Nov 29th 2008
In the earlier article, we saw what edification, exhortation and comfort actually means. Not only that, we saw it wasn’t the only foundation that a prophetic ministry should be built on. Holiness in the prophets or people who pursue the prophetic is another essential foundation. Also following the Old Testament pattern into the New Testament we can easily say that prophets and the prophetic ministry in general have to be equipped to deal or confront sin.
In this article we are going to look at two more essential foundations.
It is important we learn to build from on all these foundations and not just any one. If we just build on one or emphasize just one truth we would be limited in our effectiveness and in fulfilling the purposes of God as these truths are foundational. Also if we emphasize on one at the expense of the other or ignoring the other we would suffer loss in the longer run.
For a body to grow properly all the cells have to grow in harmony. If one group of cells start to outgrow the others in the body we would call that a tumor. When that group of cells starts destroying the other cells we would call that a cancerous growth. Today there are a lot of such likes in the body of Christ. We need to learn to strike a proper balance or else in the end we could end up destroying others and eventually ourselves.
So in that light let us look at a few more essential foundations.
1) The testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of prophecy
We see this verse in Revelations 19:10.
This aspect was not foreign to the Old Testament prophets. As a matter of fact this is one of the Old Testament roots. Peter confirms this in I Peter 10,11.
From these verses, we can say that one of the main purposes of prophecy or the prophetic ministry is to testify of Christ. In simpler terms, reveal aspects or the nature of Christ. We see this in the Old Testament, where the prophets portray Christ at one time as the suffering Messiah. At other times He is the king of all kings. In proverbs He is the wisdom from before the foundations of the world. The list goes on and on.
In the New Testament, in our times we have the written word complete with all the revelations of Christ. It is the main duty of the prophets to bring out those revelations or aspects of Christ in due season to the body. If the prophets and the Seeing Eyes fail in this, then the people are left in the dark and there is turmoil and confusion.
On a personal level in regards to prophesying, our main focus shouldn’t be just towards people being edified but that our main intention and focus should be that Christ is revealed through that to the person, which is the ultimate purpose.
When we simply focus on bringing Christ to the person, we automatically start flowing in the prophetic. For the testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of prophecy.
The prophetic ministry has on it the responsibility to testify or reveal Christ to the church. Adding more to that, it has the responsibility of revealing Christ accurately according to the seasons and times.
2) The job of the prophetic is to build foundations (essentials of the faith) in people
In order to lay essential foundations in others the prophetic ministry must first have in itself proper foundations of the faith (Note-distinction between foundations for the prophetic and foundations of the faith).
We see in Ephesians 2:20 that along with apostolic ministry, the prophetic ministry has the burden of laying the foundations in the body of Christ. Now, if we say that the New Testament apostles and prophets have already laid those foundations, then the duty of the prophets and apostles today is to point to those foundations and bring out those foundations for the people today to be established in them.
We need to get back to basics (to the foundations) and focus on them for a while than on some new or latest revelation or even solid food, which is for the mature only. More importantly we need to be established in the basics ourselves first before we can bring it out to others
Now having looked into most of the essential foundations of the prophetic lets look into an important issue that is a major cause for error today and is also directly related to the prophetic.
Pursue character more than gifting
The gifts of the Spirit are often glamorous and bring with them a lot of interest and attraction. The fruit of the Spirit on the other hand as beautiful as they are, is hard earned through God’s dealings with us and as we learn to surrender and die to ourselves in that process. So it is no secret why the former is sought after and emphasized more. Today this imbalance has occupied dangerous proportions in the church. Due to the overemphasis on gifting and the lack of (or no) emphasis on character or the fruit of the Spirit, it has lead to lawlessness in people trying to operate in power.
I Corinthians 13 is very clear that no matter how great a gift we operate in if we do not have Love (a fruit of the Spirit) to go with, it amounts to nothing.
In Matthew 7 Jesus makes it very clear to those who operated in the gifting but lead lawless lives will be rejected by Him in the end.
From another perspective, if we healed the sick, raised the dead but did it with the intention of glorifying ourselves or out of any other motive than to glorify Christ or for His purposes, it would be burned on judgment day and we would not get any reward.
So brethren let us begin to see the way God sees things. Let us emphasize more on Character and Christian living than on gifting. Then we wouldn’t be faced with a lot of issues we are faced with today.
Where is the prophetic movement today? -3
