Without any thought at all I replied, "Maybe she's a prophet."
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Most people in churches today do not have any understanding of New Testament prophets and the work they are set in the body of Christ to do by the will of God.
(Many churches do not even realize there are apostles and prophets in today's church.)
But the Bible says:
After Jesus arose, HE gave to the church five ministry offices:
Ephesians 4:11-12 HE gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
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In the OT, the people went to a prophet to inquire of God to see what God wanted them to do.
In the NT, each person who believes in God is given the Spirit of God to show the person the heart of God in the issues pertaining to this present life. I Corinthians 2 & Ephesians 1
Jesus said the Holy Spirit would do the following work for the believer.
- teach us all things
- remind us of words of Jesus
- guide us into all truth
- show us things to come
(John 14:26 & John 16:13)
This equips us to know the way of God for us as we live on this earth.
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So what do prophets in the church do today?
In this book, several examples from Old and New Testaments are presented showing the assignments God gave prophets.
It is a bit like walking a tight rope without a net, for the prophet warns people, often without visible evidence.
God often gives His prophet spiritual gifts of word of knowledge, word of wisdom, and discerning of spirits to help the church. I Corinthians 12
A prophet just knows without knowing how he knows. (but as God wills)
A major work of a prophet is to warn the church as we see in Acts 11 & Acts 20.
*****
Several years ago, one of our church members was going to marry. Two of us prophets in our church group warned her. She postponed the wedding.
Then the man she planned to marry told her about his son who was going to marry a woman who was divorced.
Our church member spoke up saying that Jesus said the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Matthew 5:32
Her fiancé did not believe the scripture although he said he was a Christian. And after she spoke this scripture, he no longer wanted to marry her.
Years later, she rejoiced at having been spared a wedding she felt would have been disastrous.
*****
As John the Baptist went before Jesus to prepare HIS ways in the first coming of Jesus, we, HIS prophets go before HIM to prepare the church for the second coming of Jesus, delivering warnings and corrections to help the church to repent and be ready for Jesus.
It is a very important work of God.
That is the subject of this book: The work of prophets in the NT church today.
Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
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