first posted 02/19/05

This is the Church Season of Lent, forty days from Ash Wednesday to Easter (not counting Sundays) of self-examination, fasting and repentance.

Jeremiah 1:1-10,     Jeremiah’s call
1 Corinthians 3:11-23,      Responsibility of teachers
Mark 3:31-4:9     Teaching in parables

Jeremiah was a descendant of the priest Abiathar who had been banished by Solomon to Anathoth, a city of refuge in the territory of Benjamin. “The Word of the Lord” (the prophetic inspiration; the still, small inner voice of God) came to Jeremiah during the period from 627 B.C., in the reign of Josiah, until 587 B.C., during the reign of Zedekiah, of the southern Kingdom of Judah. God told Jeremiah that he had formed Jeremiah in the womb and had known him profoundly and completely. God had consecrated him before Jeremiah had been born and had appointed him as a prophet to the nations.

Jeremiah responded by saying he didn’t feel adequate for the job because of his youth. But God told Jeremiah not to let his youth and inexperience keep him from going everywhere the Lord would send him and speaking everything the Lord would command. God told him not to be afraid, because the Lord would be with him to deliver him.

The Lord touched Jeremiah’s lips and told Jeremiah that God had put his Word in Jeremiah’s mouth. The Lord told Jeremiah that as of that day the Lord had given Jeremiah authority over nations and kingdoms, “to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10).

The only possible foundation of the Church (the spiritual building; the kingdom of God) is Jesus Christ. Workers in the Church are to build on that foundation with good craftsmanship and with good materials, comparable to builders of an earthly building.

Good materials and workmanship are like precious materials which will endure. Poor materials and workmanship will perish on the Day of Judgment, when everyone’s workmanship will be tested as with fire. Each person will receive a reward or penalty based on his workmanship. The Church collectively, and we individually, are the temple of God if God’s Spirit dwells within us. God’s temple is holy and God will destroy anyone who destroys God’s temple.

We are not to be misled or unduly impressed with worldly wisdom. Anyone who wants to be truly wise in this age must put aside worldly wisdom and become what the world regards as foolish. God regards worldly wisdom as folly. “God catches the wise in their craftiness” (Job 5:13a).

It is God who gives true wisdom; the thoughts of the (worldly) wise are futile. (1 Corinthians 3:20; compare Psalm 94:10b-11). Let us not boast of our human teachers, claiming status and knowledge from being taught by them. We don’t “belong” to our human teachers; they “belong” to us, as do all things, provided that we “belong” to Christ as Christ “belongs” to God.

Jesus was teaching in someone’s house and his mother and brothers came to the door asking for him. Jesus was surrounded by a large crowd, and when he was told that his family was outside asking for him, Jesus looked at the people around him and said that his real, spiritual family were those who had come to listen to Jesus’ teaching.

Another time he was teaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was in a boat a little distance offshore, and he taught a large crowd in parables. One was the parable of the sower who broadcast grain seed over different types of soil. Some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it. Some fell on rocky ground, where it quickly sprang up, but was unable to take root, so it withered away. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked out the seedlings. But some fell on good soil and grew to maturity, producing a harvest many times greater than the original seed. Jesus said that those who have ears to hear what he was saying should use them to understand and apply Jesus’ teaching.

God had created Jeremiah to be God's prophet to the nations. Jeremiah heard God’s Word, God’s call directly to him, and he responded. Jeremiah had some doubt about his ability to do what God was calling him to do, but God reassured him that God would give Jeremiah what he wanted Jeremiah to say, and would be with Jeremiah to enable him and help him to accomplish what God was calling him to do. God’s Word is active and powerful and like a two-edged sword it will build up those who trust and obey, and will destroy those who refuse to heed it (Hebrews 4:12).

Christians are called to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Christians are those who trust and obey Jesus’ teachings, and have received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Lord gives his Holy Spirit only to those who trust and obey him (Isaiah 42:5e; John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that we are in Christ and have eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). Those who do not have the indwelling Spirit of Christ do not belong to him (Romans 8:9b).

It is possible to know with certainty for oneself whether one has received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2). It is by the indwelling Holy Spirit that we hear God’s voice and his call, through whom our minds are opened to understand the scriptures (Luke 24:45), and who touches us and puts God's Word in our mouths, empowering us to proclaim his Word and accomplish the work for the kingdom which he calls us to do. This all begins when we respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and begin to trust and obey Jesus’ teaching. We must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through his indwelling Holy Spirit.

Christians are not disciples of some great human theologian or preacher. Christians are people who come to Jesus in obedient trust, and learn and do what Jesus teaches; those are Jesus’ brothers and sisters. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the seed; Jesus is the sower and we are the soil. Christians are to be the good soil who receive the Gospel and allow it to grow to maturity.

We have the promise of the Holy Spirit, which is like a seed. We must allow God’s Word to grow within us and be nurtured to maturity through trust and obedience. When we receive the fulfillment of that promise of the Holy Spirit, we are equipped and empowered to answer God’s call and build his kingdom. The Lord will be with us and in us; He will put his Word in our mouths. He will bring about the increase of the harvest of our work. We are all called to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ disciples are called to make disciples of Jesus Christ Matthew 28:19-20).

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?  

first posted 02/20/05

Jeremiah 1:11-19,     Jeremiah’s vision
Romans 1:1-15,     Salutation and thanksgiving
John 4:27-42     Testimony of the Samaritan woman

“The Word of the Lord” (the voice of God in one’s spiritual ear) asked Jeremiah what he saw in a vision Jeremiah was given. Jeremiah reported that he saw a rod of almond wood. The Lord said Jeremiah had seen well; the Lord was watching over his Word to perform it. (A play on words is involved. The Hebrew words for “watching” and “almond” are very similar. Note that Aaron’s rod of almond had sprouted blossoms and produced almonds overnight, confirming Aaron’s priesthood, to quell the rebellion of the sons of Korah; Numbers 17:8).

The Word of the Lord again asked Jeremiah to describe what he was seeing in a vision from God, and Jeremiah answered that he saw a boiling pot facing south. The Lord told Jeremiah that evil would come from the north and the kingdoms of the north would attack Judah and Jerusalem. The Lord declared that the attack would be God’s punishment of Judah’s disobedience and idolatry.

The Lord commanded Jeremiah to take courage and proclaim God’s Word fully and faithfully. Jeremiah was not to be dismayed to proclaim God’s Word, or God would cause Jeremiah to be dismayed for his failure to proclaim God’s Word fully and faithfully. The Lord promised to make Jeremiah invincible against the kingdom of Judah, its leaders and its people. The Lord declared that Judah would oppose Jeremiah but would not prevail, because God promised to be with Jeremiah to deliver him.

Paul was a servant of Jesus Christ, called by Jesus to be an apostle (a messenger) set apart to proclaim to the nations the Gospel (Acts 9:5, 15) which God promised beforehand by his prophets and recorded in the Bible. That Gospel is about the coming of God’s Son, who was a descendant of David by his earthly genealogy (through his earthly father) and God’s Son by the Holy Spirit, which was confirmed by his resurrection from the dead.

Jesus Christ is our Lord, through whom we receive the unmerited gift (of forgiveness and salvation) and apostleship (the commission to proclaim the Gospel) “to bring about the obedience of faith (discipleship) for the sake of his (Jesus’) name among all the nations” (compare Matthew 28:18-20). That includes all who hear and respond to the call to belong to Jesus Christ (through his indwelling Holy Spirit; Romans 8:9); all God’s beloved who hear and respond to God’s call to be saints (those who are set apart and dedicated to God’s service).

Grace (God’s unmerited favor) and peace (with God) are only possible through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul gave thanks to God through Jesus Christ for the testimony to the world of the Christian faith by the 1st Century Roman Church.

God, who Paul served with his innermost being, will affirm that Paul remembered the Roman Church continually in prayer, asking that by God’s will Paul might now come to them, so that he might be able to impart some spiritual gift to strengthen their faith, and that Paul’s own faith might be encouraged by them.

Paul had long desired to visit them to “reap some harvest among them,” but had been prevented. Paul’s obligation to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles included both the educated Greeks (and Romans) and the uneducated barbarians, so Paul was looking forward to preaching to the Church at Rome.

Jesus had been talking to a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well at Sychar in Samaria. His disciples had gone into the city to buy food. When the disciples returned they were amazed to find Jesus talking to the woman, but they didn’t comment about it.

The woman took her jar of water into the city and she told the townsfolk to come and see a person who had known all the details of her life and she asked if he could be the Christ. Meanwhile the disciples were urging Jesus to eat, but Jesus told them that doing God’s will and mission was more necessary to Jesus than food. Jesus told them that people can tell when a field of grain is ready to harvest by observing its color; the spiritual harvest is comparable if one knows what to look for.

The (spiritual) reaper receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life where sower and reaper will rejoice together. Jesus is the sower, and we are to reap, and we will share with the sower in the harvest, although we did not participate in the labor of sowing (Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross).

Many Samaritans of Sychar believed in Jesus because of the testimony by the Samaritan woman that Jesus knew all she ever did. They invited Jesus to stay with them and Jesus stayed for two days. The result was that many more believed because of Jesus’ words. They had come to believe in Jesus and know that he was the Savior of the world (not just of the Jews) from their own personal experience with him, not just because of the woman’s testimony.

Jeremiah had been created to be a spokesman of God’s Word. Jeremiah heard God’s call to proclaim God’s Word fully and faithfully, and he trusted and obeyed. God tested Jeremiah’s spiritual vision for accuracy and faithfulness, and to give Jeremiah experience and confidence in God’s revelation of his Word. Then God gave Jeremiah a Word warning Judah of the impending consequences of their disobedience and idolatry.

Judah did not heed God’s prophets, and the prophecy was fulfilled. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (north of Israel) invaded Judah first in 606 B. C. and ultimately deported most of Judah to Babylon by 587 B.C. (Jeremiah’s ministry began in 627 B.C and ended around 580 B. C.)

Paul (known as Saul before his conversion) was an Apostle, sent by God to proclaim God’s Word to the nations (the Gentiles). Paul is the prototype and model of the modern “born- again” Christian disciple. (Paul was the first disciple and apostle who had not known Jesus during Jesus’ earthly ministry before Jesus’ resurrection.)

Paul was confronted on the road to Damascus by the risen Jesus who revealed Paul’s spiritual blindness; Paul repented of his sins and was baptized and filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17-18). From then on Paul began to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 9:20).

God had chosen Paul beforehand to be his spokesman to the nations (Acts 9:15). Paul had heard Jesus’ call to be his spokesman for the Gospel and responded in trust and obedience. Paul had an obligation as a disciple and apostle of Jesus Christ to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles regardless of whether they were educated or ignorant.

Jesus had a call and mission from his heavenly Father to proclaim his Gospel of salvation. Carrying out God’s will and purpose was more important than physical sustenance; more important even than physical life.

Jesus gave priority to proclaiming his gospel to a Samaritan woman (regarded by Jews as a racial and religious “mongrel,” and an inferior in gender), ahead of his own physical hunger, thirst and exhaustion (John 4:6-8). Jesus taught his disciples to become aware of the spiritual need around them and to enter into the spiritual harvest that Jesus made possible (through his sacrificial death on the Cross).

Because she had come to a personal experience of Jesus Christ, the Samaritan woman trusted and obeyed Jesus’ command to go and call others to come to Jesus (John 4:16, 28). She brought not just her husband but other people of the town. They came to Jesus by the woman’s testimony, but as they came to know Jesus personally through his word, they invited Jesus to stay with them, they believed for themselves and came to know through Jesus’ presence with them that Jesus is the Savior of the world.

This is an illustration of how proclaiming the Gospel produces a harvest of faith. Christian disciples are to be reapers; we’re to use our personal experience of Jesus Christ through his word and his indwelling Holy Spirit to invite others to come to Jesus and decide for themselves whether Jesus is the Savior, the Son of God. Our testimony leads others to come to a personal experience of Jesus Christ and to a settled personal conviction that Jesus is the Savior of the world.

One has to have a personal experience of Jesus Christ through his indwelling Holy Spirit in order to testify to that personal relationship; one has to be a "born-again" (John 3:3, 5-8) disciple in order to make "born-again" disciples. Jesus commissioned his disciples to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), but he warned them to stay in Jerusalem (the Church is the New Jerusalem on earth) until they had received the fulfillment of the promised Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5; Acts Chapter 2).

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the fulfillment of the promised indwelling Holy Spirit since you first believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?  

2 Lent - Tuesday

first posted 02/21/05

Jeremiah 2:1-13, 29-32,     Apostasy of Israel
Romans 1:16-25,     God’s judgment on sin
John 4:43-54     Jesus and the Gentiles

Jeremiah received a Word from the Lord to tell Jerusalem to remember their devotion to the Lord in the early days of their covenant relationship with God, as his newly wedded “bride.” Israel was the “first fruits” offering (out of all the peoples of the earth) holy and dedicated to the Lord. God protected Israel from those who would come against them.

Had God done any wrong to Israel to cause Israel to leave the Lord to pursue worthlessness and become worthless? Israel had forgotten all that the Lord had done for them by bringing them out of bondage in Egypt, through the wilderness and into the land of plenty.

Israel had defiled the land and had given the heritage of the Lord a bad reputation. The priests had not called the people to remember the Lord, the Judges and teachers of the Law did not know the Lord, Israel’s rulers sinned against God, and the prophets prophesied for false gods and pursued what is worthless.

Because of these things, the Lord will contend with Israel from the present generation through their grandchildren’s generation. Consider the other nations of the earth, west toward Cyprus, and east toward Kedar, as far as you can see. Has any nation ever forsaken its gods, even though their gods are not gods? But the people of God have exchanged God’s glory for what is worthless.

All the heavenly beings are shocked and appalled. Israel has committed two evils: they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water, and they have dug leaky (spiritual) cisterns which can hold no water. Israel has no reason to complain against the Lord, for it is they who have rebelled.

The Lord disciplined Israel, but they refused to accept correction. Israel had slain God’s prophets. Has God failed to provide for them, that they think they are free to turn away from God? An earthly bride cannot forget her husband, but Israel has forgotten the Lord.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel (of Jesus Christ): it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Gentile)” (Romans 1:16). Through the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed to and in those who believe it, so that faith will be increased and strengthened. Those who believe God through the gospel will be accounted righteous and will receive eternal life. God’s wrath is upon all ungodliness and wickedness by those who suppress the truth.

God has revealed his eternal power and deity to all people through what he has created, so they have no excuse. But people have chosen not to honor and give thanks to God, so “they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened.” (Romans 1:21). They exchanged God’s divine wisdom for man’s foolishness (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-25), and exchanged God’s glory for man-made images of creatures. So God let them pursue and receive the consequences of their sin, “because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator” (Romans 1:25).

Jesus returned to Galilee from Jerusalem after the Feast of Passover (John 2:23). Jesus had said that a prophet is not honored among his own people. The Galileans welcomed Jesus, because they had seen what Jesus had done in Jerusalem at the Feast, which they had also attended. Jesus went back to Cana, where he had changed the water into wine.

There was a Roman military officer at Capernaum (about 18 miles away) whose son was ill, and when he learned that Jesus was at Cana, he went to Jesus to urge him to come and heal his son. Jesus said “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe” (John 4:48). The officer just repeated his plea for Jesus to come and heal the boy before the boy died. Jesus told the officer that the boy would live.

The officer believed Jesus’ words and went his way. The next day, as the officer returned to his home, his servants met him and told him that the boy had been healed. The officer asked the time when the boy began to get well, and the servants told him it had been around 1 pm the previous day. The officer knew that was the time Jesus had told him the boy would live, and the officer and his entire household believed. This was the second miracle Jesus had done in Galilee

Jeremiah began his prophetic ministry in 627 B. C. in the period leading up to the invasion of Judah by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, beginning in 606 B.C. and the final deportation of the southern kingdom of Judah to Babylon by 587 B.C.  Jeremiah warned Judah that God’s judgment was coming upon them because they had forsaken the Lord, who is the source of “living water” (John 4:10; 7:37-39) and had dug leaky spiritual cisterns for their own source of spiritual water.

They had forgotten all that God had done for them, and they refused to heed God’s Word and accept his correction. Judah had turned away from what was spiritually precious to pursue what was eternally worthless.

Israel’s priests, prophets, rulers, judges and teachers had not fulfilled their obligation to uphold the covenant with God and to call the people to repent and return to the Lord.  Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled; Judah was exiled in Babylon for seventy years (about three generations; compare Jeremiah 2:9).

God has revealed himself through his creation, so there is abundant evidence to believe in God, if one chooses, but sinful mankind prefers to reject the testimony of Creation, because he wants to be his own god. For those who seek the truth, God reveals himself through his Word, the Bible, and ultimately through Jesus Christ, by his indwelling Holy Spirit. God allows those who choose not to honor and give thanks to God to receive the eternal consequences.

Jesus was not well thought of in his own community and his own people (John 1:10-11). In Nazareth when he preached in his hometown synagogue, his home community was offended by his message and tried to throw him off a cliff (Luke 4:14-30).

The Galileans welcomed Jesus when he returned from the Feast of Passover in Jerusalem, because they had seen signs and wonders done by him in Jerusalem. A Gentile officer of the Roman occupying forces believed Jesus’ word, without seeing or demanding proof, and as the result his son was healed.

Isn’t the situation in Judah in the time of Jeremiah strikingly similar to the situation in America and in the Church today? Haven’t many forgotten what God has done for us and turned from our covenant with God in Jesus Christ? Aren’t there many unfaithful priests, prophets and leaders who are telling us we have peace with God, while we have exchanged the Glory of God for what is eternally worthless? Haven’t we exchanged God’s wisdom for what the world mistakenly calls wisdom?

Haven’t many of us been digging our own leaky cisterns instead of trusting and obeying Jesus Christ, the only source of “living water?” Haven’t we defiled our land and given the name “Christian” a bad reputation?

We are spiritually sick, and in danger of God’s wrath. Trust and obedience of Jesus Christ is the only way we can be spiritually healed. Jesus is the only one who can deliver us from God’s wrath and restore us to eternal life and fellowship with God (Acts 4:12; John 14:6).

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

first posted 02/22/05

Jeremiah 3:6-18,      Return of Israel
Romans 1: (26-27) 28-2:11,    God’s judgment on sin  
John 5:1-18      Healing on the Sabbath    

During the reign of King Josiah (of the Southern Kingdom of Judah; 640-610 B.C.) the Lord spoke to Jeremiah concerning the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The Lord said that Israel had committed spiritual adultery. (Hills and evergreen trees were considered sacred spots.) The Lord hoped Israel would repent and return to the Lord, but she did not. The Lord sent Israel away with a “decree of divorce” (God allowed the Northern Kingdom to be carried into exile by Assyria), but Judah didn’t learn from Israel’s punishment.

Judah also committed spiritual adultery and polluted the land and only pretended to repent and return to the Lord. Judah’s sin is worse than Israel’s. Jeremiah was to urge Israel to repent, confess her sin and return to the Lord and the Lord would be merciful and would bring them to Zion (the Holy City of God). “And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jeremiah 3:15). Israel and Judah would return from exile reunited in one kingdom, and the Ark of the Covenant would be replaced by Jerusalem as the throne of God. All the nations will gather in Jerusalem before the Lord, and people will “no longer stubbornly follow their own evil heart” (Jeremiah 3:18).

People exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25) so God gave them over to their dishonorable passions of homosexuality and lesbianism to their ultimate destructive penalty. Those who do not acknowledge God God gives over to all types of evil and wickedness.

Although they know that God’s Word condemns those who do such things to eternal death, they not only do such things but approve of all others who do them. When we pass judgment upon others we condemn ourselves, because we have all sinned (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). God’s judgment rightly falls on sinners.

If we continue doing what we know is wrong we abuse God’s kindness, forbearance and patience; “God’s kindness is meant to lead (us) to repentance” (Romans 2:4). But those whose hearts remain hard and unrepentant are storing up God’s wrath for the Day of Judgment.

God will judge every person according to what each has done in life. Those who have sought to do right by God’s standards will receive eternal life, but those who are rebellious, and who reject God’s truth and follow their own wickedness, will receive God’s wrath. There will be eternal punishment for everyone who has done evil, whether they consider themselves members of God’s people (Matthew 7:21:24) or are pagans, and God’s peace for all who have done what is right in God’s eyes. God’s people will be judged first, because those who have received privileges will bear greater responsibility. God will show no partiality.

Jesus was in Jerusalem for a Jewish feast day, and on a Sabbath Jesus was passing a pool where many invalids lay. They hoped to be healed by stepping into the pool when the water was “troubled.” Jesus saw a man laying there who Jesus knew had been ill for thirty-eight years.

Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed. The man replied that he hadn’t been healed because he had no one to help him get into the pool at the right time. Jesus told the man to get up, pick up his bed and walk. The man did so immediately and was healed.

The Jewish religious leaders rebuked the man for breaking the Sabbath law by carrying his bed, but the man told them that the one who had healed him had told him to carry his bed. The leaders asked the name of the one who had healed the man, but the healed man didn’t know, and Jesus had left.

Later Jesus found the healed man in the temple and told the man that he was healed and should not sin anymore, so that nothing worse would happen to him. The man went to the religious authorities and told them it was Jesus who had healed him.

The Jewish leaders hated Jesus because he broke the Sabbath law by healing on the Sabbath, but Jesus answered, “My Father is working still, and I am working” (John 5:17). Jesus’ answer made the Jews hate him even more, because he equated himself with God.

Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, was besieged and conquered by King Shalmaneser of Assyria in 721 B.C. The people of the northern kingdom were deported to other lands and people from other lands were brought in to settle the new Assyrian province of Samaria, becoming the Samaritans. The northern kingdom ceased to exist. Judah didn’t learn from the example of Israel, and in 587 B. C. was exiled by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon.

After seventy years, Cyrus of Persia, who had conquered Babylon, allowed the Judeans to return to the Promised Land. It is possible that some Jews from the Assyrian exile returned with them, but they were reunited in one kingdom as Jeremiah’s prophecy foretold.

Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled, but God’s Word is eternally true, so it remains to be fulfilled again as conditions for it’s fulfillment are met, and the prophecy of God’s universal reign from Jerusalem remains to be fulfilled at Jesus’ return. Have we learned from the lessons of Israel and Judah? This text should speak to us today about God’s judgment on spiritual adultery, disobedience of God’s Word, and lack of, or insincerity of, repentance and confession.

God has an absolute standard of right and wrong; it’s not all just relative. God’s standard is his Word, the Bible, and ultimately Jesus Christ, who is the Word incarnate (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus is the example of the perfect sinless human being.

God is gracious and merciful towards us but that kindness and forbearance is meant to lead us to repentance and obedience. If we waste the opportunity of this lifetime doing what is contrary to God’s standards we will ultimately receive eternal destruction and spiritual death. If we approve others who are violating God’s standards we are condemning ourselves.

God is merciful and forbearing, but he has appointed a Day of Judgment when everyone who has ever lived will be judged by the standard of Jesus Christ. Those who are in Christ, who have trusted and obeyed him, will receive eternal life; but those who have rejected Jesus or refused to obey him will receive eternal destruction and death. Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for our forgiveness and salvation (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; See God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

We are all sinners and thus spiritual “invalids.” We are just wasting our time and our lives if we are trying to heal ourselves, or are trusting in healing from any other source than Jesus Christ. Conforming to the beliefs of the culture around us will ultimately result in our spiritual, eternal death.

Do we recognize that we are “sick?” Do we want to be healed? If we want to be healed and live eternally we must begin to trust and obey Jesus. Jesus healed the invalid of his physical disease, but he warned him to stop sinning, or something worse than physical illness and physical death would befall him.

The Jewish religious leaders hated Jesus because they were really using their religion for their own personal benefit. They claimed to love and obey God but they really wanted to be their own god. They were in charge and were making and enforcing their rules. Jesus threatened the personal “empires” they had built for themselves from their religion. If they had known and loved God they would have recognized and loved God’s son.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

first posted 02/23/05

Jeremiah 4:9-10, 19-28,     The day of God’s wrath
Romans 2:12-24,     Rule of judgment
John 5:19-29    Jesus’ relation to God

In the day of God’s wrath “courage shall fail both king and princes; the priests will be appalled and the prophets astounded” (Jeremiah 4:9).The people have been deceived, thinking all would be well for them, but the sword has reached their individual lives.

The prophet is in great anguish at the disaster which befalls his people, laying waste to the entire land. The people have not known the Lord. They have been like stupid children, skilled in doing evil but not knowing how to do what is good.

The prophet foresees the results of God’s judgment of the earth. The whole earth is laid waste. There are no longer any humans or animals. Fertile fields have become deserts and cities are in ruins. The whole land will be desolate, but not completely destroyed. The earth will mourn; the heavens will be darkened. God’s judgment cannot be altered or avoided.

Those who are without the law (outside of the Old Covenant of Law; i.e. Gentiles) who sin will perish, even though they didn’t have the obligation of the law. Those who are under the law will be judged by the law. “It is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God but the doers of the law who will be justified (judged righteous)” (Romans 2:13).

When Gentiles, who are not under covenant to keep the law, do what the law requires, their conscience is their law. They show that God’s law is righteous, so they may think that because they have done what is right they are excused from trusting and obeying Jesus, but the fact that they know what is right and yet didn’t trust and obey Jesus condemns them, because Jesus Christ is the standard by which God will judge everyone.

Those who call themselves Jews (or Christians) who rely upon the law (or upon Jesus Christ) and boast of their relationship with God (or Jesus) and claim to know his will and think they can teach others should be careful to practice what they preach. Those who do not keep the Law of Moses (or do not live according to Jesus’ teachings) dishonor God (or Jesus) and give God (or Jesus) a bad reputation among unbelievers.

Jesus’ will and mission was not his own, but was the demonstration and fulfillment of God’s will and mission. Jesus’ works are God’s doing. Jesus will do greater works than what has been recorded in scripture, and those greater works are the giving of eternal life and of judgment of the earth.

God has given the authority of judgment to Jesus, so that all may honor Jesus as they honor God. “He who does not honor the Son (Jesus) does not honor the Father (God) who sent him” (John 5:23). “He who hears (Jesus’) word and believes him (God) who sent (Jesus), has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from (spiritual; eternal) death to life” (John 5:24).

Eternal life begins now, when the spiritually dead hear and understand through faith (obedient trust) Jesus’ words. God has the power to give eternal life, and he has given Jesus that power. God has given Jesus the authority to judge humans, because Jesus lived as a human among us. “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his (Jesus’) voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of (eternal) life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of (eternal) judgment (condemnation)” ( John 5:28-29).

Jeremiah mourned for his people and his land. Their civic and religious leaders had failed to heed God’s warnings through Jeremiah and from the example of God’s judgment of the Northern Kingdom (see entry for yesterday, Wednesday, 2 Lent, odd year). The people had a false sense of security; they thought they were God’s chosen people and that God would protect them, although they had not obeyed God’s Word. They didn’t heed Jeremiah’s call for his people to repent and return to trust and obedience to God. Are our civic and spiritual leaders giving us a false sense of security; assuring us that all is well, that we are God’s chosen and favored people, while telling us we don’t need to obey God’s Word, or failing to warn us of the consequences of disobedience?

All have sinned and fall short of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). The penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). The Gentiles, who were not bound by covenant to keep God’s law, are not excused from the judgment and penalty for sin. Jews, who are bound by covenant to keep God’s law, will be judged according to the law. One must keep all the law all the time, or one will be judged guilty of all (James 2:10). No one has ever been able to keep all the law, except Jesus who was perfect and sinless.

The only way the Covenant of Law worked before Jesus, is by the priestly sacrificial system for the forgiveness of sins. Since the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. there is no longer any provision for offering sacrifices. This was according to God’s will and purpose, because Jesus’ death on the cross was the sacrifice once for all time and all people (who trust and obey Jesus) which replaced the Jewish sacrificial system (Hebrews 7:23-28), and this was demonstrated at Jesus’ Crucifixion by the tearing of the curtain of the temple which separated the people from the inner chamber of God’s presence in the Holy of Holies (Matthew 27:51).

Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for our forgiveness and salvation (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). Unbelievers who do what is right according to God’s standards are condemned because they have not trusted and obeyed Jesus (or God, because God has revealed his plan of salvation through Jesus and through his Word; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar top right). Salvation is not by works (“good deeds,” or keeping the law), but by God’s grace (unmerited favor; free gift) through faith (trust and obedience) in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9).

One cannot truly believe in Jesus and yet not do what he teaches. Not everyone who calls him Lord will be saved (Matthew 7:21-24); only those who trust and obey him and have personal fellowship with Jesus through his indwelling Holy Spirit have eternal life. The Lord gives his Holy Spirit only to those who trust and obey him (Isaiah 42:5e; John 14:15-17).

The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that we are in Christ and have eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). Those who do not have the indwelling Spirit of Christ do not belong to him (Romans 8:9b). It is possible to know with certainty for oneself whether one has received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2).

Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of man. “In him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:8-9) in human flesh. Jesus came to reveal God to us, and to demonstrate obedient trust in God. Jesus came to die on the Cross as a sacrifice once for all for the forgiveness of our sins.

God has the power of eternal life or death, and he has given this power to Jesus. As God raised Jesus to eternal life, Jesus will raise believers to eternal life with him. Jesus is our ideal High Priest and righteous Judge, who understands our human weaknesses, who offered himself for our forgiveness and who intercedes for us in God’s presence.

Eternal life begins now. Those who hear Jesus' words now, who comprehend and respond in trust and obedience now, have life now and eternally through the indwelling Holy Spirit of Jesus. For those who reject Jesus or refuse to obey him now, the Day of Judgment is coming when Jesus will command, and they will not have a choice of whether to obey him or not. They will come forth from death to eternal condemnation.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

first posted 02/25/05

Jeremiah 5:20-31,      Apostasy and punishment
Romans 3:19-31,      All have sinned
John 7:1-13     The Feast of Tabernacles

The Lord told Jeremiah to proclaim to the people of the Kingdom of Judah that they are foolish and senseless people who don’t use their eyes and ears to see and hear what is what is right and most important. Everything else in creation conforms to the will of its Creator. The seas know their bounds, but God’s own people rebel and go their own way. They don’t remember the providence of God who provides the spring and autumn rains for good crops, and who restrains the rain during the harvest period so the crops won’t be ruined.

Judah’s wickedness and sin has kept her from receiving the blessings God intended. God’s people have allowed the wicked to prey upon the people. They have grown wealthy and powerful by preying upon the poor and needy. Their wickedness knows no bounds. Their justice is perverted. They do not defend the cause of the orphans nor defend the rights of the needy.

“Shall I not punish them for these things, says the Lord, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?” (Jeremiah 5:29). “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes” (Jeremiah 5:30-31)?

God’s law was given to reveal mankind’s sin, so that no one can argue with God, and the whole world will be accountable to God. “For no human being will be justified (accounted righteous) in his sight by works of the law (keeping the law; “good deeds”), since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). God’s righteousness has now been revealed apart from the law although the law and prophets (the scriptures; the Old Testament) bear witness to it. True righteousness is through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe (trust and obey) Jesus.

God’s judgment is impartial; “since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (which includes God’s righteousness), they are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption (ransom; “buying back;” paying the penalty on our behalf) which is in Christ Jesus, who God sent to expiate (remove the guilt of our sins) by his blood sacrifice on the Cross to be received by faith.

This salvation demonstrates God’s righteousness by his divine forbearance of our former sins, and his present justification of those who have faith in Jesus. Therefore we have no reason for boasting, because we are not saved by our “good deeds” “for we hold that a (person) is justified by faith, apart from works (keeping) of law” (Romans 3:28). God is God of both Jew and Gentile, and he has provided the same standard of righteousness and judgment for both.

Jesus was no longer ministering openly in Judea, because the religious authorities were seeking to kill him. The Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths; the harvest festival, commemorating the wilderness wanderings; September-October) was approaching and Jesus’ brothers suggested that Jesus go with them to Jerusalem for the celebration. They advised Jesus to show himself and do his works in Jerusalem, so that his disciples would see what Jesus was doing, and Jesus would become known publicly.

Jesus’ brothers did not believe in Jesus. Jesus told them to go to the feast themselves, because God’s timing of Jesus’ public self-manifestation had not yet come. After his brothers had left, Jesus went to Jerusalem also, but privately.

The Jewish religious leaders were looking for Jesus, expecting him to make an appearance, and there was controversy among the people over who Jesus was. Some thought Jesus was a good man, but others thought he was leading the people astray. But the people didn’t discuss Jesus openly for fear of the religious leaders.

The Lord condemned Judah for allowing the rich and powerful to prey upon the poor and needy. Their justice was perverted, upholding the rights of the wealthy and denying rights to the poor. Their religious leaders had become perverted, telling the people that they had God’s favor and protection instead of calling them to repentance and obedient trust in God, while God was preparing to punish them for their wickedness.

Can we see ourselves in this “mirror?” Isn’t America becoming a very divided two-class society? Haven’t our political leaders used religion to validate their own agendas? Haven’t our churches given God’s blessing upon the status quo? Haven’t our religious leaders failed to call us to repent and return to obedient trust in the Lord? Haven’t our political leaders shifted the responsibility for poverty from the greedy who caused it to the Churches? Hasn’t it become Government for the rich and the Church for everyone else? And aren’t many in the Churches indifferent to social inequity?

God is impartial and he has established in Jesus Christ a standard of righteousness and judgment by which the world will be judged. Those who truly believe in Jesus Christ will obey his teachings, they will be filled with and guided by his Holy Spirit, and they will receive eternal life in the kingdom of God in Heaven. Those who reject God’s offer of forgiveness and salvation through faith (trust and obedience) in Jesus will receive eternal death and destruction in Hell. We will each individually be accountable to the Lord for what we have done for the least members of our world (Matthew 25:31-46).

Jeremiah’s prophecy of God’s judgment was fulfilled; Judah had been exiled to Babylon for 70 years from 587 to 517 B.C.  Israel hadn’t learned from scripture and experience the lesson of God’s condemnation and punishment for the conditions in Judah in the time of Jeremiah. In the time of Jesus, the same conditions existed again. The Jewish religious and political leaders were wealthy and powerful at the expense of the people.

The religious leaders were assuring the people that they had God’s favor through the Old Covenant of law, while rejecting the New Covenant of grace through faith in Jesus. Their trial and crucifixion of Jesus was the ultimate example of their perverted “justice.” As the result, God again punished Israel with exile, beginning in 70 A.D. with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Romans. The Jews were scattered throughout the world, and they didn’t begin to return to their Promised Land until after World War II.

Have we ears that hear and eyes that see? Have we learned the lessons from Scripture and the experience of God’s dealing with his people? Are we missing the blessings that God intended us to have because of our rebelliousness and sin?

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?