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Luke 21 10-19 WATCH AND PRAY II 04 Luke 21 12 The substance of being God’s prophets
📖 Luke 21:10-19
14May2021 - *The substance of being God’s prophets* - _Luke 21:10-19_ - WATCH AND PRAY II (4) – Bible reading: _Acts 7:51-56_
God is one who loves man and is also disciplining man out of His great love. He is giving man the last opportunity to repent and return to Him.
The church must understand the pain of God’s heart and be one with Him as we pray to Him over this situation, for this situation has been created, not by God, but by the willful and arrogant disobedience of man to a loving heavenly Father.
The world is not repenting and returning to God and the church has not yet become one with the pain and agony of God’s heart for humanity.
_Luke 21:12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake_
A high level of persecution is about to begin against the church and this will happen as the church becomes prophetical. There are pockets of change that are happening within the church.
There are those who are beginning to see the role and calling to be prophetical to the world. As more and more of the church becomes prophetical that is when the persecution too, against the church will heat up.
_Acts 4:5-13 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, (6) as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. (7) And when they had set them_ (The Apostles, Peter and John) _in the midst, they asked, "By what power or by what name have you done this?" (8) Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:_
At this point, we need to conscious that Peter is speaking to the highest leadership body of the Jews. This is the same Peter who buckled under the questioning of a maid. This is an important aspect of the prophetic voice of the church. There will be supernatural boldness that will be on display.
_(9) If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, (10) let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that *by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole*. (11) This is the '*STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED BY YOU BUILDERS, WHICH HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE*.' (12) *Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved*."_
These are important facets of being prophetical that we can learn from here.
*The name of Jesus is lifted up*. This will be the foremost aspect of being prophetical. Jesus Christ of Nazareth will be lifted up with conviction and clarity.
Then the responsibility for the death of Jesus is being placed firmly on the shoulders of the leaders. There is no ambiguity or vagueness here.
This will be the second crucial element of being prophetical. *We will tell man, directly, to his face, the responsibility of man’s sin before God and the consequence of our sin*.
Thirdly, they are presenting an opportunity to the leaders to repent and turn to God and be saved from the wrath of God. This will be yet another non-negotiable component of the prophetical voice, which is to give man the opportunity to repent, return to God and be saved.
_(13) Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus._
As we read further, we will see the anger and rage that began to well up in these leaders and that is when persecution began in a big way against the church. *Persecution was an outcome of the prophetic voice of the people of God*.
_Acts 5:30-33 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus *whom you murdered* by hanging on a tree. (31) Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. (32) And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him." (33) *When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them*._
It is a similar experience that we see happening with Stephen. _Act 6:8-10, 15 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. (9) Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. (10) And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. (15) And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel._
We see how Stephen did not spare the people and the leaders but confronted them head-on.
_Acts 7:51-56 “*You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears*! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. (52) Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of *the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers*, (53) who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it." (54) When *they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth*. (55) But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, (56) and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"
_Acts 7:57-60 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; (58) and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. (59) And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." (60) Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep._
The church must prepare herself for the prophetical task that is before us.
*Thought to ponder*
```Let us wait in the presence of the Lord as He prepares us for the end times.```