5 Smooth Stones

word used for apostle in the New Testament, “But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and sco ff ed at His prophets...” In the New Testament the apostle is given so much authority that Jesus chose to only ordain apostles while He was on earth and allowed them to birth the other New Testament ministries, including the prophet ministry. Throughout the New Testament apostles and prophets are teamed up with one another. Prophets and apostles seemed to have been a tt racted to one another (see Acts 11 & 21, Acts 15:40). There are records of apostles functioning without prophets in New Testament scripture, but not prophets functioning without apostolic ministry in fl uence. This is clearly di ff erent than in the Old Testament. The Spirit of God has increased the potential for all believers in the New Testament because now all Christians have the Spirit of the Resurrec tion through Christ. The calling of a prophet is not any less now, nor the potential power or e ff ect any less now. Nor are the standards any lower than for the Old Testament prophet. There are misunderstandings in regard to the New Testament prophet, however, primarily due to not understanding the ministry of the Old Testament prophet. For instance, those who expect any New Testament prophets to foretell future events should take a closer look at the fi rst man in the Old Testament who is called a prophet, Abraham. There is not as single record of Abraham foretelling anything. Yet in the New Testament Jesus said he would give the spirit to every believer, and the spirit would show them future things. John 16:13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” Those who interpret Old Testament scriptures to mean that every prophecy must absolutely come to pass or the prophet must be severely punished or even killed should look closer at some of the well-known prophets of old who had prophecies that did not come to pass. Jonah is one obvious one. Not a single word of his prophecy to Nineveh came to pass. Yet no one suggested he was a false prophet, nor did any one suggest stoning him. God changed His mind because the Ninevites changed their actions. People who have such a narrow interpretation of prophecy discount the nature of God where mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:12). Likewise, New Testament prophecy is often contingent upon the receptivity or lack thereof of those receiving the word. Another good example is found 82