Characteristics is defined as  “A feature that helps to identify, tell apart, or describe recognizably; a distinguishing mark or trait.” In this study, we are going to be talking about the distinguishing mark or character traits of a true Prophet’s Office. I have taught a lot about Apostles in the past, but now God is moving me to start teaching about the office of the Prophet. The reason why proper teaching about Apostles and Prophets is so necessary and needed by the Body of Christ today is because the Body of Christ has to return to the proper roots and foundation of all ministry service for every member of the Body of Christ. 

Eph 2:19-22

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.   (NKJ)

 

The Word of the Lord says that unless “the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” (Ps 127:1) In 1 Corinthians 3:10, the Apostle Paul says, “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.” The Word of God clearly states that all ministry gifts and service are to be built upon the revealed foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ is the Chief Apostle and the Chief Prophet. If we are to be built “into a holy temple in the Lord…being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit”, then we must all be sure that we all have the right foundation for building our ministries and directing our service for God on behalf of men, in order for salvation to be accurately ministered through us.

 

How can we be a temple “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” if we do not properly understand these ministry offices and gifts? Understanding and developing relationships with active apostles and prophets in the Body of Christ today should be the foundation of all 5-fold ministry offices and through them (Pastors, Evangelists, etc. hooked up to apostles and prophets) individual calls to serve God should be hooked up to the apostles and prophets in every area of ministry. The apostles and prophets should be hooked up and accountable to one another as well becoming a foundation to each another. Through the teachings of modern day apostles and prophets and by the teachings of those who have these offices, God is bringing the Body of Christ back to its roots. Without the apostles and prophets in active ministry use, the foundation of the Body will remain weak and the building will be weak and in vain also, if the Lord has not laid the foundation of your ministry through a divine connection with modern day apostles and prophets.

 

The apostles and prophets are the foundational leadership of the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ will be greatly hindered in reaching the lost (as it has been for some time now) without the proper understanding and active use and recognition of these gifts and offices in men and women of God today. In Christ Jesus and through the foundation of the governing ministry gifts of the apostles and prophets, the whole building becomes “joined together” and “grows into a holy temple” and a “dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Is it no wonder why the Body of Christ has so much division and lacks the Glory of God dwelling in His Temple in the Spirit since for too many years now we have not properly understood or honored the foundational ministries that are the joining together glue of God’s Holy Temple so that proper order can be established and maintained so that God’s Presence can be in our lives, in our ministries, and in the Body of Christ universally to an immeasurable degree? The apostles and prophets of God are the bringers, the enforcers, and the maintainers of God’s Divine Glory and the most powerful unifying force ever given to mankind and to His Church. They are the chief reflectors and a direct extension of the very Apostleship and Prophetic Office of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

 

Much of ministry has been built excluding the very foundational gifts that God has given to the church to bring, enforce, and maintain His Divine Presence. We have built our ministries on a foundation that cannot properly House God’s Glory. We have built our ministries and local churches and have failed at bringing, enforcing, and maintaining the degree of authority and power the church was originally given in the Book of Acts. Much of our ministry, church planting, and building efforts have been in vain. For example, denominationalism is nothing more than cultic activity that seeks to provide ministry oversight and government without the apostles and prophets. The result has always been DIVISION instead of UNITY! That is why God has called so many Pastors out of and away from denominationalism.

 

The point I am making is this, unless the Body of Christ adheres to, clings to, grasps and respects the foundational officers God has established, all your ministry efforts will be for a great part vain and pointless as far as establishing the Rule and Reign of God in the hearts of others is concerned. The foundational ministries of God’s Kingdom are apostles and prophets, and any other foundational ministry efforts are vain and will not prevail. If you want to build your ministry and church with the proper foundation, you had better get understanding in the area of knowing the gift and offices of the apostles and prophets and God’s active ministry use of these foundation gifts in the Body of Christ today.

 

“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets…”

 

In the early New Testament Church, Paul says that the Saints themselves were built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. I know by experience the benefits of having a relationship with an apostle and prophet of God, my father Apostle Emil Cedeno and his wife Prophetess Cecilia Cedeno. While I was born again and was sent by God to start my ministry prior to arriving at their church & ministry house, there is no mistaking the benefits of having a covenant relationship with an apostle and prophet. I owe them honor for my present level of ministry. They were used mightily by God to bring me to my current level of ministry. They brought me into a dimension of the Spirit and the Kingdom of God I would never have achieved on my own. I know by experience that apostles and prophets have the authority and power from God to launch you into a level of ministry and a dimension of the Spirit I had never even imagined before. My very life and ministry and the welfare of my family is being built in the Spirit upon the foundation of modern day apostles and prophets of God. An unmistakable foundation has been built in me and now I am building my ministry on that foundation.

 

This may seem weird, but I literally felt a breakthrough in the Spirit and I could feel in my spirit man and sense the sure foundation that was placed in my life to lead others into a greater dimension of the Spirit also, through my covenant relationship with an apostle and prophet of God. While a lot of apostles are mainly focusing on fathering and teaching about what a spiritual father is and does (which I do also), I want to make it a point in my ministry to explain to others the benefits of being submitted to a spiritual father and mother as a covenant son. The deeper you go in submission to the authorities and divine governmental purposes of God, the greater your authority will be in ministry. Leadership, titles, and being recognized are not the keys to authority and power, submission and servant hood are. You must first have a foundation in you from others upon which to build your ministry before you can accurately begin to build up the ministry and life of others. The greater your foundation through your submission to others, the greater will be your skill and authority to build others and place the same foundation in them. The Apostle Paul became a “wise master builder” able to lay the foundation in others not because of his great revelation and personal encounters with the Lord Jesus Christ alone, but because he submitted to the apostles that were before him and had the foundation of submission to other apostolic and prophetic authorities mastered within himself FIRST!

 

The only way you can accurately qualify to be IN AUTHORITY is to bring yourself UNDER AUTHORITY through accountability to others. That is the way authority and power within the Kingdom of God works. Having said all this, let us begin to lay a foundation for true Prophetic Ministry.     [ top of page ]

 

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROPHET

 

Matt 11:11

Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  (NKJ)

 

John the Baptist was not only sent to prepare the way of the Lord, but John the Baptist was also preparing the way for a new move of the Spirit. John the Baptist was preparing the way for a greater dimension of the Prophet’s Office to be established, which is the Office of the Apostle. The Apostle is really a higher order of Prophet and a higher order of Teacher than previously established Prophets and Teachers, including a higher order of the prophetic and teaching mantles than New Testament Prophets and Teachers as well. But that is not all John the Baptist was introducing.

 

In his introduction to the Higher Order of Prophets (the Apostle), he was also preparing the way for a release of the Greater Dimension of Prophetic Office for the New Testament Church as well. Jesus came as an Apostle and Prophet sent by God, and this mantle of the Prophetic Office was higher than any Prophetic Office or Officer ever established in Old Testament ministry, including the Prophetic Office John the Baptist himself held. Jesus said that the greatest person ever “born of women” was the Prophet, John the Baptist. But Jesus goes on to say that whoever “is least in the kingdom of heaven”, or whoever is least among born again believers, “is greater than he”.

 

In other words, even though John the Baptist was greater than all the Old Testament Prophets, whoever is the least among born again believers has a higher order of the Prophetic Spirit, even if they are not called to hold the office of a Prophet. You the Church and reader of this article need to say with me, “Even if I am least in the Kingdom of Heaven, I am of a greater order and have a higher ranking authority in the Spirit than John the Baptist and all the other Old Testament Prophets.” That is a heavy revelation. You are greater than Moses, you are greater than Elijah, you house a greater dimension of the Spirit than the Prophet and King David. You even live under the dimension of a greater covenant promise than that which Abraham received. The list goes on and on. Just because your name is not mentioned in Scripture does not mean those who are mentioned in Scripture had greater ministries than you have as a Born Again believer of God. YOUR MINISTRY PURPOSE AND DIMENSION OF SERVICE IS OF A HIGHER ORDER AND CAN ACHIEVE GREATER THINGS FOR GOD THAN ANY OLD TESTAMENT SAINT. That is exactly what Jesus said.

 

If we look at the Old Testament Prophets as being greater than us, then we are holding a viewpoint of ourselves based upon false information. In other words, we are idolizing the Old Testament Prophets by not thinking about their ministries according to a sober mind. A sober mind is based upon what the Word of God (Jesus) says. YOU ARE GREATER THAN THEM, EVEN IF YOU ARE LEAST AMONG ALL BORN AGAIN BELIEVERS!!! We need to see ourselves and the importance of our ministry service in the Lord in this Light. Whether you are an usher in the church and regardless of what position you hold, you are GREATER!!! Those are not my words; those are words directly from the mouth of Jesus.

 

So why did God give us a higher order of the Prophetic Office in the New Testament Apostle and the New Testament Prophet?

 

Acts 2:16-18

“…what you see this morning was predicted centuries ago by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God said, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit upon all my servants, men and women alike, and they will prophesy.”  (NLT)

 

The reason why God gave the Body of Christ a higher order and a greater foundation of the Prophetic Office in the New Testament Apostle and the New Testament Prophet is because He wanted to release a greater dimension of His Apostolic (Warring) and Prophetic Spirit to the Body of Christ. He wanted to lead the Body of Christ to a level of victory, a higher order of priesthood, and a level of Prophetic Ministry the Old Testament Church had never experienced before.

 

Mark 16:17-20

These signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick and heal them. When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand. And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked with them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.   (NLT)

 

God is in these Last Days restoring our Faith in the understanding of New Testament Apostles and Prophets because He wants to restore the power all believers had in the Early New Testament Church, and I believe that we are going to see signs and wonders and the victory of our salvation message, which we are all sent to carry and teach, in a greater dimension even than what we read in the Bible in the Book of Acts.

 

Hosea 6:3

3          Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; he will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.  (NKJ)

 

Hag 2:9

9          The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the LORD Almighty. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!"  (NLT)

 

The Word of God says that He is going to come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth. He already poured out His Spirit in the former rain in the Book of Acts, but now He says He is going to come to us like the rain, this time with the latter rain. In Haggai 2:9 the Word of the Lord says that, “The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory.”

 

Some people say the latter rain has already started, but do we see the Church today operating in a Greater Dimension of Glory than the Early New Testament Church? Of course not. Especially if we consider the whole Church universally, world wide. There is too much deception, false doctrine, lack of divine order, lack of the establishment of His true government, and division in the Body of Christ for God to pour out His Spirit in a greater dimension than what He did at Pentecost. The Spirit of God is being poured out still, just not to that dimension yet.

 

That is why the order of New Testament Prophets is so important to the Body of Christ. Much of what applies to the Prophet’s Ministry applies to the Apostle, but there is a degree of difference in their Office, gifts, and authority. Otherwise there would be no need for both of them. First and foremost we know that they are both equally considered foundational offices. There is a lot of work to be done in the Spirit, but I believe that the teachings of modern day apostles and prophets, through their Biblical teachings, will once again become the foundation for the Body of Christ universally. This does not mean that every single person will be directly under an apostle or prophet’s ministry, but I believe that every person in the Body of Christ will eventually be under somebody somewhere in their spiritual genealogy or spiritual family tree of ancestors who is a modern day apostle or prophet. You might be under a Pastor’s ministry, but that Pastor could be hooking up to the Bible based teachings of modern day apostles and prophets and bringing a greater outpouring and dimension of the apostolic and prophetic to your local church because of the increase of anointing in generational impartation.

 

I will not go at length to discuss generational impartation, but it will be enough for now to say that generational impartation that takes place with an increased or double portion anointing, does not happen by just being a member of a particular local church. It comes by having a lasting covenant commitment to your local church, the Pastor, and by helping to fulfill the vision of the Pastor or other ministry officer governing your church. I will teach more about impartation in lessons down the line. But for now I want to focus on the Office of the Prophet.

 

I remember going up for prayer one time in our church, and I remember God specifically telling me that what I needed today was going to come from God’s Prophet (Prophetess Cecilia Cedeno), and not the Apostle. Apostle Emil was praying for someone next to me, and I remember being afraid that he was going to just come to me next. But God was also showing me that I could trust in my leaders, because they were being led by the same Spirit that was speaking to me on the inside. Apostle Emil passed by me when he was done with the person next to me, then Prophetess Cecilia eventually came around and prayed for me, and I got what I needed from the Prophet that day from God. While we know about the benefits of receiving the apostle as the highest ranking official in the Body of Christ, I don’t want us to leave out understanding the importance of the New Testament Prophet in establishing government and presenting the foundational pattern for New Testament Church ministry.

 

In the Scriptures, Paul was teamed up with Barnabas and then Silas in his apostleship. Paul understood the importance of bringing along a Prophet in his work in the ministry. Barnabas became an apostle with Paul, but Barnabas was very strong in the Prophetic as well. The name Barnabas means Son of Encouragement. And Silas was used as a Prophet of God to speak “extensively to the Christians, encouraging and strengthening their faith.” (Acts 15:32)

 

The main purpose of the Prophet in the Body of Christ is to strengthen, encourage, and build up the Body of Christ. Prophets also have the Divine Authority to tear down, uproot, expose sin, and destroy things within the Church that are not operating under the True Government of God. This is why it is so important for a Prophet not to loose focus on their purpose, which is to strengthen and encourage and not just tear things down or expose sin all the time or at the wrong time. His or her main purpose for destroying the old is to bring in the new and not just to destroy something and then move on.

 

Prophets must be careful and accurate in the use of their ministry gifts so that as they uproot the weeds or the unproductive plants in God’s Garden, they are careful not to uproot the wheat or the useful things that are planted in local churches, ministries, and individual lives as well. The Word of God for correction must be spoken at the right season and in the right spirit, when the useful plants are rooted so deep that when the weeds come out the wheat does not come out with them. A Prophet out of control who speaks prematurely or with the wrong spirit can destroy more than build up if they are not careful and do not fulfill their office under the care and advice of the gentleness of the Holy Spirit.

 

Prophets are vinedressers in God’s garden. God sends them to water and cause His Garden to grow, and at the right time He uses them to prune the dead parts of certain plants and trees or He can use them to prune a branch or something that is useful in order for that branch that was fruitful to grow back after the chopping away to produce more fruit than it did before. This is in addition to digging up and pulling out the weeds of deception and false doctrine.      [ top of page ]

 

THE HEART OF A TRUE PROPHET

 

I John 4:1

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  (NKJ)

 

I John 4:1

{Discerning False Prophets--} Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.  (NLT)

 

It is much easier to discern the heart of a true prophet or the office and gift of someone who accurately speaks on behalf of God by contrasting the true with the false. As prophets are representatives of God, every message they have must have the character of His love as the source of their motivation. After a true prophet tears down the things that are not of God, they will always then begin to build the Body or local Church back up with faith, hope, and love. Any prophet that leaves you without faith, hope, and love for you and your relationship with God is not from God. If a prophet corrects you so badly that you lose the hope of righteousness and places you under a spirit of condemnation instead of a conviction that encourages you to repent and restores you to the hope of being right with God once you have repented, then that is a false prophet or a missed message. It is okay for prophets to deal strongly with certain issues, but they are always supposed to leave you with the hope of the solution to your sin or problem. True prophets will not only tell you what’s wrong, they will point the way out and show you the way to the glory ahead.

 

John the Baptist said, “Repent!”, but he also showed the people he was preaching to the hope of Glory by saying, “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”. What he was saying was, “Hey you guys need to repent and get right with God because there is some glory that is real close by.” He was of course talking about the King of the Kingdom, Jesus Christ Himself.

 

John the Baptist dealt more strongly with the religious leaders and said, "You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee God's coming judgment? Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God.” John strongly chastened them, but in the next breath he gave the way out of their situation when he said to “prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins.” He also warned them not to have the false security of saying they were Abraham’s children, as if that gave them a license to live however they wanted without the fear of judgment. He chastened them, but he gave them a warning and showed them the way of how to really come to him to be baptized for the renouncing of their sins. In other words he was saying, “Hey you brood of vipers (pointing out the seriousness of the toxicity of their sin for following the dead religious pattern of their fathers). Don’t you know that my ministry is useless to you unless your heart is truly repentant toward God for your sins. Go and prove by your life that you mean business with God and then my ministry can be useful to you and prepare you for the coming Messiah.” John the Baptist did not hate the Sadducees and Pharisees. He wanted them to repent also.

 

John the Baptist never turned anyone away from his ministry, but more accurately he explained to them how to accurately approach God in order to truly receive his ministry service to them and how to be accurately prepared to meet the Savior. Kind of like how Jesus told the rich man to go and sell all he had first. It was a test to see if their hearts were really wanting the gift they were coming to the Prophet for. Jesus and John did not chasten these men in these example too harshly. Jesus showed the rich man the Way to receive His ministry and John the Baptist showed the Sadducees and Pharisees the Way to be prepared to meet the Messiah. In both cases, there was hope for the one being corrected to be made right with God, if they were willing to meet the requirements of God to come under their ministries the right way and truly receive the blessing the Prophets of God have to offer.

 

But false prophets always have the wrong spirit, the wrong attitude, and operate with ungodly sincerity that is misguided and motivated by impure desires. True Prophets are servants to giving; false prophets are servants to gain. False prophets operate from a hidden agenda and from the battle plan of Satan to destroy, divide, and conquer the church or at least individual ministers, ministries, and local churches. True Prophets are not even afraid to expose their own weaknesses and failures because there is no hidden agenda in their ministries. They show that they are what they are by the Grace of God. They are the ones who have stumbled and failed, but they are willing to expose themselves and show the scars of their own mistakes so that others can benefit by them and not make the same mistakes. True Prophets are not afraid to be seen naked before others, but they make themselves vulnerable for the sake of establishing covenant relationships in ministry. Be careful of the Prophets who are claiming to be righteous but cannot show you their scars of past failures.

 

The Prophets above all must be transparent to the Body of Christ, and especially to one another. Their lives must be an open book for others to sift through them and correct what needs to be corrected for more life giving power to build others up to be formed in them. True Prophets know the pains of being corrected, but they openly invite correction anyway. They would rather be transparent and risk being judged falsely for something rather than try and hide something that may need correcting. They open the cloaks of their mantle to those trusted companions of their ministries so that what is inside them can be examined and judged by other prophets of God to make sure that when they stand in office, what they are giving to the Body is tried, tested, and confirmed to be of the Lord.

 

They also welcome the testing of their doctrine. Beware of those who are easily angered by your disagreement with their doctrine. A true minister will not be offended if you show them their error in their teaching through Scripture, but they will rejoice because now they have been corrected and more Light of the Lord Jesus Christ is in them to give to others. I hope and pray that if I am teaching anything wrong, someone will have the guts to come to me with the Bible and show me where I missed it. The greatest mistake of all would be for a teacher to be missing the mark and teaching false doctrine out of ignorance. In the past I have had others test the things I was teaching and in some areas I have corrected my mistakes, in other areas I have had the accuracy of the truth I was teaching more greatly confirmed, and in some things I have now become undecided about certain events that I am not as sure of the time of their exact occurrence anymore. I found out that some things I had believed were only based on what others had told me instead of getting in the Word and receiving revelation from God Himself.

 

The same with a Prophet’s revelation. The Prophet should have a heart that is willing to subject their revelation to other Prophets and Elders of the Church.

 

1 Cor 14:29:  Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. (NKJ)

 

Beware of the prophets who never want anyone to assess, evaluate, or critique the accuracy of their revelation. The warning light should go off… HIDDEN AGENDA, HIDDEN AGENDA!!! False prophets never want their character examined, never want their doctrine or revelation questioned and become easily and excessively angry with those who disagree with them. There are people I meet, and even some of my closest friends in ministry who I disagree with and they disagree with me on certain issues, but we are mature enough not to allow our differences destroy the testimony of our relationship together in Christ Jesus. False prophets do not see the value of relationships with those who are their brothers and sisters in Christ who may not agree with everything they say, but they want to keep hunting for some sucker ministry who will accept them without question, hook, line, and sinker.

 

True Prophets have had their character faults and weaknesses exposed to those they are most accountable, and they are still standing together with their overseers in fulfilling the vision of ministry. When false prophets have their character exposed, they run as far from those who know their faults as possible, avoiding covenant relationships at all cost. True prophets may backslide for a season, but they will get back up and right back on path and hook back up with the Covenant House (local church) they were sent to. False Prophets will take their character faults from church to church until they find an ignorant Pastor or ministry leader who will receive the injection of their deadly spirit without questioning the validity of their ministry and character. True Prophets welcome the examining of the fruit of their tree because they know that their good fruit or the true productiveness of their ministries and revelation will only prove that they are sent by God all the more. They don’t get offended when others touch their leaves and their branches to see what kind of fruit tree they really are.

 

I have seen fake plants and trees made out of plastic that look like real plants and trees until you get up close to them. Some of them look so real that I usually reach out and touch their leaves or branches to see what they are made of.

 

I was watching the TV the other night, and they had some Catholic priests on who were answering questions sent to them via email. When they were giving answers to the people, you could tell these men were very versed in the Scriptures. They had all the ideas and concepts of Christianity down, but then I started to see their plastic or rubber leaves and branches as I began to examine them more closely. All of a sudden they started talking about how people need to get closer to the Sinless Virgin Mary, instead of talking about getting closer to their sinless Savior. The idolatry of their religion became more and more apparent the more I listened to them. I kept watching them and eventually that tree that looked like it had real Christian leaves and branches all of a sudden showed its lack of genuine faith by contributing Deity to the Virgin Mary. There is only one God and any religion that mixes other gods with the Christian God is a false religion. These men were very clearly false teachers. If you examine the ministry of false ministers long enough, you will eventually begin to hear things that are CLEARLY not of God pop out of their mouths.

 

True Prophets operate from the battle plan of God to bring unity, victory, and true divine government to the Body of Christ. They have a victorious and hopeful outlook for the Church and are more concerned about anchoring others in the hope of the end result of each believer’s ability to be like Christ more than they are focused on the faults of others and the failure of individual sin. True Prophets are more focused on encouraging others in their strengths more than correcting them for their faults or focusing on their sin. False Prophets very seldom if ever recognize and help to build up the strengths of others. They are more focused on sin and failure because they do not know how to properly apply the grace of God. Part of this is because false prophets have no fruit of repentance, never admit when they are wrong, and therefore have not received grace and mercy for their own sins in order to be able to apply grace and mercy in their ministry to others. They insist on their own way and do not walk in love or unity or speak kindly of other ministries and other ministry officers. They are bitter people through and through.

 

I know of radio talk show hosts whose whole ministry is putting down other ministers, ministries, and what others are doing. There are web sites like this also. I found one of them even targeting one of my articles. If it wasn’t for them putting down others, there would be nothing exciting left for them to do. They are faultfinders and heretic hunters who easily condemn others who don’t agree with what they say without examining themselves in the True Light of the Gospel or even considering what others are really saying. They don’t examine themselves and take a really good look in the Word to see if the light in them might actually be darkness. They have to pick on someone’s anointing and teach about what someone else is doing that they disagree with, but really they are operating under a jealous spirit that is upset that those who have a true anointing are being recognized by the Body of Christ at large, and not them. They really go after the honorable men of God whose reputations far outweigh their own that are in ministry through greater media like television. False prophets are jealous and do not rejoice when other members of the Body of Christ excel.

 

A True Prophet brings Vision and Hope for the End Result, a false prophet brings division, despair, and says that the end is doom without offering a way for God’s judgment to be avoided.

 

False prophets distract people from their true purpose in Christ; true prophets are anointed to help believers find their right place in the Body of Christ.

 

True Prophets have inspired utterance to the Body of Christ from the Love of God the Father, false prophets prophesy out of their own spirits anointing or from the anointing of a demon spirit and have none of the Love and Hope of the Father in them.

 

A true Prophet is a watchman, an intercessor, a spiritual scout or a look out in the spirit realm. They are actively concerned about the Body of Christ and deliver their messages to the Church from God out of a godly concern for the Church’s welfare and state of being. As a look out, the Prophet scouts the enemy’s plan of attack and then warns and equips God’s people so that they can be prepared, equipped, ready, and geared up to defend themselves and offensively advance against the enemies of God in absolute victory!!!

 

God uses the Prophet to tell His people what He is doing, and what the enemy’s battle plan is also, or what spirits may be operating against a particular ministry. In addition to this, the Prophet is a strategic military advisor to the Apostle. Sometimes Apostles can become so dogmatic, stubborn, and hard headed because of their nature that God has to use the Prophet to help the Apostle strategize in ministry and in warfare. A wise Apostle will always strongly consider the advise, counsel, and recommendations of a true Prophet of God. Both the apostle and prophet balance each other’s ministries. The Apostle uses his or her strength in teaching and in doctrine to keep the Prophets head from being in the clouds for too long and helps to keep their feet planted on the ground where the Prophet can walk and move with God. The Apostle on the other hand, sometimes gets so focused on marching forward that he or she doesn’t consider what might be going on in the spirit realm up ahead. Apostles are fearless and bold, willing to risk anything. But they need the Prophets to help strategize so that they don’t lead the Body of Christ into situations or attacks against certain spirits the Apostle may be able to handle, but the local body is not yet equipped and trained to go up against.

 

I remember having a conversation with a Pastor and his wife, and the Pastor’s wife asked me why I had an internet ministry when I should be sharing my revelation with the Brothers and Sisters of their church. This Pastor and his wife are helping my wife and I in our marriage, so I want you to know that I love and respect these people dearly. But I also knew in my spirit that they were just not yet ready to take their church to that level. First of all it would destroy their ministry. There would be those who would leave if the Pastor allowed my teaching because I know there are some who simply do not believe that apostles and prophets exist in active ministry use today, and for another reason they do not yet have the foundation of revelation built up in the spirit of that house to handle the attacks of the ministry that apostolic houses receive. It is sometimes best to keep your mouth shut about certain issues, no matter how vital they are to the Body of Christ. While I do believe that what I am teaching about the apostles and prophets is vital to every local church, I have to pray for a more gentle way to introduce the teachings I have received, perhaps by giving the Pastor a book written by someone else, or by waiting for the Holy Spirit to arouse his curiosity? God hasn’t given me the order yet to do anything. I am waiting on Him.

 

In addition to being a strategic military advisor to the Apostle, the Prophet is both a former and commander of God’s Victorious Army along with the Apostles, aiding the Apostles in lining up every soldier in their proper rank, teaching the Body of Christ to stand shoulder to shoulder with no gaps in ministry left to fill. Prophets are like David, bringing in the Worship and Praise of God as an anointed Prophet and King. And like David, they too are able to form, equip, train, and set or mobilize into action the troops and companies of God’s soldiers He has place under their order.

 

Ezek 37:9-10 (Prophets form the army through their mantle’s authority in their prophetic utterance)

Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.’" So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.  (NKJ)

 

Judg 4:4, 6-7 (Prophets strategize and mobilize the troops (warriors) to fight and win the battle)

Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet who had become a judge in Israel…One day she sent for Barak son of Abinoam, who lived in Kedesh in the land of Naphtali. She said to him, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: Assemble ten thousand warriors from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, commander of Jabin's army, along with his chariots and warriors, to the Kishon River. There I will give you victory over him."  (NLT)    [ top of page ]

 

THE PROPHET'S DECREE & ORDER OF DIVINE COUNSEL

Amos 3:7

Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.  (NKJ)

 

Eph 3:4-6

As you read what I have written, you will understand what I know about this plan regarding Christ. God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now he has revealed it by the Holy Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. And this is the secret plan… (NLT)

 

In Amos 3:7 we see that God gives special counsel and revelation to the Prophets who serve Him, and in Ephesians 3:4-6 the Apostle Paul states that God revealed to the Apostles and Prophets what He had never revealed before to previous generations, which was the plan regarding Christ, and the secret plan (verse 6), that the Gentiles would have an equal share in God’s plan of salvation with the Jews.

 

There is an order of divine counsel within the Kingdom of God, and there is an exclusive ministry given to the apostles and prophets that no other ministry offices possess. While all believers can hear the voice of God as well as any other, within God’s established divine order, He has set apart the apostles and prophets to receive a specific order of divine counsel and revelation. This of course is not to elevate some offices above the others as far as importance goes, but I am mentioning this to explain a very important detail of God’s Divine Order.

 

I think we all can easily understand that God sets apart the whole 5-fold officers as an exclusive list of governmental officers in the Body of Christ, even though there are many different types of ministry leaders that are not necessarily 5-fold. The head of any department of ministry is a leader. Not only that, but every believer is called to lead others to Christ by their life’s example; therefore we can all say that none of the members of Christ’s Body are the tail. But within the 5-fold officers, God draws another distinction with Amos 3:7 & Ephesians 3:4-6, and other scripture references that set the apostles and prophets apart as foundational government ministries. So a distinction is made from other serving members of the Body and the 5-Fold Officers, then from the 5-Fold there are the 2 ranking Officers (the apostle and prophet), then there is another distinction that sets the apostle apart from the prophet establishing the apostle as the highest ranking ecclesiastical official in the Body of Christ.

 

What I want to focus on here is the apostle and prophets order of divine counsel. God delivers special counsel to His apostles and prophets that He does not give to the other 5-fold officers or the other members of the Body of Christ. Of course each Believer and each Pastor, Evangelist, and Teacher has their own order in which they receive divine counsel, and all of us have equal access to the Holy of Holies through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, but still there is clearly a distinction made of the divine counsel and revelation given specifically to the ministry of the apostle and prophet.

 

Deut 34:10

But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,  (NKJ)

 

As we can see from the Scripture above, God shared a special relationship with Moses that He had shared with no other Prophet up until the time this verse was written. Moses had special face to face revelation, counseling, and teaching sessions with God that no other Prophet possessed, at least not up until the time the Book of Deuteronomy was written. This does not make God a respecter of persons, nor does God like some of His children more than others. God gave Moses this special honor for the purpose of establishing His divine order. It is the same with the apostles and prophets.

 

It would be very foolish to reject the modern day movement of apostles and prophets, since they carry within their bosom the very plans, counsel, revelation, teachings, and purpose of God no other ministry officers possess. If you miss out on receiving a prophet in the name of a prophet, you will miss out on the reward a prophet has to offer. There are mysteries hidden in the treasures of God’s Word that only the Prophets and the Apostles have the keys to bring out. There are things that God wants to give to His Body that can only be given through them. They have understanding and knowledge that other ministry officers do not possess and the only way to get it is through them. You cannot go to God to get what they have for yourself. His order is set; you must get it from them. His order of divine counsel in making them responsible for delivering their special messages and hidden treasure to the Body of Christ cannot be taken away because it is set in their gifts and in their callings that cannot be canceled or taken away.

 

Rom 11:29

For God's gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.  (NLT)

 

God Himself cannot withdraw from the apostles and prophets this exclusive counsel that is meant as a benefit to the Body of Christ.

 

Col 1:25-26

God has given me (an apostle) the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his message in all its fullness... This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to his own holy people (by the apostle’s special order of divine counsel).  (NLT)

 

The Body of Christ did not get the mysteries of the Church revealed to them without the operation of the office of the apostles and prophets. God holds special meetings with the apostles and prophets in their quiet time alone with Him. He takes the Admiral and the General aside and then He gives them the strategic battle plan for the church. The Admirals and Generals then give the message to the Captains and Lieutenants, and then officers of troops of men are told what to do to mobilize the infantry. My knowledge of military rank and terms in the natural is not perfect, but I think you get the picture.

 

I can tell you this much for sure, if the Body of Christ ever wants to be all that it can be, it can never be it without accepting and cooperating with active modern day apostles and prophets. Because of the apostle and prophet’s rank and order of divine counsel given to them exclusively by God, the prophet and the apostle have a greater anointing and a higher degree of authority in the spirit realm to bring victory and order to the Body of Christ through intercessory prayer, teaching, preaching and various other forms of communication. There words MUST manifest. Their words are decreed in the heavenlies as the very words of God Himself, according to their authority within God’s innermost circle of divine counsel among men.

 

When a true Prophet speaks the word of the Lord, in the heavenlies it carries with it the same weight of authority as if God Himself is sending forth or decreeing a thing to be done. The True Prophet’s word MUST come to pass because God cannot be made a liar! A decree is “an authoritative order having the force of law”. The Prophet’s words literally become the law of God in the spirit realm and we all know that it is impossible for God to break His own law. Not only that, but all demons must obey God’s law as well. All believers possess this prophetic ability to a degree, but an apostle and prophet have a higher order in the use of decreeing a thing because of the order of counsel in which God has placed them. Apostles and Prophets mostly have this higher order of decree for the purpose of establishing divine government. No other ministry gifts have the power to establish divine government like the two foundational officers, the apostle and prophet.

 

Not only that, but no other ministry gifts have the divine ability to restore authority and power to the Body of Christ like the apostle and prophet. You see, my purpose in explaining all this is not for the Body of Christ to be in awe of these gifts, but rather to give you a divine hook up to God’s Divine order so that you can be more valuable for the Master’s use. The purpose of the apostle and prophet in having their own order of divine counsel is not so that they can walk around puffed up with revelation and not so that they can just know more than anybody else. The purpose of them having their own order of divine counsel is so that YOU can be benefited and brought into a dimension of the Spirit and authority in the Kingdom of God you cannot achieve on your own. God made it that way so that we would not depend on ourselves. We have to depend on Him and the order He established. If you want maximum authority and power it’s going to be God’s way and God’s way alone. His way always teaches us to depend on Him more and more.         [ top of page ]

 

Yours in Christ,

Apostle Randy Muse