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Jeremiah 7:16-29

‘’Are they not rather harming themselves…’’ (19b).

‘’Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.’’ (23b).

These are the alternatives before us: to go God’s way or our own. Both routes have consequences; they lead to destinations. One is good the other is bad.

Ever since the Garden of Eden, Satan has done a great marketing job with sin. He is so persuasive that it continues to fly off the shelves. Demand is sky high for what he is ‘selling’. He’s a sensational ‘salesman’. He is able to package ‘poison’ so effectively that we want it desperately and swallow it down with barely a thought. Initially it may taste good, but we eventually realise that we’re in dire trouble. The truth is that when we sin; when we break God’s laws, we go against the grain of the universe and we destroy ourselves. (In today’s passage, you see how the people of Judah had rejected God’s Word again and again. They had arrived at a point of no return, and their downfall and destruction were inevitable.)

But when we live as God wants us to live, by the power of His Spirit, we find that our health and well-being are wrapped up in travelling this road.

‘’The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace…’’ (Romans 8:6).

Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.’’ The Message.

‘’We would surely pursue holiness with greater eagerness if we were convinced that it is the way of life and peace.’’ John R.W. Stott: ‘The Message of Romans’, p.224 (‘The Bible speaks today’)

These are the alternatives that are still set before us in life. ‘’Enter through the narrow gate.For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.’’ (Matthew 7:13, 14).

At least superficially, the ‘’broad ‘’ way may look more appealing. But the ‘’narrow’’ road is the one that leads home.

‘’ ‘’But is it me they’re hurting?’’ GOD’s Decree! ‘’Aren’t they just hurting themselves?’’

‘’Live the way I tell you. Do what I command so that your lives will go well.’’ The Message.

Prayer: Lord God, you know what is best for me. I trust your wisdom, and my intention is to take your route through life. But I know I can’t do this without your help. Please be my companion and guide. Help me to lean on your arm.

Jeremiah 7:1-8
‘’Do not trust in deceptive words…’’ (4a).
‘’But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.’’ (8)
When I was a child, and my mum called me in from play to eat at the table, I was told that first of all I had to wash my hands. I could not come to the table dirty; I had to come clean. That is God’s call here to His people.
We have a responsibility to ensure that everyone who comes through the ‘’gates’’ of the church to worship, hears ‘’the word of the LORD’’ (1, 2). Like Jeremiah and the other prophets, we who lead the church and preach at its services must stand in the counsel of the Lord. His word must first come ‘’to’’ us before it can come through us. Let’s ensure that God’s people are exposed to God’s Word, and not just our thoughts, opinions, anecdotes, jokes etc. If there is to be a ‘famine’ of hearing God’s Word, let it not be on my watch; in the place where I serve. If we do not help people encounter God’s Word, the chances are that we will be serving up ‘’deceptive words’’. False prophets may be popular (for a time) but they destroy people (and themselves.) At the heart of worship you have the hearing of hearing God’s Word. It’s not about guitars, drums and funky performances. Of course, musical instruments and voices can be wonderfully employed in the worship of God. But nothing we do in worship should be divorced from His Word.
However, God’s Word will not always be popular. In it He ‘’commands all people everywhere to repent.’’ (Acts 18:30). This message comes first to ‘’the family of God’’ (1 Peter 4:17). It starts with the church. But the human ‘messenger’ regularly gets ‘shot’. The next four chapters are made up of a series of messages that Jeremiah delivered at the ‘’gate’’ of the temple in Jerusalem, possibly in the latter part of Josiah’s reign. These messages of judgment, delivered in such a public manner, gradually caused the people to turn against the prophet.
God calls us to turn from all sin, and one of those sins is idolatry. The people of Jerusalem thought (deceptively) that because the temple was in their city He would always protect the place. The temple had become an idol for them. As someone said, they were worshipping the temple of the Lord and not the Lord of the temple. By repeating the words ‘’the temple of the LORD’’ in a mantra-like way they thought they could ward off danger (see Matthew 6:7). They were sadly mistaken. God calls us to turn away from all wrong-doing, and this includes a false trust in religious objects, buildings, places and rituals etc. Only through faith in Jesus and His work on the cross can anyone be rescued from ultimate danger. This truth will set you free if you receive it, but many messengers find they have to take a bullet for it. It is not universally popular. Many would prefer to keep playing in the mud and skip tea – however good it smells!
‘’Clean up your act – the way you live, the things you do – so I can make my home with you in this place.’’ The Message.
Pray: Lord, keep us always true to truth, as truth is true to you.

Psalm 117
‘’Praise GOD, everybody! Applaud GOD, all people!’’ The Message.
This is the shortest psalm (and the shortest chapter in the Bible.) It has a world vision. It calls on all nations to worship God. God’s great heart of ‘’love’’ and enduring ‘’faithfulness’’ is towards all He has made.
‘’Psalm 117 reaches into the heart of God’s purposes and out to the remotest bounds of the world.’’J.A.Motyer: ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.564.
In Romans 15:11 Paul quotes verse 1 to argue that from the beginning God’s plan of salvation included the Gentile nations (see Genesis 12:3). As someone put it, ‘If you wanted to give a sweet to a group of children, you could pass the bag round and individually offer one to every child. Or, you could entrust the bag to one and say, ‘Share these with the others.’ This preacher went on to say, ‘God gave Israel the whole bag of sweets and told them to share it with the world!’ God called Israel to be a light to the Gentiles. They were not meant to keep what they had to themselves. They were to view it as a sacred trust. They were intended to share it with others. God’s love to Israel was meant to be a blessing to the whole world, through Jesus the Son of David.
The well-known preacher I mentioned in the former paragraph was leading a service in his church and I heard him pray, ‘Lord, help us to live on a world map.’ That phrase arrested my attention and remains with me. As local churches, we have primary spheres of influence. We are particularly aware of our ‘Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria’ but we must never lose sight of the ‘ends of the earth.’
‘’This short psalm is about a big subject: helping all the nations to praise the Lord. God called Israel to be a blessing to all the nations of the world (Gen.12:1-3), just as He has called His church to take the gospel to the whole world (Matthew 28:18-20).’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.385.
‘’The Spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions, and the nearer we get to Him the more intensely missionary we must become.’’ Henry Martyn.
Prayer: Lord, enable us to live on a world map.

 Colossians 1:14-29

As previously noted, Paul did not regard himself as a ‘prima donna’. He was no big shot superstar in his own eyes. He was a ‘’servant’’ of the church (25). This was God’s call on his life. How did he serve the church?

• By presenting ‘’the word of God in its fullness’’ (25b). In particular, this entailed focussing on the Person and work of Christ (25-28). There was much about this message that was kept secret in the past, until the right time came to make it known. It was a ‘’mystery’’ (26), which really means an ‘open secret’. It was a message for Gentiles as well as Jews (27).
• By suffering (24). This is not an easy verse to understand. We may ask, ‘What could possibly be ‘’lacking’’ in ‘’Christ’s afflictions’’? The answer is, of course, nothing! Jesus paid the necessary price for the sins of the whole world when He died on the cross. Nothing needs to be added to His work, and it is blasphemous to suggest otherwise. But the church by its very nature is a suffering church. There is a sense in which Jesus continues to suffer in and with His suffering people (see e.g. Philippians 3:10). From this angle, His sufferings will not be completed until He returns to earth. As long as the gospel is being preached in this world, the church will suffer, and Jesus, the ‘Head’ will continue to experience all the pain in ‘’his body, which is the church.’’ How can my body experience pain without my head also ‘suffering’?
• In the strength of Christ (29). There is a remarkable balance in this verse. Paul worked so hard at his ministry of preaching Christ; bringing people to know Him and helping them to grow in Him. But he knew that he could not do what he did in his own strength. He was completely reliant on Jesus for the ‘’energy’’ to do His work. There was an intense ‘struggle’ involved in all that he did for Christ, and he needed supernatural equipping for it.

We can take heart from Paul and learn from him. Our priority should be to make Jesus known, relying on His strength, and being prepared to struggle and suffer in His cause.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I rely on your strength to live and speak for you.

Jeremiah 6:21-30

‘’I have made you a tester of metals…’’ (27)

God’s Word will test us. It will provoke a response, and this will reveal what is in our hearts.

• It will test our love for God;
• It will test our willingness to submit to His will;
• It will test our preparedness to change;
• It will test our faith etc.

In whatever form we encounter God’s Word; whether it is through a preacher (such as Jeremiah), or reading it for ourselves, it will test us and bring hidden things to light. It will expose our true character.

The people of Judah, in Jeremiah’s day, were terrified of the Babylonians. They did not want them to invade their land and decimate their territory. But there was something else that they wanted even less, and this was to repent. They didn’t want to face judgment (not that most of them believed the message of coming devastation). But much more than that, they didn’t want to change their ways. Their preference was to keep their sin.

‘’They are all hardened rebels, going about to slander. They are bronze and iron…’’ (28). Bronze and iron are inferior metals when compared with ‘’silver’’ (30) and gold.

Some people will not respond positively to God’s Word; they will not change; they will not turn. They set their faces against the truth. They resist the gospel. They will not come to Jesus to be saved. They will come under God’s judgment.

One final thought: the fact that God takes us through a refining process does not necessarily mean that we will be refined (29, 30). It’s not what happens to us, but how we respond that counts.

Prayer: Lord God,as your Word tries me, may I not be found wanting.

 Jeremiah 6:16-20

‘’But you said, ‘We will not…’ ’’ (16b, 17b).

Just because something is old, that does not of necessity mean that it is bad or wrong or defunct! The ‘’ancient paths’’ that wend their way through the landscape of Scripture and take us into a Biblical lifestyle are ‘’good’’. It is also true to say that ‘’the good way’’ is good for you (Romans 8:6). Life and peace lie on the highway of holiness. But we can stubbornly resist what is good for us. This was a further call to repentance, but the opportunity was not taken. Every day (and many times in a day) we ‘’Stand at the crossroads…’’ There are choices to be made. It is one thing to know ‘’where the good way is’’. It is quite another to ‘’walk in it.’’ (Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Matthew 7:13, 14; Matthew 11:28, 29.)

The judgment that befell Jerusalem and Judah did not come without warning (17). God always gives plenty of warning before taking disciplinary measures. There was clarity of message from the ‘’watchmen’’ (i.e. the prophets), but it was met with stubborn refusal: ‘’…We will not…We will not…’’ (16b, 17b). ‘’But they said, ‘Nothing doing. We aren’t going that way.’ I even provided watchmen for them to warn them, to set off the alarm. But the people said, ‘It’s a false alarm. It doesn’t concern us.’ ‘’ The Message.

There can be no doubt that the big issue here is the rejection of God’s Word and ways (18, 19). When you push Him away, you ultimately bring disaster on yourself; you reap what you sow. They were going to become an object lesson to the whole earth of what happens when you insist on going your own way. As God speaks to you through His Word today, choose the path of obedience. Any other road will lead you where you will not want to be. You might enjoy the route; you will not like the destination! ‘’ ‘Pay attention, earth! Don’t miss these bulletins.’ I’m visiting catastrophe on these people, the end result of the games they’ve been playing with me. They’ve ignored everything I’ve said, had nothing but contempt for my teaching.’’ The Message.

This is one of many places in the prophetic books where God shows that outward forms of obedience alone do not please Him (20). He is looking for the sincere worship of our lives; heartfelt obedience to His Word. A veneer of religious activity will never please Him. ‘’Your burnt sacrifices in worship give me no pleasure, Your religious rituals mean nothing to me.’’ The Message. (See also 1 Samuel 15:20-23 and Isaiah 1:10-17

‘’Seek ‘’the old paths’’ of the Word. Do not try to repeat ‘’the good old days,’’ but go forward to do God’s will in your day.’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.501

Prayer: Don’t let me have my own way, dear Lord. It will be bad for me and I will regret it. Save me from myself. Most of all, I want to always live to please you