'My people hath been lost sheep' (1)

My people hath been lost sheep

4In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.
5They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
6My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.
7All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers. (Jerm50:4-7)

In the Reformed Faith, those that are saved by grace through faith, are often referred to in God’s Word as sheep, or the sheep of God’s pasture; at the same time, the Lord Jesus Christ is referred to as the ‘good shepherd,’ the One that giveth His life for the sheep. In this passage, God is speaking to His people; ‘My people hath been lost sheep’. In these spiritually dark days in Ulster, when Secularism is seeking to dominate society, let us draw near to God’s Word and find direction.

‘My people hath been lost sheep’ Firstly we have a view of God’s people as to their Past; ‘their shepherds have caused them to go astray,’ many pastors and preachers, so as to keep up with the times, invited Secularism into their flocks; firstly the Word of God was attacked by liberalism and modernism before being presented in a more secular format, which became popular with the more casual reader and follower. With this step taken, soon the secular spirit moved freely amongst God’s people; the standard of spiritual living dropped to worldly standards, a greater emphasis was placed on so called ‘worship’ than on preaching; old hymns and psalms were used less frequently and the modern songs with orchestral accompaniment became acceptable.

Secularism did not stop here; these deluded pastors introduced political correctness, equality initiatives, pragmatism, pluralism and politics into their congregations. Church fellowships became social networking centers; God’s people were ‘turned away on the mountains’; no more separation unto the Lord, instead spiritual adultery and whoredom; no longer ‘holiness unto the Lord’, instead, self righteous hypocrisy, God’s people left the mountain of Biblical Christianity and settled on the hills of Secularism, a retrograde step. They had separated their lives from the Word of God; they were able to identify with Christianity intellectually, but their lives were secular; ‘they have forgotten their resting place’; they have surrendered to Secularism.

Rev Mervyn Cotton (Heb13:6)