Friday, July 18, 2014,
9:41 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put the song in mind, “Near the Cross.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Jeremiah 2:1-4:4 (NIV). I will quote
some and summarize some due to the length of the passage.
Exchanged Life
“This is
what the Lord says:
“‘I
remember the devotion of your youth,
how as a bride you loved me
and
followed me through the wilderness,
through a land not sown.
Israel
was holy to the Lord,
the firstfruits of his harvest… ~ Jer.
2:1-3a
Has
a nation ever changed its gods?
(Yet they are not gods at all.)
But
my people have exchanged their
glorious God
for worthless idols.
Be
appalled at this, you heavens,
and shudder with great horror,”
declares
the Lord.
“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… ~
Jer. 2:11-13
When I read this, it brought to mind the Lord Jesus’ letter
to the church in Ephesus as dictated to John, who then wrote it and sent it to
the churches (See Rev. 2). The church had several things going for it. They
worked hard, they persevered, they did not tolerate wicked people, and they
even tested those who claimed to be apostles of Christ, but who were not, and
found them to be false. They even endured hardships for the name of Christ, and
they had not grown weary. Still, they had forsaken their first love, so they
were to consider how far they had fallen, and they were to repent of their sin
and to do the things they did at first. If they did not repent, Jesus would
come and would remove their church from its place, i.e. some type of judgment
would fall upon them from the hand of the Lord.
It is possible for us, as believers in Jesus Christ, to do
so many things right; to do so many good things, and yet to fail in our
relationships with Jesus Christ because of neglect of him and his word (his
teachings), and due to failure to consult with him and to follow him wherever
he leads us. He wants from us the kind of devotion a bride would give to her
new husband. He wants us to be set apart (unlike; different) from the world of
sin and set apart to God and to his service. When we come to Christ, we become
his bride. Our decision to accept his invitation to salvation and to make him
Lord of our lives is a lot like the vows we take when we marry. We promise to
be faithful to him only and to forsake all other lovers. We promise to love,
honor, cherish, respect, and to obey him always and forevermore. Yet, over
time, we may forget the love we had at first for our Lord, and “other loves”
may begin to take the place of God/Jesus in our hearts as our “first love.”
These “other gods,” though, are worthless to us. They are merely
cheap substitutes for the real thing. And, they can come in many different
forms. Basically, a false god is anything we give our hearts, minds, emotions,
passions, time and energies to over and above our one and only true God. They
are what we turn to when we are hurting, in need, and want comfort, or to
fulfill the longings of our hearts for satisfaction and/or peace of mind. They
can be medications, books, music, TV shows, movies, games, the internet, social
media sites, internet discussion sites, the news, pornography, romance novels
(stories), travel, spending money, possessions, new things, entertainment,
sports, recreation, physical fitness, careers, church ministry, and church
activities, etc. These are all destined to perish. They are empty. They will
never satisfy the deep longings of our souls, nor will they bring us into
fellowship with our Lord Jesus so that we can follow him where HE leads.
We Are Free!
They
have turned their backs to me
and not their faces;
yet
when they are in trouble, they say,
‘Come and save us!’
Where
then are the gods you made for yourselves?
Let them come if they can save you
when you are in trouble!... ~ Jer.
2:27b-28a
Why
do my people say, ‘We are free to roam;
we will come to you no more’?... ~ Jer.
2:31b
Yet
in spite of all this
you say, ‘I am innocent;
he is not angry with me.’
But
I will pass judgment on you
because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
Why
do you go about so much,
changing your ways? ~ Jer. 2:34b-36a
This type of attitude and behavior is so prevalent in
evangelical Christianity today. So many are teaching that “being saved” means
praying a prayer to receive Jesus Christ into our hearts, that such a prayer thus
guarantees us eternity with God in heaven, that Christ does it all, and nothing
is required of us. While it is certainly true that we do nothing to deserve or
to earn our own salvation, and that only through the blood of Jesus Christ can
we be cleansed of our sins and made whole, we are also saved by faith. That
faith is shown to be genuine by what we do (read the book of James). In other
words, Jesus Christ died, not just so we could go to heaven one day. He died so
we would no longer live for ourselves but for HIM who gave himself up for us
(See 2 Co. 5:15). His grace does not give us a free license to continue in sin
and to still have the assurance of hope of heaven. His grace teaches us to say “No”
to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled and upright
lives in this present age while we wait for his return (See Tit. 2:11-14). This
is why He died!
Yet, so many who profess Christ have bought into the lie.
They use God’s grace as a free license for immorality, like a Band-Aid to cover
over their sin, while they continue in it. Yet, scripture is real clear that we
can’t continue to live in sin and to know God, too (See Ro. 6-8 and 1 John
1-5). We who have been crucified with Christ have died to our sin, so how can
we live in it any longer? Coming to Christ means we die with Christ to our
lives of sin, we are transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and we
are given new lives in Christ, “created to be like God in true righteousness
and holiness” (See Eph. 4:17-24; Gal. 2:20). Yet, that is not what is being
taught much anymore, thus many who profess Christ live just like the world,
they follow after “other gods,” and they use God/Jesus as someone they call
upon only when they are in trouble. God will judge his adulterous church, no
matter what other people might be telling you. True grace delivers us out of
slavery to sin.
God is Calling
“‘Return,
faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord,
‘I will frown on you no longer,
for
I am faithful,’ declares the Lord,
‘I will not be angry forever.
Only
acknowledge your guilt—
you have rebelled against the Lord your
God,
you
have scattered your favors to foreign gods
under every spreading tree,
and have not obeyed me,’”
declares
the Lord.” ~ Jer. 3:12-13
God/Jesus is calling to the church to return to him and to
make him her only Lord and husband, and for them to forsake all “other lovers.”
This is not unlike a call that a faithful husband or a faithful wife might give
to his or to her adulterous spouse. He loves us, and he married us, and he
wants us to be faithful to him and to forsake all others. For those of us who
are married, we should be able to identify with this plea. We want our spouses
to be completely faithful to us, too, and to not commit adultery against us. We
are to be one in Christ, and we are to be one with Christ. That is how God
created us to be and to live. All else is outside his perfect plan for our
lives. Outside his perfect plan for our lives we will never know true peace,
love, joy and satisfaction. We are designed to live for God, to live holy lives
pleasing to him, set apart from (different; unlike) the world, and set apart
for God and for his service, to follow Him wherever he leads us, and to obey
his teachings.
“Break
up your unplowed ground
and do not sow among thorns.
Circumcise
yourselves to the Lord,
circumcise your hearts,
you people of Judah and inhabitants of
Jerusalem,
or
my wrath will flare up and burn like fire
because of the evil you have done—
burn with no one to quench it.” ~ Jer.
4:3
If the church would return to her Lord in humility and
repentance, and would make him her only Lord and husband, he would shower his
spiritual blessings upon her. He would revive her heart, cleanse her from all
impurities, restore her to fellowship with him, and she would walk with him all
the rest of her days. No longer will she follow the stubbornness of her own
heart, but she will follow her Lord Jesus with wholehearted devotion, honor and
praise. She will put her detestable idols out of the sight of the Lord, i.e.
she will discard them like garbage. Amen! She will no longer go astray. She
will walk in truth and in the Lord’s righteousness, in the power and the
working of the Spirit of God within her. And, she will be blessed of the Lord.
This is the desire of God’s heart for his people. This is what he is calling his
church to do, to no longer harden her hearts against her God, and to no longer
follow after the ways of this sinful world, and after the gods our hands have
made, but to humble ourselves before God in repentance, and to allow the Spirit
of God to renew our hearts.
Near the Cross / Fanny J. Crosby / William H. Doane
Jesus, keep me near the cross;
There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary's mountain.
Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.
Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day
With its shadow o'er me.
Near the cross I'll watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting ever,
Till I reach the golden strand
Just beyond the river.
In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
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