A Modern Day Prophet
Where are the modern day prophets? At crucial times in history God has always raised up prophets. They are men and women who love the truth more than they love their own life. They are the heroes of a generation. God is looking for such people today. He is looking for those to whom He can trust to deliver His words to this generation. The prophets’ success has always been found in their faithfulness to stand by the word of the Lord and their fearlessness in the face of danger. They were men and women who had conquered the fear of death.
Civil rights leader and 20th century prophet, Martin Luther King, Jr., once declared: “Until you conquer the fear of death, you don’t know what freedom is!” King led a group of 8,000 civil rights protestors in an historic march to Montgomery, Alabama. His address given in Montgomery echoes the cry of the prophets of all ages:
“We are on the move now and no wave of racism can stop us. The burning of our churches will not deter us. The bombing of our homes will not divert us. The release of their known murderers will not discourage us. We are on the move now, like an idea whose time has come. Not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. We are moving to the land of freedom.
“I know you are asking today, ‘How long will it take?’ Someone is asking today, ‘How long will prejudice blind the eyes of men?” I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because truth crushed to earth will rise again!”
“How long? Not long! Because no lie can live forever! How long? Not long! Because you shall reap what you sow! How long? Not long! ‘Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne, yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown, standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.’
“How long? Not long! Because the arch of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. How long? Not long! For mine eyes have seen the coming of the glory of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. He has loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword. His truth is marching on!
“He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat. He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat. O, be swift my soul to answer Him, be jubilant my feet! Our God is marching on! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Hallelujah! His Truth is marching on!
Such sentiments live and burn in the hearts of God’s prophets.
