Summary: as prophets we must be ready to speak the truth and the ungirded truth and must hear the lords voice continually

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 ?