Receiving a prophet or righteous person brings corresponding rewards (Matt 10:40–41)—a principle rooted in the connection between hospitality toward God’s messengers and blessing. When someone welcomes Jesus’s representatives, they effectively welcome Christ himself and the Father who sent him (Matt 10:40–41).
In the New Testament, prophets operated with a specific calling and purpose. They were spiritual leaders uniquely gifted to receive and communicate direct revelation from God through the Holy Spirit[1]. Rather than serving primarily as fortune-tellers, their main purpose was to edify—to build up—the church, which Paul identified as the purpose of all spiritual gifts including prophecy[2]. They functioned as Spirit-filled speakers called by God to warn, challenge, comfort, encourage and build up God’s people[1].
The prophetic calling involved multiple dimensions. Like Old Testament prophets, New Testament prophets exposed sin, spoke about what is right by God’s standards, warned of judgment, and battled worldliness and spiritual complacency[1]. They predicted future events, announced judgments, acted symbolically, and their prophetic insights led to missionary efforts[3]. However, their messages were not infallible and had to be evaluated by the church and other prophets, tested against God’s Word, with congregations required to discern whether a prophet’s message truly came from God[1].
Importantly, while some occupied the formal role of prophet, others exercised the gift of prophecy, and having the gift did not necessarily mean someone held the ministry office of prophet[4]. The prophetic function remained essential to the church’s spiritual health and development.
[1] J. Wesley Adams and Donald C. Stamps, Fire Bible (Springfield, MO: Life Publishers International, 2011). [See here, here, here, here.]
[2] R. Douglas Geivett and Holly Pivec, God’s Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014), 56.
[3] Randy Hatchett, “Prophecy, Prophets,” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, ed. Chad Brand et al. (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1335.
[4] Guy P. Duffield and Nathaniel M. Van Cleave, Foundations of Pentecostal Theology (Los Angeles, CA: Foursquare Media, 2016), 73.
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