Hated Because of The Truth!

Hated Because of The Truth! Lessons from is considered one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament. He is often referred to as the weeping prophet Jer 9:1 Oh, that my head were waters, And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! 1

was upset because of the impending destruction of Judah. prophesied during the reign of 5 different kings in Judah. He began prophesying at about the age of 20 and continued on for approximately 42 years. He was very close in age to one of the best kings that Judah ever had, Josiah. We talked about Josiah a couple of weeks ago but here is just a quick recap of what type of man he was 2Ch 34:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 2

3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images. 4 They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces, and made dust of them and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 3

5 He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. I can t help but believe that these two good young men had to be an encouragement and source of strength to one another as they set about doing God s will. Wouldn t it be wonderful for us to have a close friend or family member to encourage us to obey God in all things! If we have someone like that in our lives we should be very thankful. Many people do not have anyone like this in their lives. Many times it is just the opposite. They have family and friends encouraging them to do evil. Even the Christian will have friends and family who try to get them involved in things that are sinful and wrong! 4

There will be people around us who will try to get the Christian to: Smoke Do drugs Miss worship services Use filthy language Drink alcohol Participating in these sins and others will cause us to go to Hell. We also need to consider what type of encouragement we are to those around us. Am I encouraging my friends and family to love and serve God? Mt 22:37 Jesus said to him," 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment. 5

Does that verse describe me? Does it describe what I am trying to encourage others in my life to do? I believe that and Josiah were a great help to each other when it came to obeying God. Am I helping others to obey the Lord or am I hindering them? Far to often, I believe Christians are trying to do the least amount necessary to be saved. This is most often reflected in our lack of attendance at worship. When we can be at worship but we re not. We need to understand after doing all that we can to obey God then we will still barely make it into Heaven. 1Pe 4:18 Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 6

Mt 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. If I am truly hungering and thirsting after righteousness then I am going to be where the bread of life is being served. If I don t truly desire these things then I ll be somewhere else. Let s go back now to. Because of his humility, God did not allow Josiah to live long enough to see the destruction brought on Judah. That was not the case with. After the death of Josiah, suffered greatly because of the message he preached 7

Jer 21:8 "Now you shall say to this people, 'Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 "He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him. 10 "For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good," says the LORD. "It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire."' The people hated because of this message and began to persecute him for it. Even those of his own home town sought to kill him because of the message he preached. Jer 11:21 "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth who seek your life, saying, 'Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, lest you die by our hand' 8

As the case is so many times these people and others simply did not want to hear the Word of the Lord. This attitude is not something new to our generation. Even the prophet Amos had to deal with this same attitude. Am 2:12 "But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, And commanded the prophets saying, 'Do not prophesy! This was also the attitude of the people in the days of Isaiah Isa 30:9 That this is a rebellious people, Lying children, Children who will not hear the law of the LORD; 9

Isa 30:10 Who say to the seers, "Do not see," And to the prophets, "Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. 11 Get out of the way, Turn aside from the path, Cause the Holy One of Israel To cease from before us. This sounds a lot like the people of today. Don t tell us the truth, we don t want to be told we are wrong!. Its often phrased like this your not supposed to judge was not going to stop preaching the truth no matter what the consequences. Even the Priests wanted to kill! 10

Jer 26:7 So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard speaking these words in the house of the LORD. 8 Now it happened, when had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, "You will surely die! Why did they want to kill? Because s message was mainly about the impending destruction of Judah and Jerusalem at the hand of the Babylonians. We could say it was a message of Doom and Gloom because of their sin This was a message the people just simply did not want to hear. 11

He was labeled a traitor, beaten and thrown into prison because of his message. Jer 37:7 "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Thus you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: "Behold, Pharaoh's army which has come up to help you will return to Egypt, to their own land. 8 "And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city, and take it and burn it with fire." 9 "Thus says the LORD: 'Do not deceive yourselves, saying, "The Chaldeans will surely depart from us," for they will not depart. 12

10 'For though you had defeated the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained only wounded men among them, they would rise up, every man in his tent, and burn the city with fire.'" 11 And it happened, when the army of the Chaldeans left the siege of Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army, 12 that went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin to claim his property there among the people. 13 And when he was in the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there whose name was Irijah the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he seized the prophet, saying, "You are defecting to the Chaldeans!" 13

14 Then said, "False! I am not defecting to the Chaldeans." But he did not listen to him. So Irijah seized and brought him to the princes. 15 Therefore the princes were angry with, and they struck him and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe. For they had made that the prison 16 When entered the dungeon and the cells, and had remained there many days, If this was not enough persecution of this great prophet, he was later put into a cistern because of the message he preached. 14

Jer 38:4 Therefore the princes said to the king, "Please, let this man be put to death, for thus he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their harm." 5 Then Zedekiah the king said, "Look, he is in your hand. For the king can do nothing against you." 6 So they took and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king's son, which was in the court of the prison, and they let down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So sank in the mire. 15

When we left off in our first lesson, the great prophet of God, had been thrown into a well to die. This well had no water in it just mud. was sinking into this mud and was likely to suffocate because of it. Fortunately for, there was still one man willing to take a stand for what was right and help him. 16

His name was Ebed-Melech, an Ethiopian eunuch. Jer 38:7 Now Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs, who was in the king's house, heard that they had put in the dungeon. When the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, 8 Ebed-Melech went out of the king's house and spoke to the king, saying: Jer 38:9 "My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon, and he is likely to die from hunger in the place where he is. For there is no more bread in the city." 17

10 Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, "Take from here thirty men with you, and lift the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies." 11 So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to. 12 Then Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said to, "Please put these old clothes and rags under your armpits, under the ropes." And did so. 13 So they pulled up with ropes and lifted him out of the dungeon. And remained in the court of the prison. 18

All of these things and more happened to this Godly man because he would not change his message. He preached the truth to people who did not want the truth. They wanted to hear a message that did not include punishment for the sins they had been guilty of. The People wanted to be told everything was ok. They didn t need to change anything in their lives. They wanted to hear there would be no consequences for their sins. Sounds familiar doesn t it. Because of their attitude towards the truth the people of Judah turned to false prophets for comfort. 19

Jer 6:13 "Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is given to covetousness; And from the prophet even to the priest, Everyone deals falsely. 14 They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, 'Peace, peace!' When there is no peace. Peace when there is no peace. The people rejected s preaching of doom and destruction because of sin. Instead they turned to those that told them what they wanted to hear! Those that told them in spite of their sins they would be at peace. 20

How many people today are being told they are at peace with God when there is no peace. They reject the preaching of impending destruction for their sinful deeds. This is nothing new! This problem of believing false teaching was so bad in Judah that repeats this same message in chapter 8 Jer 8:10 Therefore I will give their wives to others, And their fields to those who will inherit them; Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is given to covetousness; From the prophet even to the priest Everyone deals falsely. 21

11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, Saying, 'Peace, peace!' When there is no peace. 12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; In the time of their punishment They shall be cast down," says the LORD. This false doctrine was comforting for the moment but it cost many people their lives. Paul warns the Thessalonian Christians about those who teach the same thing today. 1Th 5:1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 22

3 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 23

9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. 12 And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. 24

15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. Family Bible Notes: Quench not the Spirit; by refusing to follow his gracious leadings, doing what you know to be contrary to his will, or neglecting to perform the duty to which he prompts you. Though the Holy Spirit is almighty, he may be resisted. His influences may be quenched, their efficacy counteracted, and by the commission of sin and the neglect of duty men may deprive themselves of his saving power. 25

20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. Paul goes through this list of things we need to be doing so that we can have true peace with God Many today have been comforted by false teachers who say teach these things are not necessary for salvation. The false doctrine of Predestination has comforted some. If God has predestined who will and won t be saved then I might as well live my life as I please because nothing I can do will affect my salvation. Its out of my hands. The false doctrine of No Hell can be comforting. If I miss Heaven so what? The alternative isn t really that bad. 26

The false doctrine of once saved, always saved is the epitome of peace, peace when there is no peace To be convinced that I cannot lose my salvation would have to be a comforting thing. The problem is these doctrines just are not true. Just believing we are at peace with God doesn t make it true! Mt 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 27

23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! What a shocking and sad thing for those who thought they were obeying God to hear on the day of judgment! Conclusion What a shame it will be on the day of judgment to think we are at peace with God and then to find out we are not. We simply cannot afford to leave the matter of our soul s salvation to what some man tells us. 28

Conclusion We must find out for ourselves what God says for us to do in His Word and then do it. Knowing God s Word is the only way to prevent being deceived into thinking we have peace with God when we don t. 29