An old preacher was asked the
secret of good preaching. The person said, you are a good
preacher. You're easy to listen to and
you communicate the gospel well. What's your secret? And the old The gentleman replied,
well, my subject is always the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the subject
of my song and of my messages always. My theme is Christ. And secondly, my proof. The only thing I appeal to for
proof of the truth of my message is the Scriptures. I don't appeal
to men's feelings, science, nature, any of these things that speak
to the senses. I appeal to the Word of God.
Thus saith the Lord. That's the proof of my message. And then my methods, my method is always the same.
I tell the people what I intend to tell them. And then I tell them. And then
I keep telling them what I told them. Like Paul said, preach
the same things to you. to me indeed is not tiresome,
but for you is both good and profitable." So let's look here
at this text and preach the same things again. In verses 1 and 2, and this scripture is so applicable
to this day, to my times and your times that it could have
been written this morning. It's so applicable to this particular
time that it could have been written and delivered, hand-delivered
to us this morning. In verses 1 and 2, The weeping prophet says, Woe
be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture,
saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord
God of Israel against the pastors that are supposed to be feeding
my people. That's their profession, their vocation. But they don't.
They scatter them, drive them away. have not taught them, fed
them, come to them in the name of the Lord. Behold, I'll visit
them, upon them the evil of their doing."
Now, there seems to be an unwritten law today that forbids us to
say anything against any religion. It's just unpopular to say anything
against any religion, any church, or preacher, or denomination. It's not in good taste to tell
us. And you don't help yourself by
tearing down someone else. But our Lord exhorts us to examine
those who preach. If you look at 1 John chapter
4, and let me read 1 John chapter
4, verse 1, 2 and 3. 1 John 4, verse 1. Beloved, believe
not every spirit, Everyone who comes to you with
a spiritual message, supposed to be from God, and says he's
speaking by the Spirit, but try them. Try the Spirit. Examine
them. Try them by what? Examine them
by what? By the Word. By God's Word. Try the Spirits,
whether they are truly of God. Because many false preachers
have gone out into the world. There's lots of them. Try them. We're exhorted to try the Spirit. And our Lord, in Matthew 7, He
calls them wolves in sheep's clothing. He said, Beware. Beware
of false preachers. Beware of false preachers. And
they don't come to you saying, I'm a wolf, I'm a fox, I'm a
lion, I'm here to destroy your confidence, and your church,
and your sheep. No, they come in sheep's clothing.
In fact, in 2 Corinthians 11, you need to look at this scripture,
2 Corinthians 11, the Apostle Paul is very plain, blunt regarding
these men. In 2 Corinthians 11, verse 13,
he says, such are false apostles, deceitful workers. They transform
themselves into the apostles of Christ. They come preaching
in His name. And that's no marvel, for Satan
himself is transformed into an angel of life. I turned the television on the
other day, and the other night they were having a play in this
huge church in Columbus, Ohio. A thousand, two or three thousand
people there, had this beautiful young lady singing a hymn, a
song. And over here was this grotesque,
ugly demon. Oh, he was horrible, horrible
looking. And he was whispering in her
ear, trying to tempt her. And she would turn and sing something
and he'd fall on the floor. And then he'd come back again.
And I told Doris, I said, That's the way he would like
for you to picture him. Well, he'd be easy for me to
turn away. I wouldn't even want to talk to him. I wouldn't want
him in my house, that gruesome, grotesque, evil-looking, terrible-looking
creature. That's not the way he comes.
He comes as a holy being, as an angel of light, As a person
coming to establish good things and peace, fleshly happiness,
prosperity. That's why it says he comes as
an angel of life. Not a demon with horns and a
forked tail and a gruesome appearance. Therefore it's no great thing
if his ministers be transformed as ministers of what? Righteousness. Your righteousness. good works,
religion, whose end shall be according to their works. Did
not they say in the judgment, Lord, we preached in your name?
Cast out devils in your name. Did many wonderful, wonderful
works in your name. I never knew you. It's a confusing thing. And that's
what Satan means for us to be confused, deceived. Paul said, I'm not unaware of
his tactics. He's crafty, subtle. Did he not say to Eve, if you
eat that, you'll prosper. You'll be wise. You'll know things
you don't know now. That's to be, she saw it was
desired. He convinced her that that forbidden
fruit would make her wise and was good for her. Our Lord called them wolves in
sheep's clothing. He called them, Paul called them
ministers of Satan. And Peter says, listen to 2 Peter
2, let me read that to you. The Apostle Peter says in 2 Peter
2, There were false prophets among
the people, Israel. Even there shall be false teachers
among you who bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord
that bought them, His blood, His atonement. Verse 2, and here's
what's tragic, "...and many shall follow them." their lascivious, pernicious
ways. In verse 3, and through covetousness
shall they with feigned words, deceitful words, make merchandise
of you. Hucksters. They'll use you to
accomplish their goals and their ends and their popularity and
their gain. They'll use you You're just so much merchandise
to prosper their organization. But Jeremiah, the weeping prophet,
the heartbroken prophet, he speaks more strongly about these men
than any prophet. I won't read you all of it, but
he says this in Jeremiah 6, he said they're greedy, they're
covetous men. Greedy. Covetous. Never have enough. He says in
Jeremiah 6, 14, and they cry, Peace! Peace, when there is no
peace. They give people false hope. And then they deny God's judgment.
Turn back to Jeremiah 14. They deny judgment. In Jeremiah
14, verse 13, then said I, O Lord God, behold the prophets saying
to them, you shall not see the sower, neither shall you have
famine. I'll give you peace, assured
peace in this place. The Lord said to me, the prophets
prophesy lies in my name. I sent them not. Neither have
I commanded them, neither spake unto them. And they prophesy
unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of naught, and the
deceit of their heart. Therefore thus saith the Lord
concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent
them not. Yet they say, sword and famine
shall not be in this land." By sword and famine. shall those
prophets be consumed." You don't have to be afraid of
the judgment. By that same judgment, they'll be consumed. Then here's,
I'll say this to last Jeremiah talking about these false prophets.
Here's the condemning, destructive fact. Jeremiah 23, 16. Their message, these false prophets,
they do not preach the Word. They do not preach the Word of
God. What did the old preacher say?
My theme is Christ. My proof is the Word of God. The only thing I appeal to for
the proof and accuracy of my message is the Word of God. But
not these guys. They don't preach the Word. They
preach their dreams and visions. You watch them. They make fun
of me because I have my little notebook with the Word. But I'm
going to keep my little notebook. I'm going to keep the Word. And
they walk around talking about what they dreamed last night
and what God said to them last week. They got up four o'clock
in the morning and were walking out in the garden and God said
this to them, they preach everything but the Word. They don't take
you verse by verse through the Word of God. They preach their dreams and
feelings and sit around and share and discuss. No Bible. Just sit
around and talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, sing
and talk. Verse 16. Jeremiah 23, thus saith the Lord
of hosts, hearken not to the words of the prophets that prophesy
unto you. They make you vain. They speak
a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that
despise me. They tell people to despise the
Lord. The Lord said, you'll have peace. And they say, under everyone
that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, no evil shall
come unto you. You don't have to be afraid.
You just hold on to your false religion, and your false works,
and your false peace, and it'll be alright with you. If you're
sincere, that ought to count for something. That's what they
tell you. That's what they think. Look
at verse 28, Jeremiah 23. Verse 28, the prophet that hath
a dream, let him tell a dream. That's
what he's going to tell anyway. And he that hath my word, let
him speak my word faithfully. What is the chapter of the wheat,
saith the Lord? Is not my word like a fire, saith
the Lord, 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." That preacher
is a thief, did you know that? They steal the children's bread. What do you think about a fellow
you hired, you have a whole, you have a dairy farm, you got
a whole bunch of cows, and bulls, and steers, and you give him
three or four wagon loads of hay and tell him to go down and
feed you, Feed your cows. And he sells it to make some
money. He doesn't feed any of them.
He's terrible. And that's what he says here.
They've stolen the feed from the children. They've stolen
the hay. They've stolen my words. They're not giving my people
the word. They're thieves. Behold, I'm against them, saith
the Lord. They use their tongues and say,
he said, Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams,
saith the Lord, and do tell them their dreams, and cause my people
to err by their lies, and by their lightness, and vanity,
and frivolity." I didn't send them. I sent them
not. I didn't command them. Therefore they shall not profit,
this people at all, saith the Lord. No Bible, no doctrine,
no scripture. You know that's true, and I know
it's true, and that's the major problem. I've said this so many
times, the fault is not in the pew, it's in the pulpit. And the sheep are starving and
dying, perishing, from water and food. And you know the sad thing about
it is, turn to Jeremiah 5. Jeremiah 5, verse 30 and 31. This is the sad thing about this
whole situation. Jeremiah 5, verse 30. An astonishing and horrible thing
is committed in the land. Jeremiah 5, verse 30. How wonderful
that is, astonishing. Horrible things committed in
the land. The prophets prophesy falsely. And the priests bear
rule by their means. They take things into their own
hands. And my people love to have it
so. People like it. Isn't that something? All these congregations If you met my sweet little preacher, he just satisfies me. He says
what I want him to say. He just makes us all leave there
feeling good. In fact, we had such a wonderful
time, he didn't even have an opportunity to preach. Our program
was going so good that we didn't even open the Bible. They like
to have it so, isn't that a shame? All right, back to my text, Jeremiah
23, let's get off that subject. Verse 3, the Lord, and you know
when we look about us and we see this vast religious movement,
it's vast, it's worldwide, it's just sweeping religious movement,
organizations, The Pope can get 50,000 people, Protestants and the Muslims,
all these people with their idolatry and traditions and false doctrines. It's just not according to the
Word at all. It's a vast thing. And the multitude of false preachers
with their message of human works free willism and their pagan,
pagan music. It's pagan. Pagan music. No knowledge of God, no love
for Christ, no evidence of a new birth. And we are led to cry with His
disciples. One day they said, Lord, are
there few that be saved? Are there few that be saved? Elijah was so troubled, he said,
Lord, I'm the only one that's left. Well, thank God for verse 3 and
4. Listen here. But the Lord said,
I'll gather the remnant of my flock out of the countries where
I've driven them. I'll gather my flock. Our Lord has an elect people.
You write this down. Amid all the religion going on
today, the Lord has his sheep. He has his elect people. And
he said, I'll gather them. What did John say? He said, I
saw a great multitude. I saw a great multitude which
no man could number. Elijah, you're not the only one. I saw a multitude which no man
could number, of every nation, every kindred, every people,
and tongue unto heaven. They stood before the Lamb, clothed
in white robes, palms of victory in their hands, and they all
cried with a loud voice, Salvation is of the Lord, who sitteth upon
the throne, and upon and unto the Lamb. I gather my people. They were chosen from the beginning. I thank God, brethren, beloved,
for you, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. I gave them to Christ, and He
said, I love them. The shepherd loves the
sheep, calls them by name. And He'll give Himself for them,
and they shall all be called and justified and glorified.
Whom He foreknew, He predestinated to be conformed to the image
of His Son. And whom He predestinated, He called. Whom He called, He
justified. And whom He justified, He glorified.
I'll gather my flock. I'll gather. I'll call them.
I'll call them. I'll gather them. Now watch this. And verse 4 says, "...and I'll
set up shepherds over them." You see, a pastor is a shepherd. Pastor. It starts out this thing
talking about the false pastors. Preachers. Pastors, preachers,
shepherds. Christ is the chief shepherd,
the great shepherd, the good shepherd. We're under shepherds.
But the pastors are shepherds. And the Lord said, I'll set up
shepherds who will feed my flock. I'll gather my flock, sovereignly
gather them, call them, and I'll set over them shepherds. You see, election is not salvation,
it's untrue salvation. Those whom the Father chose and
gave to the Son, the Son redeems. And all whom the Son redeems,
the Spirit calls. That's why I turn to John 16,
and listen to our Lord speaking here to His disciples about their
work as ministers of the gospel, ambassadors of Christ. He said
in John 16, verse 7, I tell you the truth. Nevertheless,
I tell you the truth. It's expedient for you that I
go away. If I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you.
And if I depart, I will send him to you." And when he's come,
he'll convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.
Of sin, because they believe not on me. Of righteousness,
because I go to my Father. You see me no more. of judgment,
because the prince of this world is judged. Now, I have yet many
things to say to you, but you can't bear them now. But when
He, albeit when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He'll guide
you into all truth. For He'll not speak of Himself,
but whosoever, whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak,
and He'll show you things to come. And He'll glorify Me, and
He'll receive of Mine and show it to you." Now, how does the
Holy Spirit do this? The Lord said, I'll gather my
flock and I'll put over them shepherds
that will feed them. The Holy Spirit uses these shepherds
to feed the flock, to show them the things of Christ. The Holy
Spirit reveals the Son, but He uses the Word. Of His own will
begat He us with the Word of truth. He uses faithful preachers. Look at 2 Thessalonians a minute. That scripture I quoted a while
ago. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. He uses faithful preachers
to feed his sheep, to teach his people the things of Christ.
2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 13. But we're bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ." How did he call you? By the gospel. How did he teach
you? By a preacher. teaching you the
Word. God had chosen by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Paul said, we preach
and you believe. We preach the gospel unto you
by which you are saved, wherein you stand. The gospel is the
power of God unto salvation. So he said, they're false preachers,
lots of But I'll gather my flock, and I'll set over them shepherds,
listen, that'll feed them. And because the shepherds will
give them my word, the truth of my word, the promises of my
word, what's the consequences? They shall fear no more. They
won't fear the law. The law's been honored and satisfied
by our Savior. They won't fear judgment. Why? There's no judgment to them who
are in Christ. They won't fear death because they've heard the
promise, he that believeth on me shall never die. And listen, nor be dismayed. That word, dismayed, is in the
Bible something like 30 or 35 times. I looked it up. counted the number of times,
dismayed, dismayed, D-I-S-M-A-Y-E-D, dismayed. My flock, I'm going
to gather them, put shepherds over them to teach them, to feed
them. And because these faithful shepherds
feed them my word, they won't fear. They won't fear death,
they won't fear judgment, they won't fear hell, they won't fear
condemnation, they won't fear the law. And they won't be dismayed. And as I told you, it's used
in the Bible these 30 or so times. Jeremiah uses it more than anybody. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet,
he used it more than anybody. And the word means to be discouraged. Dismayed. It means to be beaten
down. To break down. And he said, they're
not going to be beaten down. Our people are not going to be
discouraged. They're not going to faint. They're
not going to give up. They're going to endure to the end. They're
going to persevere. They're going to hold fast their
profession amid all of the discouragements seemingly defeats, overwhelming
odds, so few evidences, they're not going to be dismayed. Listen
to Paul in 2 Corinthians 4. Paul sums it up for me here. They're not going to quit. David said one time, he said,
I would have fainted. The things he went through before
God took him to the throne? Unbelievable. But he said, I
would have fainted if I had not believed that I'd see the goodness
of the Lord in the land I live in. And Paul said in 2 Corinthians
4, verse 7, or verse 6, God who commanded the light, to shine
out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ
Jesus. But we have this treasure, this knowledge, this glorious,
precious pearl in an earthen vessel, that the excellence of
the power may be of God and not of us. We're trouble on every side, but we're not
dismayed. We're not beaten down. We're
not distressed. We're perplexed. We don't understand
everything that's going on, nor why. But we're not in despair. We're not dismayed. We're not
going to quit. We're persecuted. But we're not
alone. We're not forsaken. We cast down. But we're not destroyed. It's a mess, Jeremiah said. It
is a mess. But out of it all, God said,
I'll gather my flock. I'll gather my sheep. Some of
them I'll gather out of the mess. And I'll set over them, I'll
be sure they have a shepherd. They got to hear this gospel
from a shepherd. Got to do it. Got to hear it.
And I'll put over them shepherds that will feed them. And because
the shepherds will give them the Word, and the Word is our
comfort and our bread and our manna and our life, our hope,
they're not going to fear. And they're not going to break
down. and be discouraged." And look at that next word, and they're
not going to lack. They're not going to be lacking. The Lord's my shepherd, I shall
not lack. Not for food, He leads me in
green pastures. Not for rest, He leads me beside
still waters. Not for salvation, He restores
my soul. not for holiness He leads me
in paths of righteousness, not for comfort Thou art with me, and not for provisions He prepares
a table before me, and not for His grace He anoints my head
with oil, and not for blessed hope I dwell in the house of
the Lord forever." And here he reveals the basis
of all that, verse 5, "...Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I'll raise up..." I'll do
it. This is all of the Lord. It's the Lord's doings, and it's
wonderful in our eyes. "...I'll raise up unto David
a righteous branch, a king." He'll reign and prosper. He's
the captain of our salvation. He'll be victorious. And he'll
execute judgment and justice in the earth. Here's the one
and only gospel. Here's the good news. Here's
the hope of glory. Here's the sum and substance
of redemption. Here's the believer's hope. Here's
the only way that our holy God can be just and righteous and
save my soul and justify the ungodly. The only way. Behold,
the days come. Behold, the day is coming, and
all days prior to this day, all days, and all years, and
all months, and all events, and all promises, and all prophecies,
and all patterns, and all prophets, and all pictures, point to this
day. Behold, the day comes. They all point to this day when
that angel stood on that Judean hillside and said, Behold, I
bring unto you good news which shall be to all people.
Unto you is born this day. The day comes, this day, in the
city of David, a Savior, Christ the Lord. The day comes, and
our Lord said, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears,
this day. The day is coming, and I'm not
talking here about a generality or dispensation, I'm talking
about a day when He was made flesh. I'll raise up, He said. A body hast thou prepared me
unto David. The Scriptures must be fulfilled.
I'll raise up unto David, root of Jesse, tribe of Judah, line
of Judah. I'll raise up a holy, righteous
branch, a perfect substitute. He'll execute judgment and justice. He said, I've glorified you on
this earth. That's what he's saying, in this
earth. I've done what no human being's
ever done. I've glorified you on this earth.
I've done what no man has ever done, or could do, or would do. I've kept your word. I've fulfilled your will. I've
perfectly honored your law. And therefore, because of that,
verse 6, in his days, Judah shall be saved. I'm not talking about
that Jewish tribe. I'm talking about all God's king-priests,
God's king-priests. He's made us under our God kings
and priests, all God's princes and sons of glory shall be saved,
everlastingly. without exception, and Israel
shall dwell safely, delivered from all principalities, powers,
rulers of the darkness, spiritual wickedness, in high places, their
enemies destroyed in the battle won by the captain of our salvation. He'll reign. The pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper. What does it say? A fair king
shall reign and prosper. The pleasure of the Lord prosper
in his hands. And in his day Judah will be saved, Israel shall
dwell safely, and this is his name. Don't ever forget it. Always remember, this is his
name. That's what Moses said to the
Lord when he spoke to him out of the burning bush. They're
going to ask me, what's your name? What's your name? Well, I'll
tell them. Tell them I am. I am. I am. I am your wisdom, your
righteousness, your sanctification, and your redemption. I am the
Lord, your righteousness. He's our wisdom. The Son of God
had come and given us an understanding that we may know God. He's our
righteousness. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. He's our sanctification. In Him
we're holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in God's sight. He's our redemption. Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for
us. And because His name is righteousness,
that's my name. Let me show you that in Jeremiah
33. Turn over there just a moment.
Jeremiah 33, verse 16. Now read that verse 6 back there
one more time. In his days Judah shall be saved,
Israel shall dwell safely, this is his name, whereby he shall
be called the Lord our righteousness. Now Jeremiah 33, verse 16. In
those days shall Judah be saved, Israel, Jerusalem shall dwell
safely, and this is the name wherewith she shall be called,
Israel shall be called, the Lord our righteousness." We have a
new name. Your name is no longer Jacob.
It's Israel, a prince of God. That song's right, there's a
new name written down in glory, but it was written a long time
ago. A long time ago. It's our name,
because it's His name. Now, closing. Oh, I want you
to look at verse 7 and 8. Don't be weary. This is so wonderful
here. Therefore, because of all that
I've said, I'll glorify, I'll gather my
people, I'll send them aside, I'll call them out. Therefore
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." If you'll do what I did, I kind
of took my mind back under when Israel was in Egypt. They
went to Egypt, 70 of them. They were there 400 years. That's longer than this country
has been discovered. And now there were many of them,
triple million. Their roots were in Egypt. All
of their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, clear back
to the great, great, great, great, great father was born in Egypt.
Their customs, part of the Egyptian culture, their roots were there.
They established and settled. And God took them out. He took
them out so completely that Moses said, listen, not a hoof shall
be left behind. Not even a hook, not even a cow,
not even a dog, not even a donkey, not a person left in Egypt. When Israel was delivered, when
that exodus took place and God delivered Israel out of Egypt
and the Egyptians came to where those Israelites lived, there
wasn't anything left, nothing absolutely left at all, not a
hook left. Not a donkey or a dog or anything
having to do with this. When God delivered Israel, He
delivered all of them. Everything pertaining to them.
Left nothing behind. And what He's saying here is
this deliverance of true Israel and the Messiah will be so complete,
you won't even talk about that one. That's small town stuff. insignificant. The days come, verse 8, when
they'll say, the Lord liveth which brought up and laid out
the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, from
all countries where I've driven them, and they'll dwell in their
own land. I'll be their God and they'll
be my people.