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 Jeremiah 26:7-15: Blessing & bleeding.

‘’When Jeremiah had finished his sermon, saying everything God had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and people all grabbed him, yelling, ‘’Death! You’re going to die for this! How dare you preach – and using GOD’s name! – saying that this Temple will become a heap of rubble like Shiloh and this city will be wiped out without a soul left in it!’’ All the people mobbed Jeremiah right in the Temple itself.’’ The Message.

‘’How prone human nature is to resist the Word! The leaders should have called for a time of fasting and prayer, but instead they called for the execution of God’s prophet!’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.515

Here, following on from yesterday’s thought, is a further insight about true preaching. It is costly. It involves death that there might be life in it. In particular, it entails death to pride, egoism, the desire for popularity and the love of ease and comfort. Someone made the point that there can be ‘’no blessing without bleeding’’. Authentic Christian ministry is cruciform in shape. It walks the way of Jesus: the way of the cross, leading to resurrection. For some preachers/leaders reading this today it may be ‘Friday’ but you can be sure that ‘Sunday’ is coming. Historically, Good Friday and Easter Sunday belong together; the cross and the empty tomb are also united in Christian ministry and experience.

Warren Wiersbe explains why Jeremiah was treated this way. He was handled like a false prophet: ‘’To them, it was blasphemous for Jeremiah to declare that Jehovah would allow the Holy City and His holy temple to fall into the defiling and destructive hands of the heathen the way the ark at Shiloh fell into the hands of the Philistines (1 Sam.4). Since God’s covenant with David protected the city and the temple, Jeremiah was actually denying the covenant! He was leading the people astray and deserved to die (Deut. 18:20).’’ The Wiersbe Bible Commentary (OT), p.1241.

If you are a preacher, at times you will be called upon to say things that some people don’t want to hear. It is vital to always remember that the cross lies at the heart of all true ministry. Death and life go together; life flows out from us when we die.

In response to all of this unfairness thrown at him, Jeremiah exhibited a Christ-like meekness, and I think there are faint echoes of Jesus in (14, 15; see 1 Peter 2:21-33).

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for your wondrous cross, and for how it offers perspective when we are treated unfairly.

 Jeremiah 26:1-6: True preaching(please click here for todays passage)

The events recorded in this chapter took place ‘’Early’’ in Jehoiakim’s reign. So the irrevocable judgment we have read about in the previous chapter had not yet been announced. There was still time to repent, as is evident from the wording. Verses 2-6 are a summary of the temple sermon recorded in (7:1-20). The point of this present chapter is to recount what happened after Jeremiah gave the message. In these words we see some important things about true preaching. (There is such a thing as false preaching):

• True preachers are under God’s authority. Like Jeremiah we are to preach what we are told, where we are told, and to whom we are told: ‘’Stand in the courtyard of the LORD’s house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the LORD. Tell them everything I command you…’’ There is a strong emphasis on the communication of God’s Word. This was not Jeremiah’s word, but the word of the Lord in the mouth of the prophet (see 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 15; also 1:7). Note also the references to listening and hearing (3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, and 12). ‘’The false prophets preached what the people wanted to hear, but Jeremiah preached what the people needed to hear.’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘The Wiersbe Bible Commentary (OT), p.1241.
• True preaching will not always be easy for the preacher. Preachers know that when there is a ‘hard’ word to deliver it is emotionally difficult. There is something wrong somewhere if we relish the task. A true preacher will not take the ministry of admonition lightly.
• True preaching will not always be popular. We may find ourselves saying ‘Fire, Fire’ to people who want to ignore the first whiffs of smoke – who want to remove the battery from the alarm; who want to believe that all will be well for everyone, and even the devil will be saved in the end.
• True preaching does not compromise any part of God’s truth: ‘’do not hold back a word.’’ (ESV); ‘’do not omit a word.’’ (NIV). It is balanced preaching; it is prepared to articulate a message of judgment. The gospel is ‘’bad news before it is good news’’, and true preaching faces no loss of nerve when it comes to delivering the more unpalatable elements.
• True preaching aims at repentance. It desires to bring people’s lives into line with God’s Word and keep them in line. We are always in need of change and true preaching targets such transformation. True preaching shows people how ‘sick’ they are and urges them to find Christ who is the only ‘Remedy’ for our naturally incurable ailment.

Prayer: Lord God, bless the preaching of your Word, and raise up an army of true preachers.

Psalm 119: 105: Light for the next step.

‘’Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.’’

‘’By your words I can see where I am going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path.’’

I once heard a preacher say that this verse refers to the shepherd’s lantern in Israel, which gave enough light to take the next step. Then when you took it you could see to take the next one. God may sometimes generously show us more than this, but we don’t have to see any further. But the Bible, God’s Word, is indispensable for our guidance.

Many churches in the U.S.A. took part in a detailed survey of spiritual life. The findings were written up in a book entitled ‘Move’. It showed that the number 1 catalyst in spiritual growth was the reading of the Bible combined with reflection upon it for personal application.

I began to write these notes three years ago. As far as I can tell they are read by a small number of people across the world. Obviously, you are one of them because you are reading this. So, thank you! I appreciate your interest. If my writing helps just one person it’s all worthwhile. But there is something much more important than reading my devotional thoughts, or anyone else’s. It is that you should study the Bible passage for yourself and consider what God is saying to you – then act on it. Make a point of doing just this throughout 2016. It will change your world.

(If you are a reader from outside of my local church in Boston Spa, I’d love to hear from you. Let me know, if you can, how you use these notes. You can email: sthompson216@btinternet.com)

Prayer: Lord God, let the Bible have the place in my life that it should have.