True & False Prophets

Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the LORD. The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, "The LORD does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror On Every Side. For thus says the LORD: Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. (Jeremiah 20:1-4) ESV

This passage is classic. Most Pastors that have served more than 5 years in Pastoral Ministry have found themselves immersed in this mind set. Jeremiah charges the LORD with deceiving him (20:7). He threatens to no longer speak the word of the LORD because no one wants to hear it. Pashur had the title of priest but he was a phony. His message was corrupt. His message led the people down the path to destruction and rejection by the God they claimed to love and serve.

Pause for just a moment. Consider the numerous descriptors I listed for ‘church’ in the News Letter. Giving away a Jeep is consistent with the LORD of Glory and the Gospel?

How does the church in which you serve function? Are your people engaging in the marketplace or do they simply ‘invite people to church’ and call that evangelism? Worth thinking about. You may be more like Pashur than Jeremiah. Not good, not good at all!!!

The Importance of Reading the Bible

God has always expected His people to read His word

It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes Deuteronomy 17:19 (NASB)

This was speaking of kings in Israel, that they must read the Old Testament Law every day! Obviously, not many of them kept this law, but this was what God wanted.

When do you read the Bible?

Do you read the Bible every day? What about maybe 3 days a week? Do you only read it when you are at church? I know of a number of people who leave their Bibles at the church building where they attend. While some may have other Bibles they use during the week, it is often a sign that they do not read at all during the week. Does that describe you?

If you read every day, how much time do you spend reading? You can read through the whole Bible in a year with only reading about 15 minutes a day, but shouldn’t we give God more time than that? This is how He talks to us! We need to be listening.

Why Read?

We just mentioned one reason—God speaks to us when we read the Bible. This is how we know what our King wants. We must read if we are to know what God wants us to do. We cannot guess what He wants, and we shouldn’t rely on the preachers to tell us what God wants. We can have God speak to us personally through His written word that was made for each one of us.

But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living. Matthew 22:31-32 (NASB)

Do you see what Jesus said to these people who were living hundreds of years after Genesis was written? It “was spoken to you by God.” The Bible was written to you! Don’t you want to know what it says?

In reading the word of God, we get help in overcoming temptations. There are so many temptations in this world, but if you have a good relationship with God and have been paying attention to what He has to say, you will be equipped to fight them with His help.

If you do not read the word of God, you will never be equipped to help others understand it. How sad would it be for someone who claims to follow the Son of God to live out their lives never able to help another person come to Him. You need to get into the book and learn for yourself.

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. Hebrews 5:12 (NASB)

Do you want to know what God wants you to know? Do you want help in fighting temptation? Do you want to help others who are dying in their sins? Read your Bible every day! Learn! Grow.