Sunday, September 01,
2013, 4:07 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me this morning with the song “Should I Not Preach Jesus” playing in
my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 18-20 (NIV). I will quote
selected passages.
Potter and Clay
Believers, our relationship with God/Jesus Christ is
described here as like the relationship between a potter and his clay (Cf. Rom.
9:21; 2 Co. 4:7; 2 Tim. 2:20). Just as the potter shapes the clay and molds it
into the shape he deems best, God/Jesus Christ is in the process of molding us
and shaping us into the image (likeness; character) of Jesus Christ.
But
the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter
formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of
the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter
does?” declares the Lord. ~ Jer. 18:4-6
Even though we are God’s children by God’s grace, through
faith in Jesus Christ, and we are forgiven of our sins, set free from slavery
to sin and from eternal damnation, we are still capable of sinning against God.
This is why Jesus said that to come after him we must take up our cross daily and follow him (See Lu. 9:23-25),
and it is also why John said that if we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus,
his Son, purifies us from all sin (See 1 Jn. 1). And, it is also why Paul said
that we must walk by the Spirit so we will not gratify the desires of the flesh
(See Gal. 5:16), and it is why he said we must walk in the way of love (Eph.
5:2). It is also why John encouraged Christ’s followers to walk in the truth
and in obedience to Christ’s commands (See 2 Jn. 1:4-6; 3 Jn. 1:3-4), and in
purity of relationship with Jesus Christ, without mixture with sin, idolatry
and the ways of this world (See Rev. 3:4).
Yet, although we who have believed in Jesus Christ have
these encouragements, and even though we have the Holy Spirit living within us
encouraging, guiding, directing, counseling and convicting, still some will
wander from their pure devotion to Jesus Christ and will follow after “other
gods,” i.e. anything in this world which takes the place of, or which
supersedes our pure devotion (faithfulness; commitment) to Jesus Christ as our
only God and Savior. They will fall back into sin and will become entangled
once again in the ways of this world.
In other words, they (the clay) will become “marred” in the
hands of the Potter. So, the Potter (God/Jesus) warns again against falling
away, and he invites repentance and obedience once more; that we should reform
our ways and our actions. If we do not repent of our idolatries and spiritual
adulteries, our Potter does have the right to reshape (revive) us as he deems
best. In other words, the Bible says the Lord disciplines and reproves those he
loves, so we should be earnest and repent (See Rev. 3:19). And, as always,
God’s purpose in disciplining his children in such a way is to bring them back
into a submissive and obedient relationship with him so that he can restore and
renew them.
It’s No Use
“But
they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all
follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’” ~ Jer. 18:12
Yet many who have professed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,
who have been entrapped by the ways of the world once more will, in essence, if
not in their words but by their actions, say “It’s no use. We will continue…” And,
even though they know that what they are doing is wrong, they will keep on
sinning and doing what the world does, which is why, I believe, so many have
gone to following a false grace gospel which teaches we don’t have to repent
(turn from our sins) and we don’t have to obey Christ and his commandments.
They teach that, since we are under God’s grace, all our sins are covered so no
worries. While it is true that true faith in Jesus Christ guarantees us the
hope of eternity with God and that we don’t lose our salvation by the mere act
of committing a sin, many will use God’s grace as a free license to continue in
willful sin without remorse, yet Romans 6 alone shoots that theory (Cf. Jude
1:4). We also learn in Titus 2:12 that grace teaches us to say “No” to
ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and
godly lives in this present age.”
Pay No Attention
Since so many are following the ways of this world and are
living immoral and/or sinful lifestyles while they maintain a testimony that
they are saved by grace, and since so many are destroying the truth of the
gospel by diluting it to make it more convenient, comfortable, less offensive
and less convicting, many are also on an all-out attack against those who hold
to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and so they do all they can to try
to silence them.
“So
come, let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he
says.” ~ Jer. 18:18c
Yet, God is not discouraged by these attacks, nor is he
surprised by them, nor does he take a back seat and curl up and die just
because his gospel is under attack, and neither should we! He encouraged
Jeremiah, even though there were literal plots against Jeremiah to take his
life, to go proclaim to the people and their kings that God was going to bring
judgment (disaster) upon them (See Jer. 19). The reason for this judgment was
that God’s people had forsaken him and they had turned to follow after other
gods, i.e. the gods of humans, and because they had shed innocent blood.
For
they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned
incense in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of
Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the
innocent. ~ Jer. 19:4
I believe this is a present indictment against the church
here in America today. I believe the institutional church, overall, has turned
to follow humans instead of God; to follow marketing schemes for how to build
businesses of men, instead of relying upon Christ to build his church his way;
and they have turned to entertaining sinners instead of preaching the cross of
Christ as applied to our lives in death to sin and resurrection (rebirth) to
new lives in Christ Jesus, free from the control of sin over our lives, and
free to walk in faithful obedience to our Lord Jesus and to the truths of his
words. The institutional church here in America is also in a yoked relationship
with the U.S. government, which is following Satan, and which is involved in
the murdering of innocents throughout the world, so the institutional church
shares in the government’s sins, which is why the Lord Jesus, I believe, is
calling his true followers to come out from her (the government and the worldly
church) and to be separate (See Rev. 18:4; 2 Co. 6:17).
“This
is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to
bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster I pronounced
against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my
words.’” ~ Jer. 19:15
A Fire Shut up in My
Bones
Jeremiah was beaten and put in the stocks for preaching this
message. Yet, Jeremiah continued to give out God’s messages. Amen! Yet,
Jeremiah was human just like you and me, i.e. he bled just like we do; he hurt
just like we do. He was not unaffected by these verbal or physical attacks
against his life, and against God’s words. He felt the pain of unjust
suffering. He shared in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings as a servant of
the Lord and as a messenger of the Lord. He did not like giving out messages of
judgment any more than any one of us would. He did not wish for disaster to
strike. That is why he pled with the people to turn from their sins and to obey
God, because he knew God’s words to be true, and he knew God would do all that
he said he would do. He loved the people. That is why he continued to give out
God’s messages even in the face of much opposition.
I am ridiculed all day
long;
everyone mocks me.
Whenever I speak, I
cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.
So the word of the
Lord has brought me
insult and reproach all day long.
But if I say, “I will
not mention his word
or speak anymore in his name,”
his word is in my
heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding
it in;
indeed, I cannot. ~ Jer. 20:7b-9
We should take much encouragement from this. If we are
preaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ (Cf. Eph. 2:8-9; 4:17-24; Lu.
9:23-25; Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6; and 1 John, et al), and we are presently facing
rejection, persecution, false accusations, and strong opposition to those
gospel messages, we should not grow weary, lose heart or give up. We should be
strong in the Lord and in his mighty power and we should put on the full armor
of God with which to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against us, for truly our
struggle is not against flesh and blood but against Satan and his evil forces
(see Eph. 6:10-20). And, we should be like Jeremiah in that we cannot keep the
fire of the word of God within us but we must share it. Human lives depend upon
it!
Should I Not Preach Jesus
An Original Work / July 4, 2013
Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13
Woe to me should I not
preach Jesus.
I’m compelled to
preach the full gospel.
I make myself a slave
to ev’ryone
To win their hearts to
Christ.
All this I do for my
Lord Jesus,
And for the sake of
His Name;
Do it for the sake of
His gospel,
So that I, its
blessings gain.
Scripture notates the
sins of others;
Written down for us as
examples
To keep us from
setting our hearts
On evil as did those
of old.
Do not worship other
gods of man;
Do not give your
hearts to them;
Not partake in
immorality.
Do not test your Lord
and King.
So, be careful if you
think you are
Standing firm in your
faith in Jesus.
God has given his word
to warn us,
So through faith we
will not fall.
No temptation has
o’ertaken you
Except what is
commonplace.
God is faithful to not
let you be
Tempted past what you
can bear.
He gives the way of
escape.
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