Postings on this page include March 2007 sermons. Scroll down to view sermons in this series, week by week. If you wish to view or print individual sermons, click Archives to make your selection.
This page was last updated 3/19/2007.
Week of: March 4, 2007
Series: The Holy Spirit – Continued from February
Title: The Father, The Son, and The Other One ~ Part 4
In the Old Testament, Ezekiel and Jeremiah prophesied that there would come a time that God would put a new heart and a new spirit in His people. Somehow God would remove the old heart of stone and give everyone a new heart of flesh and blood that would allow God’s Spirit to follow His laws and decrees. Paul sees this happening in two ways.
1) Collectively as a Church
In 1 Corinthians 3 and 6, Paul writes about divisions in the church at Corinth. He says he cannot talk to them like mature Christians, but instead just babies in Christ. He calls them worldly and accuses them of jealously and envy, with quarreling and fighting. Evidently, they had divided themselves up into factions which were fussing about various issues in the church. And then according to how they ended up on certain issues they said “I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, or I follow Cephas, or no I just follow Jesus.” To which Paul said, “has Christ been divided, or have any of you been baptized into the name of Paul?”
In my study of Paul, the top three issues that Paul concerns himself within his churches are: unity, the gospel, and morality. Unity is at the top of the list. I truly believe that if Paul was alive he would be elated over the size and scope of the Kingdom of God. But I think also he would be deeply saddened over the divisions. There are over 300 major denominations in the world, and many more sub-denominations, for example some have estimated that there are over 500 different types of Baptist denominations. I don’t really think anyone really knows how many different Christian groups there really are. Given this fact I think Paul would be both saddened and shocked. Because he writes in Ephesians 4: 3-6, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace…There is one body and one Spirit…one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and the Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” It is with this teaching in mind that Paul refers to these churches as the temple of God. See 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. So the Kingdom of God is the over all temple of God.
2) Individually as Christians
This cannot be expressed any clearer than 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 in which Paul urges the folks at Corinth to flee from sexual immorality. He says that all other sins we commit are outside our body, but “anyone who sins sexually sins against his own body.” In other words, sin hurts God and other people, and it also hurts us. Sexual sin hurts us because we are the Temple of God. He says: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” Paul believed that on the basis of what Jesus Christ did on the cross and the coming of the Holy Spirit that this body was God’s temple.
People have a lot of hang-ups about their bodies, don’t they? Do you realize that in 2005 over 12 million Americans had plastic surgery to the tune of 10 billion dollars? What about your body—do you feel too fat, too skinny, too ugly, too tall, too short, too old, or too immature? What kind of hang-up do you have about your body? I’ll tell you mine. In my early teens I was skinny as bean poll. I was almost 6 foot and weighed less than 136 pounds. This was ok, because I never particularly wanted to play football anyway. However, my hat size was 7 ¾, so I felt like a tootsie roll pop. What made it worse was one day in English class I was diagramming sentences on the chalk board and wrote my name on the board, the “r” in Moore looked like “s” and it stuck throughout high school. And because I was so skinny, people thought that Moose was an even more hilarious thing to call me. And no matter what I said or how much I ignored it, it never went away until I got to college. That taught me a very important lesson in life; never make fun of people because of the way they look, because many people just cannot help it.
However, other people don’t seem to care at all about their bodies. They ignore their weight and personal hygiene, they are couch potatoes, smoke cigarettes, eat the wrong things, get drunk, do drugs, lay too much out in the sun, visit tanning beds, ignore the warning signs of illness, and they don’t get enough rest. They seem to think they can mistreat their bodies and their bodies will last forever.
Then others don’t have a clue how they mistreat themselves inwardly. They don’t realize that there is a connection to how they are inwardly and spiritually to their physical health. They don’t realize that doctors believe that over 70% of the people in hospitals are there because their bodies are worn down because of stress and guilt. They don’t realize that anger and hatred will destroy them from inside out. They don’t have a clue that the more at peace they are with themselves and with God the healthier they are to be.
And they certainly haven’t figured out that there should not be anything in their lives called sex outside marriage. Paul says you are the Temple of God, take care of your temple. God dwells there, so take care of it. Look what he says in 1 Corinthians 6:13 “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!" (Why? Because in his way of thinking, the act of sex was more than joining together just two bodies, there was spiritual union that takes place as well) (So) do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute or (someone that is being promiscuous) is one with her body? “For it is said the two shall become one flesh. But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.” One with God in the flesh through the Spirit, becoming one with another outside of marriage in sexual union, never!
Yes, but some people feel that it is their body and they can do anything with it that they want. Some believe that abortion as a means for birth control is their right to choose too, because after all it is their body. Yes, I guess they can. But according to Paul when you become a Christian you are not your own!!! You were bought by God for a price. Jesus dying on the cross is what we cost God, that’s the price God had to pay for us. So you really cannot or really shouldn’t say I am my own person. I cannot do anything I want in life with my body. Because Jesus has paid the ultimate price for it, therefore, to Paul, both with your life and your body honor God. So you could say a Christian is the temple of God, bought for price by God. Paul’s message is “the Spirit is in us, and around us.”
Week of: March 11, 2007
Series: The Holy Spirit – Continued from February
Title: The Father, The Son, and The Other One ~ Part 5
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:11; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; 2 Corinthians 1: 21-22; Ephesians 1:14; Romans 8:22
Here's the illustration used in this morning's sermon... sermon notes follow.
(Source: Gordon D. Fee "Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God")
Last Sunday we saw that the Holy Spirit has come as Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied it would, both collectively in the church and individually as in each of our hearts. This Sunday and the next I would like to explore what it means for the Holy Spirit being a part of our lives as Christians. In doing so, this Sunday I would like for us to look at the purpose of the Holy Spirit in very general terms.
1. First I would like for you to consider for a moment what was the most difficult period of your life? Your childhood? Your teenage years? Young adulthood or just your entire life? Most so-called experts would agree that the teenage years are the most difficult. The teenage years have been called the in-between years. You know that you're not, at least in theory, a child anymore, but you're certainly not any adult either. You're a teenager!!!! That strange creature that brought many a parent to their knees and put many a gray hairs in their teacher's head.
2. You might say that as Christians we are in our teenage years. And that if it would be possible we would certainly put our share of gray hearts in our heavenly Father's head. This is true of all Christians, not just some, because we are in the in-between years.
3. If you will, look at the timeline above (or Gordon Fee's book Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God page 50). The timeline has two ages—the present age and the age to come. In the middle of the timeline is a period of time called The End.
a. Preachers and half-baked theologians have really confused people by talking about all the different ages in the Bible. I have only found biblical evidence for these two.
The present age is the age of the flesh. It is pre-death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and pre-indwelling of the Holy Spirit. According to Paul, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has marked the beginning of the End, with the end of the End being the Second Coming. He reminds the Corinthians in one letter that we are those “on whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11), again because they are living after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This living after the death and resurrection Jesus Christ or in the beginning of the End times has done two things. One, it has caused us to die to sin. He reminds the Corinthians and us that because of “one dying for all (Jesus), we all have died” (2 Corinthians 5: 14-15). And two, because we have died with Christ, we should no longer regard anyone from a worldly point of view. Why? Because the old way of seeing things and the old way of doing things is passing away and “the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17) The resurrection of Jesus Christ has radically changed things. But even with Jesus' death and resurrection things are not going to be easy. In fact, because Satan knows that Jesus has won the war he is trying to do as much damage to us and the world we live in. Satan is a very sore loser. Sour grapes are the only thing he is eating and it is leaving a very bitter taste in his mouth. So until Jesus comes (the second time) he is going to try to do as much damage, pain, and suffering that he possibly can.
The End has begun but the old present age is still trying to influence and drag as many people down until the age to come has fully been realized.
b. The Age to Come is God's decisive intervention into human history. It is characterized by righteousness, justice, peace, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the restoration and renewal of God's people and all of creation. It is the kingdom of God that has come in all of its glory. It was started by the first coming, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Chris, and is to be consummated at His return. What does consummated mean? Brought to competition!!! The process is started and now it has come to an end. At the second coming of Jesus Christ, the long process of the end of the present age is over. The long process of the coming of the age to come is complete. Jesus’ Second Coming completely ends one, and brings to consummation the other.
c. We are therefore in the in-between times. The present age still influences things, and the age to come is trying to come into complete focus. Let me explain it like this: before cable and satellite T.V. we had a big outside antenna. The T.V. signal was broadcasted usually from a large population center, and if you got decent T.V. reception you had to be in a good area and have a big antenna. Well, if the weather was bad or if a storm and come through blowing the antenna out of adjustment, you had to go outside and turn the antenna. I was the antenna turner. I would turn it and dad would say "a little more, not too much, Mike I said stop." We would do that until we got the best reception that we could. And even then at times, we would not get a clear picture on all the channels. We live in the in-between times, and praise God the death and resurrection of Jesus is beaming the love and forgiveness of God to us. But sometimes it is not as clear as we would like it, but there will be a day when everything will be crystal clear, when Jesus gets here.
4. Until then, we have the Holy Spirit. In general, the Holy Spirit serves three main functions. One is a down payment of what is to come. The metaphor of "down payment" or "deposit" occurs in several places in Paul's letters. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 says “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” Ephesians 1:14 writes “…the promised Holy Spirit, who is deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of His glory.” In other words, while we are in this life, the Spirit serves as down payment in our presence, the certain evidence the future (the coming age) has come to the present, and a guarantee that the future will be realized in full measure some day.
5. The second is very similar to the first, in Romans 8:22 it says: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons…” The first fruit was the best of the harvest. Good first fruits would foretell a bountiful harvest to follow. The Spirit is just a taste of what is to come.
6. In Ephesians 1:14 Paul writes: “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,…” In ancient Roman and the surrounding countries of that day and time, a seal was usually set in wax to show ownership. Meaning that if I was to send you a letter, I would put some wax on the paper and stamp my name or my seal on it. You would know that my letter or package to you was from me because my seal or identifying mark was on it. So the Holy Spirit is God's identifying mark that says we are one of His children. The Holy Spirit in our hearts (making us like Christ) is God's way of saying these are my children.
Week of: March 18, 2007
Series: The Holy Spirit – Continued from February
Title: The Father, The Son, and The Other One ~ Part 6
Scripture: Salvation~ Matthew 1:21; Romans 3:23; 1 Corinthians 2:3-4, 13; Titus 3:3-8; Romans 8:15-16; Sin~ Ephesians 4:30-5:5; Galatians 5:17; Romans 8:26; Romans 8:13; Ephesians 3:16; Fruit of the Spirit~ Galatians 5:22-23
We’ve learned that the Holy Spirit is given to us by God, made possible by Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection in order to help us get through the in-between years. The in-between time is that period between the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and His Second Coming.
Last week, in the most general way, we saw the third person of the Trinity as a down payment or a taste of what is in store for us in heaven. It is also the means as Christians that we make it through these difficult in-between years, and last but not least, it marks the ownership of God in our lives.
The specifics of what the Holy Spirit accomplishes or wants to accomplish in our lives is very exciting. Consequently, let’s look at some of the scriptures that give us a greater and a more detailed understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit.
As your handout suggests, we are dividing what the Holy Spirit does into three categories: salvation, sin, and Fruit of the Christian life. There is obviously more, but for right now that’s all we can do in our study.
Salvation, in the most basic sense, is deliverance from danger or evil. In a religious sense, it is deliverance from sin or spiritual death. Before Jesus was born, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said: “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21). The need for salvation is universal because all people sin and stand under God’s judgment. Romans 3:23 says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Yet I cannot save them. You cannot save them. They cannot save themselves. No one can save them except God revealing Himself in the person of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Paul, writes these words in 1 Corinthians 2:3-4; 13, “I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power…” “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.” Getting the message of God’s love is not by being a good salesperson, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, Paul says that salvation is because of the Holy Spirit. “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.” (Titus 3:3-8). Paul says it in another way in Roman 8:15-16, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’”
2. The next area of the Holy Spirit’s work is in the identification, conviction, and the conquering of sin. Paul says that the Holy Spirit is grieved when we do something wrong… “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love just a Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obsenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person- such a man is an idolator- has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Ephesians 4:30-5:5. It is the Holy Spirit that tugs on our minds and hearts and says that things we feel and do, or the things that don’t feel and do, are wrong. The lists of sins that the Holy Spirit will convict us of is quite extensive, but not by any means exhausted. Paul says that what the Spirit wants will be the opposite of what the sinful flesh will want. He says in Galatians 5: 17, “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other….”
Yet, God doesn’t just point out the problem. A lot of people will point out a problem and usually they don’t give you any helpful means of coming to a successful solution. They just want you to know that they can tell you that something is wrong. Well, it usually doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell that something is broke, but it does take a little smarts in getting things fixed. God obviously has all the smarts in the universe and not only can He tell you something is broke, but He can tell you how and give you the means to fix it. He does that in two ways.
One: He patches things up with Himself. The Spirit, according to Paul, intercedes on our behalf to God the Father. Look, there is nothing like having a friend when you are in trouble. In fact, there is nothing like having a friend in high places when you are in trouble—in real high places. With the Spirit in us, we have a friend in high places that can “go to bat” for us with God or with Himself if you please (I know that sounds weird). He literally helps us in our sinful weakness. Paul writes in Romans 8:26, “…the Spirit helps us in our weakness.” There are times in life, for one reason or the other, “we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”
“Oh God I am so sinful and miserable I cannot even think of anything to say to you. I’ve said it so many times, and I’ve failed you and myself so many times. Please Holy Spirit intercede on my behalf.”
Two: In addition, he also helps us overcome the influence of our sin. He gives us the strength to put to death the sinful things that we do. Romans 8:13 says: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” He says in Ephesians 3:16 “I pray that out his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner beings.” Paul is certain that the Holy Spirit of God can do things in our lives to help us overcome sin, that the influence of the law and all the moral imperatives in the world could not do. The good news for Paul and his readers is that the Holy Spirit can and does give each one of us the strength to become a better human being where it counts that is within our hearts.
3. Not only is this “better human being” seen in our freedom not to sin, but also in what Paul calls the fruit of the Holy Spirit. In Galatians 5:22-23 Paul says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” I know there are ten virtues mentioned in these two verses, but really there is only one fruit of the Spirit. Do you know what it is?
Love, that’s right. For a Spirit-filled or controlled Christian, there is only one fruit—that is love. Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are attributes of a mature love that depends on God to sustain it.
Many people have a difficult time with understanding what the Bible means by being filled with the Spirit. Paul uses the term “filled with the Spirit” in Ephesians 5:18 when writes: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Some people believe that being filled with the Spirit is, in a sense, getting more of the Spirit. Like you pour more water into a glass that is half-full, but I don’t believe that is what Paul is getting at. I don’t think it a matter of more God, rather I believe it is matter of a deeper relationship with God.
Imagine your heart or your mind like a big house sitting on a hill. The house is not air-conditioned and it has been shut up for a long time. Everything about it is shut-up, stale, and stuffy. The Spring Wind is beginning to stir outside the house, and everything outside the house is alive and fresh. One day a Stranger comes to visit the house; he knocks on the door, and wonders of wonders the door opens and the Stranger walks in. With the Stranger, there comes the Spring Wind. It blows in and exorcises the staleness and the stuffiness out of the living room of the house. Before each room in the house, the Stranger pauses before the door, knocks on it, and it opens, allowing the Stranger and the Spring Wind to permeate deeper into the house. Down into the basement, up the stairs, knocking on every door, seeking to enter every room, the Stranger enters and the Wind drives out the dry, stuffy, stale, recesses of the house.
Obviously, the Stranger is Christ. The Spring Wind is the Holy Spirit and the house is our minds and hearts. You see, when most of us become a Christian, we don’t know how big and stale our house really is. All we know is that we are desperate for something to open up our lives and drive the stuffiness out. The more areas of our hearts and minds that are open to the Stranger and the Spring Wind, the more we are controlled by God and the more alive we become. Being filled with the Spirit, or being controlled by the Spirit however you want to say it, is a desire to hold nothing back from God.
Week of: March 25, 2007
Series: The Bible and Prophecy
Title: Part 1 - Prophecy
Scripture: Revelations 1:3; Matthew 24:4-14; 1 Kings 22:1-40
Would you like to know what will happen in the future? If you are like me, you’d like to know what will happen in the future as long as it is good. If it is bad, I’d rather not know. But folks, ever since they’ve been aware of time, have wanted to know what was going to happen next. From soothsayers and witchdoctors, to sages and religious prophets, questions about the future have abounded.
Even Jesus couldn’t resist talking about the future. One day he and his disciples were walking away from the temple and his disciples made mention of the beauty of the temple. His response was “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one (of them) will be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:2; Mark 13:2) Later in the evening as Jesus and the disciple were sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and asked “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) What age was the disciples referring to? “the present age.” Remember there are only two ages: “the present age and the age to come.”
Turn with me and read what Jesus said in return: (read Matthew 24: 4-14).
Jesus evidently thought the subject of the future was important enough to speak of, and the disciples were certainly curious enough to ask about it. So, over the next few weeks, I would like for us to dig in the Bible and learn what we can about prophecy and the future. I must warn you, however; I am very skeptical about the likes of Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye, and John Hagee who seem to have all these things so easily figured out. Therefore, I invited you to go on a journey with me in which the Holy Spirit will hopefully enlighten our hearts to the biblical subject of prophecy and the future.
First off, what is a prophet? The word prophet comes from the word “nabi” which means mouthpiece or spokesman. Aaron was the nabi of Moses, he was the mouthpiece that spoke for Moses. A nabi was also a member of a group of holy men that displayed rather strange behavior, and came to be possessed by the Spirit of the Living God thereby telling “the words of the Lord to the people.” (1Samuel 8:10) They communicated their message through words and symbolic actions. Hosea married a prostitute. Ezekiel laid on his side in front of clay model of the siege of Jerusalem, he dressed and ate like a slave so that Judah might see how they would live in captivity. (see Ezekiel 4:1-5) They were strange people that were driven to get their message across to their people.
Over the centuries in which the Bible was written God sent an untold number of nabi to be His spokesperson to his people, but only 17 prophets had messages that were significant to be collected as a books of sacred scripture.
Oh by the way, I have homework for you… How many female prophets are there in the Bible? Who were they? (Check your answers April 1 during service or after on the website. Back to the sermon…)
Turn to 1 Kings 22 and let’s look at some of the classical characteristics of these nabi. The prophet in this scripture is Micaiah. The situation is mounting political pressure between the King of Aram and the Northern Kingdom-Israel and the Southern Kingdom-Judah. Jehoshaphat is the King of Judah and the Northern King is Ahab, they want to take back a section of land called Ramoth Gilead in which the King of Aram was controlling.
1. Remember, the prophets in the Bible act as God’s spokesman or mouthpiece to Israel. Notice in 1 Kings 22 verse 14, Micaiah says that “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what the Lord tells me.” The prophet’s job is to bring messages to the children of Israel, from their heavenly king.
2. A crisis is usually the context of the prophecy. In this case, there is going to be a war and the Kings want to know if their side is to be successful. In other cases, Israel or Judah is so corrupt and sinful that God cannot stand it.
3. The prophet is not usually concerned about the distant future, but the present and immediate future, and the decisions that people need to make. A common misunderstanding of prophecy is that it is a prediction off in the distant future. However, prophets are not fortune tellers, or necessarily future tellers. He or she speaks what God is speaking. He or she brings God’s word in the present, insisting that God be heard here and now. The prophet says that God is speaking now, not yesterday; God is speaking now, not tomorrow.
Preaching is a form of prophecy which says God is speaking to you this morning won’t you listen before it is too late. Listen now, Listen now! Don’t turn your back on God because if you do it might be too late.
So when God speaks through a prophet, His message usually focuses on three things:
1) How is our relationship going? In Ahab’s case there was no relationship. Ahab was an evil king.
2) What is God going to do about it? Ahab wouldn’t like it because his life was soon to be over.
3) What does God want you to do? In Ahab’s case, nothing because it was too late. You might be wondering how do I know if it is getting too late or not. You don’t always know, but I believe as long as you care there is hope. The moment you begin not to care about the things of God, is the moment to be scared.
4. Prophets generally don’t have anything good to say to bad people. I like what King Ahab said about Micaiah: “there is still one man through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad.” (1 Kings 22:8) Some people just want good things to be said about them, never the truth. If you’re a friend to someone, you’ll tell them the truth even if they don’t like it. And if you’re a friend to someone, you’ll let them tell you the truth without resenting them. It never occurs to some people that the reason the Bible and the community of God is so negative about them is that they are lacking before God. That they are not doing right!!!!!
I don’t really think that you and I would want to be a prophet, because if people cannot strike out against God, they do against the prophet. Zedekiah, one of the prophets that Micaiah accused of lying, is so upset about what Micaiah says that he slaps Micaiah in the face, and Micaiah then is put in jail. Prophets were lonely people, who could not and would not win popularity contests with people around them, especially with the powers that be.