Jeremiah 3:11-13
‘What’s so good about Good Friday?’
‘’The best decision anyone can ever make, at any point in life, in any circumstances, whoever they are, wherever they are, whatever they are, is to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. There is no better decision for a human being in this life, any human being.’’ Justin Welby: Archbishop of Canterbury
‘’If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.’’ (1 John 1:9)
This message in Jeremiah was specifically directed to the northern kingdom of Israel. God said that Israel was ‘’more righteous’’ than Judah (11). Judah had the opportunity to learn from Israel’s demise, but the ten tribes in the north didn’t have the same chance. We saw yesterday that Judah should have learned from their brothers in the north. (This reminded me that somebody once said that although there are no excuses for sin, if there are extenuating circumstances God is aware of them and takes them into consideration.)
This ‘sermon’ to the Israelite exiles scattered throughout the Assyrian Empire was about repentance and forgiveness. In a sense, it’s an Old Testament version of 1 John 1:9. God always responds in mercy to true repentance.
‘’Just admit your guilt. Admit your God-defiance. Admit to your promiscuous life with casual partners, pulling strangers into the sex-and-religion groves While turning a deaf ear to me.’’ The Message.
A friend of mine had been praying for his neighbour. He knew that time was ticking by, and that the opportunity to share the good news about Jesus with him was limited. Suddenly, one day, this man asked him, ‘Hey, what’s so good about Good Friday?’ What an opportunity! My friend told him.
This is what is so good about Good Friday. Jesus died on the cross in our place. He received the punishment we deserve for our sins. He willingly took it on our behalf. As a consequence:
‘’…if we admit our sins – make a clean breast of them – he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing.’’ The Message.
What do you need forgiveness for today? What is on your conscience? It can be washed clean. Just ‘’Return’’ to your ‘’merciful’’ Lord and ‘’acknowledge your guilt’’. To confess means ‘to speak the same thing.’ Agree with God about your sin. Get on the same page as Him. Then trust Him to forgive you because of the cross.
Discover for yourself what is so good about Good Friday!
‘’When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.’’
The best decision anyone can ever make, at any point in life, in any circumstances, whoever they are, wherever they are, whatever they are, is to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. There is no better decision for a human being in this life, any human being. Justin Welby: Archbishop of Canterbury
We saw yesterday how God’s own people had ‘’exchanged their Glory for worthless idols.’’ (11). They had swapped the true God for false gods. At that time ‘Baalism’ was rife in the land, with its promiscuous sexual rites that were part of pagan worship. You will not be able to miss the powerful sexual imagery in the text, portraying the people of God as spiritually wanton (see 20b and 23-25 especially.) They lusted after other gods. Spiritually speaking they were a people of easy virtue. They were adulterous, for were they not married to the Lord? (2:1-3). They were unfaithful to their Heavenly Spouse, running after other ‘lovers’.
What about you, and me? Are there things in our lives that matter more to us than pursuing the Lord our God and loving Him with all our heart and soul and mind and strength.
In (23-27) the people of Jeremiah’s day are compared to animals searching for mates in the mating season. The people ran wildly after their idols. They became so comfortable in their sin that they could not consider giving it up. They just had to have what they were going after with abandon. They couldn’t think of life without their gods.
Sin so defiles that no cleansing agent on earth can remove the stain (22). But God is willing to wash us if we are willing to be made clean (Isaiah 1:18; Ezekiel 36:25).Look also at 1 John 1:7-9. The ninth verse has been called ‘the Christian’s bar of soap.’ For all who truly repent; who confess and forsake their sin, there is cleansing in the precious blood of Jesus.
Where do you need to ask for cleansing today? Don’t doubt the efficacy of Christ’s blood. The most stubborn sin stain will be banished at its application.
‘’Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.’’ (1 John 5:21).
Prayer: Lord please forgive me for all my disloyalty, and the hurt I cause you my Heavenly Bridegroom by my unfaithfulness.
Here is the central spiritual issue addressed in ‘Jeremiah’:
‘’My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.’’ (13, 18; see John 4:10, 14).
How many Christian testimonies reflect this sentiment? Someone says, ‘I tried everything this world has to offer but nothing satisfied me; I was still thirsty for something else.’ Eventually they found the something is a Someone: Jesus. King Solomon wrote a whole book that has this theme. It’s in the Bible and it’s called ‘Ecclesiastes.’ Solomon was in a position to be able to try every experience. The conclusion he came to was, ‘It’s all ‘’meaningless…a chasing after the wind.’’ He realised that you won’t find the meaning to life if your research is restricted to life ‘’under the sun’’. You have to ultimately look above it. You have to look to God.
There is an old hymn that reflects this passage: ‘’I tried the broken cisterns, Lord, but Ah the waters failed…’’
The people of Jeremiah’s day were looking for meaning in a worthless and broken religious system (11; see Romans 1:23). They had swapped the true god for dead, man-made idols. God said that even pagan nations like ‘’Kittim’’ and ‘’Kedar’’ had remained loyal to their gods. The forsaking of the Lord by God’s people was an appalling and horrific sin that should make a man shudder (12). They were so obviously turning from the only One who could satisfy them.
When you choose the route of sin you go the way of slavery. You may be looking for freedom but you find its opposite (14; see John 8:34). The point to note is that we bring terrible, unwanted and unintended consequences upon ourselves when we turn away from the living God (15-19). This remains the case today.
‘’Now none but Christ can satisfy; no other Name for me…’’
Prayer: ‘’For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.’’ (Psalm 36:9).
Jeremiah 1: 1-3 (cont’d)
‘’The word of the LORD came to him…’’ (2, 4; and see 9 and 11).
If the ‘’word of the LORD’’ comes to you today (and I pray it does) what will you do with it?
It can be an uncomfortable word; it can be an inconvenient word.
For Jeremiah it meant switching direction – slightly (1, 5b). He was a priest by birth but became a prophet by calling. You may not always do what you’re doing now. God’s Word may come to you like a policeman, stood in the centre of the road, with hand held aloft and finger pointing in another direction. The important thing is to stay open, keep listening and always be willing to know and do the will of God.
Jeremiah received a costly calling. He had to preach an unpopular message that most people did not want to hear. He had to articulate clear and serious warnings and issue the call to repentance. He would give a lifetime to preaching God’s Word with little outward success (if any), and he always knew that’s how it would be. (By some standards of success Jeremiah was not successful. So let’s be careful what measures we use.) Verses 2 and 3 show that Jeremiah persevered through many difficult years. During that time, God’s Word ‘’continued to come to him’’ The Message, but his ‘congregation’ didn’t want it coming to them. These were tough times for the prophet.
‘’Jeremiah’s life was not easy, and his ministry did not appear successful. But he was faithful to the Lord and accomplished God’s will.’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.495
‘’Jeremiah lived about sixty years. Across that life span there is no sign of decay or shrivelling. Always he was pushing out the borders of reality, exploring new territory. And always he was vigorous in battle, challenging and contesting the shoddy, the false and the vile.’’ Eugene Peterson.’’
‘’He ministered during the last four decades of Judah’s history as a nation, beginning partway through the reign of the godly King Josiah. Jeremiah supported Josiah in his attempts to reform the nation; but after Josiah’s death, his two sons Jehoiakim and Zedekiah opposed further reforms and withdrew royal support from Jeremiah himself. Jeremiah’s public ministry ended with the fall of Jerusalem…when its remaining citizens were forced into exile by the Babylonians.’’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p. 1077.
So it was not an easy calling and Jeremiah lived through challenging times. He faced the disappointment of having his preaching rejected. (If you want to read a detailed account of the history of Judah during Jeremiah’s lifetime, look at 2 Chronicles chapters 22-25)
But here’s a final thought for now. If the ‘’word of the LORD’’ comes to you today, will you listen to it? Jeremiah’s hearers wouldn’t and went into ‘’exile’’. That still has its counterpart today. There are ‘prisons’ and dry and barren places where people find themselves if they push God’s Word away.
Prayer: Lord God of truth, help me to hear you speaking and please give me the desire and courage and strength to obey you. I also recognise the wisdom of going your way. My way will take me into captivity. Please save me from myself, I pray.
Philippians 1:9-11
When you love people with the love of Jesus (8) you will pray for them. It’s a practical way to express love. It’s not the only way. It shouldn’t be a substitute for other things we obviously ought to do. But it is right to pray for those we love, as Christ Himself did (John 17).
When you are convinced that the good things you see in people (3-5) are the result of a ‘’good work’’ of God in them (6), you will be encouraged to pray for more.
We all need to love more (9); love God more and love people more. When you boil it all down, this life of Christian discipleship is about loving God and loving people, and where love is concerned we have ‘growing room’ in our souls. But love must not be ‘wishy-washy’ or gullible. ‘’So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush.’’ The Message.
• There are people who are lovely but they are easily taken in ‘’by every wind of doctrine’’ (Eph.4:14). They are like weather vanes. They easily move in the breeze of the latest fads, fancies, trends and opinions. They lack deep roots. They are short on settled convictions based upon solid Biblical truth. They have a ‘water bed’ beneath them rather than a firm foundation.
• Others claim to be Christians, but they are flexible regarding the truth. Their beliefs have soft edges and they get blurred as they attempt to blend in rather than stand out. They have an ‘anything goes’ attitude.
Loving more doesn’t mean going along with everything others say. Love must have backbone. There is such a thing as tough love. I can love you without agreeing with you or pretending I do. I can be tolerant towards you without having to incorporate your beliefs and practices into mine. Loving discernment is required in this world in which we are surrounded by a toxic atmosphere of error (10). We need to be able to:
• ‘’discern what is best’’ to believe, and
• ‘’discern what is best’’ to do.
We need to be able to think clearly and choose wisely in order to live lives that please God as we look forward to meeting Jesus. I think it was John Wesley who said, ‘’There are only two days on my calendar: today and that day.’’ The Christian life is one of constant movement towards ‘’that day’’ when we see Jesus. We look forward. We anticipate. We live ‘in the future tense.’ We let ‘then’ affect ‘now’. Someone pointed out that whenever the second coming of Jesus is mentioned in the New Testament it is done so without date, to keep us on our toes.
As we grow in love for others, let it be a discriminating affection so that we do not permit another’s bad attitudes, ideas, behaviours become our own. May we so grow in love for God and others that we hate sin and grow in Christlikeness (11; see Gal.5:22, 23; John 15:5). Such growth comes ‘’through Jesus Christ’’ and so is ‘’to the glory and praise of God.’’ (‘’…making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.’’ The Message.)
Prayer: Lord make me like you.
Zephaniah 3:9-13 (click here for todays passage)
God intends to have (9):
- A people with purified speech (Isaiah 6:5; Psalm 141:3. This surely points to purified hearts also: ‘’For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.’’ Matthew 12:34);
- A people of prayer (see 2b);
- A people of unity.
But sometimes God has to take His people through fiery trials in order to purge them (8) and get them to where He wants them to be. So many people have spoken about the transformative power of difficult and chastening experiences. It’s not the case that all trying times are about God’s disciplinary processes. But many may be (Hebrews 12:4-13). Some character growth will only come about painfully.
In the church that Jesus is building, and shaping into His own image, there will be both Gentiles and Jews (9, 10). There is a worldwide vision here, and see how this international worshipping community belongs to God (‘’…my…my…’’ 10).
There are times when church growth can entail church shrinkage! (11, 12). I remember a Pentecostal preacher talking about a certain pastor. Apparently this man had gone to lead a church and he said something like this: ‘’When I went there we had 50 people. Then we grew to around 25! Then we grew to…beyond 50.’’ Now I know that this sort of thing can happen because of pastoral insensitivity; because a leader walks into a church wearing great big heavy boots, and he tramples unnecessarily on people’s corns and bunions. That is not commendable. But there most definitely are occasions, I believe, when God reduces the army (Judges 7). Think about Acts 5: 1-10 and the story of Ananias and Sapphira . There are divine subtractions as well as blessed additions. We live in a day in which many people seem to think that big equals good and successful, and small equals bad and unsuccessful. But ‘it aint necessarily so.’ In a local church there can be seasons of pruning. There can even be times of radical cutting back, but always with a view to greater fruitfulness. Just as God removes sin from people’s lives in a work of purging, so He may also remove people from the church who threaten its purity.
Verse 13 shows the result of God’s cleansing work, with a group of holy, honest and fearless people left. ‘’I’ll leave a core of people among you who are poor in spirit – What’s left of Israel that’s really Israel. They’ll make their home in GOD. This core holy people will not do wrong. They won’t lie, won’t use words to flatter or seduce. Content with who they are and where they are, unanxious, they’ll live at peace.’’ The Message.
When God cleanses your heart and makes you fully His, you find you are at peace and without fear. You’ve stopped fighting the Lord, and all is well.
The words in this passage may well refer to something that will happen at the close of the age; but we also see the principles being worked out again and again in church history.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the times of trial you have brought me through. Although I wouldn’t have chosen to face them, you have taught and changed me so much in them. I am grateful
Zephaniah 3:6-8 (click here for passage)
In an episode of ‘Christianity Explored’, Rico Tice tells a story about being on a beach in Australia. He removed his shirt and was about to dive into the water, when someone came running up to him and frantically proceeded to point out warning signs that clearly said, ‘No swimming’. There were sharks in the water. When Rico demurred, the man walked away saying, ‘It’s up to you mate. You’ve seen the signs. You’re big enough and old enough to look after yourself. You decide what to do!’
God’s judgment on the nations (2:4-15) should have been a warning sign to Judah. And here’s the question for us: ‘Will we learn from God’s many judgments in history?’ (6) He has erected numerous warning notices for our protection. This sixth verse tells us that the (apparently) strong things people put their trust in will not support them ultimately. All we put pride and confidence in, apart from God, will prove unreliable. If we don’t build on the rock that is Christ’s Word we are actually trying to construct something on sand (Matthew 7:24-27).
Like Rico’s friend, the Lord pointed to the warning sign and underlined the message. But ‘’the city’’ still opted to swim in ‘shark infested waters’. The inhabitants of Jerusalem preferred the ‘pleasures of sin for a season’ to repentance and holiness (7b). You would imagine that no-one would choose to go and swim with the sharks!
Did Jerusalem learn?
No! They were guiltier than the Gentile nations because they were the recipients of a greater revelation and more blessing. As someone said, they were sinning against ‘’a flood of light’’. They forgot that covenant privileges also brought covenant responsibilities.
Will the world learn?
There is a clear line of teaching in the Bible that there is going to be a judgment poured out on the whole earth. If (8) refers to God using the Babylonian Empire to judge His people, it also looks beyond it to the greater judgment yet to come. We may not grasp the full picture; we may not possess all the details, but it is going to happen. Will we learn from what God has done previously? We have watched cities and nations ignore the warning signs and get eaten by sharks. Do we think we can dive into the ocean and come out unscathed?
‘’Well, if that’s what you want, stick around.’’ GOD’s Decree. ‘’Your day in court is coming, but remember I’ll be there to bring evidence. I’ll bring all the nations to the courtroom, round up all the kingdoms, And let them feel the brunt of my anger, my raging wrath. My zeal is a fire that will purge and purify the earth.’’ The Message.
There must be a purging with fire before a brand new sin-free universe can be born (2 Peter 3:10-13).
Prayer: Lord God, please help me to see and hear all your warnings and never ignore them. Thank you that you warn us out of love to save us from terrible danger.
Theses verses supply the doctrinal heart of an intensely practical section of ‘Ephesians’. The entire range of individual, yet inter-connected, exhortations to follow find their basis in this radical change that is conversion. I read on one occasion that in the early church, when someone was going to be baptized, they took off an outer garment before going into the water. When they came up out of it, they put on a clean white robe. This was emblematic of taking off the old life and putting on the new. Note three things about the new life in Christ:
The new life is all about Jesus (20, 21).It starts with hearing about Him (21) and coming to know Him as a real Person (20). Part of this involves hearing the truth about Jesus, and the truth Jesus Himself taught. It also entails following the truth that Jesus is (21; see John 14:6). You may remember from yesterday that Paul’s insistence that we should live a new life was ‘’in the Lord’’ (17), and it is because we are ‘’in him’’ (21) that we can do so. Just as a bird is at home in the air, and a fish in the sea, so we believers are at home in Christ. He is our supernatural habitat; the very atmosphere that surrounds us. We can follow the truth of Christ’s life and obey the truth of His teaching because of this vital union with Him (John 15).
The new life begins with repentance – a change of mind leading to a change of behaviour (22, 23). I believe Paul, in today’s passage, has in mind something that not only happened at conversion, but which must continually happen as we live the Christian life. It’s a day by day, and even moment by moment, thing. But he is in particular looking back to that decisive beginning of the life of discipleship in which someone makes a clean break with sin. One preacher said to the congregation at the end of his sermon, ‘I want to invite you to make a step of commitment and come down to the front of the church building to give your life to Christ. But don’t come out here unless you’re prepared to leave your favourite sins behind you in the seat where you’re sitting!’ In our pre-Christian existence we all had a problem in the area of our ‘’thinking’’ (17) so something radical has got to happen in our ‘’minds’’(23). (By the way, our minds will still come under assault even after we have turned to Jesus and will require constant protection. Think about chapter 6 verse 17a in this connection. It is important to always remember that these temptations are ‘’deceitful’’ (22). They tell you lies. They are expert liars, and they find us only too willing to swallow them.)
The new life is about the restoration of God’s image (24; see also Colossians 3:5ff.). God doesn’t just want to forgive our sins, as marvellous as that is, but to restore in us the image of Himself that was marred and defaced at ‘the fall’. His purpose in sanctification is to glorify us (Romans 8: 30). It is to make us exactly like Him. As we are in this process of being made like God, we are exhorted to copy Him even now (See 5:1). C.S. Lewis observed that if you could see your ‘brother’ now appearing as he one day will, you would be tempted to fall down and worship him! God is going to make him so like Himself and cover him with glory.
Finally, the language of ‘putting off’ and ‘putting on’ implies that conversion is not something that is just done to us, but that which we are actively involved in. Everything we do is only done by the grace and power of God. We know this. We couldn’t do it without Him. Nevertheless we have to decide to turn away from sin and embrace Christ’s way. It is a choice we must continue to make every day of our lives.
Prayer: Thank you Lord that I’m a new creation in you, called and enabled to live a new life.
Here are three more sayings of the wise men, from that collection of 30 proverbs that begins at chapter 22:17.
The first is a warning against excessive living, particularly with regard to food and drink (19-21). There are practical reasons for self-restraint. If you go down the route of over-indulgence it will take your money and sap your strength and health. Again, we marvel at the down to earth wisdom of the Bible. If only the world heeded it! This could have saved a lot of people a lot of problems over the Christmas season. ‘’Don’t drink too much wine and get drunk; don’t eat too much food and get fat. Drunks and gluttons will end up on skid row, in a stupor and dressed in rags.’’ The Message. Live like that for too long and you may well end up featuring in a documentary about obesity or binge-drinking! Perhaps both!!
The second proverb concerns honouring father and mother throughout life, and bringing joy and delight to them (22-24). Live in a way that will make your parents proud, if at all possible. The writer envisages doing this by obeying the ‘’truth’’ (23) taught by parents. For him, this will mean the truth that is in God’s Word, or in agreement with it. This is an important word to us all. Whatever God our Father has shown us we should cling to tightly, and live it. ‘’Buy truth – don’t sell it for love or money.’’ The Message. ‘’Do not sell the truth at any price…It costs something to live by the truth, but it costs even more to abandon the truth.’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.429. (See also Proverbs 4:7)
The third is about the danger of falling into sexual immorality and adultery, and the destructiveness of such behaviour (26-28). This is a repeated theme in ‘Proverbs’. The ‘fruit’ may look delicious on the tree, but once eaten it is found to be poisonous.
How many lives and marriages could be saved by this Bible passage alone!
Prayer: Lord, let your Word spread through all the earth, and cause men to hear and heed its wise truth. Thank you Lord that ‘a fence at the top of the cliff is better than ‘an ambulance at the bottom.’ Thank you for your ‘fences’ – lovingly put in place to protect us; not to ruin our fun!
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