6 marks of a faithful Pastor

 Read Jeremiah 23.

Jesus' harshest words were those that condemned the religious leaders of His day, because they were ungodly men, pretending to represent God.  In this chapter, Jeremiah delivers a like message to the false prophets, ungodly priests, and derelict shepherds of Judah.  God described them as evil-doers, adulterers, and liars.  As a result, the people, like sheep without care and leadership, were needy and scattered.

What should they have been doing instead to prove themselves faithful shepherds of God's people?
1. The people need to be gathered. (v.3a)
Having a suitable place to assemble is a primary need of sheep and the responsibility of the shepherd.  This is a New Testament priority for those who claim to be followers of Jesus.  "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." (Hebrews 10:24-25)

2. The people need to be fruitful and multiply. (v.3b)
Without new births, the flock will eventually die off.  Something is wrong when sheep do not reproduce.  The faithful shepherd oversees and manages the health of the flock so that reproduction takes place.  Followers of Jesus are commanded to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations..." (Matthew 28:19)

3. The people need care. (v.4a)
Little lambs need special attention until they are mature enough to take care of themselves for the most part.  On the journey, injuries happen.  The kind shepherd pays attention to what is needed.  Jesus announced that He fulfilled this prophecy: "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor and bind up the brokenhearted." (Isaiah 61:1)  For the church, those who minister do so as the hands of Jesus.

4. The people need their fears allayed.  (v.4b)
Few animals are more skittish than sheep.  They are incapable of protecting themselves.  It is the shepherd's job to protect them from attack and harm.  The faithful shepherd was prepared with a rod to fight off wolves.  If anything were to cause trouble for the sheep they would have to go through the shepherd to get to them.  Jesus said, "I am the door of the sheep."  "The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."  (John 10:7 and 11)

5. The people need individual attention. (v.4c)
A large, gathered flock is often a healthy sign.  But the good shepherd not only sees the multitude, he sees individuals.  There is no substitute for this personal relationship.  "Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever."  (Proverbs 27:23-24a)  Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd.  I know my own and my own knows me." (John 10:13b)

6. The people need to hear the word of God. (v.22)
This was the root issue.  These phony prophets and priests claimed to be speaking for God.  In fact, they were making up their own messages (vv.16 and 26) and merely quoting each other (v.30).  The result of these false, feel-good messages meant the people did not turn from their sin and their lives were not changed (v.22).  "Let him who has my word speak my word faithfully." (v.28b)

 

The hyperlink between belief and Behavior

 Read Jeremiah 22.

This is a series of messages addressed to the next generation in the royal family.  Each of them violated their promise to obey the LORD and rule as a godly leader for the nation.  Their character proved to be corrupt.  Instead of serving the people, they became oppressors and took unjust gain.  As a result, they and the kingdom of Judah paid an awful price.

God's leadership requirements of government include justice and insuring the rights of the poor and needy (vv.15-16).  And, then God asked the question that reveals one's spiritual condition: "Is not this to know me?"  In other words, if you truly have a personal relationship with the living God, your behavior will show it. 
Those who say the Christian life is not one of do's and don'ts are simply incorrect.  True, we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).  However, in the Old and New Testaments God holds those who claim to know Him to high standards of behavior.

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)

"If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.  Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit the orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world." (James 1:26-27)

As the chorus from a previous generation stated:
"If you are saved and you know it, then your life will surely show it."

 

A choice between life and Death

 Read Jeremiah 21.

There is a time gap of over 15 years between chapters 20 and 21.  The narrative jumps over the reign of several kings to the time of Zedekiah, the last of Judah's 20 kings.  The Babylonian army had laid siege to the city of Jerusalem (v.4) and the king wished to know God's will.  Though years had passed and the prophecy was unfolding, the king still held out hope that maybe God would intervene on their behalf.  So, he sent two of his trusted men to inquire of Jeremiah.  Note: this Pashhur is not the same man mentioned in chapter 20.

God had not changed His plans to punish Judah for their rebellion and sin.  In a step by step series of declarations, the LORD relayed through Jeremiah what was about to take place.   
1. "I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands." (v.4a)
Zedekiah prepared his people to fight against the enemy and try to save Jerusalem.  It was a foolish notion to think that they could overcome the world's most powerful army.  God told them that their weapons would be used against them.

2. "I will bring them together in the midst of the city." (v.4b)
God will cause the Babylonians to breach the walls of Jerusalem and assemble the enemy right in the heart of the city. 

3. "I myself will fight against you." (v.5)
The Babylonians were only pawns in the Hand of God to perform all that He wanted done.

4. "I will strike down the inhabitants of this city." (v.6)
The LORD sent a disease among the people that killed many even before the fighting began.

5. "I will give Zedekiah...into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar." (v.7)
As prophesied several times previously, all the people would experience one of four things.  They would either die by disease, sword, famine, or they would be taken captive back to Babylon.

6. "I set before you the way of life and the way of death." (v.8-9)
They had a choice.  By surrendering and going into captivity they would live.  If they chose to stay and fight, they would die.

7. "I have set my face against this city for harm." (v.10)
The day of judgment for their years of sin had come.  This was not the good news for which Zedekiah hoped.

In the same way, God offers to all a choice between the way of eternal life through Jesus or face the certainty of eternal punishment.  Like Zedekiah, many will try to put off the decision and hope for a last minute reprieve.  But God's plans will not be changed.  We need to respond in surrender to Him now and live.

 

When God’s word constrains Us

 Read Jeremiah 20.

Jeremiah delivered the message just as the LORD instructed him.  The reaction was swift and painful.  The chief officer of the Temple, a priest named Pashhur, judged Jeremiah as inciting the people and beat him with 40 lashes (Deuteronomy 25:2-3). Then, he placed Jeremiah in stocks so the people could mock the prophet as he suffered.

But Jeremiah changed neither his mind nor his message.  Instead, he called Pashhur "Terror on Every Side" to emphasize what was going to happen to this priest, Jerusalem, and Judah.  Then, Jeremiah named the enemy who will bring the terror upon them.  In a prophetic word, this is the first mention of Babylon in the book and he used it four times (vv.4-6).

Hurting physically and emotionally from this experience, Jeremiah cried out to God with unusual transparency.  He faithfully preached God's word and suffering within an inch of his life became his reward.  It felt as though the LORD had "deceived" him.  He thought about not speaking on God's behalf any longer.  He wanted to quit.  But the word of God was like a raging fire within him.  He could not hold it in.  God would be victorious but eternity was at stake for the people (v.11).

Notice the seesaw of his emotions.  When he remembered God's perspective he could "Sing to the LORD; and praise the LORD!"  It was when he took his eyes off the LORD and looked at his circumstances, he just wanted to die (vv.13-18).

The Apostle Paul also suffered repeatedly as he spread the good news of Jesus throughout the Roman Empire.  Why would a man keep doing this?  He explained: "For the love of God controls (constrains, arrests, seizes) us."  "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.  We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5:14, 20)

May the good news of Jesus so burn within us today that we must share it with others.  Their eternity is at stake.

 

A message from the city Dump

 Read Jeremiah 19.

God instructed Jeremiah to call a meeting of Judah's national and spiritual leaders.  They met in the Valley of Hinnom or Topheth.  It was the city dump and it provided the perfect stage for the message God wanted the leaders to hear.

Topheth means fireplace or oven.  It was here that a cult of the Canaanites practiced the worst kind of demonic worship.  They literally burned their children in sacrifice to a made-up god.  Some of the people in Judah had joined in as well (vv.5-6).

How could a parent do such a thing to their innocent children?  How could these leaders look the other way and allow this abomination in their land?  The LORD declared to Jeremiah in 16:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"

Once a person rejects God and His word, then they have opened the door to every and any kind of sin.

Jeremiah was further told to take along a pottery jar as a visual aid.  Dashing the jar to pieces illustrated the message.  God would break the nation; their plans, hopes and dreams.  The spiritual condition of Judah had reached a point where it could not be repaired.

How a person responds to what God has said determines their future here and where they will spend eternity.  Disaster or deliverance is at stake.  The God of heaven desires to look upon us with loving acceptance.  What then does He require?

"But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." (Isaiah 66:2b)

 

A visit with the Potter

 Read Jeremiah 18.

God told Jeremiah to go to the potter's house and there he would receive a message. 

1. Jeremiah's Observation. (vv.3-4)
The first thing he noticed was the potter at work.  The vessel of clay he fashioned was flawed.  The flaw turned out to be severe enough for the potter to collapse the clay and refashion it "as it seemed good to the potter".

2. God's Declaration. (vv.5-11)
God declared that He is the potter of Israel.  Israel is the clay.  Like the potter, God is not idle.  He is at work shaping the nation.  As Sovereign Owner, it His right and responsibility to fashion and refashion the nation as He sees fit.  "You are in my hand" (v.6).  The LORD saw the flaw of evil in them and has declared that the nation will be collapsed in order to be reshaped.  They are still His and He will use them but not in their present condition.  His offer to relent is not a change of mind on God's part but an invitation for the people to change and repent of their sin. 

3. The People's Condition. (v.12)
"But they say, 'That is in vain!  We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.'"  It truly is an insane response.  Clay has no power in itself.  It is totally dependent on the potter.  For the clay to question or resist the potter is what is vain.  The Apostle Paul used the same analogy in Romans 9.  "But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?  Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why have you made me like this?'" (Romans 9:20) 

The best thing any person can do is to be totally submissive to the One who is shaping their life.  Adelaide A. Pollard wrote:
"Have Thine own way, Lord!  Have Thine own way!
Thou are the Potter; I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have Thine own way, Lord!  Have Thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!

 

Got Water?

 Read Jeremiah 17.

A sure sign of life is health and growth.  Sin will destroy both in one's spiritual life.  Those who place their faith in man-made schemes, instead of exclusively trusting God, will pay a severe price.

In verse 6, Judah's spiritual condition is compared to a shrub in the desert.  With no sustenance, the shrub produces nothing of any value.  The plant is pictured as being alone in salty soil that actually kills life.

The opposite is true of those who trust in the LORD (vv.7-8).  They stand like a tree, not a shrub.  They have been planted where the roots are well watered and the environment does not affect its vitality.  In verse 13, the LORD is called "the fountain of living water."

This chapter serves as a bridge passage between Psalm 1 and John 4.
Psalm 1:3 describes the one who constantly delights in God's word as "a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers."

Jesus spoke to the woman at the well in John 4:10, 13-14 and said, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."  "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.  The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Got water?