Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20030223.htm

JESUS CHRIST IN OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY
Part XXVIII: Using Christ's Shepherdship Over Deficient Shepherding
(Jeremiah 23:5-6 with Acts 2:36 et al.)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Last Sunday, one of our Church members told me how he had found theological errors in a book by a nationally known Evangelical.

Frustrated at his constantly finding such errors, he asked me, "Besides Dave Hunt, who would you be able to recommend to us?"

I must admit I was caught off guard, for the challenge of good "shepherding" is steep as we can validate in any number of ways:

(1) A minister of an influential local area church several years ago wrote a "Pilgrim in Progress" article for the Torrington Area Council of Churches in the town's Register-Citizen about death-bed conversions. In it he spoke about a man named Harold who was near death of cancer, and he wrote: " . . . some of Harold's family were convinced that he, if anyone, would surely go to heaven . . . He would give, they believed, a needy man the shirt off his back . . . Other relatives, though, . . . really believed that if a person dies without confessing Christ as Lord, one does not go to heaven, but to hell."

This minister went on to explain one can not be sure of eternal life just because of his confession about Christ! This was written though 1 John 4:1-4 states one can test another's CONVERSION by his CONFESSION that Christ is God come in the flesh!

(2) Speaking of the theologically errant statements of one of their own teachers, Professor Paul King Jewett, the faculty of Fuller Theological Seminary once wrote: "We are extremely sorry that Paul King Jewett has attacked the Apostle Paul . . . But in view of the fact that we are impressed with the complete sincerity of Dr. Jewett, and in view of his long-standing reputation at Fuller Seminary, we will allow him this measure of academic freedom.'" (cited in John C. Whitcomb, Jr.'s article, "The Hastening Disaster" in The Biblical Evangelist).

Yet, the Apostle Paul was commissioned by Jesus Christ as an Apostle according to Acts 9:1-19 as witnessed by Ananias of Damascus! HOW then can one TOLERATE attacking PAUL?



In view of these things, HOW can we be SURE we are not being misled by ERRANT "pastoring" even at NEPAUG Church?



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "I have been BURNED by errant spiritual shepherds! How do we find TRUE, TRUSTWORTHY shepherding for our needs?!"
  1. The RISEN Jesus told His disciples on the road to Emmaus how He fulfilled Old Testament Messianic prophecies, Luke 24:25-27.
  2. As these men were edified by Christ's teaching of those passages (Luke 24:32), we also view them, following the list of prophecies named in the Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, s. v. "Messianic Prophecies."
  3. The prophecy of Jeremiah 23:5-6 with its fulfillment in Acts 2:36 where Messiah is called "The Lord" reveals how CHRIST'S shepherdship SUPPLANTS deficient human spiritual shepherding:
    1. Israel's prophets, priests and kings became so spiritually deficient as "pastors" that God removed them from their leadership positions:
      1. Israel's kings, ending with Jeconiah, became deficient as effective spiritual "pastors" of the people of Israel, Jeremiah 22:24-28.
      2. As in the case with her kings, Israel's prophets and priests had become spiritually deficient at "pastoring" the flock, 23:1-2, 9-40:
        1. God said Israel's prophets and priests had become evil, 23:9-11.
        2. Their sin is itemized in Jer. 23: (a) the prophets prophecied in the name of the pagan god, Baal, 23:13a; (b) their prophecies had led the people astray into errant beliefs, 23:13b; (c) then the prophets committed adultery while pretending to be upright, 23:14a; (d) toward the wicked who were to be judged, these prophets had proclaimed blessing, condoning their sins for political gain, 23:14b, 17, 21, 25. (e) The prophets claimed they had God's truth when they really taught their own ideas, 23:16b.
    2. Hence, God said He would remove these "pastors" from oversight:
      1. God announced He would remove Israel's kings from oversight:
        1. The Lord said he would never allow wicked king Jeconiah's descendants to rule from David's throne again, Jer. 22:29-30.
        2. Like cutting down a tree and leaving its stump, God claimed He would remove the Davidic kings from their positions, Isa. 6:13.
      2. God predicted Israel's prophets and priests would be removed from power in the Babylonian invasion, Jer. 23:11-12, 15, 19-20, 39-40.
    3. However, God's GRACE would provide a SOLUTION to this human spiritual shepherding deficiency -- the solution being in Jesus Christ:
      1. God had GRACIOUSLY and hence unconditionally promised an eternal kingdom and rule to David's lineage in 2 Sam. 7:12-13, 16.
      2. So, to offset God's judging Israel's deficient, human spiritual "pastors" and cutting down the Davidic TREE, God would keep His Davidic Covenant by using a fresh shoot from the remaining trunk, the Shoot or Branch being Christ as Israel's shepherd:
        1. Jeremiah 23:3-4, 5-6 predicted the coming of a Shoot or Branch from below the cut mark on the fallen Davidic tree trunk, One Who was "The Lord Our Righteousness" to shepherd Israel.
        2. We know from Peter's statement in Acts 2:36 that this Shoot or Branch, the "Lord Our Righteousness," is the Lord Jesus Christ!
      3. The WAY Jesus would start to shepherd Israel would be seen in His earthly ministry in Mark 6:34: in viewing Israel as "sheep not having a shepherd," He would begin "to teach them many things."
    4. Christ now uses UNDERshepherds in concert with His own leading:
      1. Jesus taught Israel through the Holy Spirit's power, Isaiah 11:1-2.
      2. Then, He delegated to UNDERshepherds the shepherding of His people in accord with His own shepherding of them (as follows):
        1. In John 20:21b, Jesus sent out human undershepherds.
        2. To be able to shepherd well, these men were enabled by the indwelling Holy Spirit, cf. John 20:22; Acts 1:8; 2:1-47.
        3. Today, Christ has undershepherds in evangelists, pastors and teachers (Eph. 4:16), and they proclaim God's Word in the power and leading of the Holy Spirit under Christ's Chief Shepherdship, 1 Tim. 4:12-16; 2 Tim. 1:6-7, 13-14; John 16:13.
        4. They then lead others by the power of their exampling the Bible's truths in their lives, 1 Peter 5:2b-3.
Lesson Application: If we have been let down by deficient human spiritual shepherds, (1) heed our Great Overseer, Jesus Christ, by believing in Him for salvation and inclusion into His spiritual flock, John 3:16; 1 Peter 2:25. (2) Then, (a) confess all post-salvation sins for renewed fellowship with Him (1 John 1:9) and (b) depend on the indwelling Holy Spirit He has given you at salvation for the power to live uprightly (Gal. 5:16-23; Rom. 8:9) and (c) heed His Word, 1 John 2:2-6. (3) In THIS stance, God will cause you to IDENTIFY His GODLY UNDERshepherds (1 John 2:18-20, 27). (4) Then, merely HEED God's leading THROUGH them in CONCERT with Christ's OWN leading in your OWN life for ASSURANCE that you are not being misled by devious and/or errant, spiritually deficient, human shepherds!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Back in November of 1977, the Moody Monthly magazine ran an article entitled, "The Vanishing Art Of Expository Preaching." It featured the views of the late Dr. John G. Mitchell, a past Bible School professor of mine who taught the Bible for over forty years at the Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, Oregon. This article was written by Dick Bohrer.

I'd like to quote from the article so you can see how the Holy Spirit signals who a godly undershepherd of the Lord Jesus really is!

Dr. Mitchell claimed: "(page 41) The Lord's sheep are hungry for food. If they don't find it in one place, they'll turn to another. They cannot grow without the Word of God. From my radio broadcast, I receive stacks of letters. They tell me, If it were not for your program, I do not know where I would be fed the Word of God.'

That's tragic . . . why aren't these people being shepherded by their pastors? . . . (p. 42) The neglected gift in the gospel ministry today is the gift of expository preaching . . .

If a pastor loves his flock, he'll feed it. But he cannot feed a flock if he's not feeding himself. He must be a man of the Book. Whatever our gift may be, we need to saturate our minds with the Word of God so that we'll be both available and usable in the hands of the Holy Spirit. The truth must live in us.

. . . Often, when I am studying, I'll spend an hour in the Word of God and for some reason I'm not getting anything. What do I do? I get down and talk to the Lord about it. I come back to the Word and all of a sudden the whole thing opens up like a rose. But my mind's got to be full of the text. That's why I emphasize continual reading of the Word. As a man does this, he becomes God's channel of truth . . .

Some years ago, a missionary friend of mine was on his way to southeast Asia. Just before departure he called me and asked if I had a word for China.

I said, Sit at the feet of Jesus and tell the Chinese what you see.' That's the heart of this whole matter."