01.58. Excerpt18 - The Leaders - The Prophets

Excerpt18 - The Leaders - The Prophets The prophet in his day is fully accepted of God
and totally rejected by men. In a day of faceless politicians
and voiceless preachers,
there is not a more urgent national need
than that we cry to God for a prophet! The prophet is God’s detective seeking for lost
spiritual treasures. The degree of his
effectiveness is determined by the measure of
his unpopularity.
Compromise is not known to him.
He has no price tags.
He is totally "otherworldly."
He is unquestionably controversial
and unpardonable hostile.
He marches to another drummer!
He breathes the rarefied air of inspiration.
He is a "seer" who comes to lead the blind.
He lives in the heights with God and comes
into the valley with a "Thus saith the Lord."
He shares some of the foreknowledge of God,
and so is aware of Impending judgment.
He lives "in splendid isolation."
He is forthright and outright,
but he claims no birthright.
His message is, "Repent, be reconciled to God,
or else.... I"
His prophecies are parried.
His truth brings torment,
but his voice is never void.
He is the villain of today
and the hero of tomorrow.
He is excommunicated while alive
and exalted when dead!
He is dishonored with epithets when breathing
and honored with epitaphs when dead.
He is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, but
few "make the grade" in his class.
He is friendless while living and
famous when dead.
He is against the "establishment" in ministry -
then established as a "saint" by posterity.
Daily he eats the bread of affliction while he ministers,
but he feeds the Bread of life to those who listen.
He walks before men for days,
but has walked before God for years.
He is a scourge to the nation
before he is scourged by the nation.
He announces, pronounces, and denounces!
He has a heart like a volcano
and his words are as fire.
The prophet is violated during his ministry,
but he is vindicated by history. There is a terrible vacuum in Evangelical
Christianity today.
The missing person in our ranks is the prophet.
The man with a terrible earnestness.
The man totally other-worldly.
The man rejected by other men,
even other good men,
because they consider him too austere,
too severely committed,
too negative and unsociable.