Prophecy in the New Testament (NT) is different from a prophet who foretells the future. God specifically limits this gift to three beautiful exercises – edification, exhortation, and comfort – and none of these have to do with the gifts of power or the gifts of revelation. According to Ephesians 4:8-12, the Prophet is one of the five ministry gifts given to the Church. He is a person, not a vocal gift. He holds the office of prophet. Acts 21:9 tell of Philip’s four daughters “which did prophesy.” They were NOT prophets, but they prophesied. They had a ministry of edifying the Church, but they did not foretell the future. The prophetic office always predicts the future; the gift of prophecy never predicts the future. CATCH THIS MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD!!!

 

This is one of the major ways in which people have misused this gift. Guidance is not one of the three blessings of prophecy.

 

The Gift of Prophecy is not preaching. To preach means to proclaim and pronounce the Good News – the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Preaching comes from the natural mind; prophecy is the mind of the Holy Spirit speaking to us in a supernatural utterance. Preaching can be inspired or anointed, but it is not supernatural; prophecy is always supernatural. Prophecy is a supernatural utterance that comes from a person who is anointed to speak the treasures of God to the Body of Christ.

 

The Gift of Prophecy is not rebuke! There is no element of rebuke in prophecy; there is always encouragement. In the NT, correction comes not from prophecy, but from preaching the Word with doctrine. Paul dealt with excesses as a teacher, a pastor, and an apostle, but never through the Gift of Prophecy.

 

The Gift of Prophecy is not a ministry of criticism! Prophecy is not one person’s opinion against another.

 

It is a Divine Operation under the anointing of God, designed to warn men and women of sin or shortcomings so that they might be ready when Jesus comes. The Gift of Prophecy can lift a Christian out of his/her depression, his/her negligence, and his/her lukewarmness, and put him/her back into the mainstream of the thrust of God!

 

MY GOD, MY GOD! LORD HELP YOUR PEOPLE UNDERSTAND YOUR GIFTS, SO THAT THEY MAY BE ABLE TO SPOT "PERPETRATION."

 

MAKE SURE YOU SEE THE FOLLOWING WHEN BEING "PROPHESIED" TO:

 

The Gift of Prophecy is for three reasons: Edification, Exhortation, and Comfort!

 

▪Edification: To edify means to build up. This gift of prophecy will build up the Church of Jesus Christ. If a man is weak spiritually, it will build him up. If a woman is afraid, it will remove the fear.

 

▪Exhortation: In exhortation we have a call to encouragement. Many times I have heard a word of prophecy that will exhort a church fellowship to holiness, consecration, and separation from the world. Many times when the Devil discourages us, this gift of prophecy will encourage us. It can bring an exhortation: “ Jesus is coming soon. Don’t stop here. Don’t let the world come in like a flood. Keep moving with God.” It exhorts us to keep ourselves built up and strong in God.

 

▪Comfort: The Greek word for comfort is consolation, which would include the healing of distress, of sorrow, of persecution, and suffering. We live in a world of broken lives, broken homes, and broken ambitions. People today do not necessarily need sympathy or pity; they need comfort. The Church needs divine comfort from the Holy Spirit to bring heaven’s healing into their hearts. It is our duty and our privilege to come to church and say, “ Lord, we want the tenderest of the gifts to function. We want prophecy to function."

 

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1The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

 2Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

 3Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

What do you think about this revelation and prophecy in the New Testament?

I don't think there is a biblical basis for making a distinction between the gift of prophecy and the so-called office of a prophet.

The gift of prophecy is the office of a prophet, because the prophet is a gift (as 1 Corinthians 12 & Ephesians 4 states). People separate the two but they are one in the same. Now, I do believe the Spirit of Prophecy is different than the Gift, because the Spirit of Prophecy fell on the 70 elders that worked under Moses, who was a prophet. The spirit of prophecy fell on Saul when he was among the prophets and he began to prophesy. The spirit of prophecy is what can fall on anyone and at that moment they must release the word of the Lord that has been given. The gift of prophecy is when someone operates so and God allows them to see, feel, hear certain level of things, but may not always be time to release at the present moment when the word was received.

I agree with you here, I posted the same fact on another post. As far as the "prophet", I guess it's not an actual office, but Jesus did place them in the church second after the apostles.

Right, and there is no biblical office of an "evangelist" either, but evangelists are gifts to the church, as are prophets, according to the apostle Paul. You know, Brother Watson, that there are many church organizations that speak of the "office" of an evangelist... do you challenge them with "gross error," too? Or do you save the severe language only for the misidentified gifts that you believe are no longer operational in the church (apostles and prophets)?

 

As I've written before, I agree that there are only two New Testament offices in the church. But modern churches have engaged in all sorts of unbiblical hierachization and creation of titles. It seems overly selective to complain about these so-called "offices" of apostle and prophet, and not to criticize the others. 

Right, the others were only mentioned as gifts to the church.

I think we must first look at the origin of the definition and work of a prophet. In Genesis 20:7 we see God calling Abraham a prophet. (First man called a prophet) God tells Abimelek Abraham will pray for him. We don't see Abraham speaking into the past or future as a prophet in scripture do we? Then in Exodus 7:1 we see God calling Aaron to be Moses' prophet. And he tells him he will speak "all" that he commands him to speak unto Pharoah. In Exodus 18:20 Moses is told he will teach the people ordinances and laws so that they may know the way they must walk and the work they must do. So the definition and work of a prophet is this... "A person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God". Only a few people were regarded as prophets in OT but Joel prophesied that God's spirit would cause many sons and daughters to prophesy. So in the book of Acts you see people being filled with the Holy Spirit and they prophesied. (Acts 19:6) So prophecy we see isn't all about prediction or even speaking secrets as some have been taught. Its about speaking "all" that God commands to be spoken. In the OT only certain (Few) people were chosen to be prophets. In the NT many prophesied (Proclaimed) the wonderful works of God as a promise and gift. So in 1 Corinthians 12 we see prophecy as being a gift that the spirit gives to whom he will according to his will. But then in verse 28 we see that some are appointed as "prophets" in the body. So to say that prophecy is all about fortelling the future is wrong. And saying prophecy isn't about fortelling the future at all is wrong. (The book Revelation is all about foretelling the future) I'm not sure the gift of prophecy and being appointed as a prophet in the body is the same thing according to 1 Corinthians 12:28. Peace.

Actually, the Lord was very specific about what the responsibilities of a prophet are. He told Moses:

I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. [Deut. 18:18-20]

 

Moreover, He then explained why prophets will often predict verifiable future events. God uses this miraculous ability to establish them as being trustworthy mouthpieces for Him:

And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. [Deut. 18:21,22]

 

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