The ministry of the prophet is one of the most misunderstood ministries in the New Testament. This is in no way intended to be a full study of the subject, but I would like to share the following basics to help people get an understanding of what a New Testament prophet is.
Firstly, there is a gift of prophecy. Many people carry that gift and prophesy, but just because someone prophesies on a regular basis does not make him or her a prophet or prophetess.
Secondly, the purpose of the gift of prophecy is very well expressed in 1 Cor 14:13, "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.” Note that prophecy is not used to lead people in directions that they have no inkling about. We are not to be led by prophets, but by the Spirit of God dwelling within us. At best, prophecy can bring God's confirmation about things that people may already be carrying in their own spirit.
Thirdly, every word of prophecy has to be tested and measured against the Word of God. Because every word of prophecy comes from God through a human vessel, a prophecy is always to an extent tainted by what lies in the soul of that person delivering the prophecy. Then of course there are false prophets. That is why we must test prophecy and hold on only to that which is in line with the Word of God. The Bible exhorts us thus in 1 Thess 5:20-21, "Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good.”
Lastly, there are HUGE differences between Old Testament prophets and New Testament prophets. Old Testament prophets were "foretellers." New Testament prophets see things in the spirit and are largely "forth-tellers" with some "foretelling" involved.
The biggest mistake people make is that they tend to view New Testament prophets in the context of an Old Testament paradigm. It is easy to do, because there is very little in the New Testament that shows us prophets in action, while the Old Testament is full of such examples. People therefore tend to turn to the Old Testament to understand how a New Testament prophet should operate.
We must remember the following:
In the Old Testament, prophets were not accountable to anyone. They went around wherever they wanted to, delivering words of prophecy. They were only accountable to their own words. That is, if a prophet prophesied and his prophecy did not come to pass, he would be stoned to death! Thus, it was very risky for false prophets to go around and deliver "prophecies" that were not of God. In the New Testament we have no such safeguard against wrong prophecy, and we do not stone the bearers of wrong prophecies. People therefore prophesy freely without fear of being stoned to death if they were to prophesy in the flesh!
In the New Testament, a prophet is one of the five-fold ministry gifts of Eph 4:11-12, "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."
In the Old Testament, the prophet was the only "ministry gift," and there were no apostles, pastors, etc. In the New Testament, however, the prophet is only one of five ministry gifts, and he is not even the primary one at that (the primary one being the apostle). Then the prophet's primary task, like the other four ministry gifts, is to "equip the saints for the work of the ministry, and to edify the body of Christ.” A New Testament prophet, therefore, should always be part of a local church and be accountable to his pastor and his home church.
How do we know a true prophet? Just prophesying or being a "prophetic person" (whatever that means) is not enough. A person going around and telling others that he is a prophet is not good enough either. His gift should first be recognized by his pastor and his home church, after they have observed him and his walk for years. Only then should he be recognized and be sent out with their blessing. The ministry of a prophet is a very important one. He sees farther out in the spirit than most other people and flows in the revelatory gifts of the Holy Spirit. When a prophet flows and functions in line with Word of God and within the framework of the local church, his minister bears much fruit.
FOOTNOTE: If New Testament prophets, even if they have a genuine calling, try to function in an Old Testament paradigm, we will continue to have the problem that is very much a plague in the world of Charismatic Christianity today, that is "freewheeling prophets" not under a pastor or anybody else, not accountable to anyone, going around and doing as they please. A whole industry has evolved around such self-proclaimed "prophets." Nobody holds them accountable to anything, neither do they have a pastor who speaks into their lives.
In any kind of ministry, be it apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors or teachers, in order to keep things clean and straight and in a manner that pleases the Lord, the #1 thing is accountability. Accountability to the Word of God. Accountability to the pastors and leaders that God has put over one's life, and accountability to one's peers in ministry in the body of Christ.
Originally posted on Facebook by Pastor Christopher Alam