Jeremiah 5 February 12, 2017 True

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1 Jeremiah 5 February 12, 2017 True Jeremiah 1: Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations. 6 Then said I: Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth. 7 But the LORD said to me: Do not say, I am a youth, For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD. 9 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. 10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant. 11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a branch of an almond tree. 12 Then the LORD said to me, You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word. 13 And the word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north. 14 Then the LORD said to me: Out of the north calamity shall break forth On all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, I am calling All the families of the kingdoms of the north, says the LORD; They shall come and each one set his throne At the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, Against all its walls all around, And against all the cities of Judah. 16 I will utter My judgments Against them concerning all their wickedness, Because they have forsaken Me, Burned incense to other gods, And worshiped the works of their own hands. 17 Therefore prepare yourself and arise, And speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, Lest I dismay you before them. 18 For behold, I have made you this day A fortified city and an iron pillar, And bronze walls against the whole land Against the kings of Judah,Against its princes, Against its priests, And against

2 the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you, says the LORD, to deliver you. Last week we learned the Truth God is always faithful, always just, always watching, not just to catch you doing something you are not supposed to do, but to perform His Word. To do what He has said He will do. For mankind, for all the universe, for you. He is sleepless on your behalf. Everything God does, or allows, or creates, He has done or is doing, allowing and creating for you. For Humanity. For people, individuals, for nations, for you. He is True, to you. John 3:16-21 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. These Words of God, His Law, His Will that is so cramping to your style. His Authority you so flagrantly disregard. His Power you call on so flippantly, like He is a Divine Vending Machine.

3 These opinions of God preached by His Men and Women you find so politically incorrect, uncomfortable and embarrassing. The Will of God you often find harsh and offensive. The Blood of Christ shed for your sins, you find so repulsive, all of these and in fact everything of God, every True thing of God, are the works of His Love for you, the Light of His Love shining into the darkness of your sinful heart, to illuminate His Grace for Life! Jesus truly is the Light of the World, and we could not begin our time together in any better way today, than to remind ourselves He Loves us so very much and encourage one another to receive His Love, His Light, His Life right now. Now it goes without saying, but must be said, mankind has an awful way of distorting and miss-communicating these Truths, sometimes ignorantly yet innocently enough simply getting it wrong. Other times, and quite often, someone may be guilty of intentionally miss-handling the Word and Intent of God for personal gain, this is usually where the one whom I just mentioned gets the wrong information in the first place. It is very, very important we search out the scriptures and seek God s Own Heart on our own so we find the Truth, even when being deceived. 1 John 4:1-4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. Now, without getting off on a rabbit trail, in this passage John was addressing false Gnostic teachers who were teaching things about Jesus that were different than what the Apostles had taught. They taught from a position of carnal logic, Jesus did not come in the flesh but that the Spirit entered an ordinary man, Jesus, and therefore, He was not both God and Man.

4 Now the Biblical concept of Jesus, born of the Spirit and of Mary the Virgin, in the flesh, may be hard to grasp, nevertheless is the Truth. And we must accept the inconceivable in faith, if True. And it must be True. God has said so in the Bible, explained by His Spirit, to men and women over millennia. When I consider some of the manifold aspects of God, I can see how it not only is True, Jesus both God and Man, it must be True. For Him to be both Savior and Lord, for a Man had to pay the penalty for the sin of man, for Hebrews 9:22 teaches, without the shedding of blood there is no remission [of sin]. And Colossians 1:19-20 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. I have experienced this peace between myself and God, formed from something completely outside of my own ability or merit. Have you? Christ is both Savior and He is Lord, Above all powers, Beyond all comprehension, yet fully and clearly understood to be, by the heart of someone truly seeking Him, by His Spirit. He is True. He is both Master and Brother, King and Joint Heir with the saved. He is both Holy Spirit and Holy Advocate, dwelling in His People and Standing at the Right Hand of the Father in Glory forever making intercession for those He has redeemed. He is Lord.

5 He is both Great, Great God and Good, Good Father. He is Lord, and He is true. For Him to be True, His Word must be True. Therefore we have to know the Truth, we have to seek the Truth and test the information. The test is to compare what is being taught with the clear teaching of the Bible. The Bible alone is the Word of God; it alone is inspired and inerrant. Therefore, the way to test the spirits is to see if what is being taught is in line with the clear teaching of Scripture. In Acts 17:10-11 the Berean Jews were commended because, after they heard the teachings of Paul and Silas, they examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. The Bereans were called noble for doing so. Testing the spirits means that one must know how to examine the Scriptures. Rather than accept every teaching, discerning Christians diligently study the Scriptures. Then they know what the Bible says and therefore can test all things and hold fast to what is true. In order to do this, a Christian must be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth 2 Timothy 2:15. The Word of God is to be a lamp and a light to our path Psalm 119:105. We must let its light shine on the teachings and doctrines of the day; the Bible alone is the standard by which all truth must be judged. We must seek the Truth, test the Spirits, and we must submit ourselves to the Truth. For it is right. I often mess up.

6 And I often really blow it, my flesh is too weak, I give in to pressures and stress and sometimes I blow it pretty badly and others are hurt, and my witness is hurt. Sometimes what I want and what the Father knows best for me are not the same, often not even close. My heart is desperately wicked, and steers me wrong when I take my eyes off of Jesus. The Lord understands we are frail creatures, and there is a better Way, and He is True. He told the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 17:5-10 Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD. 6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited. 7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit. 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; who can know it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. I find my hope in His Everlasting Goodness. This old world has let me down so many times, people have hurt in so many ways, but my God is True. I have failed in so many ways, but my God is True. His Discipline is sure and just, and He scourge s those He loves, like a Good Father. For our good. He is the One, sometimes the only One you can count on and turn to when the world and the people of the world have let you down.

7 Most of my best times in the Lord have immediately followed my worst times in the world. He is True and He is True for you. And being His people, we should not only seek Him, testing the Spirits, and submit to Him, and also we are admonished by Saint Paul in Ephesians 5 to be imitators of God. Ephesians 5:1-21 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. 3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them. 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says: Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light. 15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always

8 for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God. And more. The Lord God is True. He is True for you. And what we have said here today, may seem unattractive to you. If that is the case, you must repent and seek God s forgiveness and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Give Him your heart. And if what we have said here today seems appealing to you, but impossible, please realize on our own it is impossible, but not with God. Nothing is impossible with God. Remember He is Sleepless for you, watching over His Word to do it. He will help you to do it, He will encourage and convict you to do it, but He will not force you to do it. He is True and He is seeking true worshippers to trust and obey Him in Spirit and in Truth. I pray today we are and we will be those true worshippers. Pray Without Him 470 Return to Home Page