Apostles are calling God's prophets to help build the local church.
The apostolic without the prophetic is like a
hammer without nails. We need both spiritual “tools” to build a
glorious Church without spot or wrinkle. The Church that the gates
of hell will not prevail against is one built on the foundation of
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief
cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20).
Where would the Body of Christ be without prophets? It would be
incomplete with no hope of ever fully maturing. Jesus gave His
Church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to help
Christians grow up and unify to build a holy temple where the Spirit
of God feels at home. Removing even one of those five factors
(graces) out of the spiritual equation results in an erroneous
solution to the challenges facing the Church.
So as 21st century apostles seek revelation of New Testament Church
structure from the acts of first century apostles recorded by Luke,
prophets and prophecy become a focal point of the Apostolic
Movement. Just as the ancient apostolic ministry depended upon
prophetic direction, modern day apostles understand all too well how
vital prophets are to the restoration of all things.
In fact, prophecy is so vital to the health of New Testament
churches that Luke wasted no time in chronicling its impact so all
future generations of believers could draw from this reliable
Spirit-inspired historic record when setting in place the structure
of local churches in every city and nation.
The book of Acts clearly illustrates how prophets and prophecy are
used to reveal, confirm, predict, commission, guide, warn and
demonstrate. It all begins in the second chapter where we learn that
120 disciples spoke in more than a dozen foreign languages by the
unction of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, a prophetic manifestation
that helped prepare the hearts of the people and confirm the Apostle
Peter’s Gospel message that brought 3,000 new believers into the
Kingdom.
Like many believers today, the Apostle Paul’s ministry was confirmed
with prophetic revelation when Ananias announced: “The God of our
fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One
and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all men
of what you have seen and heard” (Acts 22:14 NIV).
After Paul was prepared in the Arabian wilderness for a season, the
Holy Spirit commissioned him and Barnabus while believers were
gathered for fasting, worship and prayer in the local church at
Antioch (Acts 13:1-4). This reveals that there is a time between the
calling and commissioning and also demonstrates the pattern for
being sent out to do the work of the ministry.
The prophet Agabus shows us the predictive nature of the prophetic
ministry is still alive and well in the New Testament. Agabus and
his company of prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch to
announce a coming famine in the land (Acts 11:27-28). Bearing
witness to the prophetic messenger’s prediction, the believers
immediately took up an offering to send to the brethren in Judea,
thus edifying the Church.
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While the Holy Spirit sent Paul many places, He also forbid him to
go preach the Word in Asia in an inward prophetic directive (Acts
16). Later the Spirit warns Paul of the hardships he will face in
Jerusalem through some prophetic disciples in Tyre and again through
Agabus when he prophetically demonstrated what would happen to Paul.
“Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet
with it and said, ‘The Holy Spirit says, In this way the Jews of
Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to
the Gentiles’” (Acts 21:11).
There are many other examples of prophetic ministry in the Book of
Acts. Take the angel of the Lord who sent Philip to the Gaza desert
to preach Jesus to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8) or Peter’s
prophetic vision that led him to visit Cornelius and minister the
gift of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles (Acts 10:44-48). Let’s not
forget when the prophets Judas and Silas were sent on a mission to
the Gentile believers (Acts 15). Or how about Philip’s four
prophesying daughters? (Acts 21:9)
The undeniable point is prophets and prophecy is a common thread
woven through the entire historical record of the early Church. And
since Luke does not introduce the prophets with a lot of fanfare or
awe, it is clear that encounters with prophets and the prophetic
were not at all unusual. Indeed, Luke chronicles the activities of
teams of prophets, traveling prophets, female prophets, prophets
equipping the saints at Antioch and prophets edifying, comforting
and exhorting the brethren according to 1 Corinthians 14.
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While Old Testament times reveals only a limited number of prophets,
the New Testament demonstrates how the apostolic built a platform
for prophets and prophetic people to reveal the mind and will of God
for the Church. Today, the Apostolic Movement is rebuilding that
platform to allow prophets to fulfill their primary purpose in the
Body of Christ: to equip the saints to build the Church. So whether
you’ve been crying in the wilderness, hidden in a cave or just
looking for a place to fit in, know that prophets may not have honor
in their own countries, but they are welcome in the apostolic
church.
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