Jeremiah 3:15....He gave us a good one

Psalm 16:8 “I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.”

God has been true to His word since the beginning of time. When He said he will never leave us or forsake us He meant that both in the Old Testament and New Testament...

1 Samuel 12:22 “For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people.”

Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

God has been there and provided for His people since the beginning...

When the people need a leader,

he gave them Abraham so they could see his faith and trust…TALK, PREACH

he gave them Moses, so they could see his faith, trust and obedience.....TALK,PREACH

the people wanted to be like everyone else and wanted a King....He gave them Saul....TALK, PREACH..

Them He gave them David....

the kingdom was slightly divided but David brought the 12 tribes together.....

God knows what we need and when we need it as well who we need and when we need them....TALK, PREACH…(right person, right time, right reason)

next we have Solomon....now towards the end of Solomon reign, some confusing flares up....bare with me.....

Prophet Ahijah tells Jeroboam, he will be king but Solomon wants his son, Rehoboam to be king.....TALK, PREACH…TELL STORY...

So there’s a revolt and now we have a divided kingdom....northern and southern....Isreal and Judah

if I may pause for a quick second and just let me say....without God, the kingdom will divide.....the house will be divided....TALK, PREACH...

not judging anyones calling but there will be some characteristics that will be seen in a true God send.....and if you stay with me, we will talk about them in a few....

but the kingdom is now divided but God has never forsaken His people....

he is now using the Prophet Jeremiah to talk to his people....

Jeremiah, the weeping prophet was the prophet to Judah....

God was speaking to the people through Jeremiah....

The people were acting up and Jeremiah was telling them about the upcoming discipline if they didn’t repent.....

same ol story just a different day....TALK, PREACH…(people mess up, discipline, repent, restore)

and he wasn’t holding back....look at verses 6-10.....

Jeremiah 3:6–10 “The Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: “Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot. And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the Lord.”

WORK TEXT....

next God wants them to repent....verses 11-14....so He can restore them...

Jeremiah 3:11–14 (NKJV)

Then the Lord said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: ‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord; ‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful,’ says the Lord; ‘I will not remain angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, That you have transgressed against the Lord your God, And have scattered your charms To alien deities under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the Lord. “Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; “for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

WORK TEXT....

God wants his people to follow him and he keeps forgiving and restoring....

God promised restoration and repatriation for the remnant that would return to Him.

Holman Concise Bible Commentary Judah’s Alternatives (3:6–6:30)

Judah had not learned from their northern sister’s example. The time for decision had come. Judah’s only hope was to repent. The Lord appealed to His faithless people to confess their sins, turn from their idols, and commit themselves to the Lord with renewed devotion.

once again God will never leave or forsake us and He always has a ram in the bush for his people

he knows what and who his people need and he will provide at the right time for the right reason...

and this brings us to our text for today...

if the people were coming back to Him, He would give them someone to lead....He was gonna give them a good one.....

Let’s walk....

Jeremiah 3:15 “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”

in some translations Pastor is used instead of shepherds.....

even though God was ready to discipline His people, He was still making a way for them to be lead to salvation...

remember the scriptures from earlier....backsliding, they whoring after idols

but through it all He was ready to provide...

after they repented God knew that it was gonna take that special someone, that He sent to lead the people....

to feed the people

to care for the people....

Now let’s be clear on something, I am not saying Antioch was backsliding....but what I am saying is that God knew who His people would need.....TALK, PREACH...

and Antioch, He sent us a good one....

but in this text, the Holy Spirit has shown me 4 things....

in this text, we will see AUTHORITY,

we will see ACTION

we will see RELATIONSHIP

and lastly we see RESULTS....

God promised the blessing of good and godly spiritual leadership, giving an instructive description of what leaders among God’s people should be.

AUTHORITY....

They should be given by God not by human ambition or presumed calling.

How do we know there’s authority there.....the very first word or letter......I WILL

yes it was Jeremiah’s voice that they were hearing but it was God’s word.....

the great I AM.....TALK, PREACH.....(the I brought Abraham to a new land, the I put Noah on that ark......TALK...

next we see the action.....WILL GIVE....

They are given to the people of God

i am not as good as Dr. Clayton but if it I get it wrong, please help.....

will give......future tense

he had us on his mind way back then and it was already ordained and here we are....

He gave us a good one,…past tense...

because for the past 20 years we have been blessed with a Pastor, a under shepherd that was given to us by the authority of God........TALK, PREACH....(when i was running.....)

he has been giving all of our lives, I call it a blessing....but let me call the roll...

when you were sick…He gave you healing.....TALK, PREACH..

now let’s look at the relationship......according to My heart

They are given to the people of God for their care and service unto them.

They should be according to God’s heart in the way they serve and lead God’s people.

i said earlier you can tell a true God sent leader because of their characteristics....

who shall make his will their rule in all their administrations, and such as endeavour in some measure to conform to his example, who rule for him, and, as they are capable, rule like him.

his example and like him....

let’s call the roll......TALK, PREACH....

a love for the people

others before himself

TALK....

now let’s look at the RESULTS...

Jeremiah 3:15 “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”

They should feed God’s people with knowledge.They should feed God’s people with understanding.

what does that mean....

Matthew Henry states...Those are pastors after God's own heart who make it their business to feed the flock, not to feed themselves and fleece the flocks, but to do all they can for the good of those that are under their charge, who feed them with wisdom and understanding (that is, wisely and understandingly), as David fed them, in the integrity of his heart and by the skilfulness of his hand, Ps. 78:72. Those who are not only pastors, but teachers, must feed them with the word of God, which is wisdom and understanding, which is able to make us wise to salvation…(repeat last part)

let’s sum this up....

if you have a Pastor sent by God’s authority and has strong relationship the God and is doing the will the Father and is feeding the people with the word.....giving us wisdom and understanding of the word that we may believe the word, live in the word, die in the word and have salvation as a result of the word giving to us by the Pastor as he got it for God.....

Antioch, he gave us a good one.....TALK, PREACH,

…(there’s another scripture that shows authority, action, relationship and results…John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” )....CLOSE...