JEREMIAH 1
Time period of prophecies of Jeremiah verse 1- 3
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah
of the priests that were in Ananthoth in the land of Benjamin
to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of
Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah
in the thirteenth year of his reign
It came also in the days of Jehoikim the son of Josiah king of Judah
unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah
king of Judah unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive
in the fifth month
LORD called Jeremiah from womb verse 4- 5
THEN the word of the LORD came to me
saying
Before I formed you in the belly – I knew you
and before you came forth out of the womb – I sanctified you
and I ordained you a prophet unto the nation
Jeremiah humbled before LORD verse 6
THEN said I
Ah, Lord GOD
BEHOLD – I cannot speak – for I am a child
LORD encourages Jeremiah verse 7- 8
BUT the LORD
said to me
Say not – I am a child
for you shall go to all that I shall send you
and whatsoever I command you
you shall speak
Be not afraid of their faces
for I am with you to deliver you – says the LORD
LORD puts words in Jeremiah’s mouth verse 9- 10
THEN the LORD put forth HIS hand – and touched my mouth
and the LORD said to me
BEHOLD – I have put MY words in your mouth
SEE – I have this day set you over the nations
and over the kingdoms
to root out – to put down – to destroy
to throw down – to build – to plant
LORD and Jeremiah have a conversation verse 11- 13
MOREOVER the word of the LORD came unto me
saying
Jeremiah – What seest you?
and I said – I see a rod of an almond tree
THEN said the LORD to me
You have well seen
for I will hasten MY word to perform it
And the word of the LORD came to me a second time
saying
What seest you?
AND I said
I see a seething pot
and the face thereof is toward the north
LORD calls Babylon to Israel verse 14- 16
THEN the LORD
said to me
Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon
all the inhabitants of the land
For lo – I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north
says the LORD
And they shall come
and they shall set everyone his throne
at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem
and against all the walls thereof round about
and against all the cities of Judah
And I will utter MY judgments against them touching all their wickedness
who have forsaken ME and have burned incense to other gods
and worshiped the works of their own hands
LORD gives Jeremiah an assignment verse 17- 19
You therefore gird up your loins – and arise
and speak unto them all that I command you
be not dismayed at their faces
lest I confound you before them
For – BEHOLD – I have made you this day a defensed city
and an iron pillar and a brazen walls against the whole land
kings of Judah – princes – priest – people of the land
AND they shall FIGHT against you
BUT they shall not prevail against you
FOR I am with you
says the LORD – to deliver you
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 5 Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations. (5030 “prophet” [nabiy] means spokesman, speaker, false prophet, heathen prophet, one who proclaims a message of a deity or messenger.
DEVOTION: Those who are speaking servants of the LORD are called and gifted of HIM to present a message to the people of God. There have been many false prophets in the past and at present.
The Bible gives specific guidelines for those who think they are prophets and those who are listening to them. In Deuteronomy 13: 1- 5, we find these guidelines. The number one guideline is if a prophet says something is going to happen according to God then it must happen. If it doesn’t happen the person is a false prophet and should not be listened to in the future.
The problem is that the church is looking for someone to lead them and many don’t know the guidelines and they end up following someone who says they have a word from God and it isn’t true. There are many false cults started by men and women who state that they have heard a word from the LORD and people start following but don’t stop when they are proved wrong. A true prophet has to be one hundred percent accurate all the time or they are false prophets. Don’t listen to them a second time when they predict things that don’t happen.
Why is this so important? The main reason is that it makes Christianity look foolish. It tells the world we are ready to follow anyone who says they have a word from the LORD. We need to be like the church of old and check out anyone who claims to have special messages from the LORD. Most of them are false prophets. The creditability of Christianity is at stake.
Jeremiah was called of God from the womb. God knew him before he was completely formed in the womb. Is it wrong to kill a baby in the womb? YES!! Many have been called from the womb which includes the prophet, John the Baptist.
CHALLENGE: Watch out for false prophets. Check out what you are listening to and reading with the Word of God. Know the Word of God better than any other author or book.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 7 But the LORD said to me, Say not, I am a child: for you shall go to all that I shall send you, and whatsoever I command you, you shall speak. (6680 “command” [tsavah] means to give an order, instruct, to charge someone do something, to appoint, lay charge, or commission.)
DEVOTION: When the LORD speaks to us we are suppose to listen. Here HE is speaking to Jeremiah and giving him a commission to go to the children of Israel and tell them what HE told him to say to them.
It is not easy being the voice of God to a rebellious people. At this time the children of Israel were doing their own thing without consulting the LORD. They were going the wrong way and needed to be put back on the right path of following the LORD instead of doing whatever they wanted.
This is true today as well. We have a tendency, even as believers, to do our own thing regarding our service to the LORD. That is not what the LORD wants us to do. HE wants us to listen to HIS instructions and then share what HE has told us with others.
We are to be the messengers to the LORD to our world. That doesn’t mean we are to be a prophet like Jeremiah but we are to reach our world which includes our family and friends with the good news of salvation and what it means to serve the LORD.
Some will listen but others will not. This happened to Jeremiah and all the people that were called of God to serve HIM.
We are to speak the truth in love to those the LORD puts in our path. We are not to be judgmental on our own but just allow the LORD to speak through us to those we love and to those who are around us that will listen.
God is still commanding HIS children to speak for HIM in our world. It has not been easy as our world is moving further and further away from HIM. Even those who claim to be believers are doing things that the LORD doesn’t approve of yet they don’t want to hear from us that they are doing wrong.
CHALLENGE: Our responsibility is to speak the truth in love to those we love. We have to do it lovingly and with much prayer. Change comes from the LORD not from us.
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: 8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD. (5337 “deliver” [natsal] means rescue, defend, recover, save, pluck, take away, or take out.)
DEVOTION: A prophet is to “change the present” according to Warren Wiersbe. A priest was one who conserved the past.
The time period of this book is explained as the end of the kingdom of Judah. Babylon was going to invade. Josiah was a good king. Those that followed were not as good.
Jeremiah was one of God’s servants in the womb of his mother. He was sanctified there. He was ordained there. Others have been called of God from the womb. John the Baptist was called from his mother’s womb. Remember the foreknowledge and omniscience of God covers before God created the world. The fact that time has no influence on God is real. HE knows the past, present and future of every individual and nation. HE is sovereign.
This chapter is the call of Jeremiah to a prophetic ministry to the people of Judah. Once the LORD began talking to Jeremiah, he gave excuses on why he didn’t fit into this ministry. The LORD answered all his objections. Moses was another one who tried to use excuses when the LORD called him to serve.
One of the excuses is found in this verse. He was afraid of their faces or their actions toward his ministry. The LORD promised to be with him through the difficult times. HE promised to rescue him from all of the traps the children of Judah would send his way.
Too often we can think of all kinds of excuses for not serving the LORD. HE has given each one of us a gift. HE wants each one of us to reach our world for HIM.
We need more prophets today that want to change the present. Our present situation does not look good but the LORD is still sovereign and can change our world.
We are not to sit, soak and sour in the pews of our churches. We need to be on the battle lines. Revival can happen. It must start with us. NO EXCUSES!!!
Ask the LORD for your assignment and put it into action in your life. Too often we baby ourselves into thinking that we should let someone else with more talent do it. That is just an excuse.
Serving the LORD is WORK. We carry with us from our old life the characteristics of laziness and selfishness. We would rather have others do it. Moses used that excuse. Jeremiah was trying to use the same excuse. All Christians at one time or another are trying to use the same excuse.
CHALLENGE: Stop using excuses and reach the world for the LORD. All Christians are to be soul winners. We all have a message from the LORD.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 17 You therefore gird up your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you; be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound you before them. (2865 “confound” [chathath] means filled with terror, disheartened, to cause fear in, be dismayed, to be broken or to be put to shame.)
DEVOTION: The LORD didn’t give Jeremiah a choice. HE told him that if he didn’t do the preaching, that he would bring HE would bring shame on him and if he did preach the message the LORD gave him the people would not look at him in a friendly way.
God was giving HIS servant that HE had prepared before he was even born a mission that would not please the people around him. The message was one of judgment because of the sins of the people.
No one wants to hear that they are sinners and that God is going to judge them because of their disobedience to HIS commands. Most people just want to hear a message about how well they are doing. They want to be complimented even when they are sinning. They want everyone to just let them live their lives the way they want to live it and not have any other human being tell them that they are wrong and sinful.
This was true in the day of Jeremiah and it is true today as well. Many people will attend a church that tells them that they are OK with God in whatever they are doing. They like hearing that they are good people. They like to be entertained when they go to church and come away feeling good about themselves. They have done their part by attending church.
This is not the message Jeremiah was to preach or the message that we are to preach today. We are to give God’s message even when it means that people will not like us. We are to give God’s message because we want to be obedient to the LORD. We are to just say the words the Holy Spirit gives us to say that are in complete agreement with the Word of God spoken throughout the Bible.
God’s standard has not changed. HE demands holiness in HIS people. The children of Israel were not living a holy life and thought that God would not notice. Our world is full of people who think the same thoughts as the children of Israel thought back then.
CHALLENGE: Are our thoughts in agreement with God? Are we willing to be HIS representative to the world and give the message HE has sent us to give? Every believer is an ambassador sent by God to his world of friends and family. It is not the pastor’s job alone.
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
What do you see verse 11- 13
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Priests verse 1
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Word of the LORD verse 2, 4, 9, 11, 13
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 2, 4, 7- 9,
11- 15, 19
Word of the LORD verse 2, 4, 11, 13
Creator verse 5
Lord – Adonai (Owner, Master) verse 6
GOD – Jehovah verse 6
Lord GOD verse 6
HE will hasten HIS words to perform them verse 12
Called the families of the kingdoms of the north verse 15
Set their throne in Jerusalem
and cities of Judah
HE is going to utter HIS judgments verse 16
HE is with Jeremiah verse 19
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Nations verse 5, 10
Kingdoms verse 10
Inhabitants of the north coming to Israel verse 14
Families of the kingdom of north verse 15
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Evil verse 14
Wickedness verse 16
Forsaken God verse 16
Incense to other gods verse 16
Burned incense verse 16
Worshiped works of their own hands verse 16
Fight against God’s prophet verse 19
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Sanctified verse 5
Ordained verse 5
Prophet verse 5
Speak what commanded verse 7, 17
Not be afraid verse 8, 9, 17
Presence of the LORD verse 8, 19
Deliverance verse 8, 19
God’s words in mouth verse 9
Given a mission verse 10
Be not dismayed verse 17
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Jeremiah – son of Hilkiah (priest) verse 1- 19
Before LORD formed him in the
belly of his mother
LORD knew him
LORD sanctified him
LORD ordained him a prophet
to the nations
Told LORD he was a child
who couldn’t speak
Commended to speak what LORD told
Told not to be afraid
Told the LORD was will him
LORD touched his mouth
LORD put HIS words in his mouth
Set over nations and kingdoms
Sees a rod of an almond tree
Sees a seething pot – spilling from the north
Inhabitants from north coming
Commanded of LORD to gird up his loins
and arise and speak to people
not to be dismayed lest HE
confound him before them
LORD made him
a defenced city
iron pillar
brazen walls
against the kings of Judah
against the princes
against the priests
against the people of land
says the people will fight against him
but shall not prevail
promises HE is with him
to deliver him
Anathoth in the land of Bejamin verse 1
Josiah – son of Amon king of Judah verse 2
Jehoiakim – son of Josiah (king of Judah) verse 3
Zedekiah – son of Josiah king of Judah verse 3
Jerusalem – carried away captive in 5th month verse 3, 15
Cities of Judah verse 15
Kings of Judah verse 18
Princes of Judah verse 18
Priests of Judah verse 18
People of Judah verse 18
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
1:17 There is a time to be still and listen (Exod 14:14; Ps 46:10; Eccl 3:7; Ezek 3:24–26), and there is a time to act (Exod 14:15; Ezek 3:27). Jeremiah’s call was given, and now it was time for him to act on that call. He was apparently given no option about whether to accept or reject his prophetic task.
In order to prepare Jeremiah for a hostile reaction to his messages, the Lord said, “Get yourself ready!” He must not back down before his adversaries lest God punish him. God warned him not to be “terrified” by threats from his own people.24 If Jeremiah was “shattered” by his people and backed away from his commission, then God would “shatter” him. The meaning of the threat is not clear, but it is ominous. Obedience is the only appropriate response of the servant of God (see Ezek 3:18; Luke 14:28–33; 1 Cor 4:2). (Huey, F. B. (1993). Jeremiah, Lamentations (Vol. 16, p. 56). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
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The apprehension felt by the prophet is met by a forthright command to be fearless, reminiscent of that given to Joshua (Deut. 31:6–8; Josh. 1:6–9). If Jeremiah loses his courage, God will shatter him for his disobedience and lack of faith, for with him, as with the Christian, whatever would not be of faith would be sin (Rom. 14:23). Though everyone would be against him God would be beside him and would make him impregnable. The Christian is bidden in exactly the same manner to stand fast (cf. Eph. 6:14) so that he will be a reliable and faithful servant at all times. (Harrison, R. K. (1973). Jeremiah and Lamentations: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 21, p. 57). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
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17–19 In the remainder of the chapter, Jeremiah is given strong encouragement for his hard task (v.17), because his message would be neither welcome nor popular with his people. To fulfill his duties nothing less than utter commitment to God and to his strength would suffice. With God, Jeremiah would be invincible (v.19). In his darkest hours these words sustained him mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. He is commanded to prepare vigorously for action. He would need to rely on a triple defense (v.18) against his fourfold enemy. Kings, officials, priests, and people—all opposed him at one time or another. Who loves a preacher of judgment (cf. 2 Tim 4:3–4)? The secret of spiritual victory is given in v.19. Jeremiah is assured success on the condition of faith in God. He ultimately prevailed over all his enemies; and his prophecies were verified, attesting him to be a true prophet of the Lord. (Feinberg, C. L. (1986). Jeremiah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel (Vol. 6, p. 386). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House)
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1:17–19. After explaining the task, God charged Jeremiah to take up the challenge. Get yourself ready! is literally, “gird up your loins” (cf. Ex. 12:11; 2 Kings 4:29; 9:1; Luke 12:35; Eph. 6:14; 1 Peter 1:13). God gave him the needed strength to stand against the people of Judah. Through God’s enablement Jeremiah would be as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. God’s strength to withstand attack would be needed because all the people would oppose Jeremiah’s message. They would fight against Jeremiah, but God assured him that they would not overcome him. (Dyer, C. H. (1985). Jeremiah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1131). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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The city, pillar, and wall: God will protect His servant (vv. 17–19). In order to be able to run or work easily, men in that day had to tie their loose robes together with a belt (1 Kings 18:46; 2 Kings 4:29), so “gird up your loins” (Jer. 1:17) meant “Get ready for action!” It might be paraphrased “Tighten your belt! Roll up your sleeves!” “Gird up the loins of your mind” (1 Peter 1:13) means “Pull your mind together and have the right mental attitude in view of our Lord’s return.”
God repeated the warning He gave earlier (Jer. 1:8) that Jeremiah must not be afraid of the people who would oppose him, because God would defend him. Surrounded by his enemies, the prophet would become a fortified city they couldn’t subdue. Forced to stand alone, Jeremiah would become as strong as an iron pillar. Attacked on all sides by kings, princes, priests, and people, he would be as unyielding as a bronze wall. “I am with you to deliver you” was God’s reliable promise (vv. 8, 19, NKJV), and in the battle for truth, one with God is a majority. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Decisive (pp. 21–22). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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The account of Jeremiah’s call to the prophetic office is very instructive and deeply interesting. The thoughtful reader feels at once how intensely human was the man, how condescendingly gracious the Lord. On the part of the servant there is naught but backwardness and trembling when commissioned to be the bearer of Jehovah’s message to His backslidden people. It would be at best but a thankless task; for people away from God, yet proudly ignorant of their condition, do not, as a rule, show much gratitude to the man who seeks to turn the light on and manifest things as they really are. It is, generally speaking, a far more pleasant and agreeable task to preach the gospel to poor lost sinners than to minister to the needs of wayward saints. None but a man who is himself very low before God can accomplish it successfully. If I would wash my brother’s feet, I must stoop to do it.
….
We turn back now to our chapter. Just how the Lord spoke to Jeremiah we are not informed. Abruptly he is told: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (verse 5). It is the divine sovereignty that is at once brought before him. He is given to understand from the first that it is the eternal, omniscient, omnipotent Jehovah with whom he has to do. The natural man may shrink from this, but how the soul of the saint delights to dwell upon it! “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the creation.” Nothing ever takes Him by surprise. (Ironside, H. A. (1906). Notes on the prophecy and Lamentations of Jeremiah (pp. 15–16). Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers.)
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Gird up thy loins: by this expression God quickens and hastens him upon his work, not to stand hesitating, but to be doing; prepare thyself: for it is a speech taken from the custom of the countries where they did wear long garments; and therefore they did gird them up about them, that they might not hinder them in any work that required expedition. See the phrase and practice Exod. 12:11; 2 Kings 4:29, and in many other texts. It implies two things: 1. Speed and despatch. 2. Courage and resolution, Job 38:3. Arise; another expression to the same purpose, to speed him about his work; the like chap. 13:4. Command thee, Heb. shall command thee. Be not dismayed at their faces; discover no fear, and conceal no message. See ver. 8. Confound thee, Heb. break thee in pieces; either lest thou prove confused and shattered in thy notions, and unable to deliver thy message, lest I leave thee and forsake thee; or lest I terrify thee worse than they are able to do, even to ruin thee. See Matt. 10:28. Before them: it seems to be spoken by way of aggravation; God would shame him, or destroy him, even in their sight, to become their reproach. Or, Think not to escape any more than Urijah, chap. 26:23. (Poole, M. (1853). Annotations upon the Holy Bible (Vol. 2, pp. 492–493). New York: Robert Carter and Brothers.)
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Ver. 17. Thou therefore gird up thy loins, &c.] The loins both of his mind and body. The allusion is to the custom of the eastern countries in wearing long garments, who, when they went about business, girt them about them for quicker dispatch; and here it designs haste and expedition in doing the Lord’s work, as well as courage and resolution of mind: and arise; and go from Anathoth to Jerusalem: and speak unto them all that I command thee; see the note on ver. 7: be not dismayed at their faces; see the note on ver. 8: lest I confound thee before them; shew resentment at him in some way or another, which would make him ashamed before them. The Septuagint and Arabic versions add, for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord, as in ver. 8. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 5, p. 402). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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Ecclesiastes 12
The pursuit of temporal things is futile.
INSIGHT
Our society tends to breed materialism. Young couples expect to own a house, two cars, and maybe a boat. We dream of the day when we can afford to take exotic vacations and own a bigger house. Game shows offer spectacular prizes, and lottery tickets are sold by the thousands. But Solomon experienced tremendous wealth and found himself unhappy. He learned that eternal things matter most. God wants His children to invest their brief lives in others–not just in material things. (Quiet Walk)
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VERBAL INSPIRATION
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
Deuteronomy 18:18
The particular words used in the Bible are divinely inspired. I shall try to demonstrate to you that the Bible claims for itself what is called verbal inspiration It is not merely that the thoughts are inspired, not merely the ideas, but the actual record, down to the particular words. It is not merely that the statements are correct, but that every word is divinely inspired.
Verbal inspiration means that the Holy Spirit has overruled and controlled and guided the writers of the Bible, even in the choice of particular words, in such a way as to prevent any error, and above all to produce the result that was originally intended by God.
The Bible makes specific claims in this matter of inspiration. Take, for instance, certain terms that the Bible uses of itself, such as Scripture. That designates “holy writings”; not ordinary writings but special ones–holy writings.
Let us take a more specific claim. Take that great prophecy, which is very crucial in this matter, spoken by Moses and recorded in Deuteronomy 18:18: “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” All the prophets of the Old Testament make this claim. They do not say that they suddenly decided to write; they say, “The word of the Lord came….” (see, for example, Ezekiel 1:3; Hosea 1:1; Jonah 1:1), and they tell you exactly when it came. They were called, they were commissioned, and the word was given to them. So they are constantly saying something like, “Thus saith the Lord.” That is their claim.
A Thought to Ponder
It is not merely that the statements are correct, but that every word is divinely inspired.
(From God the Father, God the Son, pp. 24-26, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
The real headline is that lukewarm religion holds little value in the midst of a settling secularism. What grips a conscience is anything gripping. If a worldview or faith lacks conviction, passion, or life change, then it seems both privately and socially irrelevant.
This means that the only kind of voice that will arrest the attention of the world will be prophetic in nature, clear in its message, substantive in its content, and bold in its challenge.
In other words, dangerously close to the gospel Jesus unleashed on to the world and carried forward by His early followers as chronicled in the New Testament. (Losing Their Religion, Gaining Our Voice by Dr. James Emery White)
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Deuteronomy 32
Moses writes in poetic form a summary of everything he has taught the Israelites.
INSIGHT
Man is more than a machine. Man is more than a combination of blood vessels and bones. There is something within man that transcends the physical. It is the image of God. When the major issues of life lie before us, the image of God within us demands that we sing a song or paint a picture or write a poem or perform a dance.
At the end of his life-as Moses is struggling to summarize all that he needs to say to his people-he bursts out in song. Surely the thumbprint of God is seen in his crowning achievement. (Quiet Walk)
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HINDRANCES REMOVED
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
John 17:4
One basis of security and assurance about eternal life, according to our Lord, is that every hindrance and obstacle to our receiving this gift of eternal life has been removed by the blessed work of the Lord Himself. “I have glorified thee on earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”
Many things had to be done before I could receive the gift of eternal life. As a natural man I wondered how I could get it. Eternal life really means that we are sharers of the life of God and are in communion with Him. Is it not obvious, therefore, that a great many things have to happen before we can come into that condition? But it has all been done. There is nothing that has been left undone. Christ has dealt with the problem of my guilt by removing it. He has reconciled me to God; the law of God has been satisfied. “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect?” (Romans 8:33). He Himself has done it, for “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God” (verse 34).
Christian people, this is the position we are meant to occupy. Here is a quotation from an Augustus Toplady hymn:
The terrors of law and of God
With me can have nothing to do.
My Savior’s obedience and blood,
Hide all my transgressions from view.
That is not boasting, for I am not relying upon myself, but upon Him: “My Savior’s obedience and blood, hide all my transgressions from view.”
A Thought to Ponder: Every obstacle to our receiving eternal life has been removed by the blessed work of the Lord Himself. (From Saved in Eternity, pp. 180-181, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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The Law and the Spirit
“Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.” (Leviticus 23:16)
This commandment represents the initiation of the Jewish Feast of Pentecost (“fiftieth day”) which, many years later, was the day on which the Holy Spirit came to the church waiting in the upper room (Acts 2:1-4). There were seven such annual “feasts of Jehovah,” all outlined inLeviticus 23, beginning with the Passover, commemorating the deliverance from Egypt, and culminating in the Feast of Tabernacles, in memory of their entrance into the Promised Land after dwelling in tents in the wilderness.
The middle feast of the seven was Pentecost, which seems to have been the anniversary of the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. It was scheduled 50 days after the “morrow after the sabbath” of the wave-offering of the “firstfruits” (Leviticus 23:10, 15), which in turn seems to have been the Passover sabbath, on the 14th day of the first month (Exodus 12:2, 6). It was on the third day of the third month that God came down on Mount Sinai to give the law (Exodus 19:1, 11, 16). Jewish time-reckoning included both the first and last days of a time period in figuring the number of days between two events, so both the Lord’s appearance on Sinai and the annual Feast of Pentecost seem to have been 50 days after the Passover offering.
And so was the coming of the Holy Spirit! When the Holy Spirit came to the upper room, there were fiery tongues and a mighty wind (Acts 2:2-3). On that great day, Peter announced to Israel, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36), and we have received His great promise of the indwelling Law in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 10:15-17). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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We face this choice every single day. Staying centered on Christ requires us to stay focused on God’s Word. … In other words, our relationship with the Bible mirrors our relationship with Christ. (p. 129)
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Jesus is saying, “Show me your checkbook, your VISA statement, and your receipts, and I’ll show you where your heart is.” (p. 132)
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Are you willing to reallocate your resources to help center your heart and mind on Christ? It will work every time. The more you give to His purposes, the more centered on Him you become. (p. 132) (from Living With Confidence in a Chaotic World by Dr. David Jeremiah)
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