Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Zechariah. It's the second to the last book
in the Old Testament. Just before Malachi, Zechariah,
chapter 12. Page 1178 in my Bible. Zechariah chapter 12 verse 1
says The burden of the Word of the
Lord for Israel Oh The burden of the Word of
the Lord The burden of the Word itself. The burden of telling the Word. Telling what God has written. We're called to be true to His
Word. Isn't that right? We're called to be true to His
Word. We're called to declare His Word. Oh, the burden of preaching this
word, telling this word clearly, honorably, truthfully. I'm telling you, it's a burden.
It is a great burden. Turn one page to Malachi chapter
1. Verse 1 says, The burden of the
Word of the Lord to Israel. Isaiah said it. Nahum said it. Habakkuk said it. Zechariah said it. Malachi said
it. Every man who has been called
to declare it knows something of the burden of the Word of
the Lord. Paul told Timothy preach the word. He told him preach all of the
word. Don't shun to declare the whole
counsel of God in every word in this book. But we're going
to skip over that part because we don't care for that part.
Not God's man. Well, we're going to skip over
that because that might offend somebody. Preach the Word. The burden of
the Word of the Lord is what our text is all about this morning. The burden of the Word of the
Lord. I want to be true to God's Word. That's what I want to be, is
true to God's Word. Go with me to Jeremiah 23. Our
brother just read it. This is God speaking. Every word that he just read,
Jeremiah is the one who penned this, but this is God speaking. How many times did it say, saith
the Lord your God? This is God speaking. And I believe
that the Lord has burdened my heart to Declare his word from
this portion of his word Verse one says woe be unto the pastors
That destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture saith the
lord There are men standing in pulpits all over this world right
now Who are driving sinners away from christ? They're driving sinners away
from Christ and it's and it's a happy, happy thing to be driven
away from Christ. I get the band rolling and get
the smiles rolling and I like smiling. But men and women don't
realize they're being driven away from Christ. Verse two says,
therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors
that feed my people or are supposed to be feeding my people. You
have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not visited
them. Behold, I will visit upon you
the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. He said, because you
have not visited them. What does he mean by that? Hold
your place right here and turn with me to Ezekiel 34. That's
page 1078 in my Bible. Ezekiel 34. Verse one says, And the word of the Lord came
unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds
of Israel. Prophesy, and say unto them,
Thus saith the Lord God to the shepherds, Woe be to the shepherds
of Israel that do feed themselves. Should not the shepherds feed
the flocks? You eat the fat, and you clothe
you with the wool. And you kill them that are fed,
but you feed not the flock. He said, the diseased, have you
not strengthened? And this is the gospel, this
is Christ, this is. He said, neither have you healed
that which was sick. Neither have you bound up that
which was broken. The gospel binds up the broken. The gospel does, not the lie
of the pulpit, the truth, the gospel does. Neither have you
brought again that which was driven away. Neither have you
sought that which was lost, but with force and cruelty you've
ruled them. They were scattered because there's
no shepherd, and they became meat to all the beasts of the
field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all
the mountains, and upon every high hill, yea, my flock was
scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search
or seek after them." That's what he meant by you haven't visited
them. You haven't brought them the
truth of the gospel. You haven't brought them the
glory of the good news. Now go back to Jeremiah 23 and
let me show you what the Lord said about this. This is our
Lord speaking in Jeremiah 23 verse 9 says, My heart within
me is broken because of the prophets. He said it's breaking my heart. Did you know that our God is
a God of emotion? He's a God of emotion because
he is the true and living God. The scripture says he is angry
with the wicked every day. And right here he said heart
broken. He does not take pleasure in
the death of the wicked. But that does not mean that he
will not deal with it. Verse nine, he said, my heart
within me is broken because of the prophets. All my bones shake. I'm like a drunken man and like
a man whom wine hath overcome because of the Lord and because
of the words of his holiness over the holiness of the Lord.
For the land is full of adulterers, spiritually speaking, that means
those that have been drawn away from Christ. Drawn away from their first love. Drawn away from his blood. Drawn away from the singleness,
that union. Drawn away to worship another. The land is full of adulterers
for because of swearing, promising lies from the pulpit. The land
mourneth. It's brought a curse on them.
It goes on to say, the pleasant places of the wilderness are
dried up and their course is evil, their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are
profane, yea, in my house have I filled their wickedness, found
their wickedness, saith the Lord. Wherefore, their way shall be
unto them as slippery ways in the darkness. They shall be driven
on and fall therein, for I will bring evil upon them even the
year of their visitation, saith the Lord. As a human being on
this earth, there are a lot of things I would not want to be. As a human being that walks on
the face of this earth, there are many, many things I pray
God would never let me be. But the number one thing is a
false prophet. The number one thing. A false prophet. Verse 13, I
have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria. They prophesied in
Baal and caused my people Israel to err. I've seen also in the
prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing. They commit adultery and
walk in lies. They strengthen also the hands
of evildoers. that none doth return from his
wickedness. What are all those things? We'll
find out in a minute. That's anything that we're trying
to add to the work of Christ. He's not talking about the gutter
at this moment in time. He's talking about the truth
of God's Word. He said, they are all of them
unto me as Sodom. That name means burning. and
the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah." That name means a ruined heap.
God said these lion preachers are a burning, ruined heap to
me. Hebrews says, many are gone out
into the world. Many are gone out into the world.
While our Lord was on this earth, the number one thing He warned
of was, beware of false prophets. Beware of false prophets. Many,
many, many. Verse 15. Therefore, thus saith
the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets, Behold, I will
feed them with wormwood. That means a curse. And make
them drink the water of Gaul. That means bitterness. For from
the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all
the land. Profaneness means pollution,
hypocrisy, godlessness. Think about this. Godlessness is the direct result
of the pulpit according to God. Godlessness, a loss of God is
a direct result of what is being preached in the pulpits then
and today. Verse 16 says, Thus saith the
Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that
prophesy unto you. They make you vain. That's how
you'll know them. They make you vain. They puff
up this empty flesh. They lift up the pride of self. The end of verse 16 says, they'll
speak a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the
Lord. They will preach things that
cannot be found in the Word of God. The next time somebody says
to you, well, you know the Bible says, say, show me. Don't argue with them. Say, if
they can show you, believe it. In context. Show me. They'll preach things that can't
be found in God's Word and they won't preach the things that
are found in God's Word. Verse 17, They say still unto
them that despise me, The Lord hath said, You shall have peace. Is that
not the number one thing that is preached today? You're going
to have peace. Oh, you're going to have peace. They say unto everyone that walketh
after the imagination of his own heart, no evil shall come
upon you. They promise poor sinners. We're all sinners and they promise
poor sinners. You're fine. You're fine. Go ahead and meet God. Go ahead
and go meet God. Don't worry about all that sin
you've committed against him. Don't worry about it. He won't deal with it. God will
not judge it. He won't do what He swore He
would do. He won't do that. Why do they
say that? Why do they lie to men and women? Why do they lie?
Verse 18, Who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord? Why do they
say things that are not in here? Who stood in the counsel of the
triune God? Who hath perceived and heard
his word? Who hath marked his word and
heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in
fury. Even a grievous whirlwind, it
shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger
of the Lord shall not return until he have executed, until
he have performed the thoughts of his heart. In the latter days
you shall consider it perfectly. All eyes are going to see and
know the truth of my word in the end. All eyes. Now here's
God's warning to every soul on this earth. Verse 21, I have
not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to
them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel
and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have
turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.
Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him,
saith the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth,
saith the Lord? Is there anything that takes
place all the way into the secret place of the heart? that I don't
see, and I don't hear, anything I don't know about. Verse 25,
I have heard what the prophets said that prophesy lies in my
name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed, how long shall
this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, they
are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, which think
to cause my people to And hold on to this right here. Just hold
on to this for a minute. Forget my name. That's what they're
causing people to do. They're causing them to forget
my name. By their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbor,
as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. In all of these
lies that are being told, That's what is taking place. That is
the end result of a false message. False preachers are causing people
to forget His name. Forget His name for a false God.
Verse 28, The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream.
And he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.
What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord. What does the
true preacher preach? The Word of God. The Word of
God. Not philosophy. Not history. Not morality. Not ancient dialect. The Word of God. That's how you'll
know Him. That's how you'll know Him. They'll
preach the Word. They'll preach it in season.
They'll preach it out of season. They'll do it with all long-suffering. And they'll do it with doctrine.
They'll prove it in the Word. They will say it to you, and
then they will show it to you in the Word. That's how you'll
know. They'll say it to you, and then they'll show it to you
in the Word. The only foundation I have is
the Word of God. If it's not in this Word, I have
nothing. And if I preach anything not
in this Word, don't listen to it. If I leave this Word, leave
me. This Word, this Word. Verse 29,
it's not my Word like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer
that breaketh the rock in pieces. Therefore, behold, I am against
the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words, every one
from his neighbor. Behold, I'm against the prophets
that saith the Lord, that use their tongues and say, he saith,
but he didn't say it. He saith, but he did not say
that. Verse 32, behold, I'm against them that prophesy false dreams,
saith the Lord, and to tell them and cause my people to err by
their lies and by their lightness. That word means recklessness. And it means frivolity, just
being frivolous with the word. Frivolous with Christ, frivolous
with his worship. Verse 32 says, They lie by their
likeness, yet I sent them not, nor commanded them. Therefore
they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord. And when
this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee,
saying, What is the burden of the Lord? Thou shalt then say
unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith
the Lord. And as for the prophet and the
priest and the people that shall say, the burden of the Lord,
what he's saying is whoever stands up in a pulpit and says, I have
the burden of the word of the Lord and then preaches lies.
Whoever speaks on his behalf and does not speak his word. He goes on to say in verse 34,
I will even punish that man in his house. Thus shall you say everyone to
his neighbor and everyone to his brother. What hath the Lord
answered and what hath the Lord spoken and the burden of the
Lord shall you mention no more for every man's word shall be
his burden. If you're preaching lies that'll
be the burden. You have perverted the words
of the living God, of the Lord of hosts, our God. Thus shalt
thou say to the prophet, what hath the Lord answered thee,
and what hath the Lord spoken? But since you say the burden
of the Lord, therefore thus saith the Lord. Because you say this
word, the burden of the Lord, and I have sent unto you saying,
you shall not say the burden of the Lord, therefore behold,
I, even I, will utterly forget you. And I will forsake you. And I'll forsake the city that
I gave you. And I'll forsake your fathers. And I'll cast you
out of my presence. And I will bring an everlasting
reproach upon you and a perpetual shame which shall not be forgotten. I'm a pastor. I'm a preacher who stands up
in a pulpit. That makes me take this very
seriously. You want to talk about the fear
of the Lord? The fear of the Lord for my own
sake, for my family's sake, for this city's sake. Do you know that the scripture
says I'm going to have to give an account for what I told people
from this pulpit? Every preacher in this town is
going to have to give an account for what he told people out of
their pulpits. Every single one. Now let me
tell you what strikes the most fear in me. In this thing of
lies and truth, this is what strikes the most fear in me.
In my flesh, there's not a stitch of truth in me. In my flesh, there's not a drop
of right, only wrong. David said, man at his best state
is altogether vanity. In my flesh there's not a drop
of good. The Lord said there is none that
doeth good. No not one. Psalm 58 says every
soul enters this world from the womb speaking lies. Every soul. But did you know
that that is not all that God said in this book. He did not end His word there. He said, I am the truth. I have a people that I am going
to cause to know the truth. And as soon as they know the
truth, the truth is going to make them free. It's going to
make them free from the lies of the pulpit. It's going to make them free
from the bondage of the pulpit. It's going to make them free
from the bondage of their own sin. It's going to make them
free from damnation. This right here is the subject
matter of the pulpit. This is the question that men
and women come to the pulpit to hear the answer to. This is
it. How can a sinful man be just
with God? This is the issue. This is the
question. That is the only reason for a
man to ever stand in a pulpit. It's to declare how a sinner
can be just with God. That's the only message to preach. What will it take for a man or
a woman to be able to stand in the presence of God? How can
I be saved? Now, Understand that's 40 verses. That's a long chapter. I'm one
who watches my time. I Wanted to be true to God's
Word All right, I'm gonna get to the point and Tell us the
truth of the pulpit the truth of the Word of God The lies that
are being told the lies that are damning people When it comes
to sinners being just before God is men are standing up and
they're telling people things like this. You have to give your
money to the church to be just with God. You have to be kind. You have to be friendly. You have to do for others. You
have to do for your neighbor. You have to be quick to forgive.
You have to be honest. You have to be respectable. You
have to be involved in religion. You have to attend somewhere
and be involved in religion. We could keep going and going
and going. None of those things are the
truth. All of those things are wonderful
things. None of those things are the truth. When it comes
to a sinner being able to stand in the presence of God, the only
way it is possible for a man or a woman is he or she has to
be righteous. In order to enter the kingdom
of heaven, you have to be righteous. That's the only way. You have
to be righteous. What that means is as good as
God. That's what you have to be. Completely
sinless. Not one drop of wrong. Our Lord said, except your righteousnesses
shall exceed the righteousnesses of the scribes and Pharisees,
you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. The reason
he said that is because theirs was not good enough to get them
in. Oh, it has to exceed that. You see these men and all their
robes and all their religion and all that. It has to be better
than that. No man or woman's righteousness
is good enough. They're filthy rags. Our best
deeds are filthy rags. Our Lord said there is none righteous,
no not one. Men stand up and tell people
that they are when they're not. Men stand up and tell people
they can earn their own when they can't. That is the lie that
leads sinners away from Christ. It scatters the sheep and it
will only lead to destruction. I'm here with the word of the
Lord. It tells us that there is only
one source of righteousness. There is only one way a sinner
can be just with God. One way a sinner can enter into
heaven. It's at the end of verse six.
Jeremiah 23 verse six says, the Lord, our righteousness. The Lord, our righteousness. Salvation is not being in religion. Salvation is being in Christ,
being in the blood and being in the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is our sinlessness. He is our perfection. He is our rightness before God. Now here is the gospel of the
word of God. The good news. Men stand up and
they say God loves everybody. I hope just by reading this chapter
we understand that's not so. Men stand up and they say Christ
died for everybody. And if that is the case, then
Christ died in vain. If one sinner ends up in hell
that Christ died for, then his blood was shed in vain. And if
his blood was shed in vain, then he is not able to save to the
uttermost. What a horrible lie that is.
A horrible lie. Here's the truth of the Gospel
of the Word of God. Verse 1 says, Woe be unto the
pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith
the Lord. God has a sheep. He has a sheep
fold. David said, the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord said, I am the good
shepherd, I know my sheep, I must bring them. In spite of them, I must bring
them. I believe with all my heart, God has sheep in Kingsport. I
believe he does. I believe there are elect chosen
to salvation sheep in Kingsport currently sitting in the darkness
of their own imaginations. Currently sitting in the darkness
of their own religion. The darkness of the lies that
are being told to him by the pulpit. But those sheep are his
sheep. And he's going to go get them.
And he's going to use the truth of the word to do it. He is going to use His Spirit
and His Word. He is going to heal their sickness. He is going to bind up their
broken heart. And He's going to seek that which
was lost through the truth of His Word. Verse 3 says, I'll
gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither
I've driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, and
they shall be fruitful in increase. And I will set up shepherds over
them which shall feed them, and they shall fear no more, nor
be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. You
notice how I keep saying I, I, I, not they. I, I. Verse four says, Behold, the
days come, sayeth the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous
branch. That's Jesus Christ. And a king
shall reign and prosper. That's Jesus Christ. And shall
execute judgment and justice in the earth. That's Jesus Christ. In his days, Judah shall be saved. shall be saved. Must. And Israel
shall dwell safely and this is his name. The pulpit has caused
men and women to forget his name. This is his name. This is his
name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. The Lord our right to enter into
heaven. That's his name. The Lord, our
ability to stand in the presence of God, that's His name. Verse
seven says, Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought
up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. But the
Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the
house of Israel out of the north country and from all countries,
whither I had driven them, and they shall dwell in their own
land. Every tribe, nation, kindred, and tongue, the whole earth is
going to say, Oh, our God, our shepherd, brought us, led us,
had mercy on us. How did He do it? By making His
Son that sin. That we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Not just have His righteousness,
be His righteousness. Here's the truth of the pulpit.
All of us by nature are sin. God punishes sin. In order to
be saved, we must be righteous. Righteousness cannot be earned.
It can only be freely given. So God gave Christ his son to
be our righteousness. On the cross, he became our sin. We became his righteousness.
Because of His work, we are complete in Him. Totally complete in Him. Perfect in Him. And I'm going
to prove that to you. I'm not just going to say it
to you. I'm going to prove it to you. We're going to close
with this verse of Scripture. Go with me to Jeremiah 33. His name is the Lord our righteousness. Now Jeremiah 33 verse 14 says,
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform
that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel
and to the house of Judah. In those days and at that time
will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David, And he
shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall
Judah be saved. That's his people, his bride,
his sheep. And Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name wherewith
she shall be called. The Lord our righteousness. One with Him, as He is, so are
we. You know, we can go meet God
with that. I'm telling you, if God comes
today, if we don't make it to our car, if God comes in just
a second, or if He takes us today, we can go meet God with that.
We can go meet God with that. Plead His blood. Plead his righteousness. You're going to find yourself
standing before him. All of a sudden you're going
to find yourself standing before him. Plead his blood. Plead his
righteousness. You will be you. You won't be
a spiritual smoky form of you. You'll be you. You will stand
before him. When he says, what right do you
have to enter into my kingdom? You plead the blood and the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. That's all I have. The blood
and righteousness of Christ. You do that and everything will
be fine. It'll be fine. All right, let's stand together.