In this series, we shall be examining the following issues:
What makes the Office of the Prophet different from what we have shared so far?
Jesus knew that the enemy would seek to harass His saints with suggestions of failure, fear of the unknown and insecurity, hence the sure promises that in Him, we will be secure and that He will be with us always till the end of our tenure in this present life John 16:33; Matthew 28:18 – 20. As He ascended on high, the Holy Spirit was released to empower the Church with all it takes for a vibrant family of God to thrive in the midst of a harsh environment called the world have the capacity to witness to it and disciple the nations. Acts 1: 8; Acts 2:1-4; Ephesians 4: 7- 10.
As we have seen from the previous lesson, the Lord purposes that His Church will walk in fullness of light. For this reason, He released several revelatory gifts in the Body through which there is a constant flow of His Light. These include the spiritual gifts of Prophecy in Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12: 10; Exhortation (Romans 12:8); The Word of wisdom, word of knowledge; Faith, discernment of spirit; Tongues; Interpretation of tongues. When you add to these the gifts of dreams, interpretation of dreams and visions spoken of by Joel 2:28, 29 as an inheritance of end time saints as well as the gift of seeing trances such as Peter experience in Acts 10: 9-16, it is clear that God provided sufficient resources for edifying, exhorting and comforting His own as 1 Corinthians 14:3 states.
The Prophet as a Personal Representative of Jesus Christ!
Beyond this general purpose to edify, exhort and comfort the saints which the revelatory gifts bring to the Body, Christ set in His Church as part of the Five Fold, the office of Prophet. The New Testament Prophet therefore is called by Jesus Christ as personal representative to ensure that the Church is shown the way forward in its walk with Him. The office is called Prophet; what he or she utters is called Prophecy and the action is called Prophesying.
In effect, the prophet is a conduit or mouth piece through whom Jesus speaks to His Church. He decides whom He ordains for this role. It could be male or female; young or old saint. Neither age nor gender nor even theological training nor capacity to teach have anything to do with the divine choice called election. You cannot be promoted into this office by humans. You cannot get there by ambition. You cannot procure it by primogeniture, inheriting it from your parents!
It is interesting that the same Paul the Apostle who vigorously taught the Church to covet the spiritual gift of prophecy and explained powerfully that it is a valid need of the New Testament Church in Romans 12: 6; 1 Corinthians 14: 1 – 25, 29-32, 39 is the same instrument God used to ask the potent question in 1 Corinthians 12: 29, “Are all Prophets?”. The obvious answer is a resounding No! As a matter of fact, the proportion of saints called into this office is relatively low, perhaps lower than all other offices, except that of apostles! The reasons will be obvious as we continue this treatise.
In Ephesians 4:11, we see that prophets are specifically mentioned as part of the five fold headship gifts of Christ set in the Church to make it complete.
What are the specific roles God assigns to His Prophets within and without the Body?
1. Perfection of the Saints for the work of Ministry. The Prophet is to weigh in with his/her gifts and callings to make the saints mature in Christ and built up in righteousness and obedience to the degree that they can successfully live the Kingdom life here on earth. Ephesians 4: 11-16. When the saints receive the ministry of the Prophet, along with that of the Apostle, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher, they become mature and are not easily tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine nor are they easily deceived by those whose god is their belly. A saint who is in a ministry or congregation where the Office of the Prophet is ignored or absent is being deprived of a very valuable spiritual facility for perfection! Any Pastor who denies his or her congregation the right to hear the word of the Lord through a chosen vessel is doing a disservice to Christ and will answer for that on the last day. In building the Church according to pattern, it is necessary that every living congregation must make room to receive the Prophet who walks in integrity and who does not hire out his/her services for a named fee. Prophets and other ministers however are to be taken care of properly for the sake of whom they represent, even Jesus Christ Himself! Matthew 10:40-42.
Certain ordinances and principles of God are valid both in the Old and New Testaments. It is thus necessary to reflect on roles of Prophets in the Old Testament and juxtapose them with the provisions of the New Testament in order to get a full picture of what God has in mind in raising people to this High Office. This will also enable those who receive this gracious calling to walk in sobriety and humility.
2. Intimacy with God: Let us start with Abraham, listed as the first of the Prophets. In Genesis 20:7 we see God Himself calling Abraham by that appellation when He spoke to Abimelech in a dream. Earlier in Genesis 18: 17 – 19, we see God declaring Abraham as a man who had an intimate relationship with Him. A true Prophet cannot function outside of an intimate walk with God. That is a response of choice by one who deems the presence of God of more value that the riches of Egypt! When God was reproving Miriam and Aaron in their rebellion, He pointedly announced the degree of His intimacy with Moses in Numbers 12: 6 – 8 “I speak with him face to face”.
3. Divine Insight: Intimacy with God translates to what Amos 3:7 describes is poetic language: The Lord God does nothing without first revealing it to His servants the prophets! He or she who claims to be a Prophet and does not receive the mind of God concerning things to come is engaging in delusion of grandeur!
4. Accurate declarations of things to come. True prophets will be used by God to declare accurately, the things to come. Some of them may be unfolding things in the now or things that will happen at a future date. Some of the things declared may sound improbable and they themselves may be bewildered at what they utter. They do not have to have any idea whatsoever as to what they are saying. The most sensitive prophetic utterances are often passed through the spirit man and the vocal cord of the prophet without any contact with the soul real. God has ordained it this way so that the soul will in no way interfere with or corrupt His message. The soul is the seat of the Mind (where mankind exercises the thinking/reasoning faculty); the will (where humanity makes decisions as to what to say or do) and the emotions (where attitudes emanate from and where the humanity of the prophet often exercises itself and accordingly can influence the mind and will). Inability to make clear declarations of things to come disqualifies an individual from claiming to be a prophet! Agabus was able to accurately inform Paul and his companions the famine that was to ravage the land and his imprisonment in Acts 11: 27 – 29 and Acts 21: 10, 11. On the other hand, mere ability to predict future events is not sufficient to confer the office of prophets on a person. There are many diviners and star gazers who operate with satanic powers to predict the future! Paul dealt with a young lady with the spirit of divination who said accurate things about the mission Acts 16:16-18. Peter also dealt with a sorcerer who held Samaria captive Acts 8: 9 -13, 14 – 24.
5. Keeping the Saints on the path of Holiness and God centeredness. It is meaningless to speak accurately of things to come but use such to lead God’s people astray. A true prophet has as a critical part of his/her assignment, the task of reminding the saints of the thrice Holy God whose eyes are purer than to behold iniquity. Consequently, the true Prophet will utter words that will keep the saints on the path of rectitude. The words may include warnings of the consequences of sin and disobedience. When true prophets are in the House, secret sins are exposed at times wisely or at other times harshly. The consequence is always the same: real saints often repent and receive the mercy of God while those who refuse fall into problems or experience the judgement of God. Deuteronomy 18:18-20.
6. Denouncing false shepherds and peddlers of strange doctrines. It is so sad that so many so called prophets are unable to see the dangerous leaven of the pseudo Kingdom movement and were unable to warn the Church about the way the celebrity preachers use the word of God deceitfully to enrich themselves and live ungodly worldly lives. Prophets are raised to engage with situations like this.
What are the privileges and pit-falls of Prophetic ministry?
Warnings for those who hold this office without being called or operate in the flesh!
ROLES OF PROPHETS ...continued from yesterday
6. Denouncing false shepherds and peddlers of strange doctrines. It is so sad that so many so called prophets are unable to see the dangerous leaven of the pseudo Kingdom movement and were unable to warn the Church about the way the celebrity preachers use the word of God deceitfully to enrich themselves and live ungodly worldly lives. Prophets are raised to engage with situations like this.
7. Pronouncing of Divine Warnings/Judgements. True prophets are used of God to issue warnings when His people or specific individuals cross the line. That is why Prophets are lonely people. In Jeremiah 1:7-10, 17-19, we see that God sets up prophets to engage with the issues that are massed against His Church and hinder the work of His Kingdom. The Prophet Elijah was mightily used in this regard in the days of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Jeremiah was used of the Lord to warn the Jews of the captivity to Babylon.
8. Conveyors of message of Hope. Prophets are used of the Lord to also convey His messages of hope for the future. The prophet Isaiah was mightily used to proclaim the grand hope of Israel when God would incarnate as the Seed of the Woman Isaiah 7:14 – 16; Isaiah 11: 1- 5, 10. Even Jeremiah who God used to pronounce judgement was also used to proclaim the hope of a return to the land.
9. Commission those who are called into Ministry Offices. Just as Prophets commissioned Kings in the olden days, Prophets are also called to be part of commissioning meetings when Apostles and other ministers are set forth into ministry. This is of course a privileged that is be held with a great sense of responsibility and not something to bragg about. Acts 13; 1-4. The reason for having prophets as part of presbyteries to commission saints into offices in the Body is to ensure that there is an accurate download of the mind of God from eternity into time.
10. Speak boldly against evil in the society and injustice. God is concerned about righteousness not just in the Kingdom but also in the society. It is God who appoints people into public office whether as Kings, President, Prime Ministers, Members of Parliament/Congress, Mayors and Councillors. This is why He requires the saints to submit to those in authority Romans 13: 1- 7. God however has standards for those in authority to follow Micah 6:8. They are not to be tyrannical and make themselves idols. God always judges those who err from the path of rectitude in time or in eternity, not just in the Old Testament, both also in the New Testament and in the now. Herod was condemned to a cruel, painful death because of his pride Acts 12: 20 – 23. God However requires the saints to leave judgement to Him which He often pronounces ahead of time through His chosen vessels the Prophets. Amos 3:7
What are the signs of a Prophet?
There are some core signs of the true Prophet of Jesus Christ. These are:
1. Manner of life validates his/her ministry. Jesus himself put this benchmark for determining whether some one is truly a prophet from Him. Matthew 7: 15 – 23. A true prophet should have
i). a clear testimony of salvation Matthew 7:13, 14
ii). Fruit of the Spirit shall be evident in his/her life. Matthew 7: 16 – 20; Galatians 5: 22, 23
iii) Unwillingness to touch the glory of God by speech or attitude. A true prophet will deliberately seek to decrease while pointing the saints to God just like John the Baptist John 3: 25 - 36.
2. Accuracy of the word he or she brings forth and it’s lining up with the written word of God. The word brought forth is meaningless if it contradicts a clear provision of scripture, rightly divided. 2 Peter 1: 16 – 21. If for instance a prophet tells a young lady married for 2 years that she married the wrong person and she should divorce her husband to look for the prophesied Camelot, that prophet is a deceiver!
3. Unwillingness to speak except expressly prompted by the Holy Spirit. It is sad these days to see so called prophets turn on the prophetic flow as a faucet at will. This ends up being soulish projections that corrupt the prophetic mantle and bring it into disrepute in the long run. 1 Corinthians 12: 7, 11 establish a basic ground norm that utterance is activated by the Holy Spirit and not the vessel. In reality, He should prompt a prophet to speak. When there is no such prompting, the prophet should not feel obliged to say a word! The captain of our Salvation, Jesus Christ of Nazareth who Himself is the Chief Prophet modelled this approach when He said that all He does or says is at the express prompting of the Father. John 5:30 John 6:38. The sight of so called prophets who are tattlers and gossips is an aberration and of extreme absurdity!
4. Willingness to submit. Prophets are known for their obedience to the law of submission. As people who wield great authority in Christ, they are tested by the degree of yeildedness to higher authorities. 1 Corinthians 14:32, 33
5. Willingness to have their prophecies judged to determine the source and direction. True prophets know that no human being has absolute knowledge and all saints are capable of misreading God. No matter how greatly they esteem the prophecies given, they should be willing to have others judge them. 1 Corinthians 14: 29 – 33.
What are the Pitfalls of Prophetic ministry?
Jesus knew the strategic nature of this office and its potentials for causing His saints to err. That is why He personally issued more warnings about false prophets in the gospels and the book of Revelation than on any other office. Matthew 7: 15 – 23; Matthew 24: 11. 24 – 26; Revelation 2:14, 20 – 24. Strong warnings abound in other scriptures concerning false prophets. 2 Peter 2: 1 – 22 is a case study as well as Jude verse 3 – 19.
The gift and calling of a prophet is without repentance. What this means is that even where some one has backslidden or gone into apostasy, the capacity to still speak accurately about the future may still operate. Romans 11:29. Whereas it operated to the glory of God and served His purpose, this corrupted state now stands in judgement against him or her who once walked sincerely with the Lord. Matthew 7: Hebrews 6: 4 – 8; Hebrews 10: 26 – 31. That the word a prophet speaks comes to pass therefore should not confuse any one at all.
The clear pitfalls which every truly called Prophet should observe are these:
1. Satan’s entrapment. Satan will always target those called to this high office. It is necessary to recognize this reality and proactively resist him John 10:10; 1 Peter 5: 7-9; James 4: 7.
2. Soulishness. The greatest danger the prophet will face will however come from within him or herself! The soul is the seat of reasoning, emotions and attitudes. If the soul is un crucified and not subject to the spirit of the prophet which in turn should be subject to the Holy Spirit, carnality will run riot in personal life. The soul has a voice and can speak just as the Holy Spirit has a voice and speaks. The prophet who allows emotion to engage with a person or situation may therefore speak from the soul realm. This is often the case when the prophet believes he or she has a right to open the mouth any time and release prophecy. Whoever does not first cultivate an intimacy with God and close communion with the Holy Spirit will utter what the soul wants and claim to speak for God! On the last day there will be several wailings when people fail to account for idle words they uttered in this present life! The escape route therefore is to repent now! It is to avoid activation of their soulish propensities that the Lord has always allowed Prophets to live fairly isolated lives. Emotion therefore is a present danger in the Prophetic calling
3. Pride of Life. God personally hates pride and says He will resist it wherever found! James 4:6. Pride will cause a prophet to seek glory for the words uttered whereas these are the word of the Lord for His people. The prophet is merely a conduit to convey a message and actually has nothing to glory in. On the other hand, humility and gratitude should be the right attitude that it pleases God to use one in this way! Boasting about prophecies that one gave which came to pass is a very dangerous tendency!
4. Using Prophecy to manipulate and control saints. A present danger in the prophetic ministry is any kind of tendency to use prophecy to manipulate and control the people of God. It is wrong to make the saints to remain babes ever seeking for a prophetic fix regularly. It is worse when a prophet takes advantage of such vulnerability to manipulate those same people to do his or her bidding. Saints are to be trained in the Word to grow in the Lord to the degree that they can hear His voice and draw from the anointing of the Holy Spirit to judge all things. 1 John 2: 18- 27; 1 John 4: 1. The principal function of prophets is to be used of God to perfect and equip saints for the work of ministry! Ephesians 4: 11, 12.
Pitfalls of Prophetic Ministry continued...
5. Covetuosness/Prophecy for Profit. True prophets live frugally. The intimate knowledge of God and His righteousness they embrace whole heartedly is based on an absolute trust in Him to meet all their needs as part of the great Kingdom promise. Matthew 6:33, 34, Matthew 10: 7 – 15. They know that the love of money is the root of all evil and realise that there is a present danger and occupational hazard when people want to compromise them with undue favours and gifts. Elisha knew this reality and rejected Naaman’s gifts 2 Kings 5: 1- 19. They learn to be temperate so that they do not put themselves in situations where their needs will drive them to merchandize the precious gift they carry. Philippians 3:17 -19; 1 Timothy 6: 6 – 10. The ungodly fundraising ways of the Church in the Western world lends itself to much misuse. It is wrong to hawk/merchandize prophetic utterance for people to come and buy or to negotiate fees to speak at prophetic meetings. Hosts should know how to take care of the Prophet and where they neglect their duties; the prophet should never fight for himself/herself but forgive them or commit everything to He who judges righteously as Jesus did. 1 Peter 2: 21-23! The tendency to take advantage of one’s prophetic gifting to engage in fund raising after every meeting is a very dangerous trend. Hosts should avoid the temptation of foisting the role of fund raising to offset bills on the visiting Prophet!
6. Misuse of Points of Contact to lead the people into idolatry and syncretism.
Points of contact are biblical means of activating the faith of the weak, babes and those who need to see “something tangible” to believe the unseen”. Jesus Himself used point of contact to facilitate the healing process John 9: 1- 7. Paul the Apostle had handkerchiefs taken from his body to heal the sick Acts 19: 11, 12. . The shadow of Peter was a great point of contact for healing Acts 5:15, 16. When points of contact are used in a fleshly manner, it can lead the saints astray into idolatry or mixture of the spiritual and religiosity called syncretism. Excessive use of points of contact can also lead the people of God into carnality and therefore not growing in their spirit man which is the base of true faith Romans 8: 5-8.
7. Carnality in engaging in Prophetic Actions/Parables without the specific direction of the Holy Spirit.
Prophetic actions in prayer and spiritual warfare are biblical. Isaiah the Prophet was once required to walk naked and barefooted for three years to demonstrate the impending sacking of the nation. In the days of Jeremiah, God directed him to undertake a number of actions that seemed bizarre. On one occasion, the Lord asked him to test the Rechabites with alcohol Jeremiah 35. Yet on another occasion God asked him to buy and destroy jars of clay to demonstrate the impending destruction of Judah. In all these cases, the Lord directed His prophets concerning what to do. The idea was to convict the nation of sin and give her a chance to repent or be punished. In the New Testament, we see Agabus illustrate the imprisonment of Paul by using his belt to demonstrate what lay ahead. Acts 21:10, 11. When Prophets begin to carnally invent prophetic actions, they set the saints on a path of error which may take many years to blossom. The deliverance ministry today is reaping the fruits of prophetic actions which were documented and are now practiced without any specific prompting of the Holy Spirit. Syncretism does not start in a day but is often the cumulative effect of error over many years.
8. Pride and Boasting over Prophetic skills. It is sad to see the degree of self promotion and projection which some prophets get involved with. There is a wide ranging degree of competing for the glory of God that goes on in the marketing and promotion of prophetic meetings. When you see a prophet boasting that his/her prophecies must come to pass, there is indication of something wrong in the realm of the spirit.
9. Supposition that humans can transfer the mantle of Office of Prophet at will.
It is the height of pride or a prophet to claim that he or she can make a prophet out of any body! The idea of establishing Schools of Prophets, admitting every one who can pay the required fees and promising to “impart “and or “activate” them into the office of prophet insults the divine and must be denounced by all who know God and His Holy Word. God can indeed use humans to activate or impart gifts. However, in the case of calling into any of the five fold, Jesus alone calls and sends! Ephesians 4:11.
It is important to understand the difference between canonical prophets like Elijah and Elisha and seer-priests who were organised into spiritual guilds like the Sons of Prophets at Jericho 2 Kings 2: 3,5 – 7, 15.
A prophet can be used by God to mentor another prophet like Elijah did to Elisha. It was God however, who called Elisha 1 Kings 19: 15 – 21 and assigned Elijah to groom and prepare him for his assignment.
Prophets can be used of the Lord to activate prophetic flow in the saints so that they can edify, exhort and comfort one another but they cannot make any one a prophet!
Let a verbatim reproduction of substantial parts of Jeremiah Chapter 23. provide a measure of the heart beat of God concerning those who lead His people generally and prophets specifically:
Jeremiah 23
1Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. 2Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. 3And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
9Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness. 10For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
11For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. 12Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. 13And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
14I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. 15Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. 16Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
25I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. 26How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; 27Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
28The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. 29Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
30Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. 31Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
32Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
33And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD. 34And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house. 35Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
Three Trends that must be stopped.
These three trends must be halted in their tracks within the community of prophets:
1. Tendency to minister out of wounded souls
A wounded soul is one which is out of sync with true spirituality. This happens when an individual is offended, hurt, rejected or in any other form of emotional disconnect from the ideal described in Philippians 4: 4 – 8. A prophet must recognize when his/her soul is hurt and desist from ministry. A wounded soul will release death rather than life. Words spoken are backed by the spirit of the person uttering them. When a prophet is hurt, feeling rejected and dejected, there will be tendency to release words that cannot build up or perfect the saints.
This explains the ugly tendency by some prophets to utter curses on people, even for flimsy reasons. There are those who will curse pastors and congregations for not spending lavishly on them. There are those who would curse those who they transacted businesses with and things did not quite go well. Any prophet who lays curses easily on people (and using the case of Elisha and the young children who taunted him as excuse) is out of order! The negative words uttered must be rejected, cancelled and rendered of no effect by other Prophets or Apostles.
2. New fad to cover the head with Jewish prayer shawls by male prophets.
We owe Judaism a debt of gratitude for being the root from which the New Testament sprang up. The moral laws of the Old Testament such as the 10 commandments are still valid for this dispensation. We are also grateful for the feasts which God instituted to mark His dealings with His people. Those feasts, such as Passover are worthy of study and application of principles enshrined thereto to enrich our walk with God. They are far more edifying than the pagan festivals Rome foisted on Christendom!
However, the trend to lead the saints back to Judaism championed largely by Prophets is extremely dangerous. There is a liberty which the Lord Jesus brought us into as members of the family of God who have access to the Throne of Grace by His Blood that the Jews of old never enjoyed or thought possible. Take the liberty of receiving the Holy Spirit by which we know the mind of God. In the Old Testaments, the Holy Spirit came occasionally on a few people in each generation and gave them utterance to speak forth the word of the Lord.
One way this tendency to Judaize the prophetic is in the way male prophets seek to cover their heads with Jewish prayer shawls in order to give an impression of extra spirituality. This is the spirit of religion at work and must be denounced as such! 1 Corinthians 11:7; 2 Corinthians 3:5 -17; Galatians 1: 6 – 12; Galatians 3: 1- 15, 21-29; Galatians 5: 1 – 14.
3. Crave for Honour and Pre-eminence
The tendency for those who claim to be prophets to seek honour at all times is a very dangerous one and has no scriptural support. Rejection, despising and even evil speaking are part of the standard fare every prophet must face. Those who reject these marks of the prophet are either backslidden or were never called. God told clearly Jeremiah what lay ahead for him Jeremiah 1: 17 – 19. Jesus himself acknowledged that prophets are without honour in their localities Matthew 13: 57; Mark 6:4; John 4:44. He also acknowledged the track record of Jerusalem as a killing field of prophets Luke 13: 33. To seek accommodation in 5 star hotels, a limousine and other perks because you are the one with the prophetic mantle in a conference is covetousness 101 in action!
Even in the perking order of 1 Corinthians 12: 29 and Ephesians 4:11, Prophets are put behind Apostles. To barge in on meetings and seek to dominate them with long windy prophecies is clearly a breach of spiritual protocol. Love of pre-eminence by Diotrephes was judged and denounced by Apostle John in 3 John verses 9,10.
The Way Forward: Prophets must grow in grace
Just like Apostles and indeed all other ministers, prophets must grow in grace. Every prophet must walk humbly with the Lord and fellow saints, avoid gift projection and minister according to the measure of faith Romans 12: 3, 6. An adaptation of what was written concerning apostles is in order here:
The validity of a prophetic commission therefore will largely depend on the extent of intimacy with Christ. In Christ is everything prophets need to function in ministry. It makes sense therefore to grow in intimacy with Him. This is done through some principal means of grace.
The first is to yearn and hunger for Christ and refuse to be absorbed by ministry business to the degree that the prophet relies on spent fuel or the irrevocability of the gift and calling to function Romans 11:29. It is entirely possible to be disconnected from Christ and yet do signs and wonders. That a minister is raising the dead, healing the sick and delivering the oppressed is no indicator of the state of his heart! Ask the Lakeland crowd. Ask close aides of the mega Pastors and TV superstars and what they will share with you of the private struggles of celebrity preachers will give you an idea of the extent of this malaise.
It is no wonder that Paul the Apostle made it his over riding desire to press into the fullness of Christ and to apprehend that for which he was apprehended by Christ Jesus. He sought to know Christ intimately and to regard every other knowledge including his famed scholarship dung. Philippians 3: 1 – 14 is a wonderful piece of the holy writ we must resort to often to be challenged. As Colossians 2: 18 – 23, we should be mindful of the need to hold fast to the Head of the Body, Jesus Christ less we slide into religious norms and activities.
That yearning must translate into a life of intense prayer. Prophets, like Apostles and indeed other ministers must avoid the temptation to spend more time praying for signs and wonders otherwise they may become hirelings who preach others into the Kingdom and miss it due to loss of first love! 1 Corinthians 9: 24 – 27. Prophets must spend quality time worshipping God, praising Him even in the midst of fire as Paul did often (Acts 16: 25- 34). Prophets should spend a good deal of time seeking to know and walk in the ways of God as did Moses, the great Prophet of Israel Psalm 103:7. Prophets must also learn to pray about everything, just like Jesus did so that we can operate with the express will of God. John 5:30; John 6: 38. Prayer enables us to draw down the fullness of the glory and presence of Jesus. This is what gives any true apostle a divine presence.
The true prophet must covet the presence of the Holy Spirit and communion with Him. He is our live wire, connecting us to heaven and validating our commission. Cultivating a deep communion with He who will take the things of Christ and show us is not an option! Many who live in secret sins often find themselves uncomfortable or shy (some even afraid of the apostle). There are many saints who feel certain unease when they come before a true apostle. That is the presence of God as they wear Christ as a garment and His presence through the Holy Spirit who energizes their spirit convicts of sin, righteousness and judgement.
The true prophet must therefore be a person of few, weighty words. The lifestyle of rattling and tattling must be taken to the cross whenever this upward call comes through. Too much speaking drains the anointing. This is also true of love of the world and its dainties. 1 John 2: 15 – 17
In order to know Christ and be found in Him, the prophet must be an avid student of The Word. The word is to be studied, meditated on and allowed to be made flesh. This makes it possible for the word of Christ to dwell richly in you in all wisdom Colossians 3:16. You begin to speak the word of God concerning any and every situation. This means we must begin to study the word with a new attitude and mindset. We no longer approach it as an impersonal, dry religious tome. The word of God is seen as Christ Himself to instruct us since He is the living Word. There are many good books and commentaries. There are many good spiritually uplifting articles we will of course read. However, we come to a point that none becomes a substitute for study and knowledge of the bible. We also do not permit ourselves to allow commentaries and concordances to interpret the word for us. We resort to the Holy Spirit when any word seems dark.
Foundational Functions and the Reformation Assignment of Apostles and Prophets
Apostles and Prophets are part of the foundation of the Church with Jesus Christ Himself as the Chief Corner stone Ephesians 2:20 . This is not only true of the prophets of old and the first apostles of Jesus Christ. In a very practical sense, this is to be a present truth with all dispensations from Pentecost until the consummation of the assignment of the Church when the Lord appears again. Whenever these two strategic ministries are received and exercised with balance, the Body of Christ is enriched, strengthened and matured.
Backsliding and apostasy are real possibilities.
In the Holy Writ, there have been many who were called into the high calling of apostles and prophets who missed it. Some missed it temporarily in what is called backsliding and were eventually restored. A leader’s sin can have far reaching consequences. Every backsliding is a function of soulishness when the mind, will or emotion interferes from our spirit’s walk of faith and simplicity with God. Human mindsets are enmity with God Romans 8: 5-8. Human emotions will often cause the wrong responses to the things of God who desires that our worship be in spirit and truth. John 4: 21 -23/ Let us consider these Prophets and Apostles who stumbled at one time or the other.
• Abraham, the father of faith and one of the notable prophets of all time missed it on two key occasions. In Genesis 16: 1 – 15, Abraham buckled under pressure from Sarai and fathered Ishmael. The fruit of that indiscretion is at the root of an unstable Middle East till today. Abraham once allowed fear to get hold of him leading to a lie in the matter of his relationship to Sarai in order to save his skin in the court of Abimelech (Genesis 20)
• Moses, the great prophet of all time who spoke with God face to face (Numbers 12: 5-8) missed entry into the promised land because he allowed the murmuring and carnality of Israel to get under his skin, causing him to strike rather than speak to the rock in anger. In so doing, Moses dishonoured God and paid for It.! Numbers 20:1-12; Deuteronomy 32: 48 – 52; Deuteronomy 34: 1-12.
• Elijah, the great Prophet who was used mightily by God to destroy the priests of baal grew weary and fearful when Jezebel threatened him. Out of despair, he asked God to take his life. God acceded by terminating his ministry.1 Kings 18: 1 - 40; 1 Kings 19: 1-21.
• David, the great King of Israel missed it when instead of going to war like other kings, he sought premature rest. What his eyes saw in the naked Bathsheba captivated his soul and led to a series of sins including adultery and murder of her husband Uriah 2 Samuel chapter 11. His household was to reap the consequences of that faulty foundation.. Moral failure and the sword became regular fare of life in his lineage. 2 Samuel chapter 13. David also allowed pride of life to once cause him to conduct a census of the military might of Israel. 2 Samuel 2 Samuel Chapter 24.
• Peter – once allowed familiarity with Jesus to cause him to be rude and resist the truth of the Cross. Matthew 16: 13 – 23. He eventually denied his Master 3 times as predicted. See Matthew 16: 13-19, 21-23; Matthew 26: 31-35; 69-75; Luke 22: 31 – 34, 54-62.
• James and John allowed the leaven of ambition and strife for recognition to get the better part of them. Matt. 20:20-228 and displayed sectarian tendencies Mark 9:38-40.
• Judas Iscariot allowed the love of money; different perspectives with Jesus and desire for honour and vain glory to corrupt his heart. In that state, he fell and betrayed his Master Mark 3: 13 -16; John 12:1 - 6
The bible teaches that non of us should ever come to a point where we think we are infallible! Switching from spiritual to fleshly mode is easy once Apostles and Prophets forget the fate of their predecessors who once walked with God and later stumbled and take their eyes off eternity 1 Corinthians 10: 1 – 13. Many were eventually recovered but some missed it permanently and will eternally gnash their teeth! Paul the Apostle resolved as so should we that we do not want to be cast away after being mightily used of God! 1 Corinthians 9:24 – 27.
Apostles and Prophets Occupy a Very High and Strategic Office!
The reason why the Lord is releasing the quantum of information on unacceptable tendencies amongst those who are called to the offices of apostle and prophet is that to whom much is given, much is expected! Great responsibilities are thrust upon apostles and prophets and no one should be in any doubt about this.
Those who seek to switch off from apostles and prophets because of excesses by those who live and minister in error are equally missing the mark. To receive apostles and prophets is not an option. It is imperative for true and balanced healthy growth of the Church of Jesus Christ as Ephesians 4: 11- 16 and 1 Corinthians 14 clearly show. The key is to check out the fruit and test the spirit of those who claim to walk in these strategic offices and to follow them only as they themselves follow Christ! Matthew 7: 21- 23; 1 John 4: 1-3; Philippians 3:17 – 21.
Revisiting The Dual Mandate of the Kingdom Driven Church
As we conclude, it cannot be emphasized enough that Apostles are chosen specifically by Jesus Christ and set in the Church to represent Him by faithfully proclaiming the true gospel of the Kingdom of God and ensuring that the Church is built and operated according to the Master plan of Jesus Christ. Prophets are personally appointed by Jesus Christ and not human beings for the purpose of receiving deep mysteries of the Kingdom and proclaiming such with clarity so that the saints do not walk in darkness. 1 Corinthians 3: 10-16; Ephesians 4: 11-16.
As we said in an earlier part of this message, a dual mandate is inextricable involved. Apostles and Prophets are to keep the Church in the mood of the wise virgins, in perpetual readiness for the soon return of Jesus Christ. That is why Apostles, Prophets and indeed all true ministers of the gospel will prove the validity of their calling by how much they have received a revelation of the divinity of Christ and the reality of His soon return to personally rule and reign on earth in the fully established Kingdom of God. The totality of scripture in the Old and New Testament point to the fact that this present world system will run its course. We already see the great moral declension and the redefinition of values within the past 100 years. What was abominable just 15 years ago in terms of sexual orientation is now a celebrated reality in the major nations of the world. Organized Christendom has caved in too!
Apostles and Prophets have their work cut out for them to close ranks and keep the saints reminded of the word of God that a day is coming when the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will come to finally redeem His saints and establish the long prophesied Kingdom of God. In this Kingdom, the saints will co-reign with Jesus as Kings and Priests over specific territories according to their faithfulness in this present life. Whoever claims to be an Apostle or Prophet and has not got this understanding is out of the way. Whoever has got this understanding and refuses to rebuke the pseudo Kingdom preachers who deny the return of Jesus and claim that we are to invest all our faith and hope in ‘making it’ in this world system has made him or herself an enemy of the Cross.
Apostles and Teachers are to also emphasize that while we wait for His soon appearance, there is serious work to be done by saints during their pilgrimage in this present life through discovering, pursuing and fulfilling individual mandates, as part of an organic whole. Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16. Jesus prayed that while we are in this world, we should be kept out of the loop of the system. We cannot live by the principles of the world. We put our trust in God; receive insight and direction from Him through His Prophets and in so doing, all that pertains to life and godliness needful for our holistic welfare is received. 2 Peter 1:3. We therefore do not dwell in sickness, poverty or dead religious activities. Under the guidance of Apostles and Prophets, the saints are challenged to rise in the dimension of maturity to become all that God created, redeemed and called them to be as the Salt of the earth and Light of the world.
In so doing, their compass which is Jesus Christ Himself drives Apostles and Prophets to challenge saints allow the Holy Spirit to empower and release them to be the living Church that is radiant, mature, powerful and able to manifest the glory of Christ to unbelievers as well as principalities and powers in heavenly places. Ephesians 5:26, 27; Ephesians 3:10.
The grand picture is that of complementing rather than competition. The question of who is greater or more anointed between Apostles and Prophets is a childish strife that has no value. In Matthew 18: 1-5, Jesus outlines principle of Kingdom greatness. In John 13: 1- 17, Jesus demonstrated the reality that the only acceptable competition is who will out serve! We need to take up the challenge and model humility and simplicity of life. Any Apostle or Prophet who charges for ministry or insists on a range of honoraria and perks before blessing the saints is out of the way and must be rebuked. No unit of the Church should ever cave in to such ungodly contracts of service! Enough of this deadly virus of love of money! Philippians 3: 17 – 20.
Next: The Evangelist. Please stand with us in earnest prayers for God to continue to speak.
This and all teaching notes of the Global School of Ministry are free from worldly copyright restrictions so that the saints can be trained, equipped, activated in their gifts and callings and released into productive ministry. Feel free to share with others as the Lord leads you!
What makes the Office of the Prophet different from what we have shared so far?
Jesus knew that the enemy would seek to harass His saints with suggestions of failure, fear of the unknown and insecurity, hence the sure promises that in Him, we will be secure and that He will be with us always till the end of our tenure in this present life John 16:33; Matthew 28:18 – 20. As He ascended on high, the Holy Spirit was released to empower the Church with all it takes for a vibrant family of God to thrive in the midst of a harsh environment called the world have the capacity to witness to it and disciple the nations. Acts 1: 8; Acts 2:1-4; Ephesians 4: 7- 10.
As we have seen from the previous lesson, the Lord purposes that His Church will walk in fullness of light. For this reason, He released several revelatory gifts in the Body through which there is a constant flow of His Light. These include the spiritual gifts of Prophecy in Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12: 10; Exhortation (Romans 12:8); The Word of wisdom, word of knowledge; Faith, discernment of spirit; Tongues; Interpretation of tongues. When you add to these the gifts of dreams, interpretation of dreams and visions spoken of by Joel 2:28, 29 as an inheritance of end time saints as well as the gift of seeing trances such as Peter experience in Acts 10: 9-16, it is clear that God provided sufficient resources for edifying, exhorting and comforting His own as 1 Corinthians 14:3 states.
The Prophet as a Personal Representative of Jesus Christ!
Beyond this general purpose to edify, exhort and comfort the saints which the revelatory gifts bring to the Body, Christ set in His Church as part of the Five Fold, the office of Prophet. The New Testament Prophet therefore is called by Jesus Christ as personal representative to ensure that the Church is shown the way forward in its walk with Him. The office is called Prophet; what he or she utters is called Prophecy and the action is called Prophesying.
In effect, the prophet is a conduit or mouth piece through whom Jesus speaks to His Church. He decides whom He ordains for this role. It could be male or female; young or old saint. Neither age nor gender nor even theological training nor capacity to teach have anything to do with the divine choice called election. You cannot be promoted into this office by humans. You cannot get there by ambition. You cannot procure it by primogeniture, inheriting it from your parents!
It is interesting that the same Paul the Apostle who vigorously taught the Church to covet the spiritual gift of prophecy and explained powerfully that it is a valid need of the New Testament Church in Romans 12: 6; 1 Corinthians 14: 1 – 25, 29-32, 39 is the same instrument God used to ask the potent question in 1 Corinthians 12: 29, “Are all Prophets?”. The obvious answer is a resounding No! As a matter of fact, the proportion of saints called into this office is relatively low, perhaps lower than all other offices, except that of apostles! The reasons will be obvious as we continue this treatise.
In Ephesians 4:11, we see that prophets are specifically mentioned as part of the five fold headship gifts of Christ set in the Church to make it complete.
What are the specific roles God assigns to His Prophets within and without the Body?
1. Perfection of the Saints for the work of Ministry. The Prophet is to weigh in with his/her gifts and callings to make the saints mature in Christ and built up in righteousness and obedience to the degree that they can successfully live the Kingdom life here on earth. Ephesians 4: 11-16. When the saints receive the ministry of the Prophet, along with that of the Apostle, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher, they become mature and are not easily tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine nor are they easily deceived by those whose god is their belly. A saint who is in a ministry or congregation where the Office of the Prophet is ignored or absent is being deprived of a very valuable spiritual facility for perfection! Any Pastor who denies his or her congregation the right to hear the word of the Lord through a chosen vessel is doing a disservice to Christ and will answer for that on the last day. In building the Church according to pattern, it is necessary that every living congregation must make room to receive the Prophet who walks in integrity and who does not hire out his/her services for a named fee. Prophets and other ministers however are to be taken care of properly for the sake of whom they represent, even Jesus Christ Himself! Matthew 10:40-42.
Certain ordinances and principles of God are valid both in the Old and New Testaments. It is thus necessary to reflect on roles of Prophets in the Old Testament and juxtapose them with the provisions of the New Testament in order to get a full picture of what God has in mind in raising people to this High Office. This will also enable those who receive this gracious calling to walk in sobriety and humility.
2. Intimacy with God: Let us start with Abraham, listed as the first of the Prophets. In Genesis 20:7 we see God Himself calling Abraham by that appellation when He spoke to Abimelech in a dream. Earlier in Genesis 18: 17 – 19, we see God declaring Abraham as a man who had an intimate relationship with Him. A true Prophet cannot function outside of an intimate walk with God. That is a response of choice by one who deems the presence of God of more value that the riches of Egypt! When God was reproving Miriam and Aaron in their rebellion, He pointedly announced the degree of His intimacy with Moses in Numbers 12: 6 – 8 “I speak with him face to face”.
3. Divine Insight: Intimacy with God translates to what Amos 3:7 describes is poetic language: The Lord God does nothing without first revealing it to His servants the prophets! He or she who claims to be a Prophet and does not receive the mind of God concerning things to come is engaging in delusion of grandeur!
4. Accurate declarations of things to come. True prophets will be used by God to declare accurately, the things to come. Some of them may be unfolding things in the now or things that will happen at a future date. Some of the things declared may sound improbable and they themselves may be bewildered at what they utter. They do not have to have any idea whatsoever as to what they are saying. The most sensitive prophetic utterances are often passed through the spirit man and the vocal cord of the prophet without any contact with the soul real. God has ordained it this way so that the soul will in no way interfere with or corrupt His message. The soul is the seat of the Mind (where mankind exercises the thinking/reasoning faculty); the will (where humanity makes decisions as to what to say or do) and the emotions (where attitudes emanate from and where the humanity of the prophet often exercises itself and accordingly can influence the mind and will). Inability to make clear declarations of things to come disqualifies an individual from claiming to be a prophet! Agabus was able to accurately inform Paul and his companions the famine that was to ravage the land and his imprisonment in Acts 11: 27 – 29 and Acts 21: 10, 11. On the other hand, mere ability to predict future events is not sufficient to confer the office of prophets on a person. There are many diviners and star gazers who operate with satanic powers to predict the future! Paul dealt with a young lady with the spirit of divination who said accurate things about the mission Acts 16:16-18. Peter also dealt with a sorcerer who held Samaria captive Acts 8: 9 -13, 14 – 24.
5. Keeping the Saints on the path of Holiness and God centeredness. It is meaningless to speak accurately of things to come but use such to lead God’s people astray. A true prophet has as a critical part of his/her assignment, the task of reminding the saints of the thrice Holy God whose eyes are purer than to behold iniquity. Consequently, the true Prophet will utter words that will keep the saints on the path of rectitude. The words may include warnings of the consequences of sin and disobedience. When true prophets are in the House, secret sins are exposed at times wisely or at other times harshly. The consequence is always the same: real saints often repent and receive the mercy of God while those who refuse fall into problems or experience the judgement of God. Deuteronomy 18:18-20.
6. Denouncing false shepherds and peddlers of strange doctrines. It is so sad that so many so called prophets are unable to see the dangerous leaven of the pseudo Kingdom movement and were unable to warn the Church about the way the celebrity preachers use the word of God deceitfully to enrich themselves and live ungodly worldly lives. Prophets are raised to engage with situations like this.
What are the privileges and pit-falls of Prophetic ministry?
Warnings for those who hold this office without being called or operate in the flesh!
ROLES OF PROPHETS ...continued from yesterday
6. Denouncing false shepherds and peddlers of strange doctrines. It is so sad that so many so called prophets are unable to see the dangerous leaven of the pseudo Kingdom movement and were unable to warn the Church about the way the celebrity preachers use the word of God deceitfully to enrich themselves and live ungodly worldly lives. Prophets are raised to engage with situations like this.
7. Pronouncing of Divine Warnings/Judgements. True prophets are used of God to issue warnings when His people or specific individuals cross the line. That is why Prophets are lonely people. In Jeremiah 1:7-10, 17-19, we see that God sets up prophets to engage with the issues that are massed against His Church and hinder the work of His Kingdom. The Prophet Elijah was mightily used in this regard in the days of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Jeremiah was used of the Lord to warn the Jews of the captivity to Babylon.
8. Conveyors of message of Hope. Prophets are used of the Lord to also convey His messages of hope for the future. The prophet Isaiah was mightily used to proclaim the grand hope of Israel when God would incarnate as the Seed of the Woman Isaiah 7:14 – 16; Isaiah 11: 1- 5, 10. Even Jeremiah who God used to pronounce judgement was also used to proclaim the hope of a return to the land.
9. Commission those who are called into Ministry Offices. Just as Prophets commissioned Kings in the olden days, Prophets are also called to be part of commissioning meetings when Apostles and other ministers are set forth into ministry. This is of course a privileged that is be held with a great sense of responsibility and not something to bragg about. Acts 13; 1-4. The reason for having prophets as part of presbyteries to commission saints into offices in the Body is to ensure that there is an accurate download of the mind of God from eternity into time.
10. Speak boldly against evil in the society and injustice. God is concerned about righteousness not just in the Kingdom but also in the society. It is God who appoints people into public office whether as Kings, President, Prime Ministers, Members of Parliament/Congress, Mayors and Councillors. This is why He requires the saints to submit to those in authority Romans 13: 1- 7. God however has standards for those in authority to follow Micah 6:8. They are not to be tyrannical and make themselves idols. God always judges those who err from the path of rectitude in time or in eternity, not just in the Old Testament, both also in the New Testament and in the now. Herod was condemned to a cruel, painful death because of his pride Acts 12: 20 – 23. God However requires the saints to leave judgement to Him which He often pronounces ahead of time through His chosen vessels the Prophets. Amos 3:7
What are the signs of a Prophet?
There are some core signs of the true Prophet of Jesus Christ. These are:
1. Manner of life validates his/her ministry. Jesus himself put this benchmark for determining whether some one is truly a prophet from Him. Matthew 7: 15 – 23. A true prophet should have
i). a clear testimony of salvation Matthew 7:13, 14
ii). Fruit of the Spirit shall be evident in his/her life. Matthew 7: 16 – 20; Galatians 5: 22, 23
iii) Unwillingness to touch the glory of God by speech or attitude. A true prophet will deliberately seek to decrease while pointing the saints to God just like John the Baptist John 3: 25 - 36.
2. Accuracy of the word he or she brings forth and it’s lining up with the written word of God. The word brought forth is meaningless if it contradicts a clear provision of scripture, rightly divided. 2 Peter 1: 16 – 21. If for instance a prophet tells a young lady married for 2 years that she married the wrong person and she should divorce her husband to look for the prophesied Camelot, that prophet is a deceiver!
3. Unwillingness to speak except expressly prompted by the Holy Spirit. It is sad these days to see so called prophets turn on the prophetic flow as a faucet at will. This ends up being soulish projections that corrupt the prophetic mantle and bring it into disrepute in the long run. 1 Corinthians 12: 7, 11 establish a basic ground norm that utterance is activated by the Holy Spirit and not the vessel. In reality, He should prompt a prophet to speak. When there is no such prompting, the prophet should not feel obliged to say a word! The captain of our Salvation, Jesus Christ of Nazareth who Himself is the Chief Prophet modelled this approach when He said that all He does or says is at the express prompting of the Father. John 5:30 John 6:38. The sight of so called prophets who are tattlers and gossips is an aberration and of extreme absurdity!
4. Willingness to submit. Prophets are known for their obedience to the law of submission. As people who wield great authority in Christ, they are tested by the degree of yeildedness to higher authorities. 1 Corinthians 14:32, 33
5. Willingness to have their prophecies judged to determine the source and direction. True prophets know that no human being has absolute knowledge and all saints are capable of misreading God. No matter how greatly they esteem the prophecies given, they should be willing to have others judge them. 1 Corinthians 14: 29 – 33.
What are the Pitfalls of Prophetic ministry?
Jesus knew the strategic nature of this office and its potentials for causing His saints to err. That is why He personally issued more warnings about false prophets in the gospels and the book of Revelation than on any other office. Matthew 7: 15 – 23; Matthew 24: 11. 24 – 26; Revelation 2:14, 20 – 24. Strong warnings abound in other scriptures concerning false prophets. 2 Peter 2: 1 – 22 is a case study as well as Jude verse 3 – 19.
The gift and calling of a prophet is without repentance. What this means is that even where some one has backslidden or gone into apostasy, the capacity to still speak accurately about the future may still operate. Romans 11:29. Whereas it operated to the glory of God and served His purpose, this corrupted state now stands in judgement against him or her who once walked sincerely with the Lord. Matthew 7: Hebrews 6: 4 – 8; Hebrews 10: 26 – 31. That the word a prophet speaks comes to pass therefore should not confuse any one at all.
The clear pitfalls which every truly called Prophet should observe are these:
1. Satan’s entrapment. Satan will always target those called to this high office. It is necessary to recognize this reality and proactively resist him John 10:10; 1 Peter 5: 7-9; James 4: 7.
2. Soulishness. The greatest danger the prophet will face will however come from within him or herself! The soul is the seat of reasoning, emotions and attitudes. If the soul is un crucified and not subject to the spirit of the prophet which in turn should be subject to the Holy Spirit, carnality will run riot in personal life. The soul has a voice and can speak just as the Holy Spirit has a voice and speaks. The prophet who allows emotion to engage with a person or situation may therefore speak from the soul realm. This is often the case when the prophet believes he or she has a right to open the mouth any time and release prophecy. Whoever does not first cultivate an intimacy with God and close communion with the Holy Spirit will utter what the soul wants and claim to speak for God! On the last day there will be several wailings when people fail to account for idle words they uttered in this present life! The escape route therefore is to repent now! It is to avoid activation of their soulish propensities that the Lord has always allowed Prophets to live fairly isolated lives. Emotion therefore is a present danger in the Prophetic calling
3. Pride of Life. God personally hates pride and says He will resist it wherever found! James 4:6. Pride will cause a prophet to seek glory for the words uttered whereas these are the word of the Lord for His people. The prophet is merely a conduit to convey a message and actually has nothing to glory in. On the other hand, humility and gratitude should be the right attitude that it pleases God to use one in this way! Boasting about prophecies that one gave which came to pass is a very dangerous tendency!
4. Using Prophecy to manipulate and control saints. A present danger in the prophetic ministry is any kind of tendency to use prophecy to manipulate and control the people of God. It is wrong to make the saints to remain babes ever seeking for a prophetic fix regularly. It is worse when a prophet takes advantage of such vulnerability to manipulate those same people to do his or her bidding. Saints are to be trained in the Word to grow in the Lord to the degree that they can hear His voice and draw from the anointing of the Holy Spirit to judge all things. 1 John 2: 18- 27; 1 John 4: 1. The principal function of prophets is to be used of God to perfect and equip saints for the work of ministry! Ephesians 4: 11, 12.
Pitfalls of Prophetic Ministry continued...
5. Covetuosness/Prophecy for Profit. True prophets live frugally. The intimate knowledge of God and His righteousness they embrace whole heartedly is based on an absolute trust in Him to meet all their needs as part of the great Kingdom promise. Matthew 6:33, 34, Matthew 10: 7 – 15. They know that the love of money is the root of all evil and realise that there is a present danger and occupational hazard when people want to compromise them with undue favours and gifts. Elisha knew this reality and rejected Naaman’s gifts 2 Kings 5: 1- 19. They learn to be temperate so that they do not put themselves in situations where their needs will drive them to merchandize the precious gift they carry. Philippians 3:17 -19; 1 Timothy 6: 6 – 10. The ungodly fundraising ways of the Church in the Western world lends itself to much misuse. It is wrong to hawk/merchandize prophetic utterance for people to come and buy or to negotiate fees to speak at prophetic meetings. Hosts should know how to take care of the Prophet and where they neglect their duties; the prophet should never fight for himself/herself but forgive them or commit everything to He who judges righteously as Jesus did. 1 Peter 2: 21-23! The tendency to take advantage of one’s prophetic gifting to engage in fund raising after every meeting is a very dangerous trend. Hosts should avoid the temptation of foisting the role of fund raising to offset bills on the visiting Prophet!
6. Misuse of Points of Contact to lead the people into idolatry and syncretism.
Points of contact are biblical means of activating the faith of the weak, babes and those who need to see “something tangible” to believe the unseen”. Jesus Himself used point of contact to facilitate the healing process John 9: 1- 7. Paul the Apostle had handkerchiefs taken from his body to heal the sick Acts 19: 11, 12. . The shadow of Peter was a great point of contact for healing Acts 5:15, 16. When points of contact are used in a fleshly manner, it can lead the saints astray into idolatry or mixture of the spiritual and religiosity called syncretism. Excessive use of points of contact can also lead the people of God into carnality and therefore not growing in their spirit man which is the base of true faith Romans 8: 5-8.
7. Carnality in engaging in Prophetic Actions/Parables without the specific direction of the Holy Spirit.
Prophetic actions in prayer and spiritual warfare are biblical. Isaiah the Prophet was once required to walk naked and barefooted for three years to demonstrate the impending sacking of the nation. In the days of Jeremiah, God directed him to undertake a number of actions that seemed bizarre. On one occasion, the Lord asked him to test the Rechabites with alcohol Jeremiah 35. Yet on another occasion God asked him to buy and destroy jars of clay to demonstrate the impending destruction of Judah. In all these cases, the Lord directed His prophets concerning what to do. The idea was to convict the nation of sin and give her a chance to repent or be punished. In the New Testament, we see Agabus illustrate the imprisonment of Paul by using his belt to demonstrate what lay ahead. Acts 21:10, 11. When Prophets begin to carnally invent prophetic actions, they set the saints on a path of error which may take many years to blossom. The deliverance ministry today is reaping the fruits of prophetic actions which were documented and are now practiced without any specific prompting of the Holy Spirit. Syncretism does not start in a day but is often the cumulative effect of error over many years.
8. Pride and Boasting over Prophetic skills. It is sad to see the degree of self promotion and projection which some prophets get involved with. There is a wide ranging degree of competing for the glory of God that goes on in the marketing and promotion of prophetic meetings. When you see a prophet boasting that his/her prophecies must come to pass, there is indication of something wrong in the realm of the spirit.
9. Supposition that humans can transfer the mantle of Office of Prophet at will.
It is the height of pride or a prophet to claim that he or she can make a prophet out of any body! The idea of establishing Schools of Prophets, admitting every one who can pay the required fees and promising to “impart “and or “activate” them into the office of prophet insults the divine and must be denounced by all who know God and His Holy Word. God can indeed use humans to activate or impart gifts. However, in the case of calling into any of the five fold, Jesus alone calls and sends! Ephesians 4:11.
It is important to understand the difference between canonical prophets like Elijah and Elisha and seer-priests who were organised into spiritual guilds like the Sons of Prophets at Jericho 2 Kings 2: 3,5 – 7, 15.
A prophet can be used by God to mentor another prophet like Elijah did to Elisha. It was God however, who called Elisha 1 Kings 19: 15 – 21 and assigned Elijah to groom and prepare him for his assignment.
Prophets can be used of the Lord to activate prophetic flow in the saints so that they can edify, exhort and comfort one another but they cannot make any one a prophet!
Let a verbatim reproduction of substantial parts of Jeremiah Chapter 23. provide a measure of the heart beat of God concerning those who lead His people generally and prophets specifically:
Jeremiah 23
1Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. 2Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. 3And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
9Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness. 10For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
11For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. 12Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. 13And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
14I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. 15Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. 16Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
25I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. 26How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; 27Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
28The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. 29Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
30Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. 31Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
32Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
33And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD. 34And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house. 35Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
Three Trends that must be stopped.
These three trends must be halted in their tracks within the community of prophets:
1. Tendency to minister out of wounded souls
A wounded soul is one which is out of sync with true spirituality. This happens when an individual is offended, hurt, rejected or in any other form of emotional disconnect from the ideal described in Philippians 4: 4 – 8. A prophet must recognize when his/her soul is hurt and desist from ministry. A wounded soul will release death rather than life. Words spoken are backed by the spirit of the person uttering them. When a prophet is hurt, feeling rejected and dejected, there will be tendency to release words that cannot build up or perfect the saints.
This explains the ugly tendency by some prophets to utter curses on people, even for flimsy reasons. There are those who will curse pastors and congregations for not spending lavishly on them. There are those who would curse those who they transacted businesses with and things did not quite go well. Any prophet who lays curses easily on people (and using the case of Elisha and the young children who taunted him as excuse) is out of order! The negative words uttered must be rejected, cancelled and rendered of no effect by other Prophets or Apostles.
2. New fad to cover the head with Jewish prayer shawls by male prophets.
We owe Judaism a debt of gratitude for being the root from which the New Testament sprang up. The moral laws of the Old Testament such as the 10 commandments are still valid for this dispensation. We are also grateful for the feasts which God instituted to mark His dealings with His people. Those feasts, such as Passover are worthy of study and application of principles enshrined thereto to enrich our walk with God. They are far more edifying than the pagan festivals Rome foisted on Christendom!
However, the trend to lead the saints back to Judaism championed largely by Prophets is extremely dangerous. There is a liberty which the Lord Jesus brought us into as members of the family of God who have access to the Throne of Grace by His Blood that the Jews of old never enjoyed or thought possible. Take the liberty of receiving the Holy Spirit by which we know the mind of God. In the Old Testaments, the Holy Spirit came occasionally on a few people in each generation and gave them utterance to speak forth the word of the Lord.
One way this tendency to Judaize the prophetic is in the way male prophets seek to cover their heads with Jewish prayer shawls in order to give an impression of extra spirituality. This is the spirit of religion at work and must be denounced as such! 1 Corinthians 11:7; 2 Corinthians 3:5 -17; Galatians 1: 6 – 12; Galatians 3: 1- 15, 21-29; Galatians 5: 1 – 14.
3. Crave for Honour and Pre-eminence
The tendency for those who claim to be prophets to seek honour at all times is a very dangerous one and has no scriptural support. Rejection, despising and even evil speaking are part of the standard fare every prophet must face. Those who reject these marks of the prophet are either backslidden or were never called. God told clearly Jeremiah what lay ahead for him Jeremiah 1: 17 – 19. Jesus himself acknowledged that prophets are without honour in their localities Matthew 13: 57; Mark 6:4; John 4:44. He also acknowledged the track record of Jerusalem as a killing field of prophets Luke 13: 33. To seek accommodation in 5 star hotels, a limousine and other perks because you are the one with the prophetic mantle in a conference is covetousness 101 in action!
Even in the perking order of 1 Corinthians 12: 29 and Ephesians 4:11, Prophets are put behind Apostles. To barge in on meetings and seek to dominate them with long windy prophecies is clearly a breach of spiritual protocol. Love of pre-eminence by Diotrephes was judged and denounced by Apostle John in 3 John verses 9,10.
The Way Forward: Prophets must grow in grace
Just like Apostles and indeed all other ministers, prophets must grow in grace. Every prophet must walk humbly with the Lord and fellow saints, avoid gift projection and minister according to the measure of faith Romans 12: 3, 6. An adaptation of what was written concerning apostles is in order here:
The validity of a prophetic commission therefore will largely depend on the extent of intimacy with Christ. In Christ is everything prophets need to function in ministry. It makes sense therefore to grow in intimacy with Him. This is done through some principal means of grace.
The first is to yearn and hunger for Christ and refuse to be absorbed by ministry business to the degree that the prophet relies on spent fuel or the irrevocability of the gift and calling to function Romans 11:29. It is entirely possible to be disconnected from Christ and yet do signs and wonders. That a minister is raising the dead, healing the sick and delivering the oppressed is no indicator of the state of his heart! Ask the Lakeland crowd. Ask close aides of the mega Pastors and TV superstars and what they will share with you of the private struggles of celebrity preachers will give you an idea of the extent of this malaise.
It is no wonder that Paul the Apostle made it his over riding desire to press into the fullness of Christ and to apprehend that for which he was apprehended by Christ Jesus. He sought to know Christ intimately and to regard every other knowledge including his famed scholarship dung. Philippians 3: 1 – 14 is a wonderful piece of the holy writ we must resort to often to be challenged. As Colossians 2: 18 – 23, we should be mindful of the need to hold fast to the Head of the Body, Jesus Christ less we slide into religious norms and activities.
That yearning must translate into a life of intense prayer. Prophets, like Apostles and indeed other ministers must avoid the temptation to spend more time praying for signs and wonders otherwise they may become hirelings who preach others into the Kingdom and miss it due to loss of first love! 1 Corinthians 9: 24 – 27. Prophets must spend quality time worshipping God, praising Him even in the midst of fire as Paul did often (Acts 16: 25- 34). Prophets should spend a good deal of time seeking to know and walk in the ways of God as did Moses, the great Prophet of Israel Psalm 103:7. Prophets must also learn to pray about everything, just like Jesus did so that we can operate with the express will of God. John 5:30; John 6: 38. Prayer enables us to draw down the fullness of the glory and presence of Jesus. This is what gives any true apostle a divine presence.
The true prophet must covet the presence of the Holy Spirit and communion with Him. He is our live wire, connecting us to heaven and validating our commission. Cultivating a deep communion with He who will take the things of Christ and show us is not an option! Many who live in secret sins often find themselves uncomfortable or shy (some even afraid of the apostle). There are many saints who feel certain unease when they come before a true apostle. That is the presence of God as they wear Christ as a garment and His presence through the Holy Spirit who energizes their spirit convicts of sin, righteousness and judgement.
The true prophet must therefore be a person of few, weighty words. The lifestyle of rattling and tattling must be taken to the cross whenever this upward call comes through. Too much speaking drains the anointing. This is also true of love of the world and its dainties. 1 John 2: 15 – 17
In order to know Christ and be found in Him, the prophet must be an avid student of The Word. The word is to be studied, meditated on and allowed to be made flesh. This makes it possible for the word of Christ to dwell richly in you in all wisdom Colossians 3:16. You begin to speak the word of God concerning any and every situation. This means we must begin to study the word with a new attitude and mindset. We no longer approach it as an impersonal, dry religious tome. The word of God is seen as Christ Himself to instruct us since He is the living Word. There are many good books and commentaries. There are many good spiritually uplifting articles we will of course read. However, we come to a point that none becomes a substitute for study and knowledge of the bible. We also do not permit ourselves to allow commentaries and concordances to interpret the word for us. We resort to the Holy Spirit when any word seems dark.
Foundational Functions and the Reformation Assignment of Apostles and Prophets
Apostles and Prophets are part of the foundation of the Church with Jesus Christ Himself as the Chief Corner stone Ephesians 2:20 . This is not only true of the prophets of old and the first apostles of Jesus Christ. In a very practical sense, this is to be a present truth with all dispensations from Pentecost until the consummation of the assignment of the Church when the Lord appears again. Whenever these two strategic ministries are received and exercised with balance, the Body of Christ is enriched, strengthened and matured.
Backsliding and apostasy are real possibilities.
In the Holy Writ, there have been many who were called into the high calling of apostles and prophets who missed it. Some missed it temporarily in what is called backsliding and were eventually restored. A leader’s sin can have far reaching consequences. Every backsliding is a function of soulishness when the mind, will or emotion interferes from our spirit’s walk of faith and simplicity with God. Human mindsets are enmity with God Romans 8: 5-8. Human emotions will often cause the wrong responses to the things of God who desires that our worship be in spirit and truth. John 4: 21 -23/ Let us consider these Prophets and Apostles who stumbled at one time or the other.
• Abraham, the father of faith and one of the notable prophets of all time missed it on two key occasions. In Genesis 16: 1 – 15, Abraham buckled under pressure from Sarai and fathered Ishmael. The fruit of that indiscretion is at the root of an unstable Middle East till today. Abraham once allowed fear to get hold of him leading to a lie in the matter of his relationship to Sarai in order to save his skin in the court of Abimelech (Genesis 20)
• Moses, the great prophet of all time who spoke with God face to face (Numbers 12: 5-8) missed entry into the promised land because he allowed the murmuring and carnality of Israel to get under his skin, causing him to strike rather than speak to the rock in anger. In so doing, Moses dishonoured God and paid for It.! Numbers 20:1-12; Deuteronomy 32: 48 – 52; Deuteronomy 34: 1-12.
• Elijah, the great Prophet who was used mightily by God to destroy the priests of baal grew weary and fearful when Jezebel threatened him. Out of despair, he asked God to take his life. God acceded by terminating his ministry.1 Kings 18: 1 - 40; 1 Kings 19: 1-21.
• David, the great King of Israel missed it when instead of going to war like other kings, he sought premature rest. What his eyes saw in the naked Bathsheba captivated his soul and led to a series of sins including adultery and murder of her husband Uriah 2 Samuel chapter 11. His household was to reap the consequences of that faulty foundation.. Moral failure and the sword became regular fare of life in his lineage. 2 Samuel chapter 13. David also allowed pride of life to once cause him to conduct a census of the military might of Israel. 2 Samuel 2 Samuel Chapter 24.
• Peter – once allowed familiarity with Jesus to cause him to be rude and resist the truth of the Cross. Matthew 16: 13 – 23. He eventually denied his Master 3 times as predicted. See Matthew 16: 13-19, 21-23; Matthew 26: 31-35; 69-75; Luke 22: 31 – 34, 54-62.
• James and John allowed the leaven of ambition and strife for recognition to get the better part of them. Matt. 20:20-228 and displayed sectarian tendencies Mark 9:38-40.
• Judas Iscariot allowed the love of money; different perspectives with Jesus and desire for honour and vain glory to corrupt his heart. In that state, he fell and betrayed his Master Mark 3: 13 -16; John 12:1 - 6
The bible teaches that non of us should ever come to a point where we think we are infallible! Switching from spiritual to fleshly mode is easy once Apostles and Prophets forget the fate of their predecessors who once walked with God and later stumbled and take their eyes off eternity 1 Corinthians 10: 1 – 13. Many were eventually recovered but some missed it permanently and will eternally gnash their teeth! Paul the Apostle resolved as so should we that we do not want to be cast away after being mightily used of God! 1 Corinthians 9:24 – 27.
Apostles and Prophets Occupy a Very High and Strategic Office!
The reason why the Lord is releasing the quantum of information on unacceptable tendencies amongst those who are called to the offices of apostle and prophet is that to whom much is given, much is expected! Great responsibilities are thrust upon apostles and prophets and no one should be in any doubt about this.
Those who seek to switch off from apostles and prophets because of excesses by those who live and minister in error are equally missing the mark. To receive apostles and prophets is not an option. It is imperative for true and balanced healthy growth of the Church of Jesus Christ as Ephesians 4: 11- 16 and 1 Corinthians 14 clearly show. The key is to check out the fruit and test the spirit of those who claim to walk in these strategic offices and to follow them only as they themselves follow Christ! Matthew 7: 21- 23; 1 John 4: 1-3; Philippians 3:17 – 21.
Revisiting The Dual Mandate of the Kingdom Driven Church
As we conclude, it cannot be emphasized enough that Apostles are chosen specifically by Jesus Christ and set in the Church to represent Him by faithfully proclaiming the true gospel of the Kingdom of God and ensuring that the Church is built and operated according to the Master plan of Jesus Christ. Prophets are personally appointed by Jesus Christ and not human beings for the purpose of receiving deep mysteries of the Kingdom and proclaiming such with clarity so that the saints do not walk in darkness. 1 Corinthians 3: 10-16; Ephesians 4: 11-16.
As we said in an earlier part of this message, a dual mandate is inextricable involved. Apostles and Prophets are to keep the Church in the mood of the wise virgins, in perpetual readiness for the soon return of Jesus Christ. That is why Apostles, Prophets and indeed all true ministers of the gospel will prove the validity of their calling by how much they have received a revelation of the divinity of Christ and the reality of His soon return to personally rule and reign on earth in the fully established Kingdom of God. The totality of scripture in the Old and New Testament point to the fact that this present world system will run its course. We already see the great moral declension and the redefinition of values within the past 100 years. What was abominable just 15 years ago in terms of sexual orientation is now a celebrated reality in the major nations of the world. Organized Christendom has caved in too!
Apostles and Prophets have their work cut out for them to close ranks and keep the saints reminded of the word of God that a day is coming when the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will come to finally redeem His saints and establish the long prophesied Kingdom of God. In this Kingdom, the saints will co-reign with Jesus as Kings and Priests over specific territories according to their faithfulness in this present life. Whoever claims to be an Apostle or Prophet and has not got this understanding is out of the way. Whoever has got this understanding and refuses to rebuke the pseudo Kingdom preachers who deny the return of Jesus and claim that we are to invest all our faith and hope in ‘making it’ in this world system has made him or herself an enemy of the Cross.
Apostles and Teachers are to also emphasize that while we wait for His soon appearance, there is serious work to be done by saints during their pilgrimage in this present life through discovering, pursuing and fulfilling individual mandates, as part of an organic whole. Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16. Jesus prayed that while we are in this world, we should be kept out of the loop of the system. We cannot live by the principles of the world. We put our trust in God; receive insight and direction from Him through His Prophets and in so doing, all that pertains to life and godliness needful for our holistic welfare is received. 2 Peter 1:3. We therefore do not dwell in sickness, poverty or dead religious activities. Under the guidance of Apostles and Prophets, the saints are challenged to rise in the dimension of maturity to become all that God created, redeemed and called them to be as the Salt of the earth and Light of the world.
In so doing, their compass which is Jesus Christ Himself drives Apostles and Prophets to challenge saints allow the Holy Spirit to empower and release them to be the living Church that is radiant, mature, powerful and able to manifest the glory of Christ to unbelievers as well as principalities and powers in heavenly places. Ephesians 5:26, 27; Ephesians 3:10.
The grand picture is that of complementing rather than competition. The question of who is greater or more anointed between Apostles and Prophets is a childish strife that has no value. In Matthew 18: 1-5, Jesus outlines principle of Kingdom greatness. In John 13: 1- 17, Jesus demonstrated the reality that the only acceptable competition is who will out serve! We need to take up the challenge and model humility and simplicity of life. Any Apostle or Prophet who charges for ministry or insists on a range of honoraria and perks before blessing the saints is out of the way and must be rebuked. No unit of the Church should ever cave in to such ungodly contracts of service! Enough of this deadly virus of love of money! Philippians 3: 17 – 20.
Next: The Evangelist. Please stand with us in earnest prayers for God to continue to speak.
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