God s Definition of a Good Man (2) Jer. 5 1
Jer. 5:1 2 [1] Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment (that doeth justly) that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it
3 He was sent to search in great detail for a man, a real man, an ethically honest man. (Robert R. Taylor, Jr.) NOTE it is God s description and not man s description that the reader must consider
The Christian: 4 1. Does justly does what is right 2. Is committed to seeking the truth 3. Is careful in his speech dependable in his words
5 IV. A good man is one who receives correction
Jer. 5:3-5 6 [3] O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
7 [4] Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God. [5] I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
8 The Lord sought to correct them as a father would his children, but they would have nothing of it God s chastening of us is a sign of His great love for us His chastening serves to correct our faults, strengthen our faith, and help prepare us for eternity
Prov. 3:11-12 9 [11] My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: [12] For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth
Heb. 12:7-11 10 [7] If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? [8] But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye illegitimate, and not sons. [9] Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
11 [10] For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. [11] Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby
12 V. A good man is aware of danger
Jer. 5:6 13 [6] Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased
14 A good man would heed the warning of God as given by Jeremiah
Jonah 3:4 15 [4] And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
Jonah 3:5-10 16 [5] So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. [6] For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
[7] And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: [8] But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 17
18 [9] Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? [10] And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Mt. 12:41 19 [41] The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here
20 The men of Nineveh were aware of the danger Many passages in the N.T. Warn of danger Take heed --- beware
21 VI. A good man is morally pure
Jer. 5:7-8 22 [7] How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses. [8] They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.
23 They left God authorized worship which brought about moral decay One of the great lessons we learn from the book of Jeremiah is that apostasy always leads to moral decay. (Rod Halliburton)
1 Cor. 6:9-11 24 [9] Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, [10] Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. [11] And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God
25 The battle against immorality is a battle for the minds of men One does not change moral practices without changing the thinking of the people
2 Cor. 10:3-5 26 [3] For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: [4] (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) [5] Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ
Phil. 2:15 27 [15] That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world
The Christian: 28 1. Does justly does what is right 2. Is committed to seeking the truth 3. Is careful in his speech dependable in his words 4. Receives correction 5. Is aware of danger 6. Is morally pure