Here in Jeremiah 6 we have another picture of God’s people
living in adultery against God, in idolatry, and in utter wickedness. And,
again the picture is one of hardened hearts which will not listen to the Lord,
for they take no pleasure in the instructions of God.
Although the Lord has been warning his wayward people, in
our day and time, against ignoring his commands, and against living to the
flesh and not to the Spirit, not many are listening. Even though he has been
calling his people to be separate from the world and unto God, and he has been
warning of divine judgment, still many have continued in their sins.
So now he is judging his worldly and adulterous church here
in America for her many adulteries, for her idolatry, and for her stubborn and
rebellious hearts which would not listen to God or heed his counsel.
He is sending an enemy force against our nation and the
people of God. And, this enemy’s goal is to bring us into subjection to the
beast, in whatever form of development it presently is in. Yet, this enemy
force is being sent against our nation and against the adulterous church in
this nation to bring her down, to bring her pride low, and to humble her so she
will turn to God.
Jeremiah 6:13-15 ESV
“For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone is
greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
everyone deals
falsely.
They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace,
peace,’
when there is
no peace.
Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were
not at all ashamed;
they did not
know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
at the time
that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”
says the Lord.
And, this is the problem. In the American church many wolves
in sheep’s clothing have slipped in among God’s people and have convinced many
to follow them instead of to follow Jesus Christ with their lives. For, they
have convinced them that they don’t have to obey Jesus or his commands, that
they don’t have to walk in the fear of the Lord, and that they don’t have to
leave their lifestyles of sin behind them, but that heaven is still guaranteed.
So, instead of leading them to die with Christ to sin and to
live to Christ and to his righteousness, they are placating them in their sin,
and they are telling them that belief in Jesus means their sins no longer
matter to God or that God can’t even see when they sin anymore. So, they teach
a false grace which gives free license for continued sin, only without guilt or
remorse.
And, truly they are not ashamed of their lies and the fact
that they are leading people straight to hell by the droves while promising
them heaven. They don’t care! For, they are working for Satan, not for God, and
his goal is to destroy Jesus and his followers and his gospel. He wants everyone
in hell.
Jeremiah 6:16 ESV
Thus says the Lord:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the
ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest
for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
So, what’s the remedy for all of this? We need to ask for
the ancient paths – the ones taught by the prophets, by John the Baptist, by
Jesus Christ, and by his New Testament apostles. For, they all taught that we
must forsake our lives of sin and our idols to follow our Lord in surrender and
in obedience to his commands – in surrender to his ways and to his truth.
They taught a salvation from sin based on repentance and
obedience to Christ, to God, as Lord of our lives, which are necessary
components of God-ordained and God-given faith in Jesus Christ. The message has
not changed from the Old Testament to the New Testament. What the prophets of
old taught, the apostles of the New Testament taught, too.
We must forsake our former lives of living for sin and self,
and we must turn our lives over to our Lord, in surrender to him, and then we
must follow our Lord in obedience to his commands – all in the working and
power of God’s Spirit now living within those who have died with Christ to sin
(Eph. 4:17-24).
For, our salvation from sin is not some one-time event in
our lives and then one day we go to heaven when we die. Our salvation is a
transformation of our hearts and minds of the Spirit of God away from living
for sin and self to living for God and for his righteousness. It is a walk of
faith, not a stagnant faith. We are to WALK according to the Spirit and not
according to the flesh if we want to have eternal life with God (Rom. 6:1-23;
Rom. 8:1-17).
Jeremiah 6:17-19, 26 ESV
“I set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Pay attention
to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’
Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O
congregation, what will happen to them.
Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this
people,
the fruit of
their devices,
because they have not paid attention to my words;
and as for my
law, they have rejected it.”
“O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth,
and roll in
ashes;
make mourning as for an only son,
most bitter
lamentation,
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon
us.”
God has sent numerous watchmen (and women) to his adulterous
church in America over the span of my lifetime, at least. He has sent them out
with the same message as he gave his prophets of old, and which he gave to his
New Testament apostles.
He has used these servants of his to confront sin within the
church, to call for repentance, to warn of divine judgment, to call for
obedience to Christ, to correct error, to expose the lies, and to call his
people out from among the ungodly world to live holy lives unto God, pleasing
to him.
But many within the gatherings of the church seem to have
paid little attention to the warnings, or they wrote them off as nonsense or as
the ramblings of radical or crazy people. Or they rebuked them as false, and
proclaimed a false gospel as the truth, while continuing to lead people to
believe that they can continue in sinful lifestyles and that they can still go
to heaven when they die, which is a lie (Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6).
So, God is judging the adulterous church in America and her
leaders who have been telling her lies and who have been leading her astray.
And, I believe the evidence that the American church is under judgment is plain
right now. For, God’s purpose here is to awaken his people and those who think
they are his people but who are not, to save them from hell.
And, once again, he is calling his adulterous ones to mourn
over their sins, to repent, to turn to him in surrender, and to follow our Lord
in obedience. For, we are either followers of Jesus or we are followers of
Satan and the flesh, not both. So, we must decide and take a stand and remain
there.
The Banner of the Cross
By Maj. Daniel Whittle, 1884
There's a royal banner given for display
To the soldiers of the King;
As an ensign fair we lift it up today,
While as ransomed ones we sing.
Though the foe may rage and gather as the flood,
Let the standard be displayed;
And beneath its folds, as soldiers of the Lord,
For the truth be not dismayed!
Over land and sea, wherever man may dwell,
Make the glorious tidings known;
Of the crimson banner now the story tell,
While the Lord shall claim His own!
When the glory dawns—'tis drawing very near,
It is hast'ning day by day—
Then before our King the foe shall disappear,
And the cross the world shall sway!
Marching on, marching on,
For Christ count everything but loss!
And to crown Him King, we'll toil and sing,
Beneath the banner of the cross!
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