Preacher, appreciate it. Hey man, glad you're here tonight. Turn to the book of Jeremiah chapter 23 if you would, Jeremiah chapter 23. Anybody ever been over to Polk Hagen and went tobogganing? Anybody ever done that? Have you done that? Oh, that was a lot of fun. We went over there years and years ago, and there was no snow on the ground, but they have a way to make ice, and it was ice chutes. We got up to the top of that thing, and we got on our toboggan, and we went down. And my kids were teenagers at the time. And we changed the name of it. It's not tobogganing. It's tailboning. Because our tailbones were broke afterwards. He was shaking his head. But if you get a chance, go over and do that. I highly suggest it. It's a lot of fun. You may not survive the next day, but it's a lot of fun. And if that's not fun enough for you, you can go tubing. We used to tie a rope around a bumper when they used to have bumpers on cars, and we would grab a hold of that rope, and there'd be about four inner tubes and four guys on that, and we'd go down a country road when it was all ice covered. Our record was 67 miles an hour. I want to tell you that the telephone bulls, they'd come flying by at that speed, and that was in my dumber days, all I could say about that. But there's a lot of fun you can have in Northwest Ohio in the winter. So I want to encourage you to do those things. If you would stand with me. Jeremiah chapter number 23. I want to talk about wait, just the word wait, waiting, waiting. Jeremiah chapter 23 verse 1, Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pastor, saith the Lord. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people, Ye have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and have not visited them, behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, 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. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. And in his days, Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name, whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight, and we pray you'd bless this message. Lord, help me to convey the thoughts you've given to me, and may it be a blessing to these people. Lord, we do lift up our pastor. Couldn't imagine losing your father one month and in danger of losing your mother the next. So I just ask you to just fill him with grace, give him strength and comfort, and also be with the family. May they be able to work everything out. Father, I know our hearts are with him and just pray you'd be with him and meet the needs as only you can do. Bless us tonight, have your will and your way. In Christ's name I pray, amen. Thank you, you may be seated. Can you imagine God with His perfect timing just waiting? I mean, can you just think about God just waiting? Can you see Him waiting for certain events to take place? No worries, no problems, just simply waiting. Can you see Him waiting for all the pieces of His plan to fall together? Or can you see Him waiting just for us to understand His plan and to get busy doing the plan that He has set before us? God is at times just waiting. And waiting is something that I don't believe all of us are great at, probably can learn a little more about waiting. But one thing we need to learn is that waiting on the Lord, let's do it without worrying. Let's do it without doubting. Never doubt the Lord. He always comes through with what He said He'll do. You don't have to worry about Him. And you don't have to doubt Him. Waiting is another way for us to be changed into His image. It's not something we desire, but it's something that we certainly do need. The definition of waiting is to stop proceeding, to suspend any business in expectation of some person or event, the arrival of some hour. That's what wait means, or waiting. Have you ever had to wait on someone? Maybe someone was stopping a meeting from taking place because they didn't show up and finally they show up. Are you really happy with a guy or a lady who does such a thing? Your time's valuable and your energy's valuable, but how rude it is to make someone wait. Some people like to just come in late to make an entrance. I mean, people do all different crazy things. But how do you like to just sit and wait? Sit and wait. I would call myself an expert when it comes to flying. I don't know how many miles I've clocked, but it's been a lot going back and forth to Micronesia all those years, about 8,000 miles one way. So you add it up and it does take place. But I wonder, is flying really the fastest way to go? I know today you have to be two hours before your flight is ready to take off, so there's two hours wasted. From Findlay, Ohio, you're going to go to Columbus or Detroit or Cleveland, so you're talking another hour and a half to two hours to get there. Then there's usually delays when the flights take place, so you've got some more waiting around and sitting around for that. And then you finally land, and then you've got to get off the plane. I'll tell you what, there's a mad rush at times for everybody to go at one time, and it just doesn't work. So it can take quite a time just to get off the plane. And then you have your 5K run to go to the baggage claim, where you pick up your bags. And most of the time, you're there before they show up, so you're waiting on the bags to come around so you can grab your bags and move on. And then you've got to get into a car or a rental or a car that you have, and you've got to finish the rest of your trip, however many hours that may be. So I wonder, is flying really quicker than driving? Sometimes I think just getting in the car and going might be a better way to go. I didn't attend many functions in Micronesia. If they had town meeting or if they had, I don't know, somebody was elected, funerals, anything at all, there was a lot of waiting and sitting around, a lot of it. And I just didn't have a lot of patience in doing that. To be honest with you, most of the time, if you went an hour late, You would still be there before it started. That's what kind of a delay we're talking about. This is micronesia. It's totally different. But when you did want to be late, that would be the time they'd actually start on time. Every once in a while, 1 in 10 times they might start in time. And it's funny when they do start because the emcee will get up there and he'll introduce himself and then he'll say thank you brother for coming and tell you all about you and thank you brother and he'll go through everybody sitting there and thank them personally for coming and then he'll introduce the next speaker and tell all his credentials and then when that speaker gets up he'll thank the emcee and then he'll go back through and thank every single person. I'm not kidding you, this is exactly how it takes place. I think they would watch C-SPAN and study how they do those things in Washington D.C. Somehow they got ideas and I never did like it, but it's just something you had to deal with. It kind of drove me nuts. I hate waiting, I really do. I'm an Ohio State Buckeye fan. And I'll tell you what, sometimes waiting for them to finally win the game, it about gives me a heart attack. And I love them and I enjoy watching them. And I hope that when I do watch them, that at the end I get a great victory. And we have a W in the column. If you're an Ohio State fan, O-H. all right. We ve got some fans here. Praise the Lord for that. But waiting affects people in different ways. You know with the Lord He He doesn't have to wait around, but when we think about the Lord and we have to wait on the Lord, don't doubt the Lord. The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 3 and verse 4, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. You know, this is what we see in the world today. The world thinks because we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and He's our personal Savior that we're a little bit cuckoo, if you would. And they don't understand who we are and the relationship that we have believing in Christ. And then we say, you know what? You better be ready because the Lord's coming. Now they really think you're a nutcase. But you know what? He is coming, and He's coming soon. But I've noticed when believers start listening to this crowd that they start doubting the Lord's return. Ah, man, my parents told me He was coming, and He hasn't came yet, and I don't know if He's ever going to come. We've got to be careful, because when we start doubting the Lord, then waiting isn't doing its work inside of us like it ought to. The Lord knows all of this, and you know what He does? He gives us a special reward. if we'll wait on Him. In fact, if we look forward to His second coming, there's a special blessing for that as well. In 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 8, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them that love His appearing. Listen, with the Lord, waiting is involved. When I was saved in 1980, I believe that year the Lord was coming back. I really did. And we went through the 80s and the Lord didn't come back. We went through the 90s, the Lord didn't come back. We're now 25 years into the 2000s. and the Lord hasn't came back yet. You know what? I am not discouraged. I am not doubting the Lord's return. I am not upset in any way. Because I know one of these years it's going to happen. The Lord is going to come back. And there's a lot of things and evidence which would suggest that it could be very soon. And I hope it is. But I'm excited about the Lord coming back. I hope every day I wake up thinking the Lord will come back this day. And I hope you'll be encouraged, but waiting on Him sometimes is a little more difficult. If we allow our flesh to rule our lives when waiting on the Lord's return, you know what we do? We fall into trouble. And soon after falling into trouble, we can fall into sin. You know the main reason that man sins is because he or she doesn't think they're going to get caught? As a sheriff, you would know people, they don't think they're going to get caught breaking into a house. They don't think they're going to get caught stealing someone's trailer. But God knows in one day, they will get caught. But if you thought for sure you were going to get caught, you wouldn't do it. You wouldn't do it. But the Bible says in Luke chapter number 12 and verse 45, but and if that servant said in his heart, my Lord layeth his coming, and shall begin to beat the men's servant and the maidens, and to eat, and to drink, and to be drunken." You know, we also need to remember what the Bible says in Matthew 24, verses 42 to 44. Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour the Lord doth come, but know this, that if the good men of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and he would have not suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. Listen, that good man, if he would have watched and he would have been in the right hour, he would have not suffered loss. If you and I are watching for the Lord to come back, we're not going to be surprised. And most of us aren't surprised tonight that it could happen at any moment. And it's a thrilling thing to think that we could actually go up and never die. We could go up in a rapture and absolutely never die. I don't know if this is better than seeing Jesus while He was on earth. It's a pretty good time that we live in, and it's a pretty good opportunity that we have coming up on us. Jeremiah 23 shows us that waiting may be hard at times, but it is well worth the wait. Look back at verse number 1. Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pastors, saith the Lord. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people, ye have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and have not visited them. Behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doing, saith the Lord. You know what I know about the Lord? He'll always make things right. I don't care what's going on in your life. I don't care what's going on in America. I don't care what's going on in Israel. In the end, the Lord will make all things right. Jeremiah here denounces these pastors because of the bad treatment they gave. They didn't care for their people. They didn't take care of their people. Instead of leading the flock, they drove the flock and exploited the flock. Pastors had a poor testimony, but God would visit these leaders and he would make right the wrongs that they had done. So many pastors today are sitting across churches all over America, but instead of gathering people in, they are scattering people abroad. They do it in many ways. The main reason I see them scattering people away from a true relationship with Jesus Christ is that they quit preaching against sin. that they quit telling exactly what is right and what is wrong. They compromise with the world. The light in those churches have become dark and their salt has lost its power to heal. That's why people won't stay because they see the fallacies in those behind the pulpit. Some so-called pastors, they're not even saved themselves. sitting in pulpits all across America, don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And people see that, and they see the double standards they live, and so they leave. Others who, so-called pastors, they are teaching the traditions of men. And they're telling you, if you do enough good works, you'll be able to go to heaven. But man knows in his own heart that he's not good enough to go to heaven, that there's a problem with that. And he gets frustrated. He tries, but he fails. He gets frustrated and just says, forget this Christianity stuff. Can't do it. It's impossible. They teach heresies, or they give false hopes. They have gotten away from teaching the truths of God's Word, and that'll scatter people fast. Another thing that so-called preachers are doing today is they preach a love-only God. They fail to preach the entire counsel of God. No warning of hell, no warning of sin. Listen, when I was 17 years old and I realized my sin would take me to a devil's hell, it stopped me in my tracks. And I thought, man, I don't want to go further this path. What other options are there? And then I heard about Jesus Christ and His saving grace and what He's done for me. And that what He did was a finished work on Calvary. Anything I could add to it, it was full. All I had to do is with a repentative heart come to Him and confess Him as my Lord and Savior and ask forgiveness. And man, what a change in life He made for me. When we see people like this, they seem to gather large crowds, if you would, mega churches. But don't, you know, it just doesn't seem right. I mean, it doesn't settle right with us when we know we're preaching the truth, and yet they do so great in man's eyes. But don't worry, brethren, the Lord is watching, and in the end, they'll get what they deserve. There's a little Chick track that talks about some pastors or missionaries that were fake. I don't remember the name of that. Do you remember the name of that offhand? The Witnesses. Two Witnesses, I think it's called. And it's really good. It's talking about some Mormons who are preaching another gospel. and the problems that there is with that, and it really exposes some of those things, and I appreciate that track. But we need to keep preaching against sin as a Bible-believing church, warning of hell, and that there is a white throne judgment coming. Listen, if man thinks he can live his life and not stand before God, that's why he'll do so many things that he does. But if he understands one day he'll stand before a holy God and give an account for his life for all eternity, it may get someone to think. We don't need to look like the world. We need to be opposite of the world. We need to be such a bright light that they see there's truth and they want to come to it and find out more. God will always make right the things that are wrong. If someone has done you wrong in this life, don't worry about it. God's gonna make it right. It's gonna come out right. Secondly, God will gather his people together. Look at verse number three. Verse number three, And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries, whether I have driven them, and will bring them again unto their folds, 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. God promises that He would regather His people, and we look back at a place called Israel, and we see about 8 million Jews there. God's kept His promise. He regathered His people. He regathered that nation. Even though it was down to just a few, it was just a remnant. In fact, the word remnant is used 19 times in the book of Jeremiah. But that remnant did return to Judah. That remnant did rebuild the temple. That remnant did restore national life in Israel. And they saw the regathering of the Jews. And this regathering that we've seen in the 1900s has absolutely been amazing, even probably more amazing than the miracles of bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt. I mean, when they were scattered from 70 AD, they were across the whole world. And it's like they had a homing device inside of them telling them, go back to Israel, go back to Israel. I mean, people left the comforts and they went back and they paid the price. Countries around Israel have never been kind to them. They've always been cruel. And we see some things going on even today that makes this amazing. You remember the Balfour Declaration. If you don't quite remember what that is, back in 1917, there was a Jewish man, had a Jewish ancestry, and England was in big trouble because they were losing World War I. They were running out of ammunition, not gunpowder, not ammunition, but gunpowder. And this fella by the name of Claim Weisman figured out a way to make gunpowder very cost-effective. And it absolutely changed the direction. And the Britons didn't lose the war. They ended up with the allies of winning the war. Well, this man was so grateful for what claim had did that he went to him and said, what do you want? He says, we're Jewish people. We don't have a place called home. We want our homeland back. And so the Belford Declaration made a statement that the land in Palestine would be a place the Jewish people could call their home. And so after 1917, in the 1920s, a lot of Jews started going back. And by 1948, you have a nation that now is called Israel, recognized by those of the world. And today, millions and millions of Jews still have returned. You know, when God says He's going to regather His people, mark it down, He's going to regather His people. Eight million. That's more than I could even imagine to count. But the enemies of God and the enemies of Israel have always fought Israel every step of the way. You think they'd finally give up, but it's more than just Jew and Muslim. It's a holy war. It's a good versus evil thing. And it's never going to end until Jesus comes back and puts an end to all of this. But as these enemies are all around them, even though they way outnumber the Jewish people, they have lost every single battle. The Jews have won every single time. And today, Israel is still being under attack. Man, from the east, Iran is sending drones and missiles. From the west, Gaza Strip is bombarding Israel. From the south, you find Yemen. And they are continuing today of sending rockets and drones in. And from Lebanon, from the north, from all four directions, Israel is being attacked. But with God's help, man, they have put, Israel has went out and put some real hurt, some real damage to these other countries as a result of them attacking Israel. God will continue to put his hand on Israel and God will continue to bless those that bless Israel and continue to curse those that curse Israel. You know, in just one step, God regathered His people and God will call His people from the nations of the world and gather them together and put them in a new land. I'm talking about a day that's not yet come. I'm talking about the millennium years, when the thousand years come and there's finally peace on this earth. The Jews will finally realize what peace is with God. Because they'll have the peace of God. I don't think they're still searching, but one day they will have that. Take your Bible, if you would, and look to Isaiah chapter 2. Isaiah chapter number 2. God said one day it's going to happen, and he mentions how it will take place here in Isaiah chapter 2, beginning with verses number 1. The word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, Let us go up into the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his path for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more, O house of Jacob. Come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. You know, I know waiting on the Lord is hard, and nobody likes to wait, but I assure you, waiting to see King Jesus sitting on His throne is going to be well worth it. And that day is coming as an absolute. God will gather His people. He's still gathering those people, and He will not end gathering His people until this world is finished. Thirdly, God is coming again. Look at verses 5 in our text in Jeremiah. Jeremiah 23, verse 5, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will rise unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days, Judas shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is the name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. That's an amazing name, and it was reserved for one. Jesus Christ is the only one that could take the Lord, our righteousness. David's tree, David's family lintage would have problems, but there would be a branch that would spring up. And that branch would be the ruler of the nations. In Isaiah 11 verse 1, and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of the roots. You know, in contrast to those that Jeremiah was talking about who did evil, here we have a righteous king and deserving to be called the king of righteousness, the Lord our righteousness. Boy, when we see who Jesus is, we can't help but to say, that's what righteousness is. Any way you look at Him, anything of His life on earth, anything in past eternity, anything present, anything in future eternity. The Lord our righteousness. What does that mean to you and I as believers? 1 Corinthians 1.30 says, Are ye in Christ Jesus, whom of God is made unto wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption? Christ is the one that provides those things in the believers' lives. In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made righteousness of God in him. We have a Lord that is righteous. Nobody else can take that title. It's an exalted name. And Jesus is the one. You know, when we put your faith, when you and I put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, His righteousness is put into our account. We are declared righteous before God. This is called being justified by faith. But if you're like me and you want that new sinless body now, you like me and you want to see Jesus now, remember, we're still reading a book and we haven't got to the end yet. And at the end, that's where the best comes out. We're just living. We're just moving forward. And if we'll be patient and live for the Lord and wait for His coming, We'll have a new sinless glorified body and we'll be in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ forever. I guarantee you it'll be worth the wait. Don't lose hope, don't lose patience, don't ever doubt, because Jesus Christ is coming again. The world wants to suck us into the vacuum that he's not real or that he's decided not to come back. Don't believe those lies. They're not true. Lastly, God has some promises, and the neat things about God's promises are they are afresh and anew. Look at verse 7 in our text. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which broughteth up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but the Lord liveth, which brought us up, which letteth the seed of the house of the Lord out of Israel, out of the north country, and from all the countries, whether I have driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land. You know, no matter how dark the day may be, God sends His light of hope through promises. The Old Testament is absolutely full of promises. It's one thing to read about a promise and see it being fulfilled in the Bible, But it's another thing when you have a promise given to you from the Bible, and you take it personally, and you see it come to pass in your life. Those promises are precious, and they're new and afresh every day. You know, the return of the Jews to their land after their captivity was showing a greater worldwide pulling back of the children of Israel. Matthew 24, 31, As we see the promises that God has for us, let's just remember, just wait. Just wait on the Lord. The day's coming. What we have now is not going to compare to what we have to come. It doesn't matter what it is. Most of the world is lost. And when we read about these words of remnant, I love to use that and borrow that into our day and age because Christians are really a remnant in this world. We're just a fraction of this world. But the promises we have are absolutely amazing. When we think about Christ, and he is the branch from David's family, and through him all of his people are made righteous, the Lord knows exactly where his children are. You don't have to remind him. And when the day of the rapture takes place, wherever you're at, you're going to go up. I personally think the rapture will probably happen maybe a Wednesday evening service. Because no matter where you're at, home or in church, you're going to go meet the Lord, and you're going to be with Him for all eternity. You know, when I think about waiting on the Lord, it certainly isn't an easy thing, but just remember this, Christ died, but rather, He's a risen Savior. We have taken Him as our Lord and Savior. This righteousness becomes ours as a free gift. Eternal life. It's available through the Spirit of God. And this righteousness, we didn't earn it. We didn't earn anything righteous about us. But Christ closed us. The Holy Spirit closed us with the righteousness of Christ. How can we make good decisions today? Because of Christ abideth in us. Allowing Him to be in control is what makes it all the difference. The Lord our righteousness. What a name. What a name. Don't let anybody make you doubt that the Lord is coming. Are you willing to wait on the Lord? Are you willing to wait for His second coming? Are you willing to wait for Him to complete the work that He began inside of you? We're not a finished product yet. He's still working on us, as an old song says. But His promises, they will come true, and we will be glad we waited for Him. Waiting isn't easy, but I'll tell you what, it's gonna make it absolutely worth it. And it just makes the anticipation that much even greater. So tonight, just wait. Wait on the Lord. Do what He wants you to do. Let's pray. Father, we thank you tonight for allowing us to be together. Lord, I'm not a patient person and patience and waiting is not an easy thing for most people. But Lord, there's the time and right now is where we need to wait. Wait on you. Have your perfect work done in our hearts and in our lives. Lord, we love you. We anticipate your coming and what a day it'll be when it takes place. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.