Jeremiah 18:1-10: "The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them."

Proverbs 29:18: "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."

Many of us are familiar with the oft-quoted verse in Proverbs 29:18 -- "Where there is no vision, the people perish." When the Bible talks about vision, it is talking about not only physical sight, but spiritual insight -- the ability to see happenings in the spiritual realm. Most people have physical sight, but very few have spiritual insight. When a group of people, or a nation, lack spiritual insight they will decay spiritually. The Bible tells us in I Samuel 3:1 of a time in Israel when "the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision." As you see here, a vision can also mean a word from the Lord. The prophet Amos tells us of a time in Israel where God said he would "send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord."   

I. First, Notice with Me God's Promise to a Nation Regarding Its Prophets

I want you to notice here that God will bless a nation if it listens to its prophets. But God will also curse a nation that refuses to listen to its prophets. 

God's plan for every nation is for it to be successful and prosperous as a result of its people obeying God's Word. God provides nations with prophets -- men and women of God -- who act as temperature gauges to judge the spiritual climate of the nation. As King Jehoshaphat said to the people of Israel in 2 Chronicles 20:20: "Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper." 

The rise and fall of a nation is directly tied to how it treats its prophets -- whether it listens to God's words or rejects them. When the children of Israel listened to the prophets and obeyed God's word, they thrived and prospered. When they did not, they were punished. In fact, Jeremiah tells us as much -- "At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them."

II. Secondly, Notice with Me the Purpose of the Prophet

A prophet's purpose (or job) is to receive and faithfully proclaim the Word of God no matter the circumstances. His job is to supply the "vision" for the people to walk forward into the path that God has for them. A prophet's job is also fourfold. Notice with me four P's:

The job of a prophet is not easy, but it is a very important role in the life of a nation.

III. Thirdly, Notice with Me the Reasons Why We Do Not Have Many True Prophets Today

In our modern times, there seems to be the lack of a true prophetic voice in our nation. I believe there are two reasons why.

The first reason is because people do not respect the Word of God like they used to. People have abandoned the Word of God for philosophy, enlightenment, and pop psychology. Many people regard what man says as more important than what God says. Multitudes of people rush out to buy the latest self-help book that they think will solve their life problems when all they have to do is dust off the old Bible they have at home. 

The second reason why there is a lack of true prophetic voices in our nation is because we have a large number of false prophets peddling dangerous doctrine. These are men and women who claim to be following God but are actually deceived -- either willfully or unwillfully. These are people who stand in the pulpit but no longer hold the Word of God in high esteem. When they preach God's Word, they do not treat it as the ultimate authority on life but use it to endorse humanistic ideas. In other words, they twist Scripture to suit their agendas. These false prophets are responsible for leading thousands, even millions, of people astray.

So, what must be done to turn our nation around? Very simply, the prophetic voices must be restored so that God's true Word will ring loud and clear from the churches in our country. We need men of integrity who will not be swayed by the opinions of men, but who will teach the Word of God in accordance with His truth -- men who will pray, perceive, proclaim and even be persecuted if need be. So many of our church leaders who should be the Lord's servants are actually the servants of popularity and political correctness. These people seek to please everybody but the Lord.

The prophet's job is to speak God's Word no matter what is going on in society. If he has to stand up against the government, he must stand up. If he has to stand up against church leaders who are leading people astray, he must stand up. If he has to stand up to society's leaders, he must do so. 

Every follower of Christ is called to be a prophet to his community. In this mission, we have nothing to fear. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."  The only hope for our nation to turn around is if we begin to once again proclaim the Word of God publicly without fear.

Anybody who knows me knows that I am not big on making predictions or so-called prophetic announcements.  Much of what is done in the name of so-called prophetic announcements today is nothing but foolishness, falsehoods, and showboating. 

But I am going to, for the first time, make a major prophetic prediction. I cannot say that I have any Bible for this other than the examples of what God has done to nations in the past who forsook Him and disobeyed His commandments. It is certainly not a prediction about when the Lord is going to come because the Scripture is clear on that - only God knows when the Lord is going to come back. However, it is a prediction about the future of the United States and here it is: 

If the president of the United States and this nation does not truly repent of the abomination of promoting homosexuality and homosexual marriage (among other sins such as rampant adultery, fornication, mistreatment of the truly poor, racism, and hypocrisy in the church), something worse than 9/11 is going to happen to America. And it is so far-fetched that it is unimaginable for most of us in this country, and I know that I am really going out on a limb here - and it will be that Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and believe it or not, Pakistan, and other countries will attack this nation, conquer it, and destroy it. I am telling President Obama, Republican nominee Mitt Romney, all government officials, and most of all, the church, that we need to repent now or in a short time we are all going to lose the blessing of living in this once greatest country in the world, and we will have a different reality in this nation.

I am now calling on all pastors -- be they black, white, hispanic, or any other race-- to repent of trying to be politically correct and curry favor with the president or other governmental officials and start being a prophet to this nation. If you love this country and the benefits of living in this country as much as I do, I am calling on you to stand flat-footed and warn your congregation, your community, your governmental officials, and your country that they need to repent, and turn back to God, or they will suffer something 100 times worse than 9/11. I know this may sound idiotic to you, but so did the pronouncements and warnings of the prophets of old. 

_______________

Now, if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Saviour, allow me to show you how you can be saved from sin and the punishment of sin.

John 3:16 reads, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  

"For God so loved the world" means that if you are in the world, God loves you. No matter who you are, where you are, or what you have done, God loves you. 

God loves you more than you love yourself. He loves you so much so "that He gave His only begotten Son." His only begotten son is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and for mine, He was buried, and on the third day, He rose from the dead.

"that whosoever believeth in Him", whosoever means anybody of any race, any color, or any socio-economic status can believe on Jesus Christ.

"should not perish, but have everlasting life." if you believe on Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you will not perish in hell, instead you will have everlasting life in heaven with God. 

The Bible also says in Romans 10:9 and 13: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.... For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." 

Dear friend, if you are willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, please pray with me this simple prayer: Heavenly Father, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.