Acts 21:10-14 “And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. (11) When he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.' “(12) Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. (13) Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." (14) So, when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, "The will of the Lord be done.”
By looking at the rest of this account in scripture, we can learn some further truths about how the saints under the new covenant are to interact with the guidance aspect of the prophet’s ministry today. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see that the prophet Agabus came down from Jerusalem to give a word from the Lord to Paul. Paul and his companions were staying in Caesarea at the time, and they were still on route to Jerusalem. We have already seen that before Agabus ever got to Paul that Paul was well aware of what the will of the Lord was, and also what to expect when he got to Jerusalem. Another very important point to note from this account is that Paul did not go to Agabus to get a word from the Lord, but rather the other way around i.e. the Lord sent Agabus to Paul to deliver His word. And so let us pick up the account from there. Agabus delivered an accurate word from the Lord to Paul. I want you to notice that Agabus gave Paul a word of knowledge and not a word of wisdom, for he just told Paul what to expect, not what to do. He also did not tell Paul anything that Paul didn’t already know in his own spirit. He just confirmed what Paul already knew. Paul’s companions then missed it, because they thought that Agabus was trying to warn Paul not to go to Jerusalem. But Agabus didn’t say that at all, and Paul knew that. And so from what we have seen in scripture, let me summarize how the saints under the new covenant are to interact with the prophet’s ministry today, (I am only referring to the guidance aspect of the prophet’s ministry here, because that is the focus of this teaching). Under the new covenant the saints are not to go to the prophet for guidance, but rather the prophet is to go to the saints. Let me explain what I mean. It is not scriptural for saints to go to prophets and ask them for words of guidance from the Lord. It is definitely not scriptural for prophets today, to invite saints to come to them for words of guidance. Any prophets doing this practice today are either speaking that which they make up themselves, or if there is any form of the supernatural in their words of guidance, they are divining by familiar spirits and not delivering the word of the Lord. Under the new covenant the Lord sends His prophets to the churches primarily to preach and teach the gospel. However, part of the prophet’s ministry is also to operate in the revelation gifts of the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge and the discerning of spirits. When the prophet ministers in the churches, he or she will be led by the Holy Spirit (as He wills) to give revelation words to individual saints in the congregation. And so as far as guidance is concerned under the new covenant, the Lord sends His prophets to the saints and not the other way around. Also under the new covenant, the prophet’s (guidance) ministry will always be words of confirmation of what the saint has already received from the Lord in their own spirits. For as we saw earlier in this teaching, the prophet under the new covenant does not always accurately deliver the word of the Lord (remember the prophets in Tyre got it wrong). This is why it is very important for the saints to develop their own relationship with the Holy Spirit, so that they can know His will for their lives through their own spirits. That way they can judge for themselves whether the prophets’ word delivered to them is accurate or not. You can readily see that the saint who does not know the leading of the Lord for themselves, and then gets an inaccurate word from the prophet, can land up in trouble by acting on that word. Under the new covenant the Lord does not send His prophets to His saints to give them words of guidance, that He has not already been dealing with them about. This particular aspect of the prophet’s ministry when manifested as the Holy Spirit wills is a real blessing. In the past, I have been on both the receiving end, and the delivering end of this ministry. And it has always brought great blessing to both myself and the Lord’s saints when manifested.
Michael E.B. Maher
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