Armorbearers International

All May Prophesy!

In Jeremiah 14: 14-15, you can hear the cry of a true prophet of God being constantly assaulted by false prophets who declared blessing on a backslidden nation. While Jeremiah saw that without repentance, judgment would surely come. God told him that all those false prophets would die.18

God always remains faithful to His Word. Prophecy in the Old Testament was not primarily intended to minister but to proclaim God's purposes, plans and his will. (This gift corresponds to the New Testament gift of a word of wisdom.) This word is precise and brooks no explanation of man; it is God's determinate will.

New Testament prophecy is prescribed in 1 Corinthians 14: 1-31 and is in the scope and range of every believer; all may prophesy but not all are prophets. Even in the Old Testament there were thousands of prophets but only a handful were named and are known to us today. Those who are placed in the fivefold ministry are those both called and commissioned to a ministry office.19

Those who prophesy in the local church body have a much more limited scope of ministry. Their message and practice are clearly described in the 14th Chapter of 1st Corinthians. Simple local church ministry prophecy has as its aim and purpose to assist in the growth and development of the spiritual, emotional and physical maturity of the local church.

Meanwhile, the office of a Prophet is coupled with the Apostle as foundations of the churches. As one preacher described it many churches were born breach birth [butt first] with out a spiritual head.

Normal birth is for the head to come first. For the head is the glory of the body and exemplifies all the body is to be. The office of the Prophet directs the Church. The Word of Wisdom and the Word of Knowledge are essential in his ministry.

I do not say the local membership cannot operate in the nine gifts of the Spirit; I simply state the fivefold ministry walk in or should walk in those gifts because those ministries demand it. It is a wonderful matter the Father does not leave us without divine equipment to perform the monumental task of winning the whole world to Jesus.
 
The motivation to prophesy and the supernatural unction that makes the gifts work properly is located in the Bible book 1st Corinthians Chapter 13. It reveals a new kind of love, agape love. The agape love is a love not of performance but requires nothing. It is a love that is unearned. This kind of love is as supernatural as any of the nine gifts which reside in every believer's spirit.20

According to Romans 5: 5, "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given into us." This potential source of God's manifested nature in seed form to be tended with care and husbanded with attention and care. [A peach tree requires 7 years to reach enough maturity to bear fruit.] So walking in the love walk may take years of growing in Christ to become fully revealed to others.21

The way to promote the growth of love is to begin confessing in your prayer chamber that you possess them. This promotes the identification with your new identity in Christ and not the old nature that was once yours. The 4th verse of Romans 5 through the 8th verse became my mantra. I said it and included my name in the place of love. 22

Charles suffers long…till faith arose to grasp these truths as a fact even when it was patently clear in my behavior that I did not act that way. I said these things in my times alone because others hearing me might have denied their existence in my life.

Especially in verse 8 where I quoted, "Charles never fails." For most people looking at me, I was not an advertisement for success in any field. When the gifts of the Spirit are operated in agape love they form an unbeatable force in both the spirit world and the natural world.

Love is the fertile field from which Hope and Faith grow to full manifestation. Without love, faith and hope could not exist; they owe their lives to love. Conversely where love abides it always brings hope and faith as companions. All the nine gifts of the Spirit are incredible manifestations of God's loving care for us. What greater manifestation of love could you demonstrate to another than to operate the gift they most urgently need?

The primacy of prophecy is evident from the resurgent interest and explosion of prophetic ministries in the last 15 years. The principal of this fact is that in every age when there is a new move of God about to take place; it is announced by a prophet or many prophets. The Prophet properly aligns the Church in worship mode or in battle array. In the individual prophecy the restoration of focus and the restoration of good health spiritually prepares the child of God for effective service.