The Righteous Must Stand
By Pastor Ed Evans
Scripture: Jeremiah 2:4-13 and Psalm 112
Jeremiah 2:4-13
2:4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.
2:5 Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves?
2:6 They did not say, "Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?"
2:7 I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.
2:8 The priests did not say, "Where is the Lord?" Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit.
2:9 Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children's children.
2:10 Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing.
2:11 Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit.
2:12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord,
2:13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.
Psalm 112
112:1 Praise the Lord! Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments.
112:2 Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
112:3 Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.
112:4 They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.
112:5 It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice.
112:6 For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever.
112:7 They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord.
112:8 Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
112:9 They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures forever; their horn is exalted in honor.
112:10 The wicked see it and are angry; they gnash their teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.
We share two different text this morning, both from the Old Testament. We will get to them, but I would say at the outset that the first one, from Jeremiah, speaks to the world we live in today, and the other, from the Psalms, speaks to the remnant of God's own enduring what we know now, and what is coming.
The state of California is known for its many fires during the summertime. Small armies of forest rangers are sometimes pulled in from neighboring states to help fire the great walls of flames, and sometimes the state must ask for federal help, and soldiers, sailors, Marines and airman are mobilized to assist as the fires rage in the very resemblance of hell on earth. Each year numbers of livestock, wild animals, and even homes are destroyed in the out-of-control blazes.
There is a well-known story told from several years ago when, after they had knocked down a very serious fire which had burned acres of landscape and destroyed many homes, firefighters were going over the still smoldering forest ground to ensure the fire would not start up again. One firefighter came up the scorched body of a grouse hen, spread-eagled on the ground. He thought perhaps the heat had killed it as it spread its wings to escape. But as he moved it aside to ensure there were not hot spots beneath its body, a brood of grouse chicks suddenly fled in every direction. He was amazed and called others over to see. It is was obvious now that the grouse mother hen had spread her wings over her chicks and refused to save herself from the killing heat in order to spare her chicks. They survived. She didn't.
I think sometimes we tend to brush aside the real impact of the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for you and I. After all, Jesus was the God-Man, perhaps His sacrifice on the cross was no big deal, perhaps as the Son of Almighty God He didn't feel pain the way we do. Oh, but he did. He set aside His own glory to be born as a flesh-and-blood baby, feeling and knowing all the pains and agonies and uncomfortableness of living in the flesh in the world of that time. He knew hunger, he knew fatigue, he knew even the pain of shared sorrow, for He wept at the death of his friend, Lazarus, even though He knew God could restore this man.
No, it was every bit as great a pain and a sacrifice as if you and I had gone through it in our own flesh. That was part of the gift.
There is a relevant story here, told by a friend of mine, an old Marine named John Boring. John tells of a young man who walks five miles to deliver a gift to a friend. When he has delivered the gift, the friend offered to drive the young man back to his house, but the young man declined and said, "The walk is part of the gift."
For God to have come down, let Himself be nailed to a cross, then returned to Heaven would not have satisfied the debt we owed through sin. No, it required that the righteousness of someone of flesh and feeling lose their life as a sacrifice, with all the attendant pain and suffering that goes with the horror of a crucifixion.
We are reminded then, that when we give the gift of ourselves to our God and His son, Jesus Christ, the walk may only be in our mind, but it's all part of the gift. We need to make the walk mean something by continuing to take steps along the path to His grace.
Jesus Christ came in the flesh, was whipped, scourged, beat, and He bled. Then they nailed His hands and feet to the cross, with all the agony that rips loose in the human body. God so loved His creation, you and I, that He would ask His own son to do that. And Jesus, who was even before time, loved us, and loved the Father, so much, that knowing ahead of time what it would mean, did it anyway, for you and for me, and all those who will accept that unbelievable gift of life.
Now, if you can understand that, you begin to understand the unfathomable depth of love the Father has for us, down through the ages, and now you should go back and read Jeremiah 2:4-13. And I challenge you to read through it, feeling the great love God has for us, and do it without tears. I cannot. What love. What heart-aching love.
How can we say we love him, and so quickly turn our back on Him? How can we love Him and do those things which please us, but cause His great heart such pain? Can we not see the tears in His eyes? How can we love Him and not do the things He says?
Love is almost never without pain. For you want the very best and sweetest for that one you love. So if you fail them, or if they fail you, there is that stabbing pain in the heart, wanting better from them, and for them. How much pain there must be in the greatest heart in the universe.....because of us.
And yet, He has promised never to leave us if we will call on His precious name. In spite of all the pain, all the deception, the lying, the turning away from Him, all the way back into the New Testament, we find this priceless promise in 2nd Chronicles 7:14 -- a promise I am seeing spoken of more and more today almost as if we are testing to see, is it still true, and it is -- "If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
No one keeps promises like God keeps promises.
And so we come to the second text in today's message, Psalm 112.
The first two verses start that chapter out with, "Praise the Lord! Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in His commandments. Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed."
Sometimes you must wonder, beneath the weight of such national deceitfulness and lying in high places, shoved and pushed on every side by unethical and immoral behavior and the demands that it be approved by God's people, how does America continue to stand? What has withheld God's hand? Will He soon be apologizing to Sodom and Gomorrah?
In Isaiah the first through the fifth chapters, God's word speaks of what happens to a nation under judgment. And as you read through that, if you have any concern for America at all, the hairs will rise on the back of your neck, because you realize what Isaiah is describing there of Israel is exactly what is happening in this nation right now. Across our borders from the south, the east and somewhat from the north, America is under invasion from the anti-God, anti-Semitic, woman-degrading forces, and they are not being stopped. Natural catastrophes are pummeling not just America, but the whole world. The quality of everything is declining, the value of our paper money is declining, there are fewer and fewer jobs for people, and many people would rather live off the government's offerings than look for a job, our leaders mock the Living God, and leadership gives way from bad to worse.
So what is it that is holding this nation's tent pole up against such an onslaught of the forces of Satan? That praying remnant; that God-fearing remnant; those Christians who have not bought into the "easy gospel", the "get-rich-quick" gospel, the gospel that says God is just another magical genie and he'll give me whatever I want. Such belief is in danger of hell-fire. God sees, God knows, and God will reward.
In Psalm 112, verses 6 through 8 tell us, "For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever. They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord. Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes."
Be not afraid, my beloved in Christ, but stand firm in the sureness, in the truth, of scripture. Numbers 21:19 reminds us, "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor the son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"
Those believers in Jesus Christ who yet stand firm in their faith, may yet save the nation, not because of anything they can do of themselves, but because the Living God keeps His word, keeps His promises, and continues to love His creation.
Even as ungodly men take advantage of the gifts of freedom and liberty in His name, and press in on us on every side, yet we have the words of Jesus to His disciples in His farewell address to them: ""I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
And then we have this reminder from the inspired word of God in Romans 8:38-39: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Over and over again in scripture we hear the Lord saying, "Fear not," as He says in Isaiah 41:10, "Fear not, for I am with you." Pray, dear ones, stand firm in His love, and pray. It will be well with your soul.
Amen.
Daily Scripture Readings for August 30-September 5, 2010
Monday -- Acts 10:34-43
Tuesday -- 1st John 2:1-17
Wednesday -- 2nd Corinthians 2:3
Thursday -- Luke 6:27-36
Friday -- Luke 6:37-42
Saturday -- Luke 17:1-6
Sunday -- Ezekiel 33:1-11; Psalm 94:12-22; ; Philemon 1-20; Luke 14:25-33
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