We see sometimes in charismatic Christian meetings, people acting vigorously yelling and rushing to the stage and trying to touch the preacher, hoping to get some prophetic anointing for themselves. It is true that the bible teaches every one of us to earnestly desire to prophesy. But being prophetic is much more than being charismatic. There is something more than dreams and visions and even the proclaiming of revelation. There are some meaning and functions for the Church of Christ to be prophetic which we should understand while earnestly desiring to participate in its prophetic ministry.
God speaks through His servants. In the bible we see a lot of men chosen by God who spoke the will of God. This is enough for us to see that the main function of a prophetic ministry is to reveal God’s own heart. An angel who appeared to John the Apostle told him that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. All prophecies are spoken to witness or to reveal testimony of Jesus Christ, His identity, His work and His heart. We must know Him and encounter Him personally before we could do that.
As the body of Christ, it is our privilege as well as our responsibility to know the heart of God and reveal it to the rest of the world. We experience many dimensions of God’s burning heart. We feel His grief for the lost souls, His love for every human being, His compassion for His people, His zeal for His bride, His joy for His sons and even His wrath for His enemies!
Whenever a prophecy is spoken forth, God’s heart is revealed. Man’s total being is completely corrupted by sin. We are incapable of knowing God without His revelations and grace, not to mention loving Him. It takes God to love God. When He reveals His affection for us, we receive the ability to show our affection for Jesus.
All the prophets mentioned in the Bible are specially anointed by the Holy Spirit to be the representative of God to speak His heart and will. Obviously not every believer is a prophet, but every one of us is called to participate in the prophetic ministry of the body of Christ.
One of the prophets who demonstrated this function of prophetic ministry of revealing God’s heart clearly is John the Baptist. Jesus called him the greatest man born of a woman. And John himself described himself as a ‘friend of the bridegroom’. John the Baptist was one of the forerunners who prepared the way of the Jesus’ first coming. As a friend of the bridegroom, he prepared people’s heart to accept Jesus and love this heavenly Bridegroom. In the end time, God is also raising up a company of people who are called to be forerunners, the friends of the bridegroom, who remind the Church of Christ of the truth that they are the bride of Jesus that we must love Him with all heart, soul, strength and mind. We do this by revealing Jesus burning affection for His bride.
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