Jeremiah 37:9-16 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“9This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will go away for good,’ for they will not! 10Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans that is fighting against you, and only wounded men remained in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.”
11When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, 12Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people. 13But when he reached the Gate of Benjamin, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, seized him and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”
14“That is a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officials. 15The officials were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison. 16So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and remained there a long time.
Accused Falsely of Wrongdoing
Have you ever been falsely accused of a wrong you did not commit?
I have, many times, but not by the outside world, but by others who call
themselves “Christians” and “Pastors” and “Elders” in “churches.” For one, I
was told by two professing Christians that I deserved to die, one of whom
wanted me burned at a stake, because of the biblical lessons I taught on the
subject of biblical Israel today, that we are those who are of faith in Jesus
Christ, and that all who reject Jesus Christ as the Messiah are not biblical
Israel today.
My husband and I had a ministry to college age adults from
the beginning of 1999 to mid-2006. We tried several times to connect that
ministry with local “churches,” but each one failed eventually. In one we were
told we needed to go someplace else because the church leadership just did not
like us, not because we did anything wrong. We obeyed them. We followed their
rules. We submitted to them. But just because they didn’t like us and for no
other reason. But they were pretty worldly, and they compromised the gospel.
So, we tried a different “church.” This one went well until
the pastor approached me privately and asked if our praise band, comprised of
the students, would “draw in large crowds from the world.” I knew where he was
going with this. And then he asked about replacing our band with a different group
of musicians, and he wanted me to take this back to our leadership team, so I
did. We then met with him. But he only said, “I would never do that,” which was
a non-denial denial. So I asked him why he said that, then he reported me to
the elders, claimed I lied about him, and they put me on church discipline
without even giving me a chance to defend my own honor.
At another “church” (and these are not in order of occurrence),
the pastor was encouraging us to utilize our spiritual gifts, so I volunteered
for ministry. Nothing came of it so I asked him about it, and he accused me
falsely of character traits which were not mine, and of not being “crucified
with Christ.” Then his elders accused me falsely of wanting to serve the Lord
from false and selfish motives, because they were judging me falsely by themselves
when they didn’t even know me. It all worked out in the end, though.
At yet another “church” I was in a support group for hurting
women, along with a friend of mine. She told me one day she wanted to speak out
but she was afraid and she asked me if I would help her. I said I would. Then I
got accused falsely by the leadership of taking over or being pushy, and so I
tried explaining the situation to the leaders, but I got treated in return as
though I was the enemy and as though I had some ulterior motives I did not have,
and they refused to consider my own defense. They hurt the hurting.
In another situation my husband and I were training to be
church planters. And we were invited to the district prayer conference, I
believe it was called. My husband had injured himself and could not attend so
he encouraged me to go without him. While I was there I was asked to speak
before a room full of pastors and official workers of the church denomination
about the ministry we had with these young adults. So I shared what the Lord
put on my heart to share. And later I was called into the “principal’s office,”
so to speak.
The head dudes accused me falsely of not hearing from God.
Even though a good number of the pastors present told me afterwards that what I
said was true, and that it needed to be said, the denominational heads did not
have the same perspective. But all throughout the prayer conference the Lord was
calling me to a different ministry, I believe, and so I had to make a choice to
follow the Lord, or to follow these men and reject the calling of God on my
life. So in 2004 I chose to go with God, and that’s why I am here now.
The Results Which Follow
Now the above are just summations of a few challenges which
I faced throughout my life when I was obeying the Lord but while I was being
accused of wrong I did not commit. There were more. When I asked one pastor
about what he was teaching, respectfully, and by permission, he became incensed
and he told me that I needed to sit back and let him be God’s voice to me. But
then he told me he was warned about people like me, i.e. “people with strong
convictions,” so he then invited me to leave.
Now, there will be people reading this who do not know me,
and who were not there with me when these things took place, who will assume,
as did Job’s friends with him, that I must have done something wrong. Now,
although I do not claim to be perfect, in each of these situations I was
perfectly in line with what I was permitted to do at the time in which I took
the steps that I did. I did not cross any known boundaries or speak lies or
speak out of turn or cause any disturbance. I submitted, but not to the lies.
So, the point here is to point out that we can be following
the Lord in obedience to His commands, doing and speaking the truth of the
Scriptures in the correct and appropriate setting, with permission, and still
be accused of wrong we did not commit because we are following the Lord in His
ways, and we are not following after the ways of this world and of human flesh.
For not everyone is going to agree with us. And we who speak the truth are most
likely being faced with opposition. I know that I am, but not always.
And the way things are going in our present world, for those
of us who live in the USA, who are following the truth of the Scriptures, and
who are speaking the truth to the people, we should be getting ready for the
reality that one day we are going to come under severe persecution, and we will
not be allowed to teach many of the things we are able to teach now. And we
will be treated as was Jeremiah and the other prophets and Jesus Christ and His
apostles. It is coming! It is just a matter of how soon it will hit.
So, we need to be ready for it. What the Lord has taken me
through in my lifetime, when I was serving Him with my life, and I was walking
in His ways, and I was following His leading, which I am doing, has prepared me
for such a time as this when things are going to get much worse. For those of us
who speak the truth of God’s Word to the people, and who call out sin for what
it is, and who call sinners to repent and to obey God, one day we will no
longer be allowed to do that. For it is already not socially acceptable, for it
offends.
Censorship is working its way into the gospel message. Be ready
for it! Christian persecution is on the rise. So be prepared to stand for the
truth.
[Matthew 5:10-12;
Matthew 10:16-25,34-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke
21:12-17; John 15:18-21; John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Romans 5:3-5; 2 Corinthians
1:3-11; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 3:7-11; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5; Hebrews
12:3-12; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 1 Peter 4:12-17; Revelation
6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation
12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]
Falsely Accused of
Wrongdoing
An Original Work / October 27,
2026
Christ’s Free
Servant, Sue J Love
Teach Them
Based off various scriptures
An Original Work /
May 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Open up the blinded
eyes of
Those who walk in
sin’s darkness.
Turn them to the
light of Christ
And to His
righteousness.
Turn them from the
pow’r of Satan.
Turn them to the
peace of Christ,
So they may receive
forgiveness
And eternal life.
Teach them to put
off their old selves
And their former way
of life,
And to put on their
new self,
Reborn to be like
Christ;
To not copy worldly
customs;
Be transformed in
life and mind;
Obey freely His word
in them,
Pleasing unto God.
Teach them how to
love their neighbors
Truly as they love
themselves;
Be a witness; share
the gospel;
Satan’s lies dispel;
Comfort all who
mourn in sadness;
Share Christ’s love
and joy today.
Do this through your
life and witness
For your Lord
always.
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