Always, when we are teaching the Old Testament, if we want
to apply it to the church today, what we teach must be in accord with the New
Covenant Relationship God has with his people, for we are not under the Old
Covenant.
We can’t teach Old Covenant theology to New Covenant people,
in other words. But, a lot of what was under the Old Covenant is repeated for
us under the New Covenant, so we would do well to understand that, too.
The other thing we need to understand, as students of the
Word of God, is that the scriptures teach us that “ALL SCRIPTURE is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2
Tim. 3:16-17).
So, there is much we can still learn from the Old Testament
that can be applied to our lives today, providing it agrees with the New
Covenant. So, today I am going to share with you what I believe the Lord is
teaching me from this Old Testament passage of scripture, but according to the
New Covenant Relationship we now have with God, by faith in Jesus Christ.
Jeremiah 17:19-23 ESV
Thus said the Lord to me: “Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.’”
First off, as believers in Jesus Christ, we are not under
this Sabbath Law that the Jews were under. It is the only of the 10
commandments not repeated for us, the church, in the New Testament. For, our
Sabbath rest is our salvation in Jesus Christ, our Lord (Hebrews 4:1-16) (1).
And, now we are the temple of God. God dwells in our hearts.
The Holy of Holies is within us. And, now we worship God in spirit and in
truth. And, we can come into God’s holy presence any time of the day or night
no matter where we are, location wise. Amen!
So, today this would be like God instructing us to go where
the people are gathering together – a place where presently we have a voice,
which is not inside the institutional church, but it is on the internet. Right
now, at least here in the West, we have the freedom to share our beliefs and
our thoughts and opinions on the internet, but I know one day that will go
away.
So, this would be like God instructing us to go on the
internet or anywhere where people are gathered together and we have the freedom
to share our beliefs. And, we are to go there to proclaim to them the Word of
the Lord. And, all of us who are believers in Jesus Christ are to proclaim the
excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, so
this is not specific to just a small hand-picked group of people (1 Pet. 2:9).
What Should We Say?
So, what are we to say to the people? “Take care for the
sake of your lives.”
Wow! That sounds very important! And, how do we take care
for the sake of our lives? We leave our sins behind us to follow Jesus Christ
in obedience to his will and to his ways. We surrender our lives to Jesus, and
we make him Lord (King) of our hearts. We don’t carry the burden of sin anymore
around with us, for now Jesus has lifted that burden for us when we enter into
his rest, his Sabbath rest, which is our salvation from sin (Rom. 6:1-23).
We don’t bring that burden of sin with us into our
relationships with Jesus Christ, i.e. into our Jerusalem. We leave them at the
cross. For there we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are
resurrected with Christ to newness of life in him, created to be like God in
true righteousness and holiness (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn.
1:5-9).
And, the works we are to NOT do in our Sabbath Rest are the
works of the flesh. For, as followers of Jesus, we are now to walk (conduct our
lives) in accord with the Spirit of God and not in accord with the flesh. And,
the works of the flesh include false righteousness, human effort to gain God’s
approval, as well as immorality, lying, cheating and stealing, etc.
But, our Sabbath Rest, i.e. our salvation, is not absent of
works, but they are the works of the Spirit done in the power of the Spirit as
the workmanship of God, and as designed by God for us to walk in them (Eph.
2:10; Tit. 2:11-14; Rom. 2:6-8; 1 Co. 15:58; 2 Co. 9:8; Phil. 2:12-13).
And, we carry no burden with these works, because God carries
that burden for us, for they are his works which he equips us to do (Matt.
11:28-30).
Keep the Sabbath Holy
And, then we are to keep the Sabbath holy. And, again, our
Sabbath Rest is our salvation from sin, and that is what we are to keep holy by
living holy lives pleasing to God in his power and strength at work within us.
We are to live lives which are separate (unlike, different)
from the world, no longer conformed to the pattern of the world, but
transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God away from sinful lifestyles
to now following our Lord in obedience to his commands (Rom. 12:1-2).
So, we don’t adopt the ways of this sinful world as our
ways, or their way of thinking, or their attitudes and philosophies. But, we
adopt the ways of the Lord for our lives (1 Jn. 1:5-9; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit.
2:11-14; Rom. 8:1-17).
But, our lives are given over to God for his will and
purposes and to serve him with our lives. He is our Lord (owner-master) and we
are now to be slaves of his righteousness, no longer enslaved to sin (Rom.
6:1-23).
Jeremiah 17:23-24, 27
ESV
“Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction. But if you listen to me, declares the Lord,” then… “But if you do not listen to me,” then…
Not everyone is listening to what the Lord is saying to his
church right now. Not everyone who claims faith in Jesus Christ takes God and
his word seriously. Not everyone believes that God will do what he said he
would do.
For, not all of his promises are ones which people would
want to receive. And, so they console themselves with the good promises of God
which may not even apply to them, for they are conditional, while they ignore
the ones they don’t like, and so they think they do not apply to them.
But, here is what the New Testament teaches us under the New
Covenant Relationship God has with his church:
It says that if we walk according to the Spirit of God, in
conduct, that we have eternal life with God. But, if we walk, in conduct,
according to our flesh, we are going to die in our sins because we would not
die to our sins (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal.
5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8; 1 Jn. 2:3-6).
So, some things never change. God still has stipulations for
who is going to receive eternal life with him and who is not. We are going to
be judged by what we do, either in obedience or disobedience to our Lord, and not
by what we profess with our lips. If we walk by the Spirit, we have eternal
life with God, but if we walk by the flesh, we are going to die in our sins.
So, take the Word of the Lord seriously, because he means
what he says.
Soldiers
of Christ Arise
Lyrics
by Charles Wesley, pub. 1741
Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your
armor on,
Strong in the strength which God
supplies, through His Eternal Son.
Strong in the Lord of Hosts, and in His
mighty power,
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts is
more than conqueror.
Stand then in His great might, with all
His strength endued,
But take, to arm you for the fight, the
panoply of God;
That, having all things done, and all
your conflicts passed,
Ye may o’ercome through Christ alone
and stand entire at last.
Leave no unguarded place, no weakness
of the soul;
Take every virtue, every grace, and
fortify the whole.
From strength to strength go on;
wrestle, and fight, and pray;
Tread all the powers of darkness down
and win the well-fought day.
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