Written by Mark Driskill:
Wednesday March 30, 2011

Read Acts 11:27-30

“Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.”

Agabus was a New Testament prophet. We see him prophesy twice in the book of Acts. Here he foretells the coming of a worldwide famine, which Luke tells us took place in the days of Claudius. Then he predicts Paul’s imprisonment in Rome (Acts 21:10-11) In both cases we see the church responding to the word given in faith. I thank God for the ministry of New Testament prophets. Jesus told his disciples that the Holy Spirit would “Guide you into all truth” and “will tell you what is to come.” The ministry of the prophet is one way I believe he does that. We see in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 14) and extensive teaching on the gift of prophecy and how it is to function in the church. Then we see in his letter to young Timothy how prophecy was involved in Timothy’s call to ministry (I Timothy 4:14). Finally we read Paul’s admonition in 1 Thessalonians 5:20 “Do not despise prophecies.” In all these things we see the ministry of prophecy as a vital part of the ministry of a New Testament Church.

So then why are so many churches resistant to this ministry?  Mainly I hear two arguments. First I have heard many say that we simply don’t need prophets since we have the Bible. They cite the verse in 1 Corinthians 13 which says, ” prophecy shall cease.” If the prophecy has ceased to be necessary then why do we still preach? Why don’t we go all the way, since preaching is prophetic in nature, the declaring of God’s word, and just tell people to read the Bible? It seems we only claim a gift has ceased when we are not comfortable with it. Prophecy will indeed cease one day. But will still be in effect at least until the last days when the two prophets in Revelation appear (Revelation 11). Second argument: “there have been too many false prophets who have abused people and mislead them.”  Quite true. It is very sad to see the destruction left in the wake of pretenders claiming to have a word from the Lord. But do we throw out a gift of the Spirit because it has been misused? In that case we should get rid of all the evangelists and pastors for the same reason. So if we are to throw out the ministry of the prophet because of the risks and discomfort involved then perhaps we should just close up the whole church out of fear that something may go wrong. We should all sit at home afraid to do anything and just hope somehow everybody gets saved. Friends the ministry has never been neat and tidy and free of risks.

I write about the ministry of the prophet because it speaks to something deeper than just the use of this gift. It speaks to our willingness to believe that God still speaks to his children. It speaks to our faith in the working of the Holy Spirit. When we begin to cut out any ministry in the church that seems a little too supernatural, a little too out of our control, then we begin to put God into a religious box that we can control. Church ceases to be a living organism and becomes a dead organization. Ministry becomes a science and we end up with an outward form of godliness that has denied the power thereof.

The bottom line is what kind of church will we become? Will we be a living body that depends on the supernatural work of God or a religious club that we can manage to our liking? You can have your church formulas and marketing strategies with all their safe glitz and glamour. Give me the spirit filled, albeit often risky, body of Christ with his word and his prophets and his unhindered giftings, and a fearless faith in Jesus and that will be enough to change the world. Thank God for the prophets, apostles, pastors, teachers evangelists and all the rest who make up his body and equip us for the work of ministry!

It is time to stop discussing and start doing!

Pastor Mark Driskill
Web Minister of Begotten by the word web ministry
See our website at http://ourchurch.com/member/b/bbtw
and www.facebook.com (to group “begotten by the word”)
Begotten by the word is a ministry of Helping Hands Christian resources-Evangelism Outreach www.hhcr05.org
(Feel free to copy in any way that will bring glory to God and further his kingdom.)

Contact information:
Email: driskill@hilbillymail.com
Facebook: Mark Driskill
Address: PO Box 1159 Jackson KY.