Jeremiah 32:16-19 ESV
“After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts, great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.”
Our God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is a God of love and
mercy, and he is a God of righteousness and justice, too. He forgives us our
sins when we, by the Spirit, turn from our sinful lifestyles and we follow our
Lord Jesus in surrender to his will and in walks of obedience to his commands.
But, he also disciplines us in love that we might mature in
our walks of faith, grow in his grace, be made holy, and be conformed to his
likeness (Heb. 12:1-13).
As well, he will judge us all, and he will reward us all
according to our ways (our lifestyles, our practices) and according to the
fruit of our deeds. For, this teaching is both Old Testament and New Testament
(1 Pet. 1:13-19).
For, if we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will
reap destruction. But, if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will
reap eternal life. And, if we walk (in practice, in lifestyle) according to the
flesh, we will die in our sins, but if we walk (live) according to the Spirit, we
will reap eternal life (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 6:7-8; Gal. 5:19-21; 1
Jn. 1:5-9).
Jeremiah 32:20-23 ESV
“You have shown signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day. You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror. And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. And they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them.”
The deliverance of the children of Israel out of the land of
Egypt, and out of slavery, was a prefiguring of our own deliverance from
slavery to sin. For, it was Jesus’ shed blood on a cross for our sins that made
the way possible for us to be delivered from our slavery to sin and to be able
to have eternal life with God (our Promised Land).
Yet, Jesus didn’t die on that cross merely to forgive us our
sins, so that we can escape hell, and so that we can go to heaven when we die.
He died that we might die with him to sin and that we might be resurrected with
him to newness of life in him, created by him to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness (1 Pet. 2:24; Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 6:1-23; Eph.
4:17-24).
Thus, true faith in Jesus Christ, which is ongoing, and
which endures to the end, dies daily to sin and self, and it walks daily in
Christ’s righteousness and holiness, by the Spirit, because of God’s grace to
us in providing the way for us to be delivered from the control of sin over our
lives, and so that we can now come under the control of the Spirit and his
righteousness (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit.
2:11-14).
So, if someone claims to have taken possession of this
salvation, and yet he or she does not walk (in lifestyle) according to the
Spirit, and if he or she does not walk in the ways of the Lord or in obedience
to his commands, then he or she is not promised eternal life with God or heaven
as his or her eternal destiny (Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8; 1 Jn.
1:5-9).
Jeremiah 32:36-41 ESV
“Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.”
Not all judgment is the final judgment. God does discipline
and he does bring disasters and hard times on us, his people, and on the people
of this world, not just to punish for wrongdoing, but in order to bring people
to salvation, and in order to bring his wayward (adulterous) people back to
himself.
Right now, at least here in America, so much of the church
has gone the way of the world and has partnered with an ungodly government and
with the world, so that it is barely distinguishable between the church and the
world anymore. And, they have turned God’s house (his temple) into a
marketplace, and they are marketing it much like any other business.
Yet, what is often called “church” is really not the church at
all. For, the true church is the people of God who are following Jesus Christ
with their lives. The church is thus not a building, not an organization or a
denomination or a business or a social club or a charitable or civic
organization. It is the people of God who are surrendered to Jesus Christ as
Lord of their lives, who have repented of their sins, and who by the Spirit are
walking in Christ’s ways.
Thus, there are many people who think they are saved from
their sins, and they believe heaven is their eternal destiny, but they have
never surrendered their lives to Jesus or walked in obedience to his ways. But,
there are those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives, but
have since wandered from their pure devotion to Christ, so they are presently
living in spiritual adultery. And, then there are those who have never made a
profession of faith in Christ Jesus, too.
The big problem here in America is that, for the most part,
the true gospel is not being taught. It is not being taught that we must walk
in the fear of the Lord, in honor, respect and obedience to our Lord. Their
hearts and their loyalties are not given solely to the Lord, but they are
divided between God and the government and God and the world’s system. They are
not being taught the way of the cross – the way of holiness and righteousness –
but they are being led to believe they can continue in their sinful ways.
So, God will judge this nation, and he will judge the
market-driven church and the government of this nation in order to turn this
nation back to God and to return his wayward people back to him so that they
will no longer depart from him and his ways. And this, too, is God’s grace and
mercy, because he loves us, and because he wants what is best for us. So, he
will discipline us in love that we might follow him in faithfulness.
[Rev. 2:1-29; Rev. 3:1-22; 1 Co. 11:27-32; Heb. 12:1-13; 1
Pet. 1:13-19; 1 Pet. 4:17; Heb. 10:30-31; Jas. 3:1; Jas. 5:9]
Praise
Be Told!
An
Original Work / December 28, 2013
Based
off Various Scriptures
He was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for all our sin.
Our chastisement was upon Him.
By His stripes, we now are healed.
He has witnessed all our trials,
And the sins we choose to wear.
Yet, while we were dead in our sin,
Jesus died, our sins to bear.
He himself bore all of our sins
In His body on a cross,
So that we might die to our sin,
And live for His righteousness.
By faith in the pow’r of Jesus
And His blood shed for our sins,
We can be forgiven our sin,
And have life with God in heav’n.
He will lead us and He’ll guide us
In the way that we should go.
He will comfort and protect us,
Because Jesus, we do know.
Though He disciplines for our good,
He will heal us – Praise be told!
Do not fear, your Lord is with you.
Just have faith in Christ your Lord.
Thursday, July 11, 2019
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