Recently I visited an online Christian news source. It is “prophetic” and came with the admonition that “hard words” may be published only if they have “the love of The Father” present in them. I don’t disagree with prophets judging as The Word tells them to (see I Corinthians 14:29), and I’m aware of the need for balance in the believer’s life, but brothers and sisters I have to ask, “Why do we tell God’s prophets what they can and cannot speak”? Isn’t that a dangerous thing to do? Didn’t Israel take a similar stance with The Lord’s Old Testament prophets and suffer for it? I believe so: “Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:” Isaiah 30:8-10 (bold/italics added). “Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them” Jeremiah 5:14 (bold/italics added).
Jesus faced this in His ministry too: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not“ Matthew 23:29-37 (bold/italics added).
Now that’s a hard word. Brothers and sisters, perhaps we don’t actually murder the prophets as in days of old, but what about our words against them? What about our incorrect attitudes toward their strong and necessary rebukes? Aren’t those sins equally worthy of God’s disdain? We’re supposed to fear the prophets because they bring The Word of The Lord (see Joshua 4:14, I Samuel 16:4, and Hosea 12:10). We’re supposed to respect them (see Psalms 105:15) and receive them (see Matthew 10:41) and hear what they have to say (see II Chronicles 20:20 and Amos 3:7). Why don’t we stop seeking out “words to please” and let the Holy Ghost say what He wants to say? What we’re dealing with is The Word of The Lord brought by The Holy Ghost through a human vessel. If you’ve got a true prophet that’s what you’ve got! They’re receiving from the same Holy Ghost, mind you, that penned the words, “…without holiness no man shall see The Lord” in Hebrews 12:14. The Holy Ghost Who comes to “…reprove of sin, righteousness, and judgment” according to John 16:8. Folks, He’s not only the Comforter! He’s also The Spirit that “won’t always strive with men” according to Genesis 6:3. Why not let Him have His way? Why not let both edges of The Twoedged Sword work on us? True Godly “balance”! Listen to what The Bible has to say about that: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me, But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me? Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment” Job 19:25-29.
I know that I shall see God face to face…fear the sword for wrath bringeth the punishment of the sword. Wrath bringeth the punishment of the sword. The Sword can bring punishment. Look at the church. Look at the world. Can anyone seriously doubt that The Father has seen enough to unleash His wrath, though He tarry long? And what is the sword but The Living Word of God (God Himself) that wounds and heals? “Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole” Job 5:17,18 (bold/italics added). “To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left. And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you, and be your protection. See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand” Deuteronomy 32:35-39 (bold/italics added). “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” Hebrews 4:12. “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” Hebrews 12:6, 7, 11 (bold/italics added). “And I beseech you brethren, suffer the word of exhortation:” Hebrews 13:22a (bold/italics added).
I don’t intend to be unkind, unloving, or critical but why would God tell us to suffer the word of exhortation if it didn’t bite just a little? Believer, God’s true watchmen bark at sin (contrast Isaiah 56:10). They don’t hold back while the sinners they’ve been sent to rebuke apply the “love of The Father-o-meter” to the word they’re releasing. Have we become so blind?
Church, it was God Who said in His Word, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day” Psalms 7:11. And since it’s God who speaks through the prophets (the true prophets) by His Spirit, and since we have a nation that hasn’t figured out that abortion is sin, adultery is sin, violence is sin; and since there are “churches” in America that haven’t figured out that prayerlessness is sin, selfishness is sin, and clinging to denominational traditions instead of The Word of God is sin…well, we ought to expect some harsh words, shouldn’t we? “Whom The Lord loves He chasteneth and scourgeth every son He receiveth.” Why not get a Word that sounds like “…O generation of vipers…bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (spoken of course in Matt. 3:7 and 8 by John the Baptist…to the ‘cutting edge’ religious folk of his time who were attending John’s Conference in the Desert. Jesus had no dislike of Him or his words that I can tell).
How about, “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire” Matthew 18:8, 9. Now that’s really hard isn’t it…cut off body parts…does that have “the love of The Father” in it? It was spoken by Jesus…does anyone know The Father’s love better than He? No.
Church wake up and smell the brimstone. We border on trespass when we tell the prophets of God what they can and cannot say. Proverbs 27:7b tells us “…to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet” (bold added). But that’s our problem isn’t it. We aren’t truly hungry. We have sinners sitting in our pews every week because we don’t have fire coming from our pulpits. We don’t have fire coming from our pulpits because the men of God have been sissified (s-i-s-s-y-fied) through the backslidden, lukewarm, and mis-informed insistence to be “loving”. Why don’t we remember that John, the disciple that Jesus loved, described love as obeying God’s commands and His commands are not grievous (I John 5:3)? What about Jesus Who said, “If ye love me keep my commandments” (John 14:15)?
When “the love of The Father” is truly present there will be exhortation to obey Him if anyone is present that is not obeying Him. If we don’t listen the first time expect His love to speak more loudly the second time. If He has to come multiple times then “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Proverbs 29:1). Expect heads to roll. This after all is The Father’s love. Doing whatever it takes to keep sinners from hell. Yes, that’s love. Doing whatever it takes to delineate in no uncertain terms that “…the soul that sinneth shall surely die” (Ezekiel 18:4 and Genesis 2:17). I tell you that’s love. Doing whatever it takes to let the church know that “The Lord shall judge his people…” and that, “…it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:30, 31). Brother and sister that’s the Father’s love.
Church, our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). There’s a revolution coming. God is going to unleash His Holy Fire. When it comes, will it purify your church or burn it to the ground? Brothers and sisters we must stop telling God’s prophets what they can and cannot say. They’ve been sent by God to help us get ready for the glorious return of our Lord! “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (John the Baptist in Matthew 3:10). ”Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Jesus in Matthew 7:19). These are harsh words, spoken by John the Baptist and by Jesus. Jesus; no one ever loved better than He. Let the prophets speak lest you die trying to stop them. Thus saith The Lord my God.
