probably in the media, such as talk shows, radio programs and planned demonstrations.

The final and most controversial function of a prophet is to set doctrine. Many church officials believe that the teacher or pastor is responsible for setting doctrine and the code of ethics for the church, but the Bible states differently. (Ref. Daniel 9:10)

But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 7:11,12

If you think about it, most of the words of the Bible were spoken by the prophets before they were ever written. The New Testament refers many times to the words spoken by the Old Testament prophets. Jesus went so far as to say that if you cannot receive from the prophets, you will not believe even if you see one raised from the dead.

But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' Luke 16:31

In summary, the four functions which distinguishes the office of a prophet is:
1) Ministering in the prophetic gift,
2) Imparting spiritual gifts to the church,
3) Carrying the word in spiritual warfare and
4) Setting doctrine.

Today God is raising up prophets for many reasons. One purpose is to set new order and protocol in the church for the next millennium. There are those who refuse to believe prophets should do this, but time will be the test and the truth will be revealed.