The Prophet’s Office

Why a Prophet’s Office in the Grace Dispensation?

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:”

Eph 4:11-13

The above passages lists what is commonly referred to as the “ministry offices.” While it is acknowledged that everyone in the body of Christ has a “ministry”,¹ this list of designations does not include everyone in the b of c. This is a list of those men who occupy the teaching and preaching offices of the church.

Not every minister performs all these offices. For instance, a preacher/teacher, would not necessarily have to be a pastor. Conversely, a pastor would necessarily have to be a teacher,² act as apostles by planting new ministries and congregations, and all would be called to “do the work of an evangelist,”³ ie, preach the gospel.

But what about “prophets?”

Since those of us who adhere to the doctrine of right division, and believe that the scriptures are complete in a King James Bible,⁴ teach that all prophecy is now revealed, what would be the purpose of a prophet in the present dispensation (grace)?⁵

To answer this question we need to look at the calling and purpose of the Old Testament Prophets. In Isaiah, the first and longest of the OT prophecies, the very first thing the prophet does is issue a warning to his hearers,⁶ not just of the impending doom that awaits them, but against the behavior of the people–especially of the political and religious leadership–exposing it for what it is, sin, in the withering, opening salvo:　

Isa 1:2-16

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

In effect, what he is saying, in a not very kind way, is their religious posturing is vain in God’s eyes, that God sees through it and calls them to repentance.

For sure, there is an equal amount of space in the prophets devoted to foretelling of future events, e.g., the future new covenant with Israel, and a proper understanding of this is needful for those of us in the grace dispensation; if for no other reason than to be able to see where all this belongs in God’s plan for the ages. But the more important function of the prophets office for us is that of exposing the errors and pretensions of the contemporary religious system, by scriptural exegesis, over and against the truth of the mystery, and warning the body of Christ not to get entrapped in these heretical systems. For preachers and teachers to avoid this duty, as Martin Luther phrased it, “is mere flight and disgrace” from their God ordained responsibility.

Some grace believers get “put out” with this kind of preaching, exclaiming that preachers who dwell at all on this are contaminated with a “critical” spirit.

“Why don’t they just preach the gospel and exposit on the promises, and leave these other religions and religious systems alone? All this does is turn people off.”

Equally as offensive to the “just preach the gospel” crowd, is the preacher who dares to point out the gross inequities and iniquities of the political class. But would this class not also be involved in the same kind of ungodly, unlawful behavior as the religious class? Just because they don’t claim to be God’s ministers, should they get a “pass” from the minister’s of righteousness? I think not.

I ask these gainsayers this: what is more important to possess? God’s approval, or man’s approval? Contrary to the common thinking, you can’t have it both ways, folks.

One important reason why a preacher should expose the errors of the religious/political system is revealed by the famous “watchman” passages in the prophecy of Ezekiel:

Ezek 3:17-19

Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Of course, nobody who is saved into the body of Christ will lose their soul for failing to warn the wicked (this is a dispensational distinction), but they, particularly preachers and teachers, will “suffer loss” nonetheless. Listen to the Apostle Paul issue a similar warning (to Ezekiel’s warning) in his letters to the Corinthians and the Colossians:

1 Cor 3:10-14

10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Col. 3:23-25

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

Any preacher or teacher who shrinks back from his prophetic duty to expose, in no uncertain terms, those who pervert the truth for their own worldly gain and warn the body of Christ to reject them, so as not to appear too critical or suffer the loss of church members who are offended by this, is going to “receive for the wrong he has done”, and suffer loss for it at the judgment seat of Christ. If he⁸ is unwilling to do this, he would be far better off to abdicate his office, and take his place back in the congregation.

Mike Schroeder

Please feel free to publish this article abroad. All Scripture references and quotations are from the King James Bible.

Post Script

Are you saved? Jesus Christ—“who knew no sin”—and his sacrificial death on the Cross, has made the way for “everyone that believeth…to be reconciled to God. History has shown that whatever peace man has achieved in the world can only be temporary. The Bible says that individual men and women can know, beyond a doubt, that they are saved and bound for heaven, and therefore have absolute and permanent peace, regardless of what is going on in the world, by trusting Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for their eternal salvation. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Have you done this? If not, why not now?

Notes