If They had Stood in God's Council

Jeremiah 23 ESV

 

This passage of Scripture begins with a charge against the shepherds (pastors) of the sheep of the Lord’s pasture (the believers in Jesus), and against the prophets (preachers of the word of God). And this should include husbands and fathers who claim to be Christians, too, who are responsible for their families’ wellbeing physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

 

Though all these charges do not apply to all pastors and preachers, nor to all dads professing to believe in Jesus Christ, the sad reality in today’s world here in America is that this does apply to many of them, perhaps to the vast majority of them who are more caught up with the world than they are with Jesus:

 

“You have not attended to the flock, but you have scattered them.”

 

So, how is this being realized? Many pastors and preachers of the word of God, and husbands and fathers who profess faith in Jesus Christ, are living in spiritual adultery against the Lord, and in adultery against their spouses, and they are living in immorality, impurity, ungodliness, and wickedness. And they are leading God’s people into living in spiritual adultery, too.

 

Not only are they living in adultery against the Lord, and not only are they leading their followers to do likewise, but they are also walking in lies, which go hand-in-hand with adultery (spiritual and/or moral). Thus, they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil, and they have become like Sodom and Gomorrah to the Lord.

 

So, how is this being accomplished? This is happening via the turning of the church, the body of Christ, into a business (a corporation of the state), via marketing the church to the world just like any other business, appealing to the lusts of the flesh and to the desires of the ungodly, looking to please the world rather than seeking to please the Lord in everything that they do.

 

This is also happening via the distortion and the adulterating of the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to make it more attractive and acceptable to human flesh and to the people of the world. And this was done by removing God’s requirements for repentance (dying with him to sin), for obedience to the Lord’s commands, and for submitting to Jesus Christ as Lord.

 

Thus, they are now teaching a half-truth gospel (a lie) which delivers no one from their slavery to sin, and therefore does not give them new lives in Jesus Christ, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. The “believer” goes on in his sin, living however he wants, while he is being promised forgiveness of his sins and heaven as his eternal home.

 

Filling You with Vain Hopes

Jeremiah 23:16-18, 22 ESV

 

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, “It shall be well with you”; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, “No disaster shall come upon you.”’

 

“For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord

    to see and to hear his word,

    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?”

 

“But if they had stood in my council,

    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,

and they would have turned them from their evil way,

    and from the evil of their deeds.”

 

So, we are not to listen to pastors, preachers, teachers of the gospel, and heads of households who fill our minds with “vain hopes.” For, God’s word (his gospel) turns people away from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds, and his truth turns their hearts to repent of their sins, to obey the Lord, and to submit to the Lordship of Christ over their lives.

 

But these who are filling people’s minds with “vain hopes” are telling them that all they have to do is “believe” in Jesus, which is rarely defined, and that heaven is now guaranteed them when they die, regardless of how they live their lives while they are still on the earth. So, they give them a false sense of security of heaven based on a lie (a half-truth).

 

Thus, those who despise the Lord are those who have not surrendered their lives to him, who are not walking in obedience to his commands, and who have not forsaken their lives of living for sin and self. For, they believe they don’t have to. They treat the Lord with contempt, therefore, when they claim him as their Savior while they refuse to submit to him as Lord (master).

 

And these false shepherds and teachers of the people are thus telling them that it will go well with them, that they can just claim who they are in Christ if they feel guilty about their sins, but that God, they say, can’t even see when they sin anymore, but that all he sees when he looks at them is Jesus, and that he is delighted in those who are living in immorality.

 

And they tell them that God will not judge them for their sins and that their deeds do not matter to God because they have convinced them that since they are not saved by the works of their flesh that God requires no works of them. But that is a big fat lie! Yes, we are not saved by our own works, but we are saved to good works which God prepared for us to walk in.

 

But here is the bottom line. We need to study the Scriptures in context. We need to read them one book at a time, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse, praying for the Lord to lead us to truth, and then compare Scripture with Scripture, especially where we see any discrepancies. And the Holy Spirit will show us both the lies and the truth.

 

When we do this, we will see that faith in Jesus Christ comes from God and thus those with faith will submit to the will of God. We will see, too, that faith in Jesus results in turning from our lifestyles of sin to follow the Lord Jesus in obedience, and that if we do not do that, we do not have faith, or salvation from sin, or eternal life with God.

 

For, if we die with Christ to sin, and if we live with him to righteousness, we have eternal life with God. But if we don’t die with him to sin, but we continue living in sin, and if we don’t walk in obedience to his commands, and if we don’t live to him and to his righteousness, then we are not saved from our sins, we don’t have eternal life with God, and heaven is not home.

 

So, don’t look to other human beings to tell you the truth. Don’t buy into the lies just because they sound good, and they tickle your itching ears. Seek the Lord and study his word (in context) and learn from him what his word teaches, and then follow the Lord in surrender to his will and in obedience to his commands, and then heaven is your eternal destiny.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

 

I Will Lift My Eyes  

 

An Original Work / December 12, 2012

Based off Psalms 121-125

 

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

He will not let your foot slip, and He who watches will not sleep.

Our Lord watches over you, and your life He will keep.

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

I give thanks to Him.

 

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n.

Because of His great love for us, He made us alive with Christ.

Through the kindness of our Savior, He gave us new life.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n;

My home, now in heav’n.

 

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

Those who trust will ne’er be shaken. God will supply all we need.

Our Lord has done great things for us. He’s our friend, indeed!

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

I can count on Him.

 

https://vimeo.com/379508241