If you remember, last week’s topic was the apostasy. We studied about how a large portion of the people of God has consciously moved away from His truth, by choosing to follow popular or beneficial doctrines, and not the Word of God. We also saw how another large portion of the people of God has unconsciously moved away from His truth, by accepting and making themselves participants in all those doctrines that only serve to drive a wedge between God and man. Why do I say this? I say this because it doesn’t matter how beautiful something may appear to be, or how eloquently it is expressed, if God’s truth is not being declared, then everything else is absolutely worthless. As I stated, a large portion of the people of God has moved away from Him in one way or another, and it is for this same reason that I stated that if the things continue like they are, when our Lord returns for His church, the number of true believers will be but a few. It is exactly for this reason that today I want us to learn about what the Lord is doing and will do regarding all of these things, and what the reward will be for all who keep the faith. Let’s now turn to the Word of God.
Jeremiah 23:1-5 - Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. 2Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye 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. 3And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4And 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. 5Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
As I always say, in order to reach a better understanding of the message that God has intended for us today, it will be necessary to conduct a brief review of history. With this in mind, let’s get to know this man called Jeremiah a little better. Jeremiah was born during very difficult times; it was a time when apostasy, idolatry, and the pagan rituals flourished in the people of God, and God’s patience was being drained. This is something that is very well reflected in Jeremiah 17:1-4 when we read “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars; 2Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills. 3O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders. 4And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.” Jeremiah ministered to this people for a period of over 40 years, and the messages that he was delivering were not all popular or encouraging. Look carefully at how this is very well reflected in Jeremiah 21:9-10 when we read “He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. 10For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.” In this particular point in history, Judeah was under siege. Judeah found itself completely surrounded by the Babylonian army. This means that all trade routes were completely cut off, the food supply was quickly diminishing, and as if all of this was not enough, here we have this prophet preaching what appears to be a message on condemnation. But was he really preaching a message of condemnation? If we look at the circumstances with our fleshly eyes, we will quickly decide that the message was indeed a message of condemnation. However, if we look at it a bit closer, and we see it through our spiritual eyes, we quickly realize that he was not preaching a message of condemnation; he in fact was preaching God’s truth. This is something that is very well reflected in Jeremiah 1:4-8 when we read “Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. 6Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. 7But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. 8Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.”
Why do we need to know all of these things? These things are necessary to know so that we can be aware of the conditions and circumstances that existed at that time. We must be aware of these things so that we will realize that the messages that we receive will not always be the most popular or the best accepted. This was certainly the truth in this case, looking at it strictly from a human point of view; Jeremiah’s message was not encouraging at all, and definitively not very popular. But the human point of view did not stop this servant of God; nothing could stop or frighten him because he knew God was on his side. Keeping all of this in mind, let’s know continue with our study today.
As I stated in the beginning, in this small portion of the scriptures we find three very important points. First, we find what the Lord will do when it comes to all of those that are in charge of distancing people from God. Second, we find what the Lord is doing with His people. Third, we find the reward that all of those that remain faithful will receive. Let’s examine now these three points.
First, what the Lord will do when it comes to all of those that are causing a separation between God and man. In the verses that we are studying today we read “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. 2Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye 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.” Without a doubt these verses here speak to every pastor and leader within the body of Christ. As we all know the pastors and the leaders are in charge of leading people toward God’s will. The pastors and leaders are directly responsible for guiding people to lead a holy life. Unfortunately, there are a very large number of so called pastors and leaders within the body of Christ that lack this conviction. Unfortunately, now a day we see how a large number of pastors and leaders stop declaring God’s truth in fear of the consequences. There are a large number of pastors and leaders that have stopped preaching and teaching God’s truth because oftentimes, God’s truth hurts. Brethren, the reality of it all is that in the majority of times, God’s truth is very difficult to accept. A great reality is that God’s truth will cause adversity in our daily life. Why do I say this? I say it because preaching God’s truth can cause, and at times has been the cause of a large congregation diminishing to almost nothing. This of course, will bring great adversity to the life of the pastor and leaders; I say this because after all, how can a church keep its doors open without the support of its members? And it is for this exact reason that many abandon God’s truth and adopt doctrines and methods developed by men, because those will allow them to maintain a large group or a numerous congregation. For this same reason many just pretend not to see the sin that exists in their congregation. But I will have you know that this way of thinking and reasoning is not inspired by God. This way of thinking and reasoning comes only from thinking that what you can have and what you can lose depends on us. This way of thinking and reasoning comes when we think that we are the proprietors of the congregation, but the reality of it all is that no pastor or leader owns any congregation. Look carefully how the Lord said this here when we read “Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away.” The key words here are MY FLOCK. The problem is that unless we take care of what the Lord sends us, if instead of leading people toward His will they are led toward false doctrines and norms established by men, for the commodity and benefit of men, then in a very direct form His flock is being scattered and driven away. And for all of those responsible for doing this, God has one word, Woe!!! Tell the person next to you, Woe!! As the Word tells us in Hebrews 10:30-31 “For we know him that hath said Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Second, what the Lord is doing with His people. In the verses that we are studying today we read “And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4And 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.” As I said a brief moment ago, the number of people in a congregation should never be the principal objective of any pastor or leader in a congregation. The main objective must be the salvation of the souls. In these verses here we see a key word that allows us to understand what the Lord is doing today. The word is “remnant.” But what does this mean? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word remnant is defined as “a: a usually small part, member, or trace remaining. b: a small surviving group -- often used in plural.” Therefore, as we can see, by definition of the word, the remnant can never be larger than the whole. To get a better understanding of what I am saying let’s look at what the Word tells us in Romans 9:27-28 when we read “Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: 28For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.” In other words, through the messages that call us to reflect and repent, God is gathering what is truly His. I firmly believe that we are not here by coincidence; we are here because the almighty God wanted us to be here today. How can I say this so confidently? I can say it so confidently because the truth of the matter is that none of us would be here today, if He had not allowed His word to reach us. Look carefully at how this is very well reflected in Acts 16:6-7 when we read “Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, 7After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.” The key words here are “the Spirit suffered them not.” In other words the Holy Spirit did not allow them. I think that this without a doubt lets us clearly know that nothing happens but for the will of God. We are not gathered here by coincidence, we are gathered here because God wanted it this way. The Holy Spirit was the one that guided us to this place and is the one responsible for guiding us to where we need to be. It is like the Word tells us in Ezekiel 34:11 when we read “For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.” The Lord has recognized us individually, and is guiding us to where we will best serve Him. The Lord will guide us to the place where we will receive blessings. Tell the person next to you, God guided you.
Third, the reward for all of those that remains faithful. Here we see that the Word tells us “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.” This is something that if we just read very briefly, then we will miss the true meaning. I say this because this prophecy has been fulfilled. To grasp the full meaning of what is being said here, we must look at the meaning of the word “Branch.” This word is translated from the Hebrew word “tsemach” which means “a) sprouting, growth, sprout. b) growth (of process). c) Sprout, shoot (of Messiah from Davidic tree).” Therefore, with this definition in mind we can clearly see that here the prophet is not talking about just any normal person. There can be no doubt that the prophet here is talking about Jesus Christ. How can I say this with such conviction? I can say it because for one, Jesus was David’s descendant. This is something that is stated very clearly in His genealogy as we find in Matthew 1:1 when we read “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Secondly, Jesus is the only completely just person that has existed, and that still reigns, and will reign forever. Christ said it this way in Revelations 1:8 when we read “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” Tell the person next to you, Christ rules. The reward for every person that stays faithful to God is that Christ will reign in his life. The reward will be that Christ will be the one guiding his steps, and will be the one assisting him in reaching those decisions. The reward will be that Christ will be the one watching over them, and will be providing the best that may exist. Look carefully at what Psalms 23:1-2 tells us “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” As I have stated before, we may not always get what we want or what we think we deserve, but we can be sure of one thing, and that is that we will get what we need. God sent His only begotten son so that He would be our just king, but the reality of it all is that we will never be able to serve our King if first we don’t live in His kingdom. The reality is that we can never say that we serve Him, if He is not the center of everything that we are, say, and do. Jesus best said it in John 14:23-24 when we read “Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.”
In conclusion. In the verses that we have studied today we saw that Judeah was under siege by the Babylonian army, and that due to the disobedience and rebellious nature of these people, God would allow them to be captured and handed over into slavery. Now as pastors, leaders and believers we must ask ourselves, is God talking to me today? Let’s never forget that the Lord calls us to listen to His voice and to separate ourselves from this world. This that we do will not be in vain, we shall have our reward. Look at what the Lord tells us today in Mark 13:13 when we read “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” God is speaking to us today; God is calling us to listen to His voice and to be obedient to His Word. God wants us all to draw near Him, and to keep His holy truth, but He will not force you to do it. The scriptures tell us in Isaiah 55:7 when we read “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” There are a very large number of people completely lost in this world because they do not know Christ, but there are also a very large number of people in this world that even though they know Him, they remain lost. Lost in false doctrines, and dragged away by the evil current that is sweeping this world. But there is a small group that no matter what happens; they will remain faithful to God. Now the question you must ask yourself is, to what group do I belong? Never forget the words of our Lord in Luke 12:32 when we read “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
