so when it comes to the prophet not everyone is called to the Ephesians 411 Prophet but we know that we are a prophetic generation and that we are all called to hear the voice of God John 10 my sheep know me and they hear my voice you know so all of us who are followers of Jesus we hear the voice of God and there's different measures and different spheres that we all fall into and so let's talk about the five different spheres of the prophetic leading into the role of the prophet and so the first fear is this the spirit of Prophecy that all believers are called to hear the voice of God and so there's many people where we've mystified and we've hypers spiritualized this element of hearing the voice of God and we hear stories of angelic encounters and Scrolls being handed to people and audible voices and how the Lord Jesus has showed up to people and all those are true and they still happen today but let's let's let strip off the Garment of the hypers spiritual aspect and bring it down to the everyday person for people like you and I first of all we all hear the voice of God John 10 my sheep hear me and they know my voice and I know them that when we say yes to Jesus again as children of God as Sons and Daughters of God we all hear the voice of God and this is for every believer this is the first fear it's the spirit of Prophecy Y and So based upon the truth that we all hear the voice of God that when there's a spirit of Prophecy that comes into a room that we all have the ability to hear and speak what God's saying and so one of the ways that the spirit of Prophecy is released is a lot of times when there is a prophet in a room or someone that carries a an authority and a measure of the prophetic gifting where they're able to create an atmosphere with the people that creates what we call this first feere the spirit of Prophecy and so when the spirit of Prophecy is in a room it gives everyone the ability to prophesy because again you and I hear the voice of God we don't have to be a prophet to hear the voice of God but I do believe that there's this greater understanding that uh the prophethood of all believers is coming to the body of Christ where we hear the voice of God even though we're not all prophets in that sense and so under the spirit of prophet phy we all hear the voice of God and we're all called to speak what he's saying and that's the first sphere Spirit of Prophecy the second sphere is the gift of Prophecy in 1 Corinthians CH 12 it lists the 12 different gifts of the Spirit I should say the nine different gifts of the Spirit uh that comes by the Holy Spirit and one of the gifts there is the a gift of Prophecy and so the gift of Prophecy is foretelling and forthtelling it's about the future it's about telling the future and it's about causing the future through our declaration through the words through the authority as children of God we're co-creating with god with our words and that is the essence of the prophetic so the gift of Prophecy is this person is recognized by those who they minister to that they they strengthen they encourage and they Comfort this is the New Testament basis of pro prophetic Ministry the operation of the gift of Prophecy which is in 1 Corinthians 14:3 it's to strengthen are my words strengthening those around me all those who are hearing is it strengthening them is it building them up is it encouraging them and is it comforting them it's to edify to build up and to call near to comfort means to draw near and call near to encourage is to to to uh build up it's to Str it's to build up are are you building them up and to strengthen is to uh to just edify them in terms of who they are and so that is to give the prophecy the third sphere is a recognized prophetic Ministry at a local level and so these ones are recognized by the local church the the the body that you're connected with where they see The credibility of the operation of your words where they can affirm and confirm that at a local level they there's credibility of the words that you've spoken that people have spoken that have come to pass and so these ones are encouraged to prophesy to individuals along with en they encouraged to speak the prophetic word um to the larger local body for example we have people in our church that I encourage during our service we you know they come to me uh um before our service starts and they say during prayer this is what we heard the Lord say you know and I have people coming to me reporting back to me this is what we sense the Lord's going to do in this service and then I encourage them you know what uh when you see the time when you feel the time is right if the Lord saying anything else to you in the midst of worship come up and we want to release this word or release any other words that the Lord has shown you or spoken to you and this is because they have we've recognized the prophetic on their life The credibility the character uh you and the reputation at that level and so and they're they're always encouraging they're they're they're comforting they're they're building up you know and they're edifying and so uh these ones are known to have the prophetic Ministry at a local level and then the fourth sphere is one who's recognized with a prophetic Ministry at a translocal level a one that goes beyond the local whole body but now is received by others uh beyond their own local church or Community they have impact on other churches they have impact on other Ministries you know sometimes you know they receive phone calls of when you know what do you sense the Lord is saying what do you sense the Lord is doing right now and people begin to pull on them people begin to hear them you know to hear the voice of God you know they they build a reputation beyond the walls of the church where now the it's more than just a local body that hears the words that they're releasing and they see the words come to pass so now they have reputation and credibility Beyond just their own Community they're known for their accuracy they're known for their character and most of all they're known for their love they're known for their love for the body of Christ they're known for their love to hear the voice of God and for people to hear what God's saying to the church today and then we step into the fit sphere which we call the the the Ascension gift of the uh you know we call it the office of the Prophet but the more the the more accurate term I would propose is the Ephesians 4:11 Prophet you know this is this is the prophet that you know it's you know how do you know if one's a prophet versus just having a prophetic Ministry you know just think of this statement you know as if a person was to say if that is not a prophet I don't know who is you know and some modern day prophets that have personally influenced my life directly would be people like Cindy Jacobs Chris valtin you know louel Bob Jones Bobby Connor you know and then just in our own generation these are the pioneers and the Patriarchs and the fathers and mothers you know um you know Patricia King Stacy K we could go on and on there's so many others that I don't know but then even in our very own generation we have people like Jeremy Nelson you know we have other prophetic voices you know that God is raising up up today um you know Sammy Robinson you know uh you know Jamie Galloway and we could go on and on you know who have you know who have influence you know as as and received as a prophet to our generation today you know again there's many others but these ones you know they are called to the office of the prophet and according to the Bible according to the word of God one of the signs that you're a prophet is that you've been invited into to the council room of heaven and so a lot of the prophets they've you know they have experiences whether they've shared it publicly or not have had their own experience in being invited into the council room of heaven where they were sitting around the table amongst the other prophets of old in modern day and so you know another one uh that I could immediately think of sha BS God has raised him up to be a prophet in our generation you you know and so there's many others and so the office of the Prophet has incredible Christlike character you know they they move they have this love and this capacity to love the people to love the church to love the world you know they hear the voice of God there's that credibility where the world receives them as a prophet and so how do you know if you're a prophet or not number one you you have to believe it in your heart there has to be a conviction and it's a calling you know has Christ called you to be a prophet and then second there has to be a confirmation you know has other leaders confirm this in your life you know other leaders that are that are um you know just recognized you know and received as prophets and apostles today you know or maybe your own church and there's different measures as well as a prophet it could be local to you could be a prophet in your own house you know to the local church you could be a prophet to your city you could be a prophet to the region or the nation or other nations but you know what you receive you will know in the convergence of your own personal conviction of your calling the recognition of leaders on your life along with you being received uh to the you know by the body of Christ as a prophet when those things converge you know based upon your calling your character and your charisma you know that you are operating at an office level as the prophet these are the five spheres of the prophetic and again not everyone is called to the Ephesians 4:11 Prophet but you could be prophetic and have the primary gift of the prophetic based upon the 1 Corinthians chapter 12 gifts from the Holy Spirit operating in your life and I would encourage you where within the five spheres is your measure and when you identify it operate from that with confidence dependent on the Holy Spirit and continue to grow in your gifting to hear the voice of God