Don't Tread On Me!

 NOTE HOW GOD ALONE IS ABLE TO MEDIATE OUR CASES BECAUSE HE ALONE KNOWS US INTIMATELY:  
Pertinent verses:  
"... Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?.." (Romans 8:33, ESV).  
"... If God is for us, who can be against us?"  (Rom. 8:31, ESV). 
 "Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together; state your cause, that you may be proved right"  (Isaiah 43:26, NASB).
"Consult together,  argue your case.  Get together and decide what to say..." (Isaiah 45:21, NLT). 
"I have refined you, but not as silver is refined.  Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering" (Isaiah 48:10, NLT).   
"... [T]hrough many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God"  (Acts 14:22, ESV).
"We hear that some of you are living an undisciplined life.  They aren't working, but they are meddling in other people's business"  (2 Thess. 3:11, CEV).  
"The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts"  (Prov. 20:27, ESV).   "The LORD's light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive" (Ibid., NLT).  
"Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life"  (Prov. 4:23, NKJV). 
"... [F]or the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought..." (1 Chronicles 28:9, ESV).  
"O LORD, you have searched me and known me! . . . and are acquainted with all my ways"  (Psalm 139:1,3, ESV). 

Scripture teaches us to mind our own business and not to get on each other's case or become busybodies, "meddling in other people's business" (cf. 2 Thess. 3:11, CEV).   Just as Paul admonishes the saints at the Thessalonian church:  "Aim to live quietly, mind your own business, and earn your own living, just as I told you"  (1 Thess. 4:11, CEV).  In other words, get off your brother's case!  We all have unique situations and cannot judge by the outward appearance, for God looks on the heart (cf. 1 Sam. 16:7) and sees the motives:  "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit [motive]"  (Proverbs 16:2, ESV; cf. Prov. 21:2); Jesus also commanded us not to judge by appearance but with righteous judgment in John 7:24.  We are fruit inspectors, for we shall know them by their fruits (cf. Matt. 7:20):  "....for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh"  (Matt. 12:34, KJV).

We don't have the wisdom to label people and labeling is wrong, as an amateur diagnosis or prognosis--what's more, it's judging!   What would you take a man for who constantly psychoanalyzed you and tried to peg you or label you?  We shouldn't put our friends and neighbors into boxes and think we have them figured out, for only God sees the heart.  We cannot judge simply because we don't have access to all the facts and we are inherently biased.

But there comes a time to intercede for someone and to come to his aid by taking up his case and giving him all the aid we can accommodate.  'You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life.  You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD;  judge my cause"  (Lam. 3:58-59, ESV).  God is in the position and has all the authority to come to our aid in our time of need. We are likewise to become a Good Samaritan and see the needs of others in their time of crisis and do all we can muster of our God-given resources.

Job thought he had a case against God and relied on his own righteousness; the flaw of his character was self-righteousness, though. Keep the faith!  "[F]or he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men" (Lamentations 3:33, ESV).  They say:  God is too wise to make a mistake, too kind to be cruel, and too deep to explain Himself--so we never have a case against God, and He doesn't owe us an explanation for anything He allows to happen by His sovereignty in our lives.  "No one can tell him what to do, or say to him, 'You have done wrong'"  (Job 36:23, NLT).

God is all ears if we want to come to him in sincerity and seek truth and an honest dialogue:   "Let us review the situation together, and you can present your case to prove your innocence"  (Isaiah 43:26, NLT).  Let me end with one more verse:  "For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil'  (2 Cor. 5:10, ESV).
Soli Deo Gloria!

As A Man Thinks

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..."  (Proverbs 23:7, KJV).  

"Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life"  (Prov. 4:23, KJV).

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Phil. 4:8, ESV).  

"Therefore gird up the loins of your mind [muster all your intellectual resources]..." (1 Pet. 1:13, NKJV).

"Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established" (Prov. 16:3, KJV). 

"A man is what he thinks about all day long." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

"The most important things in life are the thoughts you choose to think." --(Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor and Stoic writer)

The most important aspect of our personality is the thoughts we allow and choose to occupy our time and mind; we can't always control what enters our minds, but we don't have to entertain and meditate on the wrong ideas.  The computer principle of GIGO applies garbage in equals garbage out! Mark 7:21, ESV, says, "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts...." The  Word is a judge of thoughts and the intents of our hearts (cf. Heb. 4:12).

David prayed in Psalm 19:14 that the words of his mouth and meditations of his heart would be acceptable to God.  They say that we aren't what we think we are, but we are what we think!  When we fill our minds with holy thoughts, the feedback is holy and we reap what we sow! Our mouths betray what's on our minds and in our hearts! Our own thoughts either excuse us or blame us by virtue of our conscience (cf. Rom. 2:15).

We make the decision not to offend with our tongue--to use expletives or take God's name in vain--no matter how commonplace.  New Agers fill their minds with mantras (a name of a Hindu deity), yoga (union with God), or TM (transcendental meditation), and these seem to work for them, as their nomenclature for meditation is not what God instituted, and biblical meditation or thought digestion (on the Word) is the lost art of Christians.  New Agers say that it relaxes them and puts them in a good mood, to empty their minds, but real meditation is focused thinking with a purpose on something, not just letting random thoughts preoccupy our minds.

We don't fool God with our veneer, for He sees through the facade and demands an ingenious, sincere, humble, reverent, and honest prayer life.  We are to pray without ceasing, which means we can be in a quasi-meditation all day long, as we enjoy fellowship with the Godhead, walking in the Spirit.

Our minds are like gardens that are either well-cultivated and conducive to good fruit or run wild and full of weeds, bearing only foliage.  The presence of fruit indicates the presence of a fruit tree, bush, or vine, and God is constantly pruning us, that we would produce more.  The branches that are unproductive, or fruitless, are cut down and thrown into the fire, so to speak.  Cf. Jeremiah 17:9 which says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?"  Yes, we shall know them by their fruits (cf. Matt. 7:14), and Jesus was right on when he said that evil thoughts proceed from the heart of man (Matt. 12:34, KJV, says, "...for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh")--nevertheless, think no evil (cf. 1 Cor. 13:5).

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually"  (Gen. 6:5, KJV).  Cf. Proverbs 4:23, which says, "Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flow the issues of life."  Paul exhorts us to "let the word of Christ dwell" in us richly--part of the process of learning to think godly thoughts, and most importantly to "take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ," as Paul commands in 2 Cor. 10:5.  Being spiritually mature implies thinking with a divine attitude, worldview, and viewpoint--thinking godly thoughts per 2 Cor. 10:5, ESV, which says, "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ."

We are to be "transformed by the renewing of our minds" (cf. Rom. 12:2) and to "be renewed in the spirit of [our] mind"  (Eph. 4:23, NKJV).  Paul tells us what sort of things to entertain our minds within Phil. 4:9, basically to "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus"  (Phil. 2:5, NKJV).  We also need to constantly gird up the loins of our minds, or get into gear and stay focused and the result will be a sound mind per 2 Tim. 1:7. and set our minds on things above (cf.. Col. 3:2), not of the worldly realm or domain of Satan. 

God gives us a new mind, as well as spirit, emotions, and will upon salvation--the flesh profits nothing though, and it will be redeemed in heaven into glory! I am a firm believer in positive thinking and trying to see the bright side or the light side of a crisis and that we can rejoice in all circumstances, because of our filling in the Spirit and we are never alone.

Rene Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am!"  He should've started with God in the picture, not himself--he's being introspective and making himself the center of his world.  He is really saying that we have the innate ability to arrive at knowledge apart from God, whereas we wouldn't know anything apart from the revelation of God and that He chose to reveal.  Thinking requires a thinker, ergo entities!

It makes more sense to use the biblical concept:  "In the beginning God...."  The only system of thought that Christ will fit into, according to church father Athanasius, is the one where Christ is its beginning premise or the beginning presupposition!  When you rule God out of the equation, you enter the sphere of chaos, for, without logos, there can be no cosmos or orderly universe with a purpose, and science wouldn't be possible with the laws of the universe and make any sense (cf. Job 38:33).

This is why Secularists deny the supernatural: a Creator-god, a Lawgiver, and a Judge--they don't want accountability or to let a Divine Foot in the door, trying to desperately explain everything without God in the picture, no matter how bleak an outlook it is.  Communists go so far as to declare:  God does not, cannot, and must not exist!  Indeed, it's atheism that's the primary handicap and problem of Marxism.

In summation, it is vital to get our thinking straightened out and to learn how to think with a divine viewpoint the way God would--i.e., biblically sound thinking!  Christianity applies to all of academia and to every discipline and the problem is that Christians are losing the war of ideas and isms by default--they succumb to pressure and don't realize their position is defensible. All in all, in the final analysis, "[Be] careful how [we] think; [our] life is shaped by [our] thoughts"  (Prov. 4:23, GNT).
Soli Deo Gloria! 

Finding Purpose In Life

"Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless."  (Bertrand Russell, philosopher and mathematician and noteworthy atheist)

"The LORD has made everything for his own purposes..."  (Proverbs 16:4, NLT). 

"Think constantly of him enduring all that sinful men could say against him and you will not lose your purpose or your courage"  (Heb. 12:3, J. B. Phillips). 

"For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep...." (Acts 13:36, ESV). 


"It is suicidal to live for yourself and to know no scheme or interest larger than your own little world--we must think outside the box and have a purpose in life.  We can become very busy with no aim in mind, but it will be futile.  We can become a success in the eyes of the world, achieving the so-called American dream and be a failure spiritually.  Every note we strike in this life makes up a chord that will vibrate for all eternity--we don't live for ourselves, but have an effect on others; i.e., no one lives nor dies unto himself, but has an impact and leaves a legacy, good or evil. Life is only a trust, a staging area, a rehearsal, a test or tryout to set us up for eternity; we fit into God's scheme uniquely. We should all seek to leave a legacy larger than life and bigger than ourselves that will have importance and impact in the future.

The point in life is not to have fun, win a lottery of life, become successful, but to contribute something back to society and leave your mark or lasting influence felt.  Einstein said that we shouldn't strive to be a man of success, but a man of value.  No one wants to be forgotten as if they never lived:  the trouble with most is that they live like they'll never die, and die as if they never lived!   We must live each day as if it were our last and always be prepared to meet the Lord of glory in glory!  We should have no unfinished business leftover, and leave no loose ends to tie up.  When we wake up we should say, "Lord, will today be the big day?"  You really aren't ready to live, till you're ready to die and you aren't really living if there's nothing or no one you would die for.  Greater love has no man than he lay down his life for his friends, according to our Lord.

Everything in the universe was created teleologically (by the intelligent design of a wise Creator),  or with purpose-orientation.  There is a reason for everything in creation, and God doesn't make junk or anything in vain.  That includes you and me and Proverbs 16:4 says God made everything for His purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil!  We should have the conviction that God will fulfill His purpose for us in real time (cf. Psalm 57:2; 138:8, ESV, which says, "The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me...."

The very words teleology, purpose, and design are forbidden concepts to secularists who deny there is any rhyme or reason behind creation because these words imply a Designer or Creator.  But you don't have cosmos without logos (the expression or revelation of God: logic)!  If we had no purpose in our cosmos there would be chaos, the enemy of science--but we have laws of the universe to depend on (cf. Job 38:33, ESV, which says, "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?  Can you establish their rule on the earth?") that we can know and manipulate to serve us, and science would be impossible without these laws, which implies a Lawgiver.

Colossians 1:16, MSG, says that everything "finds its purpose in him."  We are like that:  knowing God gives us purpose and meaning, an abundant and fulfilling life with meaning and direction, not chaos.  We are designed to know God and the God-shaped blank in us is only fulfilled by a personal relationship.  If we don't surrender the ownership of our lives to God, it will be chaotic, and not beautiful.  God does have a plan for us according to Jer. 29:11 and we can relinquish our lives to His lordship and behold the new life unfold.  

For He doesn't just change our lives but transforms them.  We become new from the inside out!  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away, behold, the new has come" (2 Cor. 5:17, ESV).  A full life involves living with a purpose or on purpose, and seeing your mission and finding some ministry to be used by God in service, for we are all servants of Christ in the final analysis.  We live for Christ, not for ourselves and this is the secret of happiness, to get our eyes off ourselves and realize it's not about us!

Nothing in life is haphazard or a fluke (we're no freak accident of nature!)--we are part of an intricate plan and we fit in somewhere because there's no one who doesn't have some special and unique purpose from God.  One noteworthy astronomer has compared the cosmos as one gigantic mathematical equation from the mind of a Great Mathematician!  As Christians, we are vessels of honor, not dishonor or wrath, and rejoice when God uses us to His glory!  

Don't worship at the altar of Almighty Chance and believe in impersonal forces such as fate, chance, luck, nor fortune.  They are all contradictions of God's attributes.  Fate is impersonal, while God is personal and knows us; chance is a nonentity and mathematical odd, while God is a certainty and sure thing; luck is dumb, while God is omniscient; fortune if blind, while God is all-seeing and knows all (Prov. 15:3, ESV, says, "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.").

Life is not a game so it isn't all about winning, neither is it a race, that speed is of the essence, and neither is it a marathon, and so endurance and longevity aren't the only factors (we all have an individual race to run tailored for us), it isn't a party either, and therefore having fun is not where it's at, as the main objective; and life isn't a puzzle to figure out and that God is hiding its secrets from us, and only those "in the know" can succeed in life!  Life's secret is in Jesus ("in him was life, and the life was the light of men").

God makes us all good at something and gifted in our own way so that we are suited to do His will and glorify Him:  "The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever," according to The Westminster Shorter Catechism!  Let me add that God has no backup plan or Plan B, we need to get with the program and be obedient to the heavenly calling or vision! If you aim for nothing, you will get nowhere!   In conclusion, let's note what Job concluded when God didn't answer his questions about his suffering:  "... 'I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted'"  (Job 42:1, ESV).

In summation, let me quote Isaiah 49:4 (NLT):  "I replied, 'But my work seems so useless!  I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the LORD's hand.  I will trust God for my reward."   Soli Deo Gloria! 

O.J.T. In The Real World

"[B]ut man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward"  (Job 5:7, ESV).

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous:  but the LORD delivereth him out of them all"  (Psalm 34:19, KJV). 

"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold"  (Job 23:10, ESV).  

"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him"  (Philippians 1:29, NIV). 

"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance character..." (Romans 5:3-4, ESV). 

"For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow [" for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men," ESV]"  (Lamentations 3:33, NLT).

"... Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad? ..." (Job 2:10, NLT).

"Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty"  (Job 5:17, NIV).

"Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law"  (Psalm 94:2, ESV).

"I create the light and make the darkness.  I send good times and bad times..."  (Isaiah 45:7,
NLT).


Christians would be wise to heed the Word of God and pay attention to their elders and teachers, much more their parents as children, because they stand in loco Dei [in the place of God]!  We learn to rebel and question authority at a very young age and we all lose faith at some time in those that deserve our respect.  If we don't learn our lessons the easy way from Scripture, we will learn the hard way in the school of hard knocks!  We all do need backup training in the on-the-job-training (OJT) of real-life--this may be the dog-eat-dog world, the rat race, or the law of the jungle with the survival of the fittest, but we should be assured that when we go through the fire we will not be overwhelmed according to Isaiah 43:2, ESV:  "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you."

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience [and the Word, of course], but shouts to us in our pains," C.  S.. Lewis has said.  There are no shortcuts, easy paths, nor simple formulae to follow to maturity--no magic formula or Eightfold Path [of Enlightenment] either like Buddha taught.  No matter how many noble truths we think of we cannot save ourselves nor find the truth.  We all learn by discipline as God is putting us through the crucible of life as one does a piece of silver, refining it till one sees himself in the reflection.

Experience is not what happens to you, but in you, it has been said, but note that the same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay, some people become bitter, and some better because of the same event--God knows what is best for us and what we can handle. Christ didn't exempt Himself from suffering and our crosses pale in comparison--He doesn't expect anything of us He didn't accomplish or endure; suffering, trials, temptations, adversity, trouble, and discipline are inevitable!  This is par for the course!

There are pitfalls to life and God doesn't promise us a bed of roses or a rose garden.  We learn from our mistakes and hardships, not our successes and prosperity.  Trials are a learning experience that we should welcome as friends that teach us the basics of life--the facts of life.  If we don't learn from the Bible, we will learn one way or another, probably by our mistakes and failures.  We will learn that making plans without God in them is vain and futile.  We don't bring our plans to God for His approval but seek His will in all we do.

Our life is but a pilgrimage or spiritual journey that is meant to glorify God and mold us in the image of Christ.  Just like a sculptor makes a horse from a slab of marble by taking away everything that doesn't resemble the horse, God is taking away everything that doesn't look like Jesus!  There comes a time to apply what we know and get our heads out of the books and step into the real world and learn by trial and error, if not by heeding the Word,  how to obey Christ, and abide in His will.


We have matriculated in the school of Christ and discipleship is largely discipline, accountability, and acceptance of authority.  God is determined to make us Christlike--it comes with the territory! We cannot opt-out of discipline--it's a mandatory course and a requisite--"for whom the Lord loves He chastens," and Christians don't get away with anything and God oversees everything--the good news is that everything is Father-filtered, and nothing happens outside His will for our lives.  (Note Lam. 3:37, NLT, "Who can command things to happen without the Lord's permission?")   

We must not disdain the Lord's corrective discipline:   "But consider the joy of those corrected by God!  Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin"  (Job 5:17, NLT); "Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?" (Lam. 3:39, NLT).  Christ exhorted us to "count the cost"--don't be surprised that your faith must be tested!  We will find out by experience that the Christian life is not hard, it's impossible!

One can endure any suffering if one sees purpose and meaning in it--Christianity alone offers this--and we can be assured of what we signed up for:  no cross, no crown!  God places nothing in our path we cannot handle and cannot learn from.  Trials are a vote of confidence from God that He deems us worthy of being tested--if the Lord got you to it, He'll see you through it!  

Jesus wasn't afraid to get His hands dirty doing the Father's work, He joyfully got down and dirty with the so-called scum and outcasts.  In summation, when Christ makes the final audit of our lives at the Bema, Tribunal, or Judgment Seat, of Christ will we have accomplished His will for our lives and glorified Him with all our resources, talents, skills, money, opportunities, gifts, relationships, and time management?
Soli Deo Gloria!  

Where Is The Word Of The LORD?

"Behold, they say to me, 'Where is the word of the LORD?  Let it come!'" (Jer. 17:15, ESV).
"And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?"  (1 Cor. 14:8, ESV).
"... When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.  Let all things be done for building up"  (1 Cor. 14:26, ESV).
 
NOTE TYPES OF PROPHET CALLS
Micah's commission:  "But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin"  (Micah 3:8, ESV).
Jeremiah"s ordination:  "... 'Look, I have put my words in your mouth!'" (Jer. 1:9, NLT).
Jonah's call:  "'Get up and go to the great a city of Nineveh.  Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are'"  (Jonah 1:2, NLT).  
Isaiah's dedication:  "The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary"  (Isaiah 50:4, NKJV).   
Amos's conscription:  "But Amos replied, 'I'm not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one.  I'm just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees.  But the LORD called me away from my flock and told me, 'God and prophesy to my people in Israel'"  (Amos 7:14-15, NLT).  
Admonition:  "Don't be like your ancestors who would not listen or pay attention when the earlier prophets said to them, 'This is what the LORD of Heavens Armies says:  Turn from all your evil ways, and stop all your evil practices" (Zechariah 1:4, NLT).  

Amos prophesies of a coming time when men will thirst for a word from the LORD and not be satisfied:  "... they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it"  (Amos 8:12, ESV).  Yes, there shall be a famine in the land, but not for food, but for the hearing of the Word of God (cf. Amos 8:11), because there will no prophets to warn the people of their sin and denounce it. Ezekiel says:  "... for they hear what you say, but they will not do it.  When this comes--and come it will!--then they will know that a prophet has been among them"  (Ezek. 33:32-33, ESV).  Truly, "... a people without understanding will come to ruin"  (cf. Hosea 4:14, ESV).

When we pass on what we hear from God He reveals more and we must keep the channel turned on to His frequency; i.e., keep in touch and stay in fellowship--abiding in Christ!  Actually, with the rise of prophets, we see the light and there is also the rise of false prophets, saying just what the people of God want to hear with their itching ears.  Lack of prophets in the land can be a sign of judgment, and even in the church we have those who prophesy in the Spirit, edifying the body, lifting up the Lord and speaking forth the Word; for prophets don't just foretell the future, but they forth-tell the Word to edification (i.e., building up--telling it like it is!), even denouncing sin and afflicting the comforted in Zion (those with complacency), while comforting the afflicted (those who see their need per Isa. 40:1)) with the good news from the Lord.  "Do not my words do good to him who walks uprightly?"  (Micah 2:7, ESV).

We all need to be built up in the faith and the prophet can interpret the times and often warns the body, able to discern truth (note 1 Chronicles 12:32, NKJV, which says, "of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were 200....").  The official office of prophet was instituted by Samuel, the first of the prophets and last of the judges, as it were, and the primary task they had or job description, was to speak to the people on behalf of God, while the priest primarily spoke to God on behalf of the people, often interceding and offering corporate confession for Israel or Judah.  We don't have the office of prophet in the church or body of Christ, but we have the gift to prophesy in the name of the Lord to edification.

The prophets had a thankless job that was to tell news no one wanted to hear, it was rarely good, but pronouncements of judgments and sometimes they were even known as doomsayers.  If the prophet spoke against Jerusalem it was considered unpatriotic, like what happened to brave Jeremiah, who was subsequently thrown into a pit. The Israelites and Jews rejected the prophets, they killed most of them, and Jesus was their last chance to respond (cf. Deut. 18:18), and they rejected Him.

The fourfold purpose and calling of a prophet was to expose sin, call people back to God, warn of impending judgment, anticipate the Messiah (prophecies had present and future implications and interpretations).  The church doesn't have the office of prophet per se, but the gift of prophecy to edify and interpret the times is still available and valid. If you have heard of the time-interpreting expository preaching of Charles Colson, you'll realize what a modern-day prophet he was. 

Hosea says, "... the prophet is a fool; the man of the spirit is mad"  (Hosea 9:7, ESV).  You may have heard that in a mad world, only the mad are sane--well, the prophet was the only one who was right, and the whole nation was often in rebellion--God challenged Jeremiah to find just one just man in Jerusalem!  The end result is that the rebels won't find the Lord:  "... they shall go to seek the LORD, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them"  (Hosea 5:6, ESV).  We get the prophets, teachers, and leaders we deserve, according to Micah 2:11!  The principle lesson to heed is that, when light is ignored or refused, it's taken away!   Soli Deo Gloria!  Hallelujah!  Amen!