Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself—Ephesians 2:20.
THIS IS THE SPECIFIC HOUSE OF FAITH WE LIVE IN AND WE BUILD ONLY ON THIS FOUNDATION. New Jerusalem is founded on these FOUNDATIONAL APOSTLES.
The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb— Revelation 21:14 NLT.
NOTICE THERE ARE ONLY TWELVE Apostles of the Lamb NOT multiple upon multiple Apostles because ONLY twelve were needed and there are no more foundational Apostles. The foundation has already been perfectly laid and The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the Cornerstone; without this understanding many have been deceived by devils in thinking they are called to be such Offices and many scriptural illiterate people follow them into what has been called “the spiritual junk heap”. If they knew the Word and understood there are no more Old Covenant Prophets nor are there New Covenant foundational Apostles they wouldn’t waste a millisecond on these people the moment they recognize them by their fruit.
THE ONLY PART OF THE BIBLE THAT IS STILL BEING WRITTEN IS THE BOOK OF ACTS.
Much of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements— though birthed by God went off into error over this very issue. False prophets, apostles and teachers came to prominence, as Paul predicted to his generation, and created movements like the shepherding era in the late sixties and early seventies. There have been several other waves through the decades - even centuries of people who lack this Light and have been led by "false holy spirits"; thus false apostles, prophets, and teachers but not necessarily false brethren; some are sincere but untrained and we must consider this in our thinking when dealing these precious souls that our Lord Jesus died for. In the New Covenant we do not execute capital punishment on those who are deceiving and being deceived -2 Timothy 3:13 - but we entreat them - 2 Timothy 2:25.
BEFORE THE DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST THAT RATIFIED THE NEW COVENANT;
Only three groups of people had the Holy Spirit. The Prophet, The High Priest and The Judge; later on the Kingship was established, around 1020 BC and was grafted into the equation. This structure of government was established by the office of The Prophet (specifically Moses, then Samuel after the children of Israel asked for a earthly King) even though it predates Moses; Abraham and Melchizedek, the king of Salem (founder of Jerusalem) and High Priest of ʼĒl ʻElyōn “God Most High”. He is first mentioned in Genesis 14:18–20. However, before Moses these offices were confederates with respect for each other, e.g. - Abraham a Prophet, (Genesis 20:7) recognized Melchizedek as High Priest and tithed to The Lord through him - Genesis 14:18-20 - but they were not necessarily branches of government in the State of Israel. They simply had to recognize the Anointing on each other - something we must do today. By Joshua's time they were a chosen few, Prophet, High Priest, Judge — to oversee a nation that could not be born again nor had the Holy Spirit in every citizen. Something we get to enjoy today as born-again believers in Christ.
THE OLD COVENANT PROPHET
A real Old Covenant Prophet of God had to speak infallibly, zero contradictions of the established Word. Whatever (present-tense) Word of knowledge was spoken had to be spot on, as well as, a prediction; what we call today as a (future-tense) Word of Wisdom had to come to pass or they were NOT to be feared and they were to receive capital punishment - a death sentence— Deuteronomy 13:1–5. This is because they had no CANON OF THE WORD OF GOD and the Holy Spirit was NOT yet given; no one was able to be born-again yet.
There were Major Prophets and Minor Prophets.
Some Old Covenant Prophets never wrote down their Prophecies, that we know of, but all Prophets had to register the Prophecy publicly to whom it was given and with the Priests. This is fully illustrated in Jeremiah:
Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the Lord:
6 Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord in the ears of the people in the Lord's house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.
7 It may be they will present their supplication before the Lord, and will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the Lord hath pronounced against this people.
8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house.
Jeremiah's assistant or what we could call today "help minister" even the term "armor bearer" would write down the Prophet's holy utterances. He was called Baruch (pronounced "buh-rook").
CHAPTER 36 details how Jeremiah dictated his prophecies to Baruch, who then wrote them down on a scroll and read them to the Priests and the people. Now, the specifics in Chapter 36 are plagued with the unrighteousness of the ruler of his day; Jeremiah and Baruch had to go into hiding but setting aside the variables of the situation; the Prophet usually keep themselves separated or "shut up" (verse 5) often in caves. They wrote down the prophecies, (usually had an assistant), Their Words of (present tense) knowledge, only known by the Spirit of God without natural information were 100% accurate and any (future tense) word of wisdom about what will happen would also pan out with 100% accuracy. This is how they established their authenticity. They were to be respected - even reverently feared because they represented God to the people. They had supreme authority, yet with accountability and proven fruit; even Kings would have to honor them or face catastrophic failure. Righteous Kings and people would crave their Word for direction and even correction - Proverbs 9:8.
The Prophet, the Priest, the Judge/King and the scribe were essential to be led by God for the Old Covenant child of Abraham. Obedience to them was absolutely necessary for health, wealth and wisdom.
There was a peer review with the three Anointed offices, thus, accountability.
If an error was spoken it was a death sentence.
Some were foundational Prophets like Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah that in part established THE CANON of the Word of God, All were like Samuel ...the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.-1 Samuel 3:19 ESV.
THE NEW COVENANT FIVE-FOLD OFFICE
In this present DISPENSATION of the New Covenant which was established by the Death, Burial and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ have the Five-fold offices and their ranks - Apostle, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers - Ephesian 4:11 & 1 Corinthians 12:28. These Offices are to be respected with the same regard as their Old Covenant counterparts and with the same "peer review accountability".
However, there is a different relationship dynamic for the born-again child of God - WE HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT ALSO. That was NOT true in the rebelling of Korah - Numbers 16 - but is true in the New Covenant. We are all Priests and Kings in Christ Jesus. The relationship to the Anointing Of God (which is the Holy Spirit Himself) is the same and must be treated with reverential fear and awe, no matter who God is using at the time but the paradigm is different. We are no longer spiritually dead beings - we are born-again children of God with God's DNA on the inside of us. The Old Covenant person did not have the Spirit of God; the Prophet had to be like a guru to an undiscerning spiritually dead people.
The Church was NEVER meant to be a one man show.
Today the relationship is brother to brother - God speaking through each of us in our respective gifts and callings, "deep calling deep" - Psalm 42:7. Thus, there is a sure red flag, that something is amiss when an individual sets themselves above others and puts others in fear of them and NOT the fear of Lord -Acts 10:26, Revelation 19:10 & 22:9.
ALL MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS CONVICTION TO THE WORLD OF SIN AND REVELATION & COMFORT TO THE BELIEVER
... When He comes, He will convict and convince the world and bring demonstration to it about sin and about righteousness (uprightness of heart and right standing with God) and about judgment: John 16:8 AMPC &... I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever— John 14:16 AMPC.
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; Ephesians 2:20 KJV.
There are no more foundational Apostles, Prophets Old or New Covenant and all Biblical Pastoring and teaching must be founded on THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORD OF GOD that has already been laid by the HOLY SPIRIT.
Every false prophet, teacher will add, take away or ignore the established Word of God - They even redefine definitions of words to support their heresies. Therefore no Prophetic Word or Doctrine can contradict the CANON of the Word of God - this a safety measure for us and another red flag for the believer to reject the false prophet/teacher and get as far away from them as quickly as possible. No Five-Fold Offices, can add, subtract or redefine the Word of God, there ARE NO NEW FOUNDATIONAL REVELATIONS.
These gifts (Five-Fold Offices) are to impart Light toward the full counsel of God in Christ Jesus with encouragement, comfort, direction and/or correction based on this holy foundation. The Prophetic (present-tense) words of knowledge should be 100% accurate like the Old Covenant Prophet and a (future-tense) Word of knowledge must be 100% accurate or the individual is NOT a Prophet - They maybe a sincere believer that is getting an unction or an impression from the Holy Spirit with a high percentage of accuracy (as all believer can operate in) but they are NOT in the Office a Prophet and it is very dangerous to assume the Office of a Prophet just because the believer is hearing from the Lord. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God -Romans 8;14 NKJV. Romans 8:14 IS NOT SAYING THAT AS MANY AS ARE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, THESE ARE THE PROPHETS OF GOD.
Every believer has the Holy Spirit. All prophetic utterances in their respective Gifts or Offices are to be given FROM A HEART OF LOVE, to comfort, direct and if necessary to admonish and correct. All forms should be a confirmation of what is already in the believers spirit - "If they have an ear to hear" or if they do not incline their ear; the Word can be confirmed by two or more witness in the Scriptures. It should never come out of nowhere and it should be judged (peer reviewed) by "Positioned Elders" and the Pastorship to bear witness with or to show it does not fall in line with the Word - this is a safety measure to protect from error and usurpation. A New Covenant Prophet is Not a Pastor and is Not Anointed to usurp the God given authority over the Pastorship's flock.
New Testament Prophets are not rulers like they were in the Old Covenant even though they should be highly respected - The word "ruler", concerning the Body of Christ is not mentioned in New Testament leadership, it is only concerning the State of Israel - Acts 23:4-6,Exodus 22:28. The New Testament Five-Fold Offices are Anointed to LEAD over freewill submission, not ruled over by coercion. The primary role of a New Covenant Prophet is to speak God's word, delivering messages of guidance, encouragement, and sometimes rebuke and correct but they do not have the biblical authority to usurp the New Covenant Pastorship over their flock.
This is a red flag of a misapplied ministry (at best by a sincere brother or sister; at worst; a false brother or sister) NO ONE HAS ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY OVER ANOTHER IN CHRIST JESUS; HOWEVER, THERE IS THE ABSOLUTE FREEWILL SUBMISSION TO THE ANOINTING ON A BROTHER OR SISTER WHILE THE ANOINTING IS ON THEM.
The position of the Prophet is different in the New Covenant than the Old Covenant;
he is not the highest ranking office in the Body of Christ and is Not to be followed blindly (NO ONE IS) especially outside the established Word of God.
The goal of all prophetic utterance, Pastoring, preaching and teaching is: TO BE RECEIVED OF... Love [which springs] from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith - 1 Timothy 1:5. To declare the whole counsel of God and nothing is to be given by coveting another's silver, or gold, or apparel - Acts 20;27, 33-35 respectively.