Daily Bread MAY/31/14 Acts 21:10-11 - And we remained many days in which a prophet came from Judea named Agabus. And when He was come to us and he had taken Pauls belt he bound his own hands and feet saying this is what the Holy Spirit says, the man who owns this belt shall be bound in this way by the Jews in Jerusalem and given over into the hands of Gentiles. In the New Testament a prophet is noted for several things one of which is the word of knowledge. The primary effect that the word of knowledge should have on people is to reveal Jesus and call them to salvation (1 Corinthians 14:24-25; John 1:49; 4:19). The first prophet mentioned in the New Testament is John the Baptist (Matthew 11:9; Luke 1:76, 7:28). The second was Jesus who was also regarded as a prophet (Matthew 13:57, 21:11; Luke 13:33, 24:19; John 7:40). When Moses spoke of the Messiah that would come he called Him a prophet (Acts 3:22; 7:37; Deuteronomy 18:15-16,19). A total of seven prophets are named in the book of Acts: Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, Judas, Silas and Agabus (Acts 13:1, 15:32, 21:10). When Jesus was talking with the woman at the well and told her that she had been married five times and was living with a man that was not her husband she said, sir, I perceive that you are a prophet (John 4:19). A similar word of knowledge had altogether a different effect on Nathaniel who through the word of knowledge that was given to him by Jesus said, Master, you are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel (John 1:49). Of all the prophets mentioned in the New Testament those that we know the most about are Jesus and John the Baptist. The primary characteristic of their ministries was to call men to repentance so that they might come into the Kingdom of God (Matthew 3:2, 4:17; Mark 1:15, 6:12). We know that God has put prophets in the ministry of the church and therefore so long as there is a church there will be prophets (1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11). Today all of these ministry gifts, such as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, are the leaders of the churches and usually grouped in the category of pastors. The one outstanding exception is the evangelists. However, those evangelists that are most effective usually also have a pastoral role in some capacity. This is not because a pastoral role is essential but the gifting itself is interwoven with the fabric of the church.
Posted on: Sat, 31 May 2014 15:19:28 +0000
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