[This devotion will be based off Jeremiah 29:15-32, but as applied to us today. It will be too much to quote the whole passage, so I encourage you to read it on your own.]
False Prophets in Jeremiah’s Day
There were false prophets in Jeremiah’s day who were not
listening to God, who were sexually immoral, adulterous, and perjurious. They were
preaching lies to the people in God’s name, but the messages were not
authorized by God. In these messages they were misrepresenting God.
Not only were they preaching messages of rebellion against
the Lord, but they also called Jeremiah, who was the Lord’s true prophet, a
false prophet and a maniac, and they called for him to be put into the stocks
and neck-irons, for they wanted him to be reprimanded for telling the people
that they would be in exile for a long time.
False Teachers of Today
We have false teachers among us today who are adulterous and
idolatrous, who live by the flesh, and who are self-indulgent. With regard to
the Holy Spirit, they are Spiritless and thus fruitless, too. They revel in
self-pleasure and therefore they teach a gospel which appeals to human flesh.
They are not all preachers, though, but they are ordinary
people, as well, who are teaching (sharing) a false gospel of cheapened grace,
which is not of God, is not authorized by God, and which does not submit to God
(to Jesus Christ) as Lord (master).
And they are posting these messages on the internet in
various places such as Christian discussion sites, Facebook, Twitter, and the
like. They are also texting them to their friends or to their church members,
or they are writing them in blog posts, or they are preaching them in church
gatherings.
These messages which are being given out today, in the name
of the Lord Jesus, but which are not of God, are literally opposed to God and
to His Word, for they are teaching (instructing) the people who profess the
name of Jesus to live in open rebellion against the Lord.
Thus, what they are teaching are willful lies which
skillfully misrepresent the Lord and His Word, and which teach the people to
not listen to God. For, they are teaching them that they don’t have to leave
their sins behind them, that they don’t have to obey the Lord, and that they
don’t have to surrender their lives to Jesus or submit to his Lordship over
their lives.
Attacks on the True Gospel
And then they attack the true gospel with more lies by
calling it “works-based salvation,” and they call its messengers those who are
teaching that we are saved by our works of the flesh. So, they end up calling
lies the truth and truth the lies.
Thus, they accuse those of us who are teaching the truth of
being false teachers, or they call us “legalists,” or “hyper-religious,” or “self-righteous,”
or even “crazy,” and all because we are telling people the truth that they don’t
want to hear, for they prefer the lies.
For, we are telling them that they must repent (forsake
their sins), that they must walk in obedience to the Lord’s commands, and that
they must submit to Christ as Lord. And we are warning of divine judgment for
those who refuse to bow the knee to God in humble submission to his will.
And since the vast majority of people who are professing faith
in Jesus Christ are listening to the lies, and are preferring the lies, they
are literally rejecting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior although they
verbally confess to have faith in him.
For they are not welcoming him, in truth, into their lives
to be Lord (owner-master), nor are they accepting the truth of his gospel of
salvation as taught in the holy Scriptures. But they are receiving and
embracing the lies which tickle their itching ears, which give them permission
to live on in their sin.
The Sin Problem
Many of the people of God in Jeremiah’s day were living in
open rebellion against the Lord. They would not listen to the Lord or heed his
commands. Even though the Lord had sent them his messages through his prophets
again and again, the people still refused to listen and to obey.
And this parallels over to today, to those who profess the
name of Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Many of them are also not listening to
the Lord and they are not obeying his commands, because they have been
persuaded that, under God’s grace, they don’t have to obey the Lord.
Even though the Lord has been sending them messages, again
and again, through his servants and messengers, they have been refusing to
listen, they have been attacking the messengers, and they have hardened their
hearts against the truth in favor of the lies.
So, the Lord sent them many warnings, too, of divine
judgment, which were written in his Word, and which were taught by his servants
and witnesses, who are sharing the gospel of Christ. But they also refused
those warnings, and they continued on in their stubborn hearts to live as they
want.
And now, I believe, we are seeing the hand of God in
judgment against those who profess his name but who refuse to honor him as God,
who refuse to bow the knee to him, and who refuse to die to their sins and live
to God and to his righteousness.
But I believe God will bring good out of it all, and that,
as things get much worse, more people’s eyes are going to be opened to the
truth, and some people will begin to repent of their sins and turn their hearts
to Jesus Christ to follow him in obedience to his will for their lives.
But for those who still rebel, and who will not submit to
Christ as Lord, heaven is not their eternal destiny, but the fires of hell is
where they will spend eternity. They will die in their sins because they refused
to die with Christ to their sin (Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8).
So, we need to be those who listen to the Lord, who study
the Scriptures in context, and who test everything we hear against the word of
truth. For, indeed, our faith in Jesus Christ includes us dying with Christ to
sin and living to Christ and to his righteousness, and this is the message we
need to be giving out so that many will know the truth which will set them free.
[Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-17; Acts 26:18; 1
Corinthians 6:9-10, 19-20; 1 Corinthians 15:2; 2 Corinthians 5:10, 15, 21; Ephesians
4:17-24; Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1:5-9; 1 John 2:3-6]
He
Touched My Mouth
An Original Work / June 13, 2012
Based
off Isaiah 6:1-8; Jeremiah 1:4-9
Oh, I saw the Lord seated on His throne,
High and lifted up; Holy is the Lord!
The earth is full of His glory.
“Woe to me,” I cried,
“I’m of unclean lips.”
My Lord touched my mouth
With His cleansing pow’r;
Removed all my guilt, paid for by His blood.
He asked, “Whom shall I send;
Who will go for us?”
I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Before I was born, God set me apart;
He appointed me to His servant be.
I said, “I don’t know how to speak.
I am but a child.” Then, the Lord replied:
“Do not say to me, ‘I am but a child.’
You must go to all, and do what I say.
Do not fear them, for I’m with you.”
My Lord touched my mouth;
Gave me words to say.
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