#1080 Jeremiah 23 Part 4 Whenever I Want You All I Have To Do

 

“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.

33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden, and I will cast you off, declares the Lord.’ 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36 But ‘the burden of the Lord’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the Lord,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’” Jeremiah 23: 23-40 ESV

Jeremiah 23: 23-40 Can a man hide himself

23-32. Am I a God at hand - The answer is yes. Regardless of how they wanted to picture God, as distant possibly, not concerned with the affairs of men, or non existent by default of not being able to see the invisible God. I use to say, "God, do this, and then I will believe in You,' or 'I am willing to believe in a God, but not the One Who has revealed Himself through Scripture." There is another response as well, when you know, but you plug your ears and run the other way. Some think they can hide from God, or that God is only the God of a certain space, and you can flee His jurisdiction.

…2“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.” 3Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. Jonah 1: 2-3

1From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God, 2saying: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the belly of Sheol I called for help, and You heard my voice. 3For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me.…

…4At this, I said, ‘I have been banished from Your sight; yet I will look once more toward Your holy temple.’ 5The waters engulfed me to take my life; the watery depths closed around me; the seaweed wrapped around my head. 6To the roots of the mountains I descended; the earth beneath me barred me in forever! But You raised my life from the pit, O LORD my God!… Jonah 2: 1-6

Do I not fill heaven and earth - He made it all, and it all responds to the sound of His voice. Jonah could not get far enough or go deep enough to escape the presence of God. I use to say, "but I don't believe in God", and I thought that was saying something, after all, no one had showed me God. I realized that my wanting something to be true wouldn't make it so, and the same for my wanting something to not be true. My feelings or gut instincts on the matter, well people ascribe many varying and differing things to such science as the heart and the feelings, and so finding them unreliable in others I must also consider as much for myself. Seasons, patterns, DNA, eternity, Who writes in such a way? Where did this language and life come from?

…15Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. 17For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”… Revelation 6: 15-17

To catch you up with the other questions

Jonathan Edwards' fourth question regarding a movement of the Spirit, evaluating something being called a revival, was this:

Does it elevate the truth? 

Who prophesy lies in My name - We learned from Psalms 138:2 that God has exalted His name and His word above all else. This has not stopped men in every age from using the name of God, saying they knew God, or that they were speaking on His behalf. Now, there are many movements that would like to lower the bar that was placed upon inerrancy, because they claim to be prophets, but are mostly wrong in what they say, and 100% wrong when they say they speak as the Holy Spirit's representative. 

You may ask in your heart, “How can we recognize a message that the LORD has not spoken?” 22When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.… Deuteronomy 18: 21-22

I have dreamed, I have dreamed - Well, a lot of people have dreams, I have dreams, and apparently these gentlemen and ladies said they had dreams that gave insight into future happenings. Everyone wants to know the future and many people have experienced what they call Deja vu, and many from Christian cults today put a lot on what people who claim to be prophets and prophetesses say. Since we have already seen that the people despised God's actual word, well then the alternative is going to be the lie. You can say, "truth seeker" all you want, but if you rejected the truth while saying that, well then you opened yourself to the opposite of what you rejected. "I have dreamed, I have dreamed,' or 'pay attention to me, thus says the Lord", this guy must have something important to say. 

1On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets. 2But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.… Hebrews 1: 1-3

…7which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse! 9As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse!… Galatians 1: 7-9

Who prophecy the deceit of their own heart - Whether concocted in their sleep or awake, it was not from God, but from their own wicked hearts. The more proud a man becomes the more self deceived he is, and the more self deceived, the easier it is for him to trust his own thoughts and feelings. "If I thought it well then it must be deep, and if others think it's deep, then it is probably profound, almost god-like. I can see it now, like a vision, a dream, and I am so spiritually wise and mature where else could it come from than God?" Then there are those that are still self deceived, who know most certainly that they are charlatans, but they deceive others and think that they are not themselves deceived. The other lie they tell themselves is that their is no Holy and just Creator, no one to vindicate the cries of the poor. They are all working an angle, and the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. 

…22Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ 24Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.… Matthew 7: 22-24

“Man is so constituted that he ever seeks in some form for direction from the spiritual world that lies behind all material manifestations and forms. This quest creates the opportunity of evil men, who having no true light from that world, yet speak as though they had, and so mislead those who hear them.” (Morgan)

Make My people forget My name by their dreams - They offered something contrary to what the people despised, and what they despised was God's word. Like those that came to see Jesus only for the fish and bread, people came to these men for the show, the spectacular, the lie. God says repent, and they don't want to let go of their sins, they still hold out hope in some other form of fulfillment. They want God's material favor, but not His discipline, not His ideals of right and wrong. They take away the true light and replace it with fancy, believing themselves to be autonomous, the masters of their destiny. 

…18who have deviated from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already occurred, and they undermine the faith of some. 19Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.” 20A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use.… 2 Timothy 2: 18-20

But let him who has My word speak My word faithfully - Let the dreamers ramble on, but you who have the Word of God, you have the truth, handle it with care.

…16They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. 18As You sent Me into the world, I have also sent them into the world.… John 17: 16-18

5“Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”… John 14: 5-7

13children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’ ”… 

…16From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.… John 1: 13-18

Like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces - It is not honest, not loving or kind to tamper with what God says, to remove truth or add caveats that are not there. It is a most hateful thing that I find in the so called "church" today, that they think it compassionate to not give the whole counsel of God.

…10For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, 11so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it. 12You will indeed go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.… Isaiah 55: 10-12

…25Now I know that none of you among whom I have preached the kingdom will see my face again. 26Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God.… Acts 20: 25-27

Jonathan Edwards' fifth and final question:

Does it produce love for God and others?

So they do not profit this people at all - What good are your lies? How compassionate are you when you play along with my lies? I am walking toward eternity to face a God Who hates everything I live and stand for, but you tell me it's okay. Babylon came contrary to what the false prophets said, history shows us this, and God's word told those people that God was eternal, Holy, and that He was therefore infinitely opposed to the sin they took so lightly. What good was the charade? The emperor was naked, so what good was it to pretend against truth?  

…34Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. 36No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.… Matthew 24: 34-36

…35One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question: 36“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” 37Jesus declared, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’…

…38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”… Matthew 22: 35-40

12This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are My friends if you do what I command you.… John 15: 12-14

33-40. What is the burden of the Lord - This is another way they mocked Jeremiah, and since he spoke on behalf of the Lord, the Lord responded to the attacks. They did the same to Isaiah, and the people murmured against Moses in his time, though he was a great intercessor on their behalf. They treated it like theatre, like the boys who came after Elisha, mocking and threatening, "what doom and gloom do you have for us today? Is Babylon still coming? Where are they?"

You are the burden and I will cast you off says the Lord - Frightening. It is like the times of Ahab, when he would refer to Elijah as the troubler of Israel, but Elijah rebuked him with the truth, "it is you, o king, who troubles Israel." 

…18If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” 20On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.”… Romans 12: 18-20

…13When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments. 14Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15You too should beware of him, for he has vigorously opposed our message.… 2 Timothy 4: 13-15

You pervert the words of the living God - Don't twist the Scripture, don't treat it like a book of spells, but study as He has commanded and don't be hearers only, deceiving yourselves. People who do those things don't love God or their hearer, it is self love, a gross form of wanting to be worshiped, just like their father the devil. If you told these people the truth they would treat you like they treat Jeremiah, they wouldn't like you anymore, they would take away your pedestal.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13 ESV

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#1079 Jeremiah 23 Part 3 Word Up

 

16 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. 17 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.’”

18 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?

19 Behold, the storm of the Lord!

Wrath has gone forth,

a whirling tempest;

it will burst upon the head of the wicked.

20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he has executed and accomplished

the intents of his heart.

In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

21 “I did not send the prophets,

yet they ran;

I did not speak to them,

yet they prophesied.

22 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. Jeremiah 23: 16-22 ESV

Jeremiah 23: 16-22 To Those Who Despise The Word Of The Lord

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

before the gods I sing your praise;

2 I bow down toward your holy temple

and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things

your name and your word.

3 On the day I called, you answered me;

my strength of soul you increased.

4 All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,

for they have heard the words of your mouth,

5 and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

for great is the glory of the Lord.

6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,

but the haughty he knows from afar. Psalm 138: 1-6

"You are always quoting scripture,' my friend said, 'I don't have time for that, I need a fresh word, to hear from God daily, about things that matter now." That is probably a little paraphrased, but this is the sentiment that I heard often in the Pentecostal movement, a desire for fresh revelation, fast food style, experience based, emotionally tested, "relevant" to what I want, or sorry, "need" right now. Everyone was shooting from the hip, yet trying to prove themselves most spiritual, wise, like sages, with the ability to answer all of life's most important questions, like:

What color car is the spirit leading me towards? Who am I supposed to marry? Sadly, since they were cut off from scripture, because that is a slow process, and not a lot of time for it with the schedule of entertainment that we were trying to keep, we were ripe for those going around saying, "thus says the Lord,' or 'I have a word for you." I remember going to Benny Hinn's church with a neighbor when I was young, and there were these guys there breaking handcuffs, tearing phone books in half, along with many other feats of strengths, and then this older gentleman got up and started reading from the Bible. He read for quite some time, and shockingly, at a church of all places, this made people mad, including my neighbor. She came for the show, to be emotionally charged, and this guy reading Scripture was a buzz kill. Benny, one of the better known charlatans of that time, seemed to want to get the crowd amped again as well, and once the show was well under way again, then he started calling out people in the audience who could give various amounts. "The Lord showed me, that you can give a thousand." It turned in to a big fundraiser. 

Jonathan Edwards third test was: Does it Point people to the Scriptures? He derived this question from 1 John 4:6 where the apostle John said, "We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error." This is hard for all the cults to accept, that divine revelation ended with the apostles. They all subscribe to the idea of apostolic continuation in one form or another. The Roman Catholic church holds that the Pope is Christ here on earth, and places it's dogma and traditions over God's word, because where scripture and Roman Catholicism disagree, they side with their tradition. They also believe that the Pope has apostolic authority, that all the popes are in a line starting with Peter, and all represent the head of the church. According to their doctrine they also hold to Papal infallibility, so when the Pope speaks "ex Cathedra" in his office as head pastor over all the church, he speaks without error. This led to some very dark ages, where men were not encouraged to read for themselves, to have the Scripture in their own language, and it was at the penalty of death if you printed the Bible in another language, or spoke against the rulings of the Papacy. Then, by the grace of God, came the Reformation, which put above the church, the word of God, to which the true church would hold itself accountable. 

All the cults receive extrabiblical revelation. The Mormons have the writings that Joseph Smith says came from writings inscribed on golden plates, that were buried by an early American named Moroni, who came back later as an angel and took Joseph to these gold plates. Smith then took this message and translated it into English. Ok, and I am Harry Potter, but no, really, I'm not. He considered himself a prophet of God, but as mentioned in my last post, he fails on the first two questions. This supposed prophet had many other revelations, like his prediction that Jesus would return before the year 1891, or that one of  the so called "apostles" in his organization, David W. Patten, would go on a mission in 1839, but he died in 1838. 

The Jehovah's Witness, Watchtower Society, is also built on extra Biblical revelation, and easily fails the first question about pointing to the true Christ. They also have predicted His return though, one early time was in 1914, that didn't happen, so move it forward to 1915, then be a little more conservative, and go with 1925, then 1935, 1951, 1975, 1986 and the year 2000. Currently they are expecting the end of the world in 2033, since that will mark 120 years since the first foggy prediction, and that will correlate with the time it took Noah to build the ark. Like the Mormons, they also deny the deity of Christ. 

Seventh Day Adventist have predicted Christ return in 1843, and when that didn't happen, there is always 1844. 

Benny Hinn predicted that Fidel Castro would die in the 1990s, but I think he actually died in 2016. 

None of these guys are big on Sola Scriptura:

The Holy Scriptures Part 1

The Holy Scriptures Part 2

God's word states very clearly:

…20But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put to death.” 21 You may ask in your heart, “How can we recognize a message that the LORD has not spoken?” 22When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.… Deuteronomy 18: 20-22

So enough intro, to the text we go:

16-17. Filling you with vain hopes - Don't listen to these guys who are appealing to your flesh, your ego. What they are saying is not what is actually going to happen. 

They speak visions of their own minds - They had a thought and expressed it. They were given a platform to speak and so they did so, but it wasn't from the mouth of God. You wanted your ears tickled, to hear good news and they could form those words with their mouth. This is a bold challenge on Jeremiah's part, because in essence, he is saying that he is speaking on behalf of God, Who is saying that these are not His prophets, for their words are not from Him. 

They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, "it shall be well with you" - Here is the opening for the false prophets, the people despised the actual word of God. God's word speaks volumes about sin and judgment, repentance and the law. It shows man that he is not in a good place with God, it calls God holy and all of mankind fallen. So now look at Jeremiah and look at the other prophets, who is saying what lines up with what God actually says? The wages of sin is death, and look at the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah. They had access to God's written word, the law, that which had passed the test of time, but they despised it, and in doing so, they could not judge who was a false prophet and a true messenger of God. They wanted new revelation, not to hear the voice of God, but to hear a different message.

…6But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here of whom we can inquire?” 7The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man who can ask the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied. 8So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.”… 2 Chronicles 18: 6-8

…2Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.… 2 Timothy 4: 2-4

And to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, "no disaster shall come upon you" - "Ah, the answer is inside you, search your heart, you have a big, good heart, everything you need is there." That's what the world tells us and your heart will probably agree. We love compliments, hate authority, love being considered right even more than actually being right. What does God's word say?

…7But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. 8He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit. 9The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?… Jeremiah 17: 7-9

…9Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. 10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me.… Psalm 51: 9-11

Our modern culture thinks follow your heart is supreme wisdom for living. The Bible says, there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12 – repeated for emphasis in Proverbs 16:25). - Enduring Word

18-20. Behold a whirlwind - God's wrath was always intended against sin, and though He tarry in His patience they should not mistake this for license.

1Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: 2“Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge? 3Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.… Job 38: 1-3

In the latter days you will understand it clearly - Frightening, though they have declared themselves to be the voice of God, yet they ignored His true voice, His word. When their end comes, the latter days, so will their understanding, but it will be with the horror of their wages. 

21-22. Yet they ran, yet they prophesied - They had no commission from God, but they ran ahead, no word from God but they prophesied.

But if they had stood in my counsel, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people - This is what one called by God does, proclaims the word of God without apology. People have such a warped view of the Holy Spirit today, putting to Him the blame for their vain imaginings and foolish dribble. Anyone that plays down the Scripture is not doing so by the Spirit of God, and anyone who does not want their ministry to fall under the authority of Scripture is not operating in the Holy Spirit. They are no different than the world, and the world will always want to disarm you, to have you leave your sword sheathed. You need to know God's word and know it well, because the same people who will not care to hear about it from you, will have no issue in pulling from it out of context. "Preachers" have gotten up on stage and "preached" whole sermons on "you have not because you ask not", but look at the rest of the text, you will not see the words Mercedes Benz, Ferrari, House in the Hamptons, nothing about a good looking husband or a new bass boat, there are far more important things.

…2You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures. 4You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.… James 4: 2-4

…19We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation. 21For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.… 2 Peter 1: 19-21

…16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.… Ephesians 6: 16-18

…16But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. 18But I ask, did they not hear? Indeed they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”… Romans 10: 16-18

14Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin. 15Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth. 16But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness,… 2 Timothy 2: 14-16

They would have turned them from their evil way - They would have preached repentance. True shepherds would always lead away from the place where the sheep would meet the wrath of God, by warning of that just wrath, of God's holiness, and their utter inability to please Him with their own works.

More on prophets

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#1078 Jeremiah 23 Part 2 With A Broken Heart

 

Concerning the prophets:

My heart is broken within me;

all my bones shake;

I am like a drunken man,

like a man overcome by wine,

because of the Lord

and because of his holy words.

10 For the land is full of adulterers;

because of the curse the land mourns,

and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.

Their course is evil,

and their might is not right.

11 “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;

even in my house I have found their evil,

declares the Lord.

12 Therefore their way shall be to them

like slippery paths in the darkness,

into which they shall be driven and fall,

for I will bring disaster upon them

in the year of their punishment,

declares the Lord.

13 In the prophets of Samaria

I saw an unsavory thing:

they prophesied by Baal

and led my people Israel astray.

14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem

I have seen a horrible thing:

they commit adultery and walk in lies;

they strengthen the hands of evildoers,

so that no one turns from his evil;

all of them have become like Sodom to me,

and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”

15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:

“Behold, I will feed them with bitter food

and give them poisoned water to drink,

for from the prophets of Jerusalem

ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” Jeremiah 23: 9-15 ESV

Jeremiah 23: 9-15 Concerning the prophets

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

God Is Love

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4: 1-8

It is interesting how little time is spent, in much of the evangelical world, warning of false prophets and false doctrine. If there was but one verse, one line in a verse, a part of it that promised gold at the end of the rainbow, then the whole lot of them would be out chasing rainbows. If they came to what they thought was the end of a rainbow, but didn't find gold there, then they would go back and search all the rest of scripture to see if there was something they had missed. Men would all be about finding El Dorado, or buying old maps that someone sold to the unsuspecting long ago, in their hopes of finding the Fountain of Youth. The Scriptures speak volumes on warning God's people about false prophets, but why is so little attention paid to what God has deemed so important? Jeremiah approaches this subject often, Moses warned of this, as did Isaiah and many other prophets. Jesus warns of it, Paul, Peter, and Jude writes an entirely different letter than he originally intended, all to do as good shepherds should, to protect the flock from the wolves. 

Using 1 John 4:1-8, Jonathan Edwards, a preacher during the Great Awakening, outlines 5 questions he used to evaluate the so called revival taking place in his time. In other words, though people were responding to the message being preached, turning out in great numbers, and in much tears, yet he wanted to hold up what he was witnessing after his sermons to the mirror of the Word of God. This would be a rather novel approach today, in a time when people think they tell the Holy Spirit what to do and when. I see billboards up at churches that say "revival this weekend", and have heard pastors and lay people make exaggerated claims about how many people they saved, for the record, you can't save anyone. These are the 5 questions Mr. Edwards used to evaluate so called "movements of the Spirit":

1. Does the work exalt the true Christ? The Holy Spirit will point men to Christ, and He will not denounce either His humanity or His deity.

…25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated Me without reason.’ 26When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father— the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father— He will testify about Me. 27And you also must testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.… John 15: 25-27

…25All this I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.… John 14: 25-27

…13However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you. 15Everything that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take from what is Mine and disclose it to you.… John 16: 13-15

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.… John 1: 1-2

6And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the very commandment you have heard from the beginning, that you must walk in love. 7For many deceivers have gone out into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded.… 2 John 1: 6-8

     2. Does it oppose worldliness? A good test that Jeremiah brings up in this section of 23: 9-15 and elsewhere, what is the drive of these "ministers", and what is the fruit of their life? Today, you will hear the made up doctrine of "loving them through it", rather than removing the mote from your own eye first and then confronting the sin. Much will be made of unity, but they will hold it so high as to extinguish the truth. I have heard a "pastor" say, "so we have a little fornication going on, a little drunkenness' and drug abuse, but we won't let that stop what the spirit is doing." That same man also said, "this town has a lot of older people with old money, I need to figure out how to attract them to my ministry." I have seen so called elders and deacons oppose pastors who spoke out against fornication, adultery, pornography and various forms of greed. Whole ministries have been built on the sandy foundation of not offending anybody, letting the culture dictate where the church stands, and basically tickling people's ears. With that, lets examine the text:

9-15. My heart is broken within me - Jeremiah is not the only prophet in his day, unfortunately, like today, their are more false prophets than there are men of God. He witnesses the destruction their heresies are causing, knowing that God did not send them, yet they run to say, "thus says the Lord." Remember, Jeremiah is continuously calling the people to repent, and the other prophets continue to say, "no need." It's like watching people drown.

“Heart, as used here, denotes a profoundly disturbed mental rather than emotional state. His mind cannot grasp the way in which these prophets have chose to abuse their professional vocation.” (Harrison)

For the land is full of adulterers - God has said, "thou shalt not commit adultery", but remarkably, these false shepherds have found that condoning such produces quite a following, making light of sin keeps the booths full and the donations rolling in. Joseph Smith was a pervert that would be easily disqualified by the first question, for He didn't know or preach the true Christ, but he also claimed extrabiblical knowledge that his followers held as equal to Scripture. Really, he was just a liar, who had bad theology and used it to gain access to more women. Bob Jones, from the so called "Kansas City Prophets", used his supposed "prophetic gift or anointing" to persuade women to disrobe. Cited from J Mac's book, Strange Fire, which I highly recommend. Now these charismatic examples should be more obvious because so many of their doctrines are so far off, but millions of people, including, most sadly, some of the poorest people in the world, send money to the ministries of these flock fleecers every day, in the hopes of getting healed or getting out of poverty. I have witnessed a man that put himself up as the shepherd of a movement that was made primarily of young people, who he had do car washes to keep him from having a real job. I got him some work one time, but he said his hands were "preaching hands, healing hands." He also allowed another man to get up and speak to a group of almost 200 people, a man that claimed to be a prophet, who got up and described how his wife and him were having problems with their sex life, and God showed him that the real problem was that, he "was married to the wrong woman, and this other woman was the woman he was supposed to be with." Both women happened to be there that night, along with my friend who was struggling in his own marriage, so I confronted the so called "prophet" on this, and asked that the so called "shepherd" address it, but all that "shepherd" could say was, "did you hear what he prophesied about me? I am going to have a tv ministry." He is on tv, as are a lot of charlatans, but sadly he cared more for this world's passing goods than the truth, and he was no shepherd to that flock. While these examples may seem obvious since these men gave a pass on the very sins that Jesus died for, while holding ridiculous doctrines, but what happens when someone comes along who is better studied, more accurately expounds the truths of God and defends the Scriptures well as an apologist? 

…19The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; 20idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.… Galatians 5: 19-21

1If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, 2and if the sign or wonder he has spoken to you comes about, but he says, “Let us follow other gods (which you have not known) and let us worship them,” 3you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.… Deuteronomy 13: 1-3

…21The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. And there was blood throughout the land of Egypt. 22But the magicians of Egypt did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. 23Instead, Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and did not take any of this to heart.… Exodus 7: 21-23

Both prophet and priest are ungodly - Those that should have set the highest example were spiritually the most immature. They put much on show and entertainment, much on rituals, but the fruit was absent from their lives.

…5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these! 6 They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions, 7who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.… 2 Timothy 3: 5-7

Even in My house I have found their evil - Where the people should be safe, and this is not the first time this happened, nor the last.

10For many are rebellious and full of empty talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision, 11who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not. 12As one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”… Titus 1: 10-12

Now, Eli was very old, and he had heard everything that his sons were doing to all Israel and that they were sleeping with the women who served at the gate of the tent of meeting. 23 So he asked them, “Why are you doing such things? I hear about your wicked ways from all these people. 24 Sons, the report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading isn’t good! 25 If one person sins against another, God will take care of him. However, when a person sins against the Lord, who will pray for him?” But they wouldn’t listen to their father’s warning—the Lord wanted to kill them. 1 Samuel 2: 22-25

12Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. 13And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” 14The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them.… Matthew 21: 12-14

Like slippery paths in the darkness - Their punishment will be to be left on that path, oddly, God not intervening right away, to them spells His permission or blessing. When they get the fruits they seek, the new wife, Rolls Royce, yacht, plane etc., they think that these are all justifications that they are doing the right thing, after all, they said, "in the name of Jesus,' or, 'I plead the power of the blood." 

…22Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ 24Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.… Matthew 7: 22-24

In the prophets of Samaria - God found the actions of these prophets unsavory, and this is a place where the people had for a long time mixed Judaism with Baal worship. One of Israel's worst imports was Jezebel, and she had many prophets of Baal, Elijah slew 400 in a single day. The doctrine in the northern kingdom had been watered down so much, and for so long, even back to the days of Jeroboam when the kingdom split away from Judah, that no one there even knew who they worshiped anymore, even of those who referenced the God of  Abraham.

…21“Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him.… John 4: 21-23

But in the prophets of Jerusalem - Where the temple was, the law of God was, the Levitical priest, where truth was most readily available.

I have seen a horrible thing - The priests themselves commit adultery and walk in lies. They get up and read from the law, but they are hypocrites for they do not follow it themselves. We will get more into this soon.

They strengthen the hand of evil doers - People watch them and listen to their bull, lives that don't measure up, rituals that take the place of brokenness over sin. Their lives and the emptiness of their speech emboldens people in their sin.

3Beloved, although I made every effort to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt it necessary to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith entrusted once for all to the saints. 4For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed— ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe.… Jude 1: 3-5

So that no one turns from his evil - A shepherd's job is to preach the word of God, the whole counsel, because he trusts that God's word will not return void, and this means that at some point he will cover things that the Holy Spirit, Who inspired men to write the Word of God, will use to convict men of sin and righteousness. These false shepherds avoid sermons that confront sin because they want to be liked, they want to fill seats, but it is another gospel, one that does not save. Jeremiah has the unenviable duty of preaching sin and repentance, pleading with the people to turn away from that which God has already judged. 

1What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? 3Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?… Romans 6: 1-3

…18But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer. 19Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away, 20that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus, the Christ, who has been appointed for you.… Acts 3: 18-20

22“The Son of Man must suffer many things,” He said. “He must be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” 23Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.… Luke 9: 22-24

We will pick up the next evaluating questions starting with the next post, but for my notes and anyone interested: 

3. Does it point people to the Scripture?

4. Does it elevate truth?

5. Does it produce love for God and others?

More on False prophets:

I did not send them

Mind Craft

Jesus on false prophets

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