God's Touchpoints - The Prophetic Era (Part 4)Sample

THE EARLY PROPHETS Christ’s followers are called and commissioned to be disciples. Disciples are very similar, 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 legacy of kings begin to degenerate irrecoverably, prophets come to the frontline. 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 mouthpiece • 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 deviation 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 successfully 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 and correct their ways and vice versa. One of the prophets (1 Kings 20) asks a man to strike and wound him to facilitate the message he had to convey 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 by God after rejecting the advice of Michiah a true prophet (1 Kings 22). 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 (Deuteronomy 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 the 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 ready to pursue our high calling and speak truth in the midst of falsehood? Do we communicate in creative ways to ensure our message gets across effectively?