Prophetic Ministry

The prophets, Haggai & Zechariah, encouraged people to rebuild the temple, after returning from exile, and faced opposition and discouragement (Ez. 5.1). In the New Covenant, such temple imagery is transferred to the body: Christ’s physical body in history (Jn. 2.19-21), and his body now in the church (1 Co. 3.16 & 2 Co. 6.16).

Of all the spiritual gifts, however, it is only prophecy which is said to “build up” (edify) the church (1 Co. 14.4-5) – although all gifts are for the “common good” (1 Co. 12.7). Prophecy gives the assurance that God is present, and is speaking (1 Co. 14.24); whether manifested in charismatic utterances or anointed preaching.

In this respect, Graham Cooke, a contemporary charismatic prophet, identifies three levels of prophecy in Scripture. 

 

1.       Simple prophecy – the Manifestation Gift, which may be given spontaneously in meetings to any believer life (1 Co. 12.10).
2.       Regular Prophecy – The Motivational Gift, which describes a regular general disposition to perceive below the surface of things (Ro. 12.6).
3.       Prophetic Office – The Ministry Gift, where the gift becomes a person, who equips the church (Eph. 4.11).

Any of these can contribute to building up the church; although we must beware the power-play, implicit in some claims to Divine revelation, which shuts down discussion and collective discernment by the Body. Nevertheless, we see from Scripture that the Prophet is to equip God’s people for ministry (Eph. 12-13): with no date-line. Prophecy (sometimes called the “Prophetic Presbytery”) may also be used to discern, and even impart, spiritual gifts to people (1 Ti. 1.18; 4.14).

The prophet Agabus helped to prompt social action, providing poor relief for Judea during the famine (Acs. 11.27-30). Prophets also appear to have been involved in setting apart Paul and Barnabas as church planting missionaries (Acs. 13.1-3); in this case, prophecy was a ‘confirming word’, reemphasising something the Spirit had already called them to.

Among Restorationist Neo-Pentecostals, the five-fold ministry of Ephesians, becomes a call for re-ordering church leadership, with the Office of Prophet, etc. This can lead to a new authoritarianism however, and displace the Lord speaking to the believer in his/her own heart, with over-dependence on the official ‘Prophet’: one cult I know, has ‘prophets’ to whom you can pay money to get a prophecy.

However, this is not an inevitable development. Alan Hirsch advocates, for example, the role of APEPT (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist, Pastors, Teacher), as a neglected, but necessary, aspect of regular church life. He, however, sees these as functions, distributed among the Body Life, rather than hierarchical offices and structures.

Hirsch is a missiologist, and from the Biblical examples, we see that prophecy does not only contribute to the internal building of the church, but also to its external mission; conceived as the Missio Dei. Prophecy helps us discern where the Spirt is moving, and enables us to join his movement. The missional must be mystical.

As examples see below two contributions to our own discernment at KCBC from one of our prophetically-gifted leaders.