Archive for November, 2008
Sermon Podcast for 11-23-08
Posted by Administrator on November 23rd, 2008Sermon Podcast for 11-16-08
Posted by Administrator on November 16th, 2008Jer 16:1-13
The Lord gave me another message. He said, 2 “Do not get married or have children in this place. 3 For this is what the Lord says about the children born here in this city and about their mothers and fathers: 4 They will die from terrible diseases. No one will mourn for them or bury them, and they will lie scattered on the ground like manure. They will die from war and famine, and their bodies will be food for the vultures and wild animals.”
5 This is what the Lord says: “Do not go to funerals to mourn and show sympathy for these people, for I have removed my protection and peace from them. I have taken away my unfailing love and my mercy. 6 Both the great and the lowly will die in this land. No one will bury them or mourn for them. Their friends will not cut themselves in sorrow or shave their heads in sadness. 7 No one will offer a meal to comfort those who mourn at the dead—not even at the death of a mother or father. No one will send a cup of wine to console them.
8 “And do not go to their feasts and parties. Do not eat and drink with them at all. 9 For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: In your own lifetime, before your very eyes, I will put an end to the happy singing and laughter in this land. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard.
10 “When you tell the people all these things, they will ask, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such terrible things against us? What have we done to deserve such treatment? What is our sin against the Lord our God?’
11 “Then you will give them the Lord’s reply: ‘It is because your ancestors were unfaithful to me. They worshiped other gods and served them. They abandoned me and did not obey my word. 12 And you are even worse than your ancestors! You stubbornly follow your own evil desires and refuse to listen to me. 13 So I will throw you out of this land and send you into a foreign land where you and your ancestors have never been. There you can worship idols day and night—and I will grant you no favors!’
I continue to be astounded by the people of God in the book of Jeremiah. God proclaims a judgement on them and they do not understand why? They truly think they have been living for His glory and have been repentent of their sin and yet it is obvious that they have been anything but faithful and living for the Lord. Why can’t they see the truth about how they are living? The answer is found in verse 12. “You stubbornly follow your own evil desires and refuse to listen to me!” They have become so self absorbed as a people that they think God is all about them. They think life is all about them! Everything they do they do for their own self preservation! Even their repentance is not about God and their offense, it is about jumping through the prescribed hoop just to be able to point to the good thing they have done. Don’t miss what God is saying to you because of your own self absorbtion! Our calling is to live our lives fully for Him! We run the risk of becoming so stuck on what we want and what we think that we, like Israel, could fail to see the truth about what and who we have really become. Examine your lives before the Lord and repent of any self absorbtion that may be leading you away from God’s truth rather than towards Him!
You Must Influence Them!
Jer 15:19-21
19 This is how the Lord responds:
“If you return to me, I will restore you
so you can continue to serve me.
If you speak good words rather than worthless ones,
you will be my spokesman.
You must influence them;
do not let them influence you!
20 They will fight against you like an attacking army,
but I will make you as secure as a fortified wall of bronze.
They will not conquer you,
for I am with you to protect and rescue you.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
21 Yes, I will certainly keep you safe from these wicked men.
I will rescue you from their cruel hands.”
The Lord responded to Jeremiah’s plea for help! What He is really saying to Jeremiah is “STAY THE COURSE (Preach my words of truth) and I will keep you safe.” At the same time God reminds Jeremiah to be careful not to be influenced by the sin of those he is ministering to, but to make sure he influences them. I fear the post modern church is being influenced by the culture rather than attempting to influence the culture with the message of the gospel. I have seen the message of God’s good news obscured by methodology and contemporary attempts to re-word it so that it might be more acceptable in this culture. Instead of Holiness and devotion to the Lord I see sinfulness (God understands our weakness) and devotion to self resulting in a higher divorce rate in the church than outside of the church, bigger houses, more debt and a pursuit of happiness above all else when the mission of the church gets the crumbs. Israel really thought they were repentent and right with God. God wanted nothing to do with those contemporaries of Jeremiah who had compromised His truth and sold out their birthrite to the other nations! Jeremiah’s fear should not have been death at the hands of those he was prophesying to. His fear and ours should be the fear of being unduly influenced away from the truth by those we seek to reach with truth. Think about it!
Some Times it Seems God does not Answer!
Jer 15:10-18
10 Then I said,
“What sorrow is mine, my mother. Oh, that I had died at birth! I am hated everywhere I go. I am neither a lender who threatens to foreclose nor a borrower who refuses to pay—yet they all curse me.”
11 The Lord replied,
“I will take care of you, Jeremiah. Your enemies will ask you to plead on their behalf in times of trouble and distress. 12 Can a man break a bar of iron from the north, or a bar of bronze? 13 At no cost to them, I will hand over your wealth and treasures as plunder to your enemies, for sin runs rampant in your land.14 I will tell your enemies to take you as captives to a foreign land. For my anger blazes like a fire that will burn forever.”
15 Then I said,
“Lord, you know what’s happening to me. Please step in and help me. Punish my persecutors! Please give me time; don’t let me die young. It’s for your sake that I am suffering. 16 When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. 17 I never joined the people in their merry feasts. I sat alone because your hand was on me. I was filled with indignation at their sins. 18 Why then does my suffering continue? Why is my wound so incurable? Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook, like a spring that has gone dry.”
Jeremiah was puzzled. He felt like He had done what God was requiring of him, but that it had only brought him trouble. He couldn’t win! Everyone seemed to be turned against him for delivering truth! So he cries out to God for deliverance and to end his own suffering. He pleads his case based on his love for the truth and his delight in God. Sometimes, it seems God does not answer our prayer. Sometimes we suffer the consequences of living in truth. We are not understood and things seem to get worse instead of better. Jeremiah says, “help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook!” Don’t loose heart, even though it seems God is not answering in the moment. Jeremiah felt the same way we do when things don’t improve with each passing day. Just remember, we are not at the end of the story. God is in our days and on our side. He reminds Jeremiah from the outset. “I will take care of you!” No matter what you are going through and the struggle you have to live in truth, remember these words from the mouth of God to Jeremiah. “I will take care of you, Jeremiah!” Look to God to meet your every need according to His riches in glory! Your situation is not forgotten!
No More Opportunity!
Jer 15:5-9
5 “Who will feel sorry for you, Jerusalem? Who will weep for you? Who will even bother to ask how you are? 6 You have abandoned me and turned your back on me,”says the Lord. “Therefore, I will raise my fist to destroy you. I am tired of always giving you another chance. 7 I will winnow you like grain at the gates of your cities and take away the children you hold dear. I will destroy my own people, because they refuse to change their evil ways. 8 There will be more widows than the grains of sand on the seashore. At noontime I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of young men. I will cause anguish and terror to come upon them suddenly. 9 The mother of seven grows faint and gasps for breath; her sun has gone down while it is still day. She sits childless now, disgraced and humiliated. And I will hand over those who are left to be killed by the enemy. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
When you watch a movie and the bad guys loose, who feels sorry for them in the theater? Nobody roots for bad guys! We all love justice and we all like to see the bad guys get their just desserts. That is what it will be like for all those who abandon God’s truths and who refuse to bow their knee to Him. God comes to the end of His mercy and of letting people who do not repent and who do not change get away with sin. In the end He must bring justice to sinners. He did it to His own chosen people and so He owes no mercy to those who have no relationship with Him. Remember, you are the Lord’s megaphone in life to warn those who would ignore God’s gift of life to those who have failed. Use every opportunity to speak out before God withdraws His mercy and there is no more opportunity for repentance!
Sermon Podcast for 11-9-08
Posted by Administrator on November 9th, 2008What Makes You Wise?
Jer 15:1-4
Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I wouldn’t help them. Away with them! Get them out of my sight! 2 And if they say to you, ‘But where can we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘Those who are destined for death, to death;
those who are destined for war, to war;
those who are destined for famine, to famine;
those who are destined for captivity, to captivity.’
3 “I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” says the Lord. “I will send the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, the vultures to devour, and the wild animals to finish up what is left. 4 Because of the wicked things Manasseh son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem, I will make my people an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
The writer of Proverbs said, “the beginning of Wisdom is the fear of the Lord!” Perhaps we need to read this wisdom into these verses in Jeremiah. Who would want to be on the bad side of the Lord’s wrath? The people of Israel had sinned so wickedly against the Lord that there could be no turning away by God. It reminds me of the situation in Noah’s day when “every inclination of the heart of man was wicked.” It was the wrath of God poured out in those days that should give us all pause. I do not want to be on this side of the wrath of God. I bow my knee to Him and Him alone, I confess my utter sinfulness and my need of His grace and mercy! Keep a healthy and wise fear of the Lord. Let that wisdom keep you motivated to seek Him above all else!
Because He Loves Us?
Jer 14:19-22
19 Have You completely rejected Judah?
Or have You loathed Zion?
Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing?
We waited for peace, but nothing good came;
And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!
20 We know our wickedness, O Lord,
The iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You.
21 Do not despise us, for Your own name’s sake;
Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory;
Remember and do not annul Your covenant with us.
22 Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain?
Or can the heavens grant showers?
Is it not You, O Lord our God?
Therefore we hope in You,
For You are the one who has done all these things.
That is a great question? “Have you (God) completely rejected Judah?” The assumption is that the current destruction of Judah has meant that God has turned away from the people of promise forever. That is never the case. God turns away from those who reject Him and ignore His truth and choose to live without Him. He turns away from Israel to turn them towards Himself in the end. In Romans 9-11 Paul reminds us that God is faithful to His word to Israel and they will one day realize Jesus is the Messiah they missed. This question is really no different than the statement, ‘If God is so loving, why do bad things happen to good people.’ Both assume the problem is that a loving or just God cannot turn away from those He loves. He must do what is right because of who we are! What it fails to realize is that God must be just and do what is right because it is right first and foremost. or He is not God. Do not think you can twist the arm of God based on a priority of love. It is always balanced by justice.
