Voices

 "They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison. Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time." Jeremiah 37:15-16....."We are coming to a day when the prophet who knows what God is saying may well have to tell it from jail." Vance Havner

Jeremiah was a prophet commissioned by God to preach His words to a generation who would, for the most part, reject, abuse, and mock him. While other professing prophet/preachers were telling the people of Judah that all would be well, that they would enjoy peace, prosperity, and security, Jeremiah was warning of the severe consequences of continued indulgence of sin, apathy towards God, and lifestyles centered upon self-indulgence (all while outwardly "worshiping Him). This angered the people, but even more, it angered those who wanted no part of His message. When the mocking and laughing could not silence him, they threw him in jail.

There was a desperate need for Jeremiah's prophetic voice in his day. There is an even more desperate need for such voices in this day. Sadly, as Leonard Ravenhill said, the American church is "more pathetic than prophetic." One of my prayers has been that God would raise up a generation of prophetic voices that hear from heaven and speak the language of heaven into the culture of the earth, and even more, into the culture of the modern church.

I don't think a voice like Jeremiah's would be any more welcome in the American church of today than it was in his time. People welcome being comforted, encouraged, and promised a continual well-being. They do not welcome warnings and challenges from heaven. Even more, they do not want to hear of the consequences of ignoring them. Such voices are not honored in their lifetime. Jesus told the listening Pharisee's that though they built monuments to the martyred prophets of old, they would have been with the very ones who put them to death had they been present in their day.

I recently read a powerful article by John Burton giving 7 reasons pastors don't address the wickedness of the culture. Fear was a recurring reason, but there was one that really stood out. He said that they fail because they have no real prayer life or prophetic unction. Unction is a little heard word in the modern church, but it means to preach in the anointed power of the Holy Spirit. Such anointing can never be upon those with shallow prayer lives, and more, how can such "preachers" speak of what God is saying when they have no idea as to what He is saying? Too many have listened more to the influential members of the church, or the experts on cultural trends, than they have to the voice of Almighty God. We give in to the fear of men over the fear of God.

Jeremiah spoke a painful truth with deep love for his hearers. We must do the same, but we must be prepared for the consequences. God has never ceased to speak to His church, but we have lacked for those who would receive and faithfully proclaim what they hear. Both in the pulpit and the pew. I have always been moved by the Scripture that speaks of God seeking a man to "stand in the gap" for his nation and people. He did not find many then. Will He find any now? Will you be such a person? Will I?

Blessings,

Pastor O