FIVE SMOOTH STONES - The Five Ascension Gifts in the Heavenly Shepherds Bag

FIVE SMOOTH STONES — The Five Ascension Gifts in the Heavenly Shepherd’s Bag

33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the Churches of the saints ."

When the apostle Paul said, “let the prophets speak, and let the others judge” he used the Greek word allos for our word “other.” There was another option for our word “other,” that being the Greek word heteros. The difference, which is clear in Greek, and is not obvious in English, is that allos means “other of the same kind” and heteros means “other of a different kind.” We get our word heterosexual, meaning “sexual orientation to persons of the opposite sex” from this word. Allos means “other of the same category” (Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, “allos expresses a numerical difference and denotes another of the same sort”). So when Paul said to let others of the same kind judge the prophetic word, it was clear he meant other prophets, who would be expected to have spiritual discernment and prophetic insight. Another reason for a prophet to judge other prophets’ words is that each knows in part and prophesies in part and by allowing others of the same kind to judge, they may be able to bring more information or light to the word, which would increase the understanding of what the Spirit is saying. The New Testament prophetic ministry is part of a team. New Testament prophetic ministry sees in part and prophesies in part. This is another reason why it is necessary for the prophetic to be part of a team or company and not fall into the stereotypical lone ranger type mentality. This is not to say that the ability or resolve to stand alone if necessary is not an admirable and necessary part of the prophetic ministry. In fact, all Christians should realize that they may be tested in their convictions and should be able to stand against adversity with the Lord alone if necessary. The prophetic ministry all the more since often it will see things that are not as though they are before others have a witness or a vision which confirms what the prophetic is receiving. The strength of the ministry must be in the Lord, however, and not in the revelation, and their confidence must be in their relationship with Him and not whether the word is immediately received or not. Patience is more

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