An important distinction is to differentiate between the gift of prophecy as opposed to the office of prophet. In fact, our failure to distinguish between the two may be the gravest mistake now being made. We tend toward calling a man or woman a 'prophet' who are only moving in the gift of prophecy, but are not called to the office. The fault lies with us in thinking that this is a New Testament dispensation that therefore requires another definition. If there is only one definition, however, and has been in existence for all time, though we have not seen it much in recent times, then there is no reason to look for a new kind. The Spirit of God divides severally His gifts, which He can give in a moment as He wills. That should not, however, be a permanent and abiding distinction or designation. The Spirit of God can fall on any one of us and we can prophesy. We are operating by the Spirit in the gift of prophecy. The gift is something that the Spirit exercises at His will, and it can come through either a man or a woman. It has nothing to do with their calling, their training, their preparation or their qualification. It may be informational, directive or a word of encouragement, but the office of the prophet is altogether something else and other.
What is the heart of a true prophet of God? - The quality of the man rarely comes through in his speaking or writing. The true prophet functions to instruct the church on how to identify, recognize, and overcome false doctrine and false prophets as they disguise themselves as angels of light. The prophet is preparing God's people to be able to perceive, to recognize and to give honour to the true Word of God. There is, therefore, a blessing in the receiving of the man who God sends as a prophet.
The office of prophet differs from the gift of prophecy in that it is permanent. It is given with the man. It is a calling, and it may well be that men who have the office of prophet, can go an entire lifetime in their service and never once speak out of the gift of prophecy. The church today is suffering from the ignorance of blurring these two categories. We are calling men prophets who have not the office, but who are operating in the gift of prophecy, and in many instances, not even the gift of prophecy, but rather even a deceitful clairvoyance.
The office of prophet is an ultimate thing and carries an enormous responsibility. Such a one brings the oracles of God. He is standing for very God and speaking from God with the authority of God. His statements are the intent of God's heart to His people and have to do with His purposes in an understanding of the present time in view of the things that are future and eternal. It is the prophet who is alerted and alerts.
A prophet always brings a Biblical message, word, or teaching that is never a routine commonplace message that anyone can bring. It is a Word which opens up things as God sees them. Which is not as the average church member sees them! This is the prophet's function. The man who calls himself prophet and talks statistically (for example, seventy or eighty percent predictive accuracy) is not in keeping with the timbre, the character and the knit of a truly prophetic man. To determine whether a prophet is true or false should not immediately depend on whether their predictions are accurate. The real issue is not the accuracy of prediction in assessing the validity of prophets. Even to think statistically is to put us on a false basis in determining true and false among prophets. False prophets can bring a biblically correct message, but it is the kind of message that is routine and commonplace, that is to say, which virtually anyone can bring. There is nothing in it that can be faulted in terms of doctrine, but it is not oracular. It is not a message that bears prophetic weight, intensity, seriousness or requirement. Oracular speaking can be distinguished by the way it brings with it a perception of reality and of the purposes of God that was not there before that word came. It opens up things as God Himself sees them, which is altogether not as we see them!
If we allow the word 'prophet' to be given to anyone who is giving predictive prophecy or even the gift of knowledge or what may be more likely, clairvoyance, and call that oracular prophecy, then we are well on the way to deception! These men speak messages of a predictable kind. The greater issue is not whether these prophets are accurate most of the time so much as whether they are prophets at all! To confirm the church in its present lightness by their own example is analogous to the false prophets of Old Testament time who confirmed Israel in its sin. All in all, one must ask, "What is their revelation? How oracular is it?"
A prophet communicates the will of God as God in fact is. This is the foundation upon which the true church is built. The church is "...built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;" [Ephesians 2 : 20] It is not only the teaching and preaching that the prophet brings, but primarily the sense of God as HE in fact is ! The prophet communicates something that is contained within his very nature and being. There is a reason why people fear a true prophet of God. There is something about a true prophet that intimidates most folks. The communication of this sense of God is foundational to the church, otherwise the church would be given over to a view of God that contains lightness and shallowness - and that is not God! Prophets therefore correct the church from a faulty sense of God.
There is a powerful and irrevocable identification between the Lord and His prophet. There is an intimate bonding between the prophet and Jesus Himself. The work of a prophet is the work of Jesus, and the work of Jesus is the work of the prophet. To refuse to accept, welcome, and listen to the prophet is to miss Jesus! To abuse and reject the prophet is to reject Jesus. When a prophet comes to a person, fellowship, or church, that is their day of decision! The receiving or rejecting of God's prophet is making a statement to God Himself! It is a fateful decision, one way or the other, that will determine the future of that person, fellowship, or church. Regrettably, most Christians are so uninstructed that they do not even recognize how fateful a situation it is in the day that God brings a prophet to them. This sounds extraordinarily presumptuous, as if somehow it has to do with the prophet's ego, but it really is the way the Lord works through His prophets.
Jesus Himself was a prophet, and more than any other calling, it has to do with what the man is within himself. It is that intricate and that joined, and yet we have many pretenders. The office of a prophet is not a ministerial thing that can be obtained through certification. Submitting to a course of study, fulfilling certain academic and other requirements, receiving a diploma, has nothing whatsoever to do with the office of a prophet. The office of a prophet is formed another way, and everything that has to do with the formation has to do with suffering.
The office of the Prophet holds a very important role in the church, and therefore requires refining to fully develop. The Prophet must be in tune with the Spirit of God, humility is vital for there to be a pure flow of the living waters of the Spirit. The Prophet will be a broken man "acquainted with sorrow" as he will have to walk alone with God. He will be often misunderstood. He will be tried and proven by the Lord before he can be used by the Lord as He desires.
The office of Prophet requires a man who has been totally burned up by the Holy Spirit, yet not consumed. He will be like the burning bush seen by Moses in the wilderness. The Prophet has an endowment of authority from the Lord, expressing in the Body the Divine Holiness of the Lord himself. He must use the same "Word of God" which created the world in the beginning (Genesis Chapter 1) so that the Lord can create something new through the Word spoken by a Prophet. For example the Prophet confirms the "call" to ministry (1 Sam 10:1; Acts 13:1-3) as the Lord works out his purpose in a believer's life. The prophet is a channel for the Lord to actively create his purpose in a place through the power of his Word. "The Lord does nothing without first telling his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). The Prophet also gives direction and rebuke to individuals within the Body (2 Samuel 12:1-12).
God has a deep identification with prophets. To somehow touch that, is to touch God. To abuse that is to abuse God. It may well be that the greatest enmity of the world against God is visited on His prophets for exactly that reason. To assault a prophet is to assault God. The world is at enmity with God, but the prophet is the visible manifestation of elements central to God's own being and therefore the world has the opportunity both to identify, to hate, to despise and to try and do away with the prophet of God. The testimony of the prophet is a statement from God, not only when the prophet is speaking, but often even when the prophet is silent. The very presence of the prophet is an abomination and an offence to a world that despises God. The prophet in himself is an offence, as well as his message. In fact, if the prophet is not his message, then we may well suspect that what we have is not a true prophet of God, but a false prophet.
There is a great accountability for the gift of a prophet sent to men by God. If the prophet is mistreated, ignored or rejected, then the end result will be judgement. We pay a great price when we lightly regard or disregard, let alone violently reject the prophet who God has sent. The prophet is so much the essence of God Himself. Israel stoned the prophets that were sent, and in doing so, invited and made necessary the devastating judgements that followed.
THE ORIGIN OF THE MINISTRY
Read: Exodus 20:1-19 and Deuteronomy 18: 15-22
The Office of Prophets was instituted by God in response to the actions of the Children of Israel at the giving of the law. Because the children of Israel refused to hear the voice of the Lord but would only hear the words of men, God raised up Prophets from among His people.
IN THE CHURCH OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
Read: Joel 2:28-32
The gift was promised to the Church as an on going ministry in the New Testament. Read: Romans 12:6, 1 Corinthians 12:10, 1 Corinthians 14:1-5, and Ephesians 4:11. Prophets and Prophecy is the only gift to be mentioned in every list of gifts in the New Testament. Note that Paul also places an importance upon the gift's operation within the Church.
THE PURPOSE OF THE PROPHET
The enduring purpose of the Prophetic Ministry appears to be to act as God's Spokesman in all ages. Note what Deuteronomy 18:18 says. "I will raise up from among them a Prophet and will put My words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him (says the Lord)".
THE FUNCTION IN THE CHURCH
The function of the Prophet within the Church appears to be:
Some examples of the ministry of Prophets in the New Testament are:
Acts 11:27-28, Acts 13:1, Acts 15:32, Acts 21:10-11.