Psalm 138 is where we're commencing this morning. It's page 128 in the hymnal, Psalm 138. Thee will I praise with all my heart. I will sing praise to thee before the gods and worship well towards thy sanctuary. I'll praise thy name even for thy truth and kindness of thy love. for thou thy word has magnified all thy great name above." Psalm 138. We're going to sing all eight verses of the psalm as we stand and worship the Lord. He built a great way for my own. I will sing praise to thee, King of all the world, and worship thee. ♪ The Lord has set me free ♪ ♪ I'll praise thy name with all I do ♪ ♪ And find peace on my own ♪ ♪ For all I am has died before me ♪ ♪ My way beyond ♪ ♪ How is the answer in the grave? ♪ ♪ When I recall to thee ♪ ♪ How I will spend my day in dismay? ♪ and enter in. All beings of all, the earth and all, shall living be restored. ♪ The righteous praise of God ♪ ♪ With gladness we shall sing ♪ ♪ For praise alone we offer you ♪ ♪ Praise forevermore ♪ ♪ This our wedding regards ♪ ♪ Of those that love in thee ♪ ♪ And as the blood that clothed thee was ♪ ♪ The blood of the Holy Ghost ♪ O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, We'll bow together in prayer, wait upon the Lord today and seek his face. Our God and Father, we wait upon thee this Sabbath morning. We do so in the Saviour's worthy and precious name. We thank thee that thou art our God, We are glad today to gather into this place and to openly and publicly declare such. Thou art the God of Scripture, thou hast revealed thyself and holy writ. Lord, we are not coming to worship of a God of our own making, of our own imagination, but we come before the God who has revealed Himself to us, that has made known that Thou art a holy God. Thou art of pure eyes, and to behold iniquity. Thou canst not look upon sin. It will bring down thy wrath upon it. But also, Lord, we thank Thee Thou art a merciful God. Thou art one that delights in mercy, the Scripture teaches us. And we thank Thee for what took place at Calvary. For there Thy love and mercy is manifested, displayed, We thank Thee that there the judgment fell on Jesus Christ, that guilty sinners might be spared. And this day we thank Thee, O Lord, for salvation, for what it is to be redeemed by precious blood, to be those who today are no longer under condemnation, but who are justified freely by Thy grace in Thy sight. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to us. He is our Jehovah's Akennu. O Father, our own righteousness is worth filthy rags, and we acknowledge that. Lord, all the effort that we could make comes to nothing before Thee, for it is all marred and tainted with sin and corruption. But we thank Thee for the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. We rejoice in what He did by His sinless life and by His atoning death. And by that active and passive obedience, He has secured for us eternal life. And we shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck us out of the Father's hand. We bless Thee today for the security that is in Jesus Christ. O Lord, this salvation is worth having. And it is the gift of God for us to receive, and all can receive. Lord, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And we thank Thee today that those who still are in a state of condemnation can come this very day and cry to Thee and receive of that free gift. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. we thank Thee for that gift of salvation. O Lord, if we had to pay for it, we would never have it, for we can give nothing. We are utterly bankrupt, but we thank Thee that it comes to sinners out of the free grace of God. We have but to seek it and ask for it and receive it. And as many as received Him, to them give ye power to become the sons of God. And today, Lord, we have a glorious standing in Jesus Christ. We are Thy children, Thy dear children. Thou dost love us and care for us and provide for us. And we come this Sabbath morning and commit ourselves to Thee afresh, desiring for Thy favor, that Thy hand would be upon us for good, that Thou would watch over us. Lord, we have been singing this psalm. That is a testimony to that very truth, that the Lord does perfect that concerning us, that He will not forget the work of His hands, And Lord, we are twice over the work of Thy hands, for Thou hast made us physically, and Thou hast also redeemed us spiritually. Lord, Thy hand has made us in the physical sense, but Thy great and mighty, powerful hand has reached out and saved us and brought us up out of the miry clay and out of the fearful pit and set us on that rock, Christ Jesus. And we thank Thee that we are indeed the work of Thy hands. Forget us not, Lord. Forsake us not. We pray that Thou wilt be pleased to even come today, Lord, and bless us, answer prayer for us. There's those cries that go up collectively from us, that thou might bless the work of God, advance thy kingdom in these times in which we live and in this neighborhood around about us here. Lord, there's those particular prayer requests that go up that maybe are particular to a family or even to an individual today. And we pray, Lord, that Thou will hear prayer, Thou art able to answer prayer, Thou art able to do great and mighty things. There is nothing beyond Thee. O Lord, there is nothing that is too great a problem, too great a matter that we could never bring it to Thee with an expectation that Thou art able to intervene. Lord, Thou canst intervene in nations, even the direction of nations, not one nation, but many nations. Everything is under Thy sovereign control, and we rejoice that Thou art our God." So hear our prayer today. We commit our way to Thee. Bless those that are laid aside, those who are elderly and not out with us, and we pray that Thou will touch them. Lord, those who have been unwell in recent times, we pray that Thou will encourage them, strengthen them, raise them up. We pray that they will be amongst us again, and we pray that You'll do them good. Those that have been able to come back out again to the house of God, we pray You'll bless and undertake. Those that family circles that have suffered bereavement, others, Lord, that we are aware of that have suffered bereavement, we pray that Thou will draw near and grant Thy grace even this day. Abide with us now, we humbly pray. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. 315 is going to be our offering hymn. In a moment, trusting in Jesus, my Savior divine. 315, as you're turning that up, We do bid you welcome each one in the Savior's name. We're glad to see you this morning in the house of God. Some back with us after being off on well, so we're glad to see you. And those who are tuning in online, we welcome you also, and thank you for joining with us in that particular way. Do you remember today? It's one of those Lord's Days with no afternoon meetings, so that takes us through to the prayer time, 6.30. 7 o'clock is our evening gospel meeting. God willing, I'll be preaching in the evening time. And then tomorrow night, there is a committee meeting, brethren, half past seven. We are arranged to meet for that. So please do remember that tomorrow night. There's just one issue that we're trying to deal with. So remember that, please, if you can be here tomorrow evening for that. Wednesday night is our midweek prayer meeting and Bible study. Do keep our times of prayer in mind. I'll be in charge of that meeting. Friday night, there is the Bible Club at 7 p.m. And there is going to be a change in the night of the Bible Club once we get into September to see how that will go. Just by changing the night, does it suit more of the children to come along? So please do remember that in prayer, if you would. Take it upon your heart and pray that the Lord will bless in that regard. So once we get into December, the first Tuesday night will be the Bible Club instead of a Friday night. So if you could remember that, as I say, pray over it, take it to the Lord, that the Lord might bless. It's seeking just to increase the attendance at the Bible Club. That is the desire for doing that. So there's just a few Friday nights left in that regard, and then we're going to change over to a Tuesday. Also on Friday night there is the late night men's prayer meeting at 10.30. Brethren, we'll gather for that if you can come and join us for that evening of prayer. And then next Lord's Day, it is the last Lord's Day of the month, it's Missionary Council Offering Day, and it's also then the day of extended prayer times. You know the format that we follow. There's the early season from 9.30, that that will commence, then up to 11.00. and then the service, and then afterwards, we'll have a prayer time the same in the evening, and we'll also have our time of favored hymn singing. So there is a format there that we follow on the last Lord's Day of the month. So do please remember those times of prayer. Sabbath school will be taking place at the normal time of 10 a.m., and God willing, I'll be preaching at those meetings next Lord's Day. Do remember those who are unwell and some who have been let aside. The Lord will strengthen, raise them up, bring them out again amongst us. Those who are elderly and not able to be out now, that the Lord would continue to bless them. We do want to acknowledge some gifts that have come in from school, for school, from £40 right through to £1,000. There's been gifts that have come in. So we want to give thanks to the Lord and acknowledge those that have contributed. We appreciate that very much indeed. There are extra Let the Bible Speak calendars available. Some have already had mentioned that last Lord's Day, so they're there for you. But there's still a few extra we got as well. So if there's still somebody that wants an extra calendar, There are three more there on the table this morning. If you want to take them, you can put your name down. There's a sheet there for that. So there are some of those available. There's plenty of those wall planners still available. They're five pounds each. As I say, there's a list there. You can put your name on either list, whichever it is. We are hoping to arrange a senior citizens meal with outside caterers this time. It's going to be Saturday the 3rd of January, that's the preferred date, or else the 10th if that suits better. So there is a sheet on the table. We do need numbers, as you appreciate, if we're having outside caterers, we do need to settle this with them. both as to date and numbers. So please, if you would put your name down on that sheet that's on the table there today. As I said, Saturday the 3rd is the preferred date, but if that doesn't suit, maybe you'd tick the other column for the 10th and that'll let us see that maybe Saturday the 10th is a better date that suits people. So please, if you would, if you could attend to that today, that really would be helpful because then I can go back and sort out a date and numbers as well, at least give some idea of numbers. So please, if you'd have a look at that, it's on the table and indicate what suits you. So that's senior citizen's meal that will be taking place. Some other things with regard to school. There's a school shopping craft night that has been arranged for Thursday the 4th of December at 6 to 9 p.m. I'll send that out on WhatsApp as well and make you aware of that. It's already up on school Facebook page if you're interested in looking that up and coming along that Thursday evening you can find out a little bit more about what's involved. that. There's a school open night as well, that's Friday the 12th of December, that will take place. It'll start from 4.30 in the afternoon through to 7 p.m. in the evening time. So again, I'll send that out and you can make it known. You're welcome to come yourself and see round school if you desire, but certainly make it known to others if you would. And then, young people, there is a Bible study, Youth Council Bible study, this Friday night. That is over in Mount Marion Church. That starts at 8 p.m. That Bible study is taking place. And then, on into January, there is the training weekend that has been announced, 23rd to the 25th of January. And That is £95 if you're interested in going to that training weekend. And there are forms, I think, up on the Youth Council website if you want to attend that training weekend. Okay, I think that's all the announcements. They're all in the will of the Lord. 315 then is our offering hymn. Trusting in Jesus, my Savior divine, I have the witness that still He is mine. Great are the blessings He giveth to me. Oh, I am happy as mortal can be. 315. Keeping our seats for the opening verses. ♪ I'll sing with Jesus, my Savior in all my life ♪ ♪ I have a wish, so simply as one ♪ ♪ To make our own blessings in every way ♪ ♪ Is walking on me ♪ ♪ I am making a path along the way ♪ ♪ Stay by His way so I will never stray ♪ ♪ I am waiting there as I always have ♪ ♪ And He will love me ♪ ♪ Most high, most high above, my Savior and King ♪ ♪ Thine is the glory, His mercy, His peace ♪ ♪ Peace that we live in, life without ending ♪ ♪ Thine I am, Thine I'll be ♪ Let's stand for verses three and four. Seeing Jesus, how much should I fear? Nothing can harm me when He is near me. See His promise, see where it will lead you. ♪ I am redeemed by your good will ♪ ♪ Stay by his grace, I will not show will ♪ ♪ I am redeemed and my child is mine ♪ My journey beyond, they will whisper of your voice, so strong to my heart. What will I miss of eternity? I am redeemed, the King I shall see. I am redeemed by all the good men. Save what is real inside, and it shall end. I am redeemed, and the child is mine. We're turning this morning to Jeremiah chapter 23. I want to follow on a little from last Lord's Day, and today think about God's Word to false prophets. And that's applicable to our day and age as well, for there are many false prophets, false preachers that are abroad today. So we want to read from Jeremiah chapter 23. We're going to read from verse 9. It's a lengthy chapter. We could read it all through, for it is a chapter that particularly has to deal with this matter. But we're going to begin at verse 9 for our reading, and we'll read down to verse 32 of this chapter. But you can look at verse 1 of the chapter as well. Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, against the pastors that feed my flock." So here's the subject that we have in this particular chapter. So Jeremiah chapter 23, and we're going to take up the reading at verse 9. My heart within me is broken because of the prophets. All my bones shake I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words of his holiness. For the land is full of adulterers. For because of swearing, the land mourneth. The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane. Yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord. wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness. They shall be driven on and fall therein, for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria. They prophesied in Baal and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also the prophets of Jerusalem, an horrible thing. They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness. They are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets, behold, I will feed them with wormwood and make them drink the water of Gaul. For from the prophets of Jerusalem is profanedness gone forth into all the land. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you. They make you vain. They speak a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace. And they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, no evil shall come upon you. For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord? And who perceived and heard his word? Who hath marked his word and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind. It shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord shall not return until he have executed, until he have performed the thoughts of his heart. In the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him, saith the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord? I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, They are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Beal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream. And he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord? Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues and say, he saith, Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them and cause my people to err by their lies and by their likeness. Yet I sent them not, nor commanded them. Therefore, they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord. Amen. We'll end there. In verse 32, we know the Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his word. this morning to all of our hearts. If there is one verse that I can take you back and focus our thoughts around this morning, it would be back to verse 11 of this portion that we have read. For both prophet and priest are profane, yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord. For both prophet and priest are profane, Yea, in my house I have found their wickedness, saith the Lord." We're going to bow together in prayer and ask the Lord for His help as we come to His Word. Our Father, we look to Thee this morning. We stand in need of help from heaven as we come to consider Thy Word and see how it is applicable to our own times. And Lord, it explains the situation in our own nation. And what a sorry state we are in. And we pray that we might have understanding of the times, and that we might know what Israel ought to do. Lord, there were those in Scripture that we read of that had that very thing. They had understanding of the times. And we pray, Lord, that we might have the very same in our day, though we live now many centuries and even millennia later. Oh, we pray, Lord, that Thy Word might give us understanding of day is that we live in, that we might observe what takes place in our day and understand it through the prism of Thy Word. Lord, Thy Word is given to us so that we might be able to have that understanding. We pray that we might be wise in that regard. So, bless our meditation upon Thy Word, we pray. Come and speak to us all, Lord. Let there be a personal Word, a personal application of Thy truth to us. this day in all of our lives and circumstances as well. Close us in now with Thyself, we pray, and grant us that help that we need. And I need that added help to preach. Lord, give me words this day from Thyself. We humbly pray. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Not only did Jeremiah have much to say to those kings that he ministered to during their reigns, we pointed out last Lord's Day that there were five different kings of Judah during the prophetic ministry of the prophet Jeremiah. But he also had much to say to the false priests and to the false prophets of his day. He had also other messages to bring to the people, for example. We might go on and pick up on that as well. God willing, and see what he had to say directly to the people. But this morning I want us to think about what he had to say to these false prophets. There's one of them that I was particularly mentioned by name. Many of them are unnamed. They're just spoken off as prophets and priests. But there was a particular man who was called Hanani. You read about him over there in chapter 28. Eight times he's mentioned in the book of Jeremiah, and it's all in that 28th chapter of this prophecy, how he withstood Jeremiah, and how he actually argued back and said that Jeremiah was the one who was telling the lies and not being honest with the people. And we read there about how Jeremiah withstood him and warned him that because of what he had done, he was going to die at the end of the year. be the judgment of God upon that false prophet. It was one thing to prophesy lies, and that grieved God and would bring His judgment down upon the false prophets. It was another thing to resist His true prophet and to accuse him of telling lies. And Hanani died according to the word of Jeremiah chapter 28 there, verse 17. You read, So Hanani the prophet died the same year in the seventh month. Jeremiah's word came to pass. That really is the key to whether someone is a true prophet or not. Does their word come to pass? And Jeremiah was manifesting that he was indeed a true prophet in the land of Judah. His word came to pass. He said to that false prophet, you're going to die this year, and he did. Way back in Deuteronomy chapter 18, And verse 22, it says, when a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken. But the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Thou shalt not be afraid of him. But what will be said about the individual who does have the word of the Lord, and who does speak God's word, and it does come to pass? There is certainly a need. to fear that individual and listen to what he has to say. And Jeremiah proved that he was indeed God's man, God's prophet in the land, and the prophet to Judah, to the royal house, and to the people as well. Now throughout this prophecy, there are many words, many messages that Jeremiah brought to these false prophets and false teachers and pastors. And we're just going to concentrate on this one particular chapter. It's the main chapter to deal with this. It's not the only place. I will mention a few other places, but there's far more references in this book to the false prophets and the false priests and the false pastors that we could ever cover in just in one message. So we're going to confine ourselves to this particular chapter, maybe a few other references to tie in some things. But in the main, we're going to consider what this chapter has to say about that. In doing so, I want us to see a parallel of our own times. Our nation is cursed with false prophets and has been for many a day, for decades, For decades, our land has been cursed by false prophets. They are the primary cause of our troubles. They were the primary cause, as I trust we'll come to see when we think about the false prophets in Jeremiah's day. The king certainly had a responsibility, because he was in the place of authority, and he had an authority to exercise. But he went along with the false prophets. But in the Lord's eyes, the real fault lay with the false prophets and the message that they preached. And the greatest judgment was going to come down upon them. And it is the same in our nation as well. Our nation has been cursed with false prophets. going back for decades now, there has been a listening to those who have stated something contrary to God's Word, and they have been believed and followed because they're preaching smooth things. They're preaching the thing that people want to hear, and they're happy to embrace it. You think about success of Archbishop of Canterbury's been more interested in political activism than they have in declaring the Word of God. The predecessor to the one who has been appointed, Justin Welby, he was more at home pontificating in the House of Lords than he was in a pulpit preaching. In fact, he had no interest being in a pulpit preaching. And the Church of England and the government, because the government through His Majesty, through the government, make the final appointment. But they've sunk to a new low because for the first time ever, there's a woman Archbishop of Canterbury. She was the Bishop of London beforehand. She's the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury. She's a fully paid-up feminist, pro-abortionist, supports the blessing of same-sex couples, is committed to social justice, Not one word about being committed to the Scriptures. Not one word about being committed to the gospel that she's supposed to preach. If any Church of England minister, bishop, or archbishop, or archbishop of Canterbury would preach what's in the 39 Articles, that would be good enough. That would be good enough. There might be things there about church government that we might take a different view on, but the gospel is there. The Reformed truth is in the 39 articles of the Church of England. But not a word about commitment to those things, but committed to all these other issues that they think is more relevant and more important. that spirit of liberalism and modernism that has gone on now for decades. And that is the blight on our nation. That is the cause of departure. Them and others who have come along and have been of the same mind and have watered down the gospel and not preached what people need to hear. They've rather preached what they think people want to hear, if they have preached at all. And there's corruptors of the gospel in every hand. Church of England are not the only culprits in that. There are many others as well. So I want to draw your attention to some things here from this 23rd chapter of Jeremiah. And I trust that as we do so, you will see the parallel that there is with our own times. The principles do not change. The circumstances do. Time changes. We're thinking away back in the days of Jeremiah, and now we're coming forward to our own day. And the attitude might be, well, how could there be anything in Jeremiah applicable to us today? There is everything applicable. The same principles apply. The same spiritual principles apply. The first thing I want you to consider, therefore, is the characteristics of the false prophets in the time of Jeremiah. This chapter outlines some of those, if I can quickly go down through some of these. First of all, they lacked divine authority. They raised themselves up. For example, verse 21, the Lord said, I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. So here's the starting point. There were individuals who claimed to be prophets, who claimed to preach the word of the Lord, and the Lord had never sent them. A prophet had to be sent of God, and if he wasn't sent of God, he didn't have a message from God. God didn't give him anything to say, and yet there were those in Judah who raised themselves up and claimed that they were prophets, and the Lord hadn't sent them. The Lord hadn't sent them. Do we not have individuals today who claim to be ministers and take positions, the Lord has never sent them. They have no word from God. Some of them are strangers to the Bible and to the truth of God. They wouldn't even know it. But if it was some of those other issues, they would be well-versed in those. But as for the truth of the gospel and biblical morality and how to live before God, These things are strangers to them. They have not been raised up by the Lord. They speak their own visions. Look at verse 16. These prophecies that they made were not from God, but originated out of their own thoughts, and particularly out of their own desires. And as it says there in verse 16, thus saith the Lord of hosts, hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you. They make you vain. They speak a vision of their own heart, not out of the mouth of the Lord. So it wasn't a matter that they were speaking something and it wasn't having any effect. The Lord says they're making the people vain. It was having a consequence, a detrimental consequence to the people of the land in the days of Jeremiah. So it wasn't a matter that, well, you could just neglect. Don't take notice of what these false prophets were saying. They were having an impact, a detrimental impact upon the people. And what they were particularly saying, if you look there at verse 17, for example, they were prophesying peace and prosperity. when that wasn't what was about to come to pass. Oh, they were offering comforting, a popular message that the suffering was going to end quickly. The Babylonians were going to leave the land of Judah and they would be able to continue on their life. That was what the false prophets were saying. And God says, that's not how it's going to be at all. Jeremiah was saying something completely different. there in verse 17, they say still unto them that despise me, the Lord has said, ye shall have peace. They say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of their own heart, no evil shall come upon you. They were corrupting God's Word. They were saying there's no consequences for ungodly living. When there is a consequence, The Babylonian armies coming against Judah, as the Assyrians had come against the Northern Kingdom, were indeed the proof there is a price to pay for neglecting what God has to say. Surely that's a lesson applicable today to us all. There's a price to pay for acting in living contrary to God's Word. There is a price for our nation to pay if it turns away from God. It's not going to be a matter that God is indifferent about. And yet, these false prophets in Jeremiah's day were coming along and telling the people, all is well, don't worry. The Babylonians will soon be gone. That was, Hanani said that particularly. That man that Jeremiah said would die, and he did. He said that particularly. That the Babylonians would soon be taking their leave of Judah and Jerusalem, and that everything would go back to how it was before, when it wasn't going to happen like that. There is those references elsewhere, maybe more well-known phrases that come out of the book of Jeremiah, peace, peace when there is no peace. That was the message of the false prophets. For example, if you go back to Jeremiah 6, verses 13 and 14, it says, for from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness. And from the prophet, even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely. They have healed also the heart of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace. That was the Lord's word through Jeremiah to these false prophets. You're dealing falsely with the people. You'll find similar words. That phrase again, peace, peace, when there is no peace, Jeremiah chapter 8, verses 10 and 11. But it's here in this particular chapter that we are thinking about, although in different language. But there in verse 17 of Jeremiah 23, no evil shall come upon you. Well, I'd suggest to you that that's a message preached today, that people can live like they want and there's no consequence. When there is, there most certainly is a consequence. Sin has a price, and it exacts a price every time. Every time sin exacts its price, and it's a price you don't want to pay, it brings misery. It brings misery. It brings misery into an individual's life. It brings misery into a home. It brings misery into society. It brings misery to a nation. And our nation is in such a state because of false prophets. And the message that they have declared to the people, they tell the people today, if it's not the very same language, it's something very similar, peace, peace. And anybody that stands up and warns against the consequences of departure, they are spoken against, slandered at times as to their motives and even the manner that they might say something. And yet it's but the spirit of the prophets of Jeremiah's day who cried, peace, peace. And even when, like Jeremiah said this before the Babylonians ever came, he warned them. And maybe it is a study sometime just to go through the book of Jeremiah with that thought in mind and look at how Jeremiah developed that message. But Jeremiah, from the very beginning, warned them that this was coming. And they said, no, no, Jeremiah, you're just morbid. This is never going to happen. You're always thinking about the worst-case scenario." Well, Jeremiah wasn't thinking about the worst-case scenario. He had a word from God. The Lord told him, this is what's going to happen. So at the start, there was no sign of the Babylonians. And even it's interesting to read alongside, like Jeremiah, what happened in history at that particular time. And those nations out around about, because there was a conflict between the Babylonians and the Egyptians, for example. And it affected Josiah because he went out one time to fight against the Egyptians. and he himself was slain. So it did affect Judah in some way, but in many ways it didn't. But there was that conflict that was going on all the time. And then Jeremiah was in Judah, and Jeremiah is saying, the Babylonians are going to triumph here, and more to that, they're going to turn up at the gates of Jerusalem because we have departed from the Lord. And these false prophets came and said, no, Jeremiah, you're just thinking about the worst case scenario. And then even when they did turn up, in Judah and outside the gates of Jerusalem, the next message was, well, they'll not be there very long. They'll soon go away. There was no acknowledgement that they were completely wrong in denying that this was going to happen and that Jeremiah was right and that they ought to listen now to Jeremiah. No, they changed the message and said, well, they've come, but they're not going to stay very long. They're not going to do any harm. Jeremiah said, they are going to do harm, and they're going to stay, and they're going to take this country captive. In chapter 30, there is mention made about the 70 years of captivity that they were going to go into. And still they wouldn't listen. Still there was a peace message from the false prophets. And they continued on like that to eventually the Babylonians came and At the very last, they burned the temple, stripped it completely of all the gold and silver and brass, took everything away, left but the poorest of the people in the land. But the cry all along was, peace, peace. Oh, we'll have peace. And today, it's exactly the same in our society. A clamor for peace, but no acknowledgment of what's the cause of trouble. in our land, its departure from God, its false prophets, who have told people that there's no consequences for sin when there is. And our nation is going to learn there's a consequence for sin, and hasn't learned that yet, men and women. It mightn't be the message we want to hear in our day either, but this land of ours is going to learn there is a price to pay for sin. And I suggest it hasn't learned that yet, but it will. It will. They not only were preaching a message of peace, peace, but they were actively encouraging sin instead of rebuking it. If we go back to that 11th verse of Jeremiah 23 that I've drawn to your attention already, where the Lord said, both are profane, both prophet and priest are profane. I've even found this wickedness in the house of God, or what passed for the house of God. In verse 14 as well it says, I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing. They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen also the hands of evildoers that none doth return from his wickedness. They are all of them unto me as Sodom and as the inhabitants of Gomorrah. They were encouraging sin instead of rebuking it, facilitating sin instead of rebuking it. Verse 25 and 26, I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart. They were acting deceitfully. And when sin is tolerated and facilitated, they're acting deceitfully. They're not acting in the best interest of the people. They're not acting in the best interest of the people. Telling people it's all as well when it's not isn't acting in their best interest. It's like telling a sinner, oh, don't worry. Don't worry about salvation when there is every reason to be concerned about whether you're saved or not. They were acting deceitfully. And the worst of all, to finish out here on these characteristics, if you look at verse 22, they kept back the true word of God from the people. It was a willful thing. In verse 22 of Jeremiah 23, it says, but if they had stood in my counsel and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings. There is a reminder there of the purpose, or one of the purposes of the Word of God. The preaching of the Word of God turns people from sin. It's a check against sin. Yes, preaching the Word of God ultimately is to bring people to salvation, but there is a purpose even in the preaching of it that runs alongside that. Yes, the gospel is to be preached. The Word of God is to be preached. Souls are to come under conviction of sin and be converted. even in the preaching of that, there is a restraint placed upon sin in society, in a nation, and that's what these false prophets have failed to do. They failed to bring God's Word, and as a result, there's no restraint upon sin and wickedness and ungodliness. Surely we can see the parallel with our own times. They've kept back the Word of God from the people willfully, today we live in an age where that is happening. They're not interested in the Bible, what God has to say, and they're keeping it back from the people, the true Word of God. So we have something of the characteristics. I want you secondly to think about the consequences of these false prophets in Jeremiah's day. There's some particular points here that I want to draw your attention. I've covered some, maybe, as we've thought about those characteristics, but there are specific ones. If we go back to verse 1 there, the Lord says that these false prophets, false priests, false pastors, they have destroyed and scattered the Lord's sheep. That's the first charge that the Lord makes against them. Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord." So here's the consequences of what they had done. They had scattered them. They had destroyed them. Jeremiah 12, verse 8 to 11 has similar words. My heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest, it crieth out against me, therefore have I hated it. My heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her, come ye assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour And then the Lord comes to the point. Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard. They have trodden my portion underfoot. They have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. They have made it desolate, and being desolate, it mourneth unto me. The whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart. The charge is particularly made against those pastors. Lord said, they have destroyed my vineyard. They have trodden my portion underfoot. It was the Babylonians that were coming and doing that. But the Lord says, the cause of it is these pastors, these false prophets, false priests in the land. They're the cause of it. The consequence that is coming upon the land is directly attributable to them. even though another hand was going to do it, another instrument, an agency was going to be employed. They had caused the people to forsake the Lord, to embrace a lie, to embrace a lie. Again, verses 13, 32 out of that portion there that we have read, we could go down through these verses one by one and stop at them. Let's take verse 32 there, that verse that we finished with, as an example of, well, what's the consequences of this? Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord. And do tell them, and cause my people to err by their likeness. Yet I sent them not, nor commanded them. Therefore, they shall not profit this people at all. There's no profit in listening to their message, the Lord says. And that theme runs through Jeremiah. If you go right almost to the end of the book, chapter 50, verse 6, my people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They've turned them away on the mountains. They're gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place. That's the false shepherds that the Lord says ought to have been looking after the people and taking care of them, bringing the Word of God to them. they've left them to go astray. They've destroyed the people. And the ruination of our nation is directly attributable to the false prophets, the false preachers, the failure to preach the Word of God and that preaching of something other than God's Word in our land and in our nation. And sin has become rampant. In verse 10 of Jeremiah 23, the Lord says, the land is full of adulterers. Verse 15, for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. He can't make it any clearer than that. It's the false prophets that are at fault, primarily. The charge is primarily made against them. They have caused the land to be full of adulterers. They have caused profaneness to go forth through all the land. And today it is still the same. The cause of departure in our nation goes back to the pulpits and the failure to preach the Word of God. to warn of the consequences of sin and departure. And that is certainly true amongst modernism and liberalism and ecumenism and all that weak evangelicalism that is out there. But it is important, Christian, to remember the whole Word of God has to be preached. The whole Word of God has to be preached, not just a part of it. And by that I mean There is more to preaching, more to being a minister than just being an evangelical, than just evangelism. Evangelism has a very important place of that, there is no doubt. Preaching the gospel, preaching evangelistically. But there's something that is also needed as well, and that is a faithful declaration of God's Word and a warning that is sent forth of, see you if we depart. There's not going to be some new rule that's going to come in. The Lord has an old established, long established rule. Departure from Him brings consequence. And it applied in Jeremiah's time, and it applies in the 21st century too. God hasn't changed His way of working. So there is a warning directed at us. And some of you who are old enough to remember earlier days in the free church knew that was the message that was directed at ministers who failed to preach. Some of them are even weak evangelically, but they failed to preach the whole counsel of God and warn what are the consequences of ecumenism and weakening of the stand against apostasy. Well, that applies even more so today. So there's There's characteristics, there's a consequence. Lastly, there's a condemnation that comes here upon these false prophets. We've sought to establish their culpability, that the Lord blames them, holds them accountable. There might be others that led that or took part in that departure from God. There might even be other agencies and instruments that were the means of coming against the nation of Israel, but the Lord brings it back to these false prophets and false priests. And he says, you're the ones that are going to be held accountable. If you go back there to verse 2 of this chapter, notice something of this condemnation. Therefore, thus saith the Lord. So verse 2 is going to follow on as a consequence of what has happened before. The Lord says, you've destroyed my people, you've scattered them. Verse 1 there of Jeremiah 23, therefore, here's what's going to follow. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, against the pastors that feed my people, ye have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not visited them. Behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doing, saith the Lord." So the Lord was going to single them out when the judgment would come. As you know, the Lord preserved Jeremiah. Now, there were times when he was very close to death. He was thrown into that pit, that Maori pit, that we were thinking, we mentioned a little bit last Lord's Day about that in the king's house. And he was very close to death, but the Lord had summoned him to intervene and plead for his life, that man Ebed Melech that we read of. And he was delivered up out of the pit. And the Lord told Jeremiah, and had already told Jeremiah, I'm going to look after you. I'm going to take care of you. Even though you're the voice that stands against all that's going on in the land, I'm going to look after you. I'm going to preserve your life. You are untouchable, Jeremiah." And in all the troubles that came, even when the Babylonians came in to the city of Jerusalem, they spared the life of Jeremiah. They spared the life of Jeremiah. In fact, they said to Jeremiah, you go wherever you want in the land. They didn't take him off to Babylon, as they'd taken the king and his family, as they'd taken most of the people, all the princes, all the young princes. Daniel was among them, as we know. There were so many of them that were carried away, captive to Babylon. But at no time did the Babylonians say to Jeremiah, well, you're coming as one of them. No, the Lord had said to Jeremiah, because you've been faithful and you've declared my word, I'm going to look after you. I'm going to preserve your life. And even when the Babylonians come in, I'm still going to preserve you from being taken captive. And it tells us that Jeremiah was in the city of Jerusalem when it was taken at the very end. At very last time, the Babylonians came against the city. Jeremiah was there. Jeremiah was taken. And the Babylonians said to him, you can go and live where you want, Jeremiah. Imagine that. But the Lord had redeemed its soul because Jeremiah was a faithful prophet to the Lord. Whereas for the false prophets, the Lord says, I'm going to visit you. I'm going to visit this iniquity upon you. This is what you've done. You've caused this For this, people, you're going to suffer more than any. Verse 12, if you look at verse 12 of Jeremiah 23, a day of visitation and judgment awaited them, wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the wilderness. They shall be driven on and falter in, for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. This is directed not so much at the people, but at the false prophets. There's a day of visitation. The slippery way is the way to hell. It's a scriptural way of speaking about a slide into ruin, slide into hell. You go way back to Deuteronomy, that famous text that Jonathan Edwards preached on and saw a mighty revival break out in his congregation. As a result of it, their foot shall slide in due time. That's the same thought. Their feet shall slide in due time. The thought there is on a slippery slope and somebody losing their footing and being swept out into the sea or whatever as a result of it. You have the same thought in Psalm 73 verse 18. Surely thou did set them in slippery places. Thou castest them down into destruction. Psalm 73 verse 18. So the thought about the slippery places or the slippery slope is of a people who are going to slide into hell. The Lord warns against that. This is what's going to happen, these false prophets. The Lord said He'll treat them as He treated Sodom and Gomorrah. Verse 14, they are all of them unto me as Sodom and the inhabitants of Gomorrah. Verse 15, their end will be bitter. Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets, behold, I will feed them with wormwood and make them drink the water of Gaul." What a difference. Their cry was, peace, peace, when there was no peace. Their cry was against Jeremiah when he preached the truth and told the people what was going to happen if they didn't turn to the Lord and they said, no, Jeremiah, you're just a morbid old being. It's not going to be like that at all. And then the Lord says, I'll look after Jeremiah. He'll be given the whole land to go and live in, although He went with the people down into Egypt. But He was given the whole land by the Babylonians, whereas the false prophets, the Lord says, you're on the slippery slope. You're going to slide into destruction. Your end is going to be better. The Lord will gather His flock otherwise. If you go back there to Jeremiah 23, verses 3 and 4, Is there any hope? Is there any hope in our day? Well, here's what the Lord said in this dark day with regards to these false prophets. Jeremiah 23, verse 3, "'I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries, whether I have driven them, and will bring them again to their foals, and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them, which shall feed them, and they shall fear no more. nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord." There was hope, but it wasn't through these false prophets. The Lord said, I'll raise up other shepherds. I'll raise up others who will take care of them. It'll not be by the hands of these false prophets. It'll be by the hands of others. There is always hope in judgment and chastisement from the Lord, but it involves a turning. And maybe that will prepare the way for us to come back another time and think about Jeremiah's word to the people. What did he preach to the people? We've thought what he said to the king. We've thought now what he said to the false prophets. What did he say to the people? That there may indeed be hope. And we need to see in our day, Christian, who the chief cause of our troubles are in this land and nation. They are the false prophets and pulpits across the land. They are the chief cause of our troubles, and the Lord will deal chiefly with them. But let us be those that have understanding of the times and be able to discern what is the cause and raise our witness against them, because they're ruining our nation. They're ruining our people. They're taking people down to hell with them. And there's people who listen. It has ever been so. There was the people in Isaiah's day, who came to Isaiah the prophet, and he lived many years before Jeremiah. And they came to Isaiah and they said, prophesy unto us smooth things. Even tell us deceits. We don't want the truth. We want something that's easy to listen to. Even if it's a lie, tell us something that's easy to listen to. I mean, that is the heart of an individual. They readily believe the lie. How many people today will believe a lie with regards to eternal things? Because it's the easy thing. They don't have to face up to anything, don't have to turn from their sin, they don't have to repent and believe the gospel. It's the easy thing to believe the lie. But it brings a blight upon a people and a nation. May the Lord bless His Word. to all of our hearts for His name's sake. We're going to bow in prayer, and then we're going to sing a prayer at the end of our hymnal. But let's bow in prayer. Father, take Thy Word this day. Apply it to our own hearts and lives. Help us to apply it to our own circumstances in this day and age that we live in. Lord, give us understanding who the cause of the problem is and how it has gone on for decades. Lord, we pray against false prophets and false preachers and those that preach a lie to people and who stand in pulpits even this morning and preach a lie to people. O God, wilt thou not come and rise up and deliver our land and our nation from such individuals and turn this people unto thyself? Have mercy. Lord, we cry like Ezra did, grant us a little reviving in the midst of the bondage. be gracious to us. We pray this day in Jesus' name. Amen. 755, 755. We were singing, we sang 756 last Lord's Day, Great King of Nations, but the one before it, 755, Almighty God, before thy throne, my mourning people bend. Tis on thy pardoning grace alone our prostrate hopes depend. Dire judgments from thy heavy hand, thy dreadful power display, yet mercy spares our guilty land, and still we live to pray. 755, we're going to sing the four verses here as we conclude this morning, standing to sing. That's tough. ♪ Come, my power, embrace the Lord ♪ ♪ Our frosted host defend ♪ ♪ Her judgments won by any hand ♪ ♪ Thy dreadful arm enslave me ♪ ♪ Give mercy, saints ♪ ♪ Our help they find ♪ ♪ And sweetly make their prayer heard ♪ ♪ Eternal Spirit ♪ ♪ Most mighty Lord ♪ ♪ My heart is found you ♪ may praise. So shall our hearts obey thy word, and we shall see thy face. In the earth's space, where clouds did veil, we shall not Our Heavenly Father, we need Thee near. We need Thee to come and show mercy in our day. Lord, expose the falsehood, the lie, The cries of peace, peace, when there is no peace. Lord, turn our nation, turn us, as part of this nation, back to Thee. Have mercy upon us. Part us now with Thy fear and favor. Watch over us, Lord, as Thy people. We humbly pray. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. 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