Prophetic Vision
Outline
Sunday night, December 14, 2003
Text: Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.
Introduction:
A. There was always a special relationship between the king and prophet in the land of Israel. The king was responsible for protecting the nation from enemies and for providing justice to all the people. The prophet spoke to the people and to the king and called them to obedience to God’s laws. It was the responsibility of the people to behave morally, and the prophet was there to remind them.
B. We live in a society where restraint is wearing thin.
1. The State of Wisconsin barred the use of God’s names in the singing of Christmas carols, ordering them instead to use some other words in its place.
2. The Supreme Court of Massachusetts ruled that the state’s constitution did not bar gay couples from marriage. Vermont already recognizes homosexual union.
3. Add to it the increasing acceptableness of vulgarity in broadcast and print media, and it is obvious to see where our nation is headed morally.
C. There is a bit of a preoccupation with political machinery in the church world as a means of forcing social change. However, the Biblical pattern is not for the institutions of faith to take over the political arena and force change, but to speak to the society in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit.
Proposition: The Spirit-filled believer speaks as a prophet to society in the hope of restoring God’s blessing to the nation.
Interrogative: How important is the prophetic voice to the nation?
Transition: The prophetic voice communicates God’s laws directly to the people.
I. Proclaims a Vision of God’s Righteousness
a. A righteousness that is set in stone. There is a great deal of symbolism in the fact that the ten commandments were written in stone. They weren’t meant to be flexible statements of morality. They are the unchangeable commands to all people from the living God. They were not only written in stone, but they were written by God’s own hand.
b. Yet, how many of them are considered to be immoral in our society, today? Does it offend the conscience of society when the name of some other god is proclaimed? What about when people use the name of God I a profane way? Is there still some sense of tragedy when people skip attending the house of worship? What about when commerce carries on as usual on the day of rest, requiring employees to work seven day weeks? A person can violate everyone of the commandments call human kind to worship God and such a one may yet be considered to be a good person.
c. And what about the commandments that call people to respect each other? Do children have to honor their parents? Sometimes? Is adultery still immoral? Is theft an absolute wrong? Is murder? Is perjury? Greed? Are these absolute, or is someone held to account depending on who they are and who represents them in court? What about extenuating circumstances?
d. We are a people of God, and what we proclaim is what John the Baptist and Jesus proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.”
b. A God who answers with signs. It wasn’t enough for a people just to hear the righteousness of God proclaimed. People are by nature hard hearted, and sometimes they need more than be spoken to, they need to be struck. Elijah challenged the false prophets to have their God call down fire. Of course, none came in response to their prayers. Yet, when Elijah prayed, fire came down and burnt up the water soaked sacrifice. That day every priest of Baal in Israel was put to the sword. Jesus preached God’s righteousness on the mountain. When he came down, he healed everyone who came to him. When Paul preached Jesus, a fortune teller taunted him, and so he cursed him with blindness.
c. A prophet unafraid to challenge the morality of rulers. John the Baptist not only called people to repentance, but he cried out against the affair that Herod was having with his sister-in-law. When David covered up his affair with Bathsheba, it was the prophet Nathan who challenged him. When Saul disobeyed God, it was Samuel who called him to account.
d. In recent years, when the rulers of society practiced immorality, it was the media who exposed it. The so-called leaders of the faith piled-on without grace or righteousness, but rather for the purpose of self-glorification. It is the prophets who speak directly to the rulers, those whose behavior is seen by society. When society is inclined to overlook immorality, that is when we speak. Not with self-righteous anger, but with an invitation to repent and receive God’s mercy.
II. Prevents Wickedness from Gaining Mastery Over the Society
a. Without the prophet, the Israelites worshipped a statue. Moses was thought to be dead, so they reverted back to worshipping an idol. They proved that they worshipped God only so long as there was a visible promise or a threat. But is that any different today? Isn’t the saying of the day, “If it doesn’t hurt anyone else, then it should be acceptable?”
b. Without the prophet, the Israelites intermarried. During the exile, the Israelites married people who were not Jewish. Without the prophet speaking in the church, the same thing happens. So-called believers turn to men and women who do not follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. They join their lives and bodies, both of which are meant for service to God, and give them to people who consider a good life to be “a good job, a good woman, some toys, and everyone leaving me alone.” That isn’t godly, that is worldly, a complete waste of the life that God gave, and a complete abandonment of the Spirit that God imparted at salvation.
c. Without the prophet, the Priesthood became lazy. In the days of Samuel, Scripture says that the Word of God wasn’t heard much in those days. Eli, the priest, had grown fat in his old age. His sons had become corrupt; disobeying the proper method of sacrifice and committing adultery with the young women. But when the prophet Samuel was called by God, sentence was pronounced on Eli’s house. He died, and all of his sons died. The priesthood of today consists of all believers. And without the prophetic voice in action, believers become lazy.
1. Many believers came to Jesus sick and sinful. They were lost and in desperate need of salvation. And you know that many were healed and set free. But when they were no longer desperate for God, they didn’t become zealous for God. They took the resources that God gave them, the extra time and the extra money, and used them to wrap themselves up in comfort and enjoyment of life.
2. God doesn’t set people free so they can enjoy the good life. What does this life have to offer? The world and everything in it are destined to be destroyed. Shouldn’t the blessing of God result in grateful service to Him? Doesn’t your salvation cause you to think about all of the people who don’t have salvation?
III. Promises God’s Blessing upon the Nation
a. Cornelius blessed because of his righteousness. The Lord spoke to Cornelius because he was a righteous man, though not a Jew. That is doubtless the reason why he was chosen to be the first gentile chosen to receive the Holy Spirit.
b. Psalm 32 states the promise:
Psalm 32:1-11 (ESV)
A Maskil of David.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
[2] Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
[3] For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
[4] For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
[5] I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,"
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
[6] Therefore let everyone who is godly
offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
they shall not reach him.
[7] You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah
[8] I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
[9] Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
or it will not stay near you.
[10] Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
[11] Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
c. Deuteronomy 6 gives the plan
Deut. 6:1-3 (ESV)
"Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, [2] that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. [3] Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
d. Saved Noah.
Genesis 6:9-13 (ESV)
These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. [10] And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
[11] Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. [12] And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. [13] And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Conclusion:
A. God said, "In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh...and they will prophesy..." That prophetic voice needs to be heard in our community, in our nation.
B. The visions of the prophets spoken to the community is what will bring restraint toward sin. Without that voice our nation will become increasingly permissive, and morally out of control.
The answer for our society: A righteous people filled with the Holy Spirit who speak visions of righteousness.
