giving honor to god whose the head of my life
turn with me if you will to the book of deuteromney 13 :1-3 and we also are going to visit ch 18 verses 21 -22
prayer
As Christ followers are called and commissioned to be disciples . disciples are very similar and can identify with prophets and encourage and sharpen ourselves by learning of the impact their lives made after surmounting the challenges .
as the lives and the legacy of kings begin to degenerate irrecoverably ,prophets come to the front line . patriarchs ,judges ,priests ,kings ,and even others play a prophetic role .
power and price tag of prophets
prophets :
* Have one purpose -to be god's mouthpieces
.* Have high influence - access to leaders
* have to sacrifice their personal lives for the cause when required
. * were most often unpopular
they have great power which comes with a great price tag ,suffering bad
consequences for :
* speaking god's truth
*smallest devotion to disobeying god
on the flip side ,it is the price of disobedience that is the highest price they have to pay .
the man of god in 1 kings 13 paid with his life after prophesying to Jeroboam the king , but failing to adhere to the lord's command not to tarry on the return journey .
good kings take heed to the prophets , good apostles take heed to prophets good prophets take heed to apostles and correct their ways vice versa .
one of the prophets (1 kings 20) asks a man to strike him and wound him to facilitate the message to king Ahab the man declines and is struck dead . when eventually wounded he conveys dramatically to the king that his days are numbered for sparing benhadad ,the enemy leader
Ahab loses his life in a twist of justice when he falls prey to a lying spirit set up not by the enemy but by god after reject the advice of a true prophet .
popularity prophets :
throughout the ages ,for every true prophet there are several false prophets . false prophets preach what they know people will like
signs of popularity prophets are :
* their prophecies prove to be false (deuteromney 18:21-22)
* they do not keep or advocate god's commands ( Deuteronomy 13:1-3)
*they are wolves in sheep's clothing ( Matt 7 :16)
we live in a age " when they will not endure sound doctrine ; but having itching ears , they shall heap to themselves teachers in accordance with their own lusts"- 2 tim 4:3
are we as prophets ready to pursue our high calling and speak the truth in the midst of falsehood ? do we communicate in creative ways to ensure our message gets across effectively ?
