"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: "You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings." says the Lord. —Jeremiah 23:1, 2 (NKJV)
Warning to Shepherds
God is saying woe to those who call themselves apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers who have destroyed and scattered the people of His Church. He is saying that He will attend to them for driving His people away from Him, His truth, maturity in Christ, and the unity of faith. He will attend to them for standing in the way and hindering His people from becoming a glorious Church. He will attend to them for not properly equipping His people to do the work of the ministry. They have done things their way and not God's way, and the result has been the destruction of and scattering of many of God's people. God is not pleased!
True Prophets
God is sending true prophets to try to awaken His people and return them to Jesus Christ and His Word, His biblical pattern. True and mature prophets are not going to make you feel good and tickle your ears, but neither will they lead you astray. They will point you to God and His truth. They will point you to the revelation of Jesus Christ and His Word that is already written. They will not add or take away from the Word. They will not give revelation that is beyond the Word (false prophets do that). They will emphasize from God's already written revelation what God is emphasizing.
What Should You Do?
Beware of those who speak of new things, new waves, etc., and tie them in with your personal and/or corporate destinies. Listen to those who are calling the Church to humility and repentance. Listen to those who are calling you to return to God and His Word rightly divided. Focus on being one with God and one with like-minded disciples. Learn to do spiritual warfare, but do not put your major focus on the devil, his deceived ministers, and his deceived followers, many of whom are presently in the Church. Be what a true disciple should be; find true and mature ministry gifts and let them equip you for the work of the ministry. Work together with true ministers and disciples to do the Lord's will on earth. The false will betray themselves. Be careful of spending too much time interacting with them unless and until you see they are humbled and broken. Work together with true ministers and true disciples in the harvest fields that are white for harvest (ready to receive).
Conclusion
Let's work together to fulfill Revelation 19:7. A good place to begin is fulfilling Ephesians 4:13-16 and 5:26, 27. Of course, one cannot even start toward that goal without first fulfilling Luke 9:23 and 14:27, 33. Who has ears to hear and eyes to see? Jesus is still saying, follow Me. Who wants to really be a disciple of Jesus Christ and really follow Him?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
Pastor Wayne:
I felt moved to write this to you. I was praying before I went to church this past Sunday when I heard the Holy Spirit say to me to kill the flesh. I went to church later and our sermon was based on Luke 9:23 & 24.
The word that morning was not there to make me feel good, but caused me to look at things differently.
Killing the flesh/denying yourself/picking up your cross to follow Christ is not something that you hear most pastors talk about, but it is a must in order to follow Jesus.
I wanted to share this with you.
Carol
re: Woe to the Shepherds
Excellent!! Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever" We are to be the watchmen that God has called us to be and sound the alarm when we see these wolves in sheeps clothing bringing false doctrine and "new teachings" into the church. What a sad statement it makes to a seeking world when we have so many false revivals and false teachers tickling their ears and telling them what they want to hear. Lord bring us together as a body of believers..mature in You, grounded in Your Word and able to lead those who are seeking to the foot of your cross.
Jesus really died on the cross for our sins; He really took our punishment. We didn't see it, but we study the Word and/or hear it preached and by faith believe it took place. By faith we receive the benefits.
The same moment that Jesus was crucified we were also crucified with Him. We didn't see it happen, but we receive it by faith. Therefore, we can say I have been crucified with Christ. That is how we take care of the old nature. That is how we take care of the flesh. Of course we have to move in resurrection power, but that was taken care of by Jesus Christ also.
Very well said, but it imparative to know that God saved us by "GRACE through faith" Eph 2:8. Because even the devil believes (has faith) and trembles James 2:9. But the devil and his demons will never be saved because God does not give them GRACE. Without grace, faith is a moot point.
Sorry *James 2:19 is the correct corresponding verse.
Post a Comment