10/17/2020 – Day 153 – Jeremiah conclusion – Ch. 47-52 – What a ride it has been!
How about an opening with a three sentence conclusion from Warren Wiersbe’s “Be Decisive” (*A):
“The same Lord who enabled Jeremiah can enable us. The same world that opposed Jeremiah will oppose us. It’s time for God’s people to be decisive.”
It is not about the messenger, but I still can see myself looking for Jeremiah and Jonathan at the gate, as I do for loved ones where shared time here , seemed as if it were just a breath to this point. I am blessed to have Nancy, and I have the best group of work colleagues that I have ever had, at least since Bay 6, 7th RRFS – 1973 – 1975. But for our small circle of loved ones , the phone calls and texts have seemingly evaporated. Perhaps I should send a bcc message that reports of my death are exaggerated. In a very small way at least to this point, it has been a walk with Jeremiah, who had that isolated and lonely struggle amidst a hostile world. Small sacrifice it is relative to what we may be called to in the near future, Praise God!: Romans 8: 38-39.
I can’t recall where I saw this quote but it is appropriate, if I haven’t shared it yet: “Our church body today is a “non-prophet” organization.” Our mission: “Change it!; We can start with prayer!” As long as I am reflective on this concluding day of Jeremiah, let me share what was truly a revelatory moment over 15 years ago in retrospect. I was blessed to be in an awesome weekly bible study group with fellow brothers at First Presbyterian church in Houston. We met at the restaurant at 6:00 am on the Memorial Park golf course for breakfast. We were nearing our very last meeting as we were finishing what was a long study in the prophets.
The key moment for reflection was when one of the guys asked: “If God placed an ad in the newspaper for a prophet, would you answer it?” The response was amazing, momentary silence as we all looked at each other as we shook our heads at each other in unison after an uneasy delay. It was the honest answer. And I can’t speak for the other guys, but it was evidence of my growth in Christ. How is that? Well, a few years prior, I would have flippantly replied: “You bet, why do you ask me such a question with an obvious reply?” But , we had been praying as a group, so no surprise, the Holy Spirit had conveyed the earthly price to was involved in answering such a call!. (Mark 8:35) We didn’t have tongues of fire on our head, but it seems in retrospect, to be just as obvious nontheless.
And recently that growth led to me suddenly and tp unplanned sharing with Nancy that “indeed, if it comes downs to it, God I trust will answer my fervent prayer, but : If and when they come for us in a round-up of Christians, it still bothered me if in fact she would be with me. To which she replied with just: “it will be OK, Jimmy!” And so it is, “hope that is seen is not hope”, but I do in fact believe “God will be with us!” And He will be glorified! (Soli Deo Gloria!)
Another story back around the same time frame, this one a few years later in 2010 at Crosspoint Church in Bellaire. Our facilitator for our large couples Sunday school class proclaimed: “Some people in this church, think the U.S.A has the same covenant position as the nation of Israel.” To which he concluded by looking at me. It didn’t take alot of probing to know where that came from. Just a week or two prior, we were concluding a men’s study when the head pastor asked : “what are your take-aways from this study?”. At the tail end, I responded with, more or less with: “As spiritual heads of our families, we needed to take charge,…for our president was a weak kneed mouthpiece for the Devil and his minions. ” (Yes, I was speaking of Obama and on a tragic timely note , as it was just after the Ft. Hood shootings) Well, the head pastor was standing nearby and he jerked the mike out of hand just as I was concluding. I remember thinking ; “How strange!, does he really think I needed that mike here in this gym?”
So, back to the facilitator: It is funny, the Holy Spirit was already engaging me in up close, sudden and unexpected appearances in my life. I had already at this point gotten up at His urging to make two speeches in large audiences that were not in the least popular with church leadership. But on this occasion, I got a nudge that commanded: “Do not say anything in reply!” But , if I had, I would have shot back with something like: “Indeed, The Messiah was not born within the U.S.A., but are you saying God is not sovereign, blessing and/or judging all nations? Seriously?” And that brings us to our final Jeremiah reading.
II Timothy 3:16 – Let scripture testify to scripture. Re: Judgment of nations As Warren Wiersbe points out in “Be Decisive” (hereftofore referenced with “*A”:
“God never gave the law of Moses to any of the nations that Jeremiah addressed, but He still held them accountable for the sins they committed against Him and against humanity. Because of the witness of creation around them and conscience within them , they were without excuse (Romans 1: 17-32, especially v. 20) and guilty before God.”
-“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31)
“O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.” (Isaiah 37:16 – Hezekiah prayer)
“I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.” Luke 10-21 (Jesus rejoicing in the Spirit)
“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.” Acts 17:24
So, let’s go to the Postlude of Wiersbe’s : “Be Decisive” (*A) . I would encourage y’all to pick this book up in kindle, if I recall correctly, I think I paid $2 or so for it. So, my typing is to slow to copy the Postlude for you but I will tease you with the seven important lesson’s (#7 signifies completeness) that we can apply from our Jeremiah study to all of God’s people today:
“1. In difficult days, we need to hear and heed the Word of God. It’s obvious to us that the leaders of Judah did a very stupid thing by resisting what Jeremiah told them to do….”
2. True prophets of God are usually (if not always) persecuted. The civil and religious leaders of Judah preferred the pleasant messages of the false prophets to the strong words of God’s true servant, because the human heart wants to rest, not repent. (sidenote: Run away from “comfortable”! / 1 Peter 4: 12-19)
3. True patriotism isn’t blind to sin. ‘He [Jeremiah] loved his country so passionately he was willing to die for it as a traitor. He loved his country so intensely that he would not leave it even after Jerusalem was in ruins.’
4. God’s servants occasionally have their doubts and failings. (Note – Jeremiah was weak before God. Obediance; feelings mean nothing comparitively)
5. The important thing isn’t success, it’s faithfulness. By today’s human standards of ministry Jeremiah was a dismal failure. (Note: Semper Fi!)
6. The greatest reward of ministry is to become like Jesus Christ. …… The similarities between Jesus and Jeremiah are interesting. Their approaches to teaching and preaching were similar, using ‘action sermons’ and a great deal of imagery from everyday life and nature. Both spoke out against the commercial ‘surface’ religion practiced in the temple. Both were accused of being traitors to their people, and both suffered physically, even being arrested, beaten and confined. Both wept over Jerusalem. Both were rejected by their relatives. Both knew what it was to be misunderstood, lonely and rejected. Both emphasized the need for faith in the heart, and both rejected the mere ‘furniture’ of religion that was external and impotent.
I could go on but the point is obvious: Jeremiah became like Jesus because he shared ‘the fellowship of his sufferings.’ (Phillipians 3:10) In the furnaces of life, Jeremiah was ‘conformed to the image of [God’s} Son’ (Romans 8:29). Jeremiah may not have realized that this process was going on in his life, and he might have denied it if it were pointed out to him, but the transformation was going on just the same.
7. God is King, and the nations of the word are under His sovereign control. ….It’s a solemn responsibility for a people to claim to know God and profess to do His will. It isn’t enough for a nation to put “In God We Trust” on its currency, to mention God in its pledge to the flag, or to ‘tip the hat to God’ by quoting the Bible in political campaign speeches. It’s righteousness, not religion, that exalts a ntion. What pleases the Lord is that we ‘do justly.. love mercy… and … walk humply with [our] God’ (Micah 6:8)
Conclusion:
The same Lord who enabled Jeremiah can enable us. The same world that opposed Jeremiah will oppose us. It’s time for God’s people to be decisive.”
Always connected through prayer and by His grace!