Our church will begin its monthly study. The subject is the prophet, Jeremiah.
I am eager to get involved with this study primarily because of Jeremiah's difficult service to God.
I appreciate his work in a personal type of way, much like I also appreciate the work of the New Testament Apostle, Paul. Both men endured extremely difficult life experiences speaking God's will toward the people.
These days we live in many of the self proclaimed faithful have ignored instruction from those Paul warned of in Galatians 1: 6-9.
Faithful shall keep the Commandments of the Lord Jesus. When asked which was the greatest commandment we read in Matthew 22: 37-40 what Jesus said.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Jeremiah had not the benefit of knowing Jesus in the flesh, but he did know God through His Holy Spirit.
He warned the nation of Israel to turn back to God before judgement befell them. He did so to find himself in prison for doing it. He was beaten physically and rejected. None the less his warnings to the people happened just as he said them. Jeremiah's prophecies extended beyond his current time, they can be read in the later parts of the book Jeremiah.
As difficult as it is for me to know that there are those that do not believe in God because of prophets like Jeremiah, it is almost impossible for me to wrap my head around the fact that many Christians behave much like the nation of Israel did during the time of Jeremiah during his warnings. Even with the teachings of Paul!
I thank God for Paul because in his words spoken and written to the Greeks in Acts 17:30.
And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent:
The enemy of man has been hard at work in distracting all of humanity. His corrupt spirit has taken hold of many preachers accused by Paul in Galatians 1:6-7.
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
I am not interested in offending others unless of course the offense drives them to the truth of Christ and His Gospel of God's Kingdom coming. But if we are to observe the last days of the Pope's travels recently, it would appear that men have turned to worship another man by considering him to be more than a man coming to say a few words amidst political advice given on the foolishness of the earth's climate. I know would like to think that the man known as the Pope would know God's word. Revelation 11:18 clearly says the world will not be destroyed by man, but that God will intervene before man can do so.
Isaiah 5: 20-23 There are a lot of "Woes" being tossed around in Isaiah's prophecy and they sound like they are meant for us. Go read of them if you don't believe me.
My soul clings to Acts 17:30. Here is why: Today I was invited to a Baptism which I couldn't attend.
I worked on this day as God's first day of the week. My wife, Tracy however did attend. The person being baptized is a young woman we have become fond of recently. Grace is our neighbor, and she has decided to know Jesus. However upon arriving, the sign on the church said, "Welcome, come meet with the Lord of the Sabbath," or something to that effect. The ceremony was good, and the music was very good. Then there was a southern BBQ serving pork. What is wrong with this picture?
Exodus 31:16 mentions the Sabbath, Leviticus 11:7 mentions that swine is unclean. Amos 5 discusses all that we celebrate, and that being all the Lord despises.
Jeremiah's work will never be done. It was meant for his day as it is meant for our day.
The question at the end of today's study of Jeremiah asked, Will we listen today?
Obviously the answer is NO they won't.
For those counting on our government to fix things, well let us keep in mind, we select our government.
It isn't likely that our government is going to fix anything, in fact times ahead will worsen.
Get your house in order! The King of Kings and Lord of Lords is coming and He will rule when those that once stood for freedom have failed.
Pastor Martin
