In the Lord, we have joy - the joy of His salvation: “I
will find joy in the Lord. I will delight in my God. He has dressed me
in the clothes of salvation. He has wrapped me in the robe of
righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10). This joy of salvation comes to us through
our Saviour, Jesus Christ. God has fulfilled His gracious promise: “The
Lord has announced to the ends of the earth: Tell My people Zion,Your
Saviour is coming” (Isaiah 62:11). In the Lord, we have victory. We
rejoice in Him. He gives us the victory. He announces His victory - “It
is I, the Lord, I am coming to announce my victory. I am powerful enough
to save you” (Isaiah 63:1).
Saturday 24 August 2019
Isaiah 64-66
God is “our Father” (Isaiah 64:8). He
says to us, “Here I am” (Isaiah 65:2). He waits, in love, for us to
come to Him and receive the blessing He has promised: “Whoever asks for a
blessing in the land will be blessed by the God of Truth” (Isaiah
65:16). He sets before us this glorious future: “I will create a new
heaven and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17). The Lord’s blessing is like “an
overflowing stream” (Isaiah 66:12). The more we experience His blessing,
the more we come to realize that this is just the beginning. God has
much more blessing for us. There is no end to His love. His love is
eternal. This eternal love is the source of His blessing. This is the
basis of our eternal hope - “The new heaven and earth that I am about to
make will continue in My presence” (Isaiah 66:22).
Jeremiah 1-3
Jeremiah was called into the service of the eternal God - “Before I
formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you
apart for My holy purpose. I appointed you to be a prophet to the
nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). Jeremiah called the people back to the Lord,
“the fountain of living (life-giving) water” (Jeremiah 2:13). He called
them to be converted - to turn around. They were turning their backs on
the Lord. They were replacing Him with something else, something
useless, something that would never bring them real satisfaction
(Jeremiah 2:13). Now, they were to turn their faces to Him (Jeremiah
2:27). To a returning people, God promises his mercy - “Come back,
unfaithful Israel. It is the Lord speaking. I will no longer frown on
you because I’m merciful, declares the Lord, I will no longer be angry
with you.” returning to the Lord means confessing our sins - “Admit that
you’ve done wrong! You have rebelled against the Lord your God ...” The
message of Jeremiah is summed up in the words, “Come back, you
rebellious people” (Jeremiah 3:12-14).
Jeremiah 4-6
Jeremiah speaks of God’s
judgment - “I’m bringing disaster and widespread destruction ...”
(Jeremiah 4:6). This message comes to us as a word of warning, a plea to
the people to return to the Lord and find His mercy - “So put on
sackcloth, mourn and cry because the Lord’s burning anger hasn’t turned
away from us” (Jeremiah 4:8). This is the call to repentance. We read of
God’s burning anger, and we wonder,”Is there still the hope of God’s
blessing?” God is speaking of His judgment - “Nation of Israel, I’m
going to bring a nation from far away to attack you,declares the Lord, I
won’t destroy all of you” (Jeremiah 5:15,18). God’s Word concerning
the threat of judgment is a call to the people to honour Him as God:
“Pay attention to My warning, Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you. I
will make your land desolate ...” (Jeremiah 6:8). The ministry of
Jeremiah differs from the ministry of the false prophets. They say,
“Everything is alright!” He says, “It’s not alright! (Jeremiah 6:14).
Jeremiah calls upon the people to make a new beginning with God - “Stand
at the crossroads and look. Ask which paths are the old reliable paths.
Ask which way leads to blessings. Live that way, and find a resting
place for yourselves” (Jeremiah 6:16).
"Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Jeremiah 20:13).
Jeremiah’s
message had been ignored. His faith was sorely tested. Despite all of
this, he was able to say, “Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Jeremiah
20:13). This was not his constant theme. In the very next verse, he
says, “Cursed is the day that I was born.” We are pulled this way and
that way by a turmoil of confused and confusing emotions. Our heart is a
battleground. May the Lord lift us out of depression and defeat. May He
lift us into vigour and victory.
Jeremiah 22-23
The Word of God, spoken by
Jeremiah, still needs to be heard today - “O land, land, land! Listen to
the Word of the Lord!” (Jeremiah 22:29). God has much to say to this
land and every land. Are we listening to His Word? or Have we closed our
ears? Jeremiah speaks of our Saviour, Jesus Christ - “The days are
coming, declares the Lord, when I will grow a righteous Branch for
David” (Jeremiah 23:5). Like Jeremiah, we must direct attention to the
Saviour. Speaking God’s Word, Jeremiah said, “I am a God who is near. I
am also a God who is far away” (Jeremiah 23:23). We must maintain these
two emphases in our preaching. God is greater than we can imagine, yet
He has come near to us in Christ.
To Babylon - and beyond (Jeremiah 27:22)
There’s realism in the ministry
of Jeremiah. He prophesies the Babylonian captivity. There is also hope.
He looks beyond the Babylonian captivity: “They will be taken to
Babylon and stay there.I come for them, declares the Lord. I will take
them from there and bring them back to this place” (Jeremiah 27:22). The
way we are led may not be easy. The destination will be glorious. When
things are going badly, we must never lose sight of the final goal of
God’s working in us and through us. Beyond the suffering, there is the
glory.
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