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With New Testament Eyes: 74 - The Lord Our Righteousness

By Henry Mahan


      Jeremiah 23:1-8

      This scripture is so applicable to our day that it could have been written this morning. The prophet deals with four powerful and present truths!

      1. He pronounces woe and judgment on false preachers and pastors. (vv. 1-2)

      2. He promises that God's elect will be called out of all nations, and true shepherds and pastors shall feed them. (vv. 3-4)

      3. He presents the Messiah, our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus, who is the hope of all believers and the message of every true preacher. (vv. 5-6)

      4. He declares that in comparison with the salvation of Christ, the deliverance out of Egypt would not even be spoken of. (vv. 7-8)

      vv. 1-2. In all ages there have been false prophets and preachers. Our Lord called them 'wolves in sheep's clothing' (Matt. 7:15-16). Peter said, 'There were false preachers in Israel and there shall be false preachers in the church who bring in damnable heresies, and many shall follow them' (2 Peter 2:1-3).

      Paul called them 'ministers of Satan' (2 Cor. 11:13-15) and their message 'doctrines of devils' (1 Tim. 4:1-3). But no one spoke out more strongly against these false preachers than Jeremiah, the weeping prophet (Jer. 9:1).

      1. He charged them all with greed and covetousness (6:13 cf. Ezek. 34:1-3).

      2. He said they give people a false peace. (6:14)

      3. He charged them with denying God's judgment against sin. (14:13-14)

      4. Their message is not the word of God but rather their own thoughts. (23:16-17)

      5. They preach their dreams and visions and keep God's word from the people. (23:25-32)

      The sad thing about this is that, because of the depravity and deceitfulness of the human heart, people prefer to hear the words of the false preachers rather than the word of God. Read Jer. 5:31, John 3:19, John 5:43, and II Tim. 4:3!

      vv. 3-4. When we look about us at the vast religious organizations steeped in tradition, idolatry, and false doctrine, when we behold the multitudes of people who claim to be Christians but who have no knowledge of the living God, no love for the Lord Jesus, no evidence of the new birth, and no commitment to holiness, when we hear all of the popular preachers with their messages of works and free-will, we are made to wonder with Elijah, 'Am I the only one left?' or to ask with the apostles, 'Lord, are there few that be saved?' But God says--

      'I will gather my flock.' Our Lord has an elect people, never doubt it! The Father gave them to him (John 6:37-39; 17:2,9), they were chosen and given to him in eternity past (Eph. 1:3-6; 2 Thess. 2:13); Christ loved them and gave himself for them (John 10:14-16); they shall all be justified, called, and glorified (Rom. 8:28-31).

      'I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them.' Election is not salvation; it is unto salvation. Those whom the Father has chosen, those whom the Son has redeemed must be quickened by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:1) through the word (James 1:18, I Pet. 1:23) preached by faithful preachers (Rom. 10:13- 17). All must hear the gospel, repent, and believe that gospel (2 Thess. 2-13; Eph. 1:13-14; 1 Cor. 1:21; John 5:24; Rom. 1:16- 17).

      'They shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor lacking.' The true pastors shall comfort them with God's promises in Christ, establish them in the word of God, and they shall grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ through the word (Eph. 4:11-15).

      vv. 5-6. Here is the gospel, the good news, the children's bread, the hope of the believer, and the central fact of all scripture! Here is the summary of redemption and the one way God can be a just God and a Saviour (Rom. 3:25-26).

      'Behold the days come.' All days, events, promises, and patterns before Jesus Christ came to earth pointed to that day in the fullness of time when he was born; and all days in the future look back to that hour in which he died for sinners.

      'The Lord will raise unto David a righteous branch.' Salvation is of the Lord. The Father purposed, planned, and sent the Son.

      It is the will of God that prepared him a body, made him the Seed of David, the Son of Man, and our Substitute (Heb. 10:7- 10; Phil. 2:5-11).

      'The Lord raised up the king who executed judgment and justice in the earth.' Jesus Christ is Son of man and Son of God.

      Jesus Christ is the servant, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, and also God Almighty--King (Rom. 1:3-4; Isa. 9:6; 2 Cor. 5:19-21).

      'In his days Judah and Israel shall be saved and dwell safely.' True Judah and Israel is not that Old Testament nation which was but a national people and a picture. True Israel, the true seed of Abraham, are the elect of God in Christ out of every nation on earth (Rom. 2:28-29; Gal. 3:7, 16, 26-29). These shall all be saved.

      'The name whereby our Lord is called is the Lord our righteousness.' He is our righteousness, having by his perfect life imputed unto us the very holiness of God (Rom. 10:1-4). He is our justification, having honored and satisfied every demand of justice by his death. It is his name that saves, his name upon whom we call, and his name by which we are called the righteousness of God! (Jer. 33:16).

      vv. 7-8. 'Behold the days come' and are here in Christ when the people of God, redeemed by Christ and rejoicing in his grace, shall no more talk of the deliverance out of Egypt by the hand of Moses, but shall speak only of the Lord Jesus our righteousness, who has delivered us from the wrath to come by his perfect life and precious blood. What is the deliverance from Egypt when compared to the effectual deliverance of Christ from the curse of the law?

      'All hail the power of Jesus name,
      let angels prostrate fall;
      Bring forth the royal diadem
      and crown him Lord of all.'

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See Also:
   Foreward & Acknowledgements
   1 - The Fall
   2 - Abel's Offering
   3 - The Ark Of Noah
   4 - Sarah and Hagar; Law and Grace
   5 - The Lord Will Provide
   6 - A Bride for the Heir
   7 - Bethel - The House of God
   8 - Peniel - The Face of God
   9 - Joseph Opens the Storehouses
   10 - Joseph and His Brothers
   11 - Shiloh
   12 - The Passover
   13 - The Manna
   14 - Water from the rock
   15 - The Blood Before the Lord
   16 - The Ram of Consecration
   17 - The Day of Atonement
   18 - Caleb - The Faithful Dog
   19 - The High Priest Intercedes
   20 - The Brazen Serpent
   21 - A Prophet Like Moses
   22 - The Cities of Refuge
   23 - Joshua
   24 - The Scarlet Line in the Window
   25 - The birth of Samson
   26 - The Kinsman Redeemer
   27 - The Song of Hannah
   28 - Give us a King
   29 - Saul's Great Sin
   30 - David and Mephibosheth
   31 - Why God Permitted David to Fall
   32 - Comfort from God's Covenant
   33 - I Will Not Offer to God that which Cost me Nothing
   34 - The Queen of Sheba Comes to Solomon
   35 - Three Examples of Faith
   36 - Where is the Lord God of Elijah?
   37 - Empty Vessels Filled
   38 - Naaman, the Leper
   39 - Open his Eyes that He may See
   40 - Four Lepers Teach us a Lesson
   41 - Nehushtan--A Piece of Brass
   42 - Bringing Back the Ark
   43 - Uzziah's Great Transgression
   44 - Four Things Learned in Trouble
   45 - How Can Man be Just With God?
   46 - Three Vital Questions
   47 - I Know that my Redeemer Liveth
   48 - Now Mine Eye Seeth Thee
   49 - The Psalm of Messiah the King
   50 - God's two great books
   51 - The Psalm of the Cross
   52 - The Lord is my Shepherd
   53 - True God - True Israel - True Redeemer
   54 - Eight Great Precepts
   55 - My Hope is in Thee
   56 - Many, O Lord, Are Thy Wonderful Works
   57 - A Song of Love
   58 - The Sinner's Prayer
   59 - My Rock and my Salvation
   60 - Our Lord's Sufferings for Our Sins
   61 - Mercy and Truth are Met Together
   62 - The Victory of the Messiah
   63 - Bless the Lord, O my Soul
   64 - Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So
   65 - The King-Priest
   66 - The Chief Cornerstone
   67 - The Observer and the Observed
   68 - Praise the Lord O my Soul
   69 - Wisdom in Christ
   70 - The Conclusion of the Whole Matter
   71 - Remember Now Thy Creator
   72 - My Beloved is Mine and I am His
   73 - What is Thy Beloved more than Another Beloved?
   74 - The Lord Our Righteousness
   75 - The Believers Hope
   76 - From Nothing to Everything
   77 - Lost, Driven Away, Broken, Sick
   78 - Can These Bones Live?
   79 - Four Things God Taught Nebuchadnezzar
   80 - Thy God Will Deliver Thee
   81 - Hosea--Type of Christ
   82 - A Famine to be Feared
   83 - Salvation is of the Lord
   84 - A Fountain Opened for Mourners
   85 - The Messenger of the Covenant

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