By Devadas Prakash
1. What did the people of Judah need to do to dwell in the land of their fathers? Throughly amend their ways: “(1) The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, (2) Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD. (3) Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. (4) Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these. (5) For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; (6) If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: (7) Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever” (Jeremiah 7:1-7). · Proclaiming the word at the gates (Jeremiah 17:19-20, Jeremiah 26:2, and Acts 5:20). · Amend your ways (Proverbs 28:13, Ezekiel 18:30-31, and Luke 3:7-8). · Don’t trust in lies (Proverbs 19:27, Matthew 15:14, and Ephesians 5:6-7). · The emphasis of thoroughly amending their ways (Psalms 37:27, Ezekiel 14:6, and Ezekiel 33:14-16). · The emphasis of thoroughly executing judgment (I Kings 6:12-13). · Oppressing the defenseless and innocent would not be overlooked (Malachi 3:5-6 and Proverbs 6:16-19). · Hurt for following other gods (Deuteronomy 11:28 and Ezekiel 20:8). · If repentance occurred, then they could dwell in the places of their fathers (Jeremiah 25:5). 2. Did it profit Israel to trust in lying words? No: “Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit” (Jeremiah 7:8). · Lying words do not help the hearers (Proverbs 26:28, Jeremiah 23:14, and Titus 3:3). · This underscores the value of the truth (Proverbs 23:23 and John 8:32). 3. Did the vain worship of Israel profit them? No: “(9) Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; (10) And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? (11) Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD. (12) But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. (13) And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not; (14) Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. (15) And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim” (Jeremiah 7:9-15). · Titus 1:16 says it all here. · God does NOT accept worship from those who are sinning (Proverbs 15:8, Proverbs 15:29, Proverbs 28:9, Isaiah 1:10-18, Mark 7:1-9, and John 9:31). · Turned the place God established for worship under the Law of Moses (cf. John 4:20-24) into a den of thieves (John 2:13-17). · Go and see what God did in the past over these things in Shiloh (I Samuel 4:1-22 and Psalms 78:60-62). · God tried to restore them, but they wouldn’t have it (II Chronicles 36:14-17). 4. How often was Jeremiah supposed to pray for Judah? Not at all: “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee” (Jeremiah 7:16). · Jeremiah 11:14 and Jeremiah 14:11-12; cf. Proverbs 29:1. 5. What caused God to want to pour out His anger and fury on everything? They provoked Him with their idolatry: “(17) Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? (18) The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. (19) Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces? (20) Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched” (Jeremiah 7:17-20). · God wanted Jeremiah to observe what Israel is doing (Ezekiel 8:6). · They were putting forth collective efforts to practice idolatry (Jeremiah 11:10). · They were provoking God to anger (I Kings 14:7-10, Isaiah 3:8, and Isaiah 65:3-5). · Therefore, they were going to get God’s unquenchable anger (II Chronicles 34:25, Jeremiah 4:4, and Jeremiah 17:27). 6. Was God more interested in sacrifices or obedience? Obedience: “(21) Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh. (22) For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: (23) But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. (24) But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. (25) Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: (26) Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers. (27) Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee. (28) But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth” (Jeremiah 7:21-28). · Here is a clear answer that shows it all: “(22) And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. (23) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king” (I Samuel 15:22-23). · Obedience is the real show of love (Deuteronomy 30:20, John 14:15, John 14:21, John 15:10, and I John 5:2-3). · Had they just done right all would have been good for them (Leviticus 26:1-7 and Deuteronomy 5:33). · Yet, they’ve shown from generation to generation they wanted their ways over the Lord’s way (I Samuel 8:7-8, II Kings 21:15, Ezekiel 2:3, and Acts 7:51). · Think about how sad the statement is “truth is perished” (Isaiah 59:15 and Hosea 4:1-6). 7. Why did God reject and forsake the people of Jerusalem in the generation Jeremiah was prophesying to? Because they did evil in His sight and polluted His house with unauthorized sacrifices of their children: “(29) Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. (30) For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. (31) And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart” (Jeremiah 7:29-31). · Leviticus 10:1-2, Deuteronomy 4:2, Deuteronomy 17:1-6, Deuteronomy 12:32, and Luke 6:46. 8. Why was Tophet going to be known as something different than it once was? God was going to see to it that the erring were slaughtered there: “(32) Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place. (33) And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away” (Jeremiah 7:32-33). · God is only doing what He WARNED them He would do (Deuteronomy 28:14-26). 9. In the time God set forth His Judgment on them, what happened to the joy that once had been in the streets of Jerusalem? It ceased because God caused the land to be desolate: “Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate” (Jeremiah 7:34). · Isaiah 3:16-26 and Jeremiah 25:10-11.
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There is an erroneous idea today that the main reason we attend worship is to “get something out of the service”, rather than going there to give our worship to God. This is a selfish motive on our part. This is the reason people cannot be satisfied with the worship service when their emphasis is not on the proper object of worship, God. People want to “do their own thing” in the worship of the church. What the Bible has to say about worship for many people is of little consequence as long as they are happy and feel good. We must be concerned with what God says on how He is to be worshipped instead of what we might want to offer Him.
The United States has produced the most entertainment-oriented people the world has ever known. We have more forms of amusement than has ever been know to man, but we still want more. In our age everything is designed to appeal to our emotions and to entertain us. Our pleasure-mad society gives little thought about pleasing God in their worship. We seem to have forgotten our worship service is to bring glory and honor to God, and not to entertain ourselves. Much worship today has digressed to be no more than entertainment for people. When we have choirs to sing to us and concerts to entertain us, we are not worshipping God; but we have become the spectators who are being entertained. Let us not try to call this worship. This is very disrespectful and demeaning toward God to reduce our worship of God to the entertaining of ourselves. Worship is not a spectator event. We dare not become spectators, because in worship it is God who is the spectator. People have the roles reversed. People expect divine will to conform to what seems right in their own eyes. Proverbs 12:15 says, “The way of the fool is right in his own eyes.” The emphasis is how can the worship service be made more entertaining to people to please themselves and not God. The use of drama in the worship service becomes an entertaining performance with the actors receiving the praise instead of God. And because they have been entertained with a spectacular show they respond with applause (handclapping) to show their appreciation. What do you think God thinks about this perverted so called worship? Many people seem to think that God will accept anything they offer and be glad to get it. Worship to God is holy and sacred. To pervert and corrupt it with entertainment and what we can “get out of the service” in trying to please and gratify ourselves is nothing short of blasphemy! The sacredness of true worship must not be sacrificed on altars of entertainment-oriented quartets, choirs, and other entertainment groups. We are as Hebrews 13:15 says to “Offer the sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” In worship we must be the participants, not the observers. We want to please and entertain ourselves. In Galatians 1:10 the question is asked, “Do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Worship is God-centered not man-centered. When our worship is to please God instead of ourselves, then and only then will our worship be much more meaningful and spiritually uplifting to us and acceptable to God. When people seek an “emotional high” from worship and don’t get it, they are disappointed and start blaming the song service, the preacher, etc. The world wants their worship service to be “more entertaining”, thus they are failing to worship God in spirit and in truth. Where in the Bible can we go to show that our worship is designed to please the worshipper. The desire to have an experience or an encounter along the lines of mysticism also gives little regard to what God says in the Bible. Our worship to God requires commitment on our part. People had rather worship Christ as a babe in a manger than Christ as their crucified savior. Their worshipping Christ as a babe in a manger requires no commitment on their part. They feel they can put Him in a box and live the rest of the year as they please. But worshipping Christ as our crucified savior requires commitment, a complete change of our life, and a willingness to do all that He says. Jesus says in Matthew 10:37, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” God and Christ must be first in our lives, and this requires that we be committed to them. The churches of Christ do not now, nor have they ever used mechanical music in worship to God. Christ did not command it, no apostle ever sanctioned it, no New Testament writer ever authorized it, and no apostolic church ever practiced it. We have no authority for it. Col 3:17shows that all we do must be done by the authority of Christ
When we talk about “Bible Authority,” we really mean the authority of Jesus. Jesus stated, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Mt. 28:18, KJV. The American Standard Version translates it, “All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth.” the idea of power and authority are the same in this passage. Jesus has all authority or power. Jesus did a lot of teaching on earth that we have recorded in the New Testament, and He went back to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles and other inspired men into all truth–Jn. 16:13. The Bible contains ALL TRUTH. When we teach the Bible is the complete, inspired Word of God, we are talking about God’s divine book which we can count on to be the truth, the whole truth. To say we need Bible authority is the same as recognizing the authority of God.
Take The Church, How Does One Become A Christian?
Our subject is BIBLE AUTHORITY. We have authority for the church to do what it is authorized in the Bible to do. The church is to assemble (Acts 20:7) on the first day of the week for the Lord’s supper, therefore the church may provide a place to assemble. The same scripture authorizes preaching by example. I Cor 16:2 shows the local church is to have a collection on the first day of the week. Mt. 26:26-28 shows prayers are essential in the Lord’s supper. Mph 5:19 and Col 3:16 show the church is to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs teaching and admonishing one another in such songs. The local church may support its local preacher. I Cor 9:14. Local churches may also support preachers in other places — 2 Cor. 1`1:8. Each local church in the New Testament was independent. This is wonderful, for if many churches go away from the truth, no independent church is dragged wit it away from truth. The only thing a local church in the Bible ever sent funds to another local church for, was to help the receiving church feed its own needy saints– I Cor 16:1-3. Some times today, you will hear of churches sending funds to a small local church to help it build a new building to meet in. In the Bible, churches sent to the preacher, not the church to support its preacher. (2 Cor. 11:8 as above). The work and worship of the local church can be summed up briefly. It is to assemble on the Lord’s day for worship (Lord’s supper – Acts 20:7, to give into the church’s treasury – I Cor 16:2, and it can sing (Eph. 5 19), pray I Thess. 5:17, and have preaching – Acts 20:7). The church can assemble at any time and any days to worship in song and prayer and have preaching. Bible classes can also take place when and where the church wants to conduct such. Individuals ought to study the Bible daily and can get with others to study together any time. The BIBLE is the most wonderful and the most interesting book in all the world. Every Christian and the children shoul have a Bible lesson daily. Just to study even a little will keep you thinking right. Truth In Love, Vol 6, No. 10, October, 2013 |
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