Introduction:

As I began to prepare my message for this even, I read those words, thought about them a good bit, and asked myself this question: -- "Are there any like these left?" That is the title of my message. -- Are there any like these left? I am fearful that the answer is too obvious to be alarming.

I know this: -- Along with the ministries of the evangelist, and the pastor/teacher, the New Testament speaks of the ministries of the prophet and the apostle. I am fully aware that, strictly speaking, The prophetic office ceased with John the Baptist and the apostolic office ceased with the apostles. There are none today who have the supernatural gifts of either the prophets or the apostles. No matter what the charismatics claim to the contrary, there none today who…

• Have a new or fuller word of revelation from God.
• Have the gift of performing miraculous works.
• Have the gift of tongues.

I know the old definition: -- "A prophet today is a forthteller rather than a foreteller." We generally apply those words to preachers as spokesmen for God. But Ephesians 4 speaks of the prophet as a distinct gift of the risen Christ to his church. A pastor is God’s appointed teacher in the congregation he serves, God’s messenger to that assembly. A faithful pastor both instructs men and women in the Word of God, preaching the gospel to them and does the work of an evangelist, seeking the salvation of men’s souls everywhere and endeavoring to establish gospel churches where none are found.

I want, in all these things, to be a good, faithful pastor to you, by the grace of God. But I must acknowledge that I covet this as well. I want to serve you and serve my generation as a prophet. There have never been many prophets; there are few today; but I have, I believe, had the privilege of knowing, hearing, and walking with two or three in my day. (Rolfe Barnard, Henry Mahan, Harry Graham. But never was the need greater and the supply smaller than it is in our day.

Someone, I don’t know who, once described a prophet like this: -- "The prophet is a voice in the wilderness. It is his business to sound the trumpet, proclaim the ideal, not work on details or set up a program. He does not devise ways and means. Others are gifted along that line. He does not belong on boards and committees. He is a solitary soul and does his best work alone. He is no parrot, puppet or promoter. He is nothing but a prophet, and if he tries to be anything else he is an embarrassment to himself and to everybody else. He is not popular with politicians either in state or church. He is not cowed by dignitaries, and will call Herod a fox if occasion demands. He is an unreconstructed rebel, an odd number in a day of regimentation. He has no more patience with mere religion than Isaiah had when he thundered or Amos when he called on Israel to come to Bethel. It is his business to say what others cannot, will not, or at least do not say. The politician has his eye on the next election instead of the nations welfare. It is possible for a preacher to get his mind on promotion, the next rung of the ladder, a high seat in the synagogue, and being called a rabbi. The prophet has no axe to grind. For him the grass is no greener in the next pasture, nor does he seek any man's office.

We are looking for scholars, specialists, socializers, showmen. We need some seers who, like Isaiah, have seen God in His holiness, themselves in their sinfulness, and the land in its uncleanness. The prophet does not pack the house, nor produce impressive statistics. He may get but poor response, but whether they hear or not, his listeners will know that a prophet hath been among them. People do not crowd churches to hear prophets. An age of ear-itch seeks not troublers of Israel.

The Prophet is not popular with the Pharisees. "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?" "Ye are the children of them that killed the prophets." So said the greatest of the prophets to the Pharisees of His day. From Abel to Zacharias, He said, prophets have been stoned while living and honored when dead. Be not misled by monuments; they may be the gesture of one generation to cover up the crimes of their fathers.

The Prophet is not popular at home. In all four gospels we read our Lord's pronouncement, "A prophet is not without honor save in his own country and in his own house." Strange that any modern prophet should expect to fare better than his Lord.

But prophets do have their reward, and so do those who befriend them, even with a cup of cool water. God will not overlook the "prophets chamber," where his unpopular servants have been made to feel at home. There have not been many candidates for Elijah's mantle. His path is not easy. There are many ways of getting rid of prophets. John the Baptist's head is not brought in on a charger these days, there are smoother and more adroit ways of hushing up lone dissenters like Micaiah these days. Some can even be promoted into silence. Success has stopped some mouths when persecution failed.

Like John the Baptist the prophet is out to pull down the high places, build up low places and make a way for the Lord. His business is not interpretation but application. He does not lecture on mustard, he makes a mustard poultice and lays it next to the trouble. Others may comfort when afflicted, but he must afflict the comfortable. We are trying to accomplish now by pep, publicity, propaganda, and promotion what once was done by preaching. The woods are full of trained personnel, but none of these things can save us if the prophets disappear.

Any young Elisha in line for Elijah's mantle will need the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros. He may irk those who like to preserve the status quo, for he is a disturber of Israel, but no one else can take his place in the divine economy…There is not much prospect as to pay, promotion, or prestige. But there has always been "yet one man" who will scorn the hatred of Ahab and seek the honor of God."

Here, in Luke 9:1-6, the Lord Jesus Christ sent out his twelve disciples, the twelve apostles, as God’s messengers to eternity bound men and women, to do the work of prophets. He sent them forth to preach the gospel. These twelve men were the first men to be sent forth in this gospel age as God’s messengers to men.

Proposition: The instructions our Lord gave to these men tell us plainly what the work of the ministry is and what is expected of any man God puts into the work.

I have no idea why the Lord has given me this message; but I am sure he has given it to me for you. So listen, and ask God the Holy Spirit to apply the message to your own heart and life. I have already preached the message to myself. I hope the Lord has truly taught me something about myself and that he has taught me something about what is involved in this great work to which he has sent me. As we look at these six verses of Scripture, I want to simply echo in your hearing what the Lord spoke to my heart by them. In these six verses the Son of God tells those men whom he sends forth what those men who speak to men in God’s stead must be and do. I will give you my message in seven statements.

I. Those men who are sent of God to preach the gospel are men who possess a God given authority to do their work.

I am not talking about trumped up authority and power, demagoguery, or religious showmanship. Our Lord gives his messengers power and authority, -- power and authority by which they prevailed over Satan, the influence of hell, and the havoc of sin in the lives of men. What is this power? What is this authority? Let me give your four answers.

A. The power and authority Christ gives his servants is the power and authority of the gospel we preach.

B. It is the power and authority of the anointing and unction of God the Holy Spirit upon the man by whom he speaks.

C. The power and authority by which God’s servants speak is the power and authority that arises from confident faith.

D. This power and authority, which only God himself can give to a man, is the power and authority of true meekness.

• The Meekness of Noah in His Generation
• The Meekness of Moses before Pharaoh
• The Meekness of Elijah on Mt. Carmel
• The Meekness of John the Baptist before Herod
• The Meekness of Peter before the Sanhedrim
• The Meekness of Paul at Jerusalem

II. God’s prophets are men who know their work and stick to it.

I do not pretend to know anything at all about any other man’s work. I do not make any claim or pretense of being a man of learning, a theologian, or historian. But I do know exactly what God has called me to do. I know exactly what my work and responsibilities are as a pastor and preacher. "The glorious gospel of the blessed God has been committed to my trust" (1 Tim. 1:11). It is a trust for which I am responsible. Therefore, I am determined, for the glory of God and the sake of the gospel to let nothing and no one turn me aside from this great work. It is all-consuming. Basically, it is a work that demands three things.

• Study – Incessant Study!
• Prayer – Fervent Prayer!
• Preaching – Gospel Preaching!

• Your Soul’s Needs – (Rom. 9:1-3; 10:1)
• Your Body’s Needs
• Your Family’s Needs
• Your Heart’s Needs

• A prophet is content to serve God wherever God sends him.
• A prophet is content to live and labor without recognition.
• A prophet is content to live in this world as a stranger and pilgrim, passing through for only a brief time.

Application:

Amen.