The Days Are Coming, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture:  Jeremiah 23:1-6

23:1  Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord.
23:2  Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord.
23:3  Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.
23:4  I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.
23:5  The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
23:6  In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which He will be called: "The Lord is our righteousness."

          The days of Jeremiah are far behind us in the passage of time, but the Word of Almighty God lives on forever.  Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that the Word of God "is alive and powerful..."  There is no end to it.

          In the days of King David the prophet Jeremiah prophesied, through the direction of God, that "'The days are surely coming,' says the Lord, 'when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch...'" 

          That righteous Branch is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who came to us in the birth of a child, was crucified for our sins, was buried and raised up on the third day as He said He would be, and today sits on the right hand of God the Father.

          The promise of a person of peace and salvation by the Father has been fulfilled.  And as might be expected by the father of lies, Jesus has been under attack, as have those who follow Him, all down through the centuries.  Even today, in our enlightened time, Jesus Christ, and those who follow Him, are under attack.

          In California a pastor preaches that because Jesus took on the sins of the many, He can no longer be the Son of God, and his congregation sits and listens.  Another pastor preaches that the god of Mohammed, the god of Islam, is the same as the Living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and no one cries out "Blasphemy!"

          All across America, to the disdain of Christians in Europe and Africa, pastors here preach that homosexuality is not a sin, or anything to be concerned about, flying in the face of the 1st Corinthians 6:9 scripture, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals."  It is not a choice nor a lifestyle says the holy Word of God.  It is a sin that separates us from the gift of life God has promised in Jesus Christ.  Like all such sins, it is an attack on God the Father, on Jesus Christ, on the Holy Spirit.  Like those who practice fornication, idol worship, adultery, the effeminate male prostitution, the unrepentant homosexual will not see heaven.  God has had His say on that.

          First, Hebrews, Chapters 1 and 2, speak to both the holiness and the humanity of Jesus Christ, the author and the finisher of our faith.  His authority is sure so that when in John 14:15 He says, "If you love Me, you will do the things I say," it is more than just a plea that we love Him.  He who loved us first, before we ever knew of Him, died a terrible death on that cross for each one of us.

          Perhaps the true wealth and worth of what He did for us is encapsulated in Rev. 5:9-10: "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."

          It is for those reasons and more that as followers of Jesus Christ we need to be responsible for the state of our faith, and not be dependent upon the words, the claims, the preaching of others.  For it is before the throne of Almighty God we will be responsible to answer for ourselves.

          To focus in on that point, let us look briefly at Colossians 1:12.  Here Paul was writing from a Roman prison to the mainly Gentile and Jewish believers in this thriving city of Colosse in a Roman province of what is now modern Turkey.  A church of Jewish legalism and pagan mysticism, it was plagued with a heresy that said Jesus was less than He was, less than deity.  That lie robbed believers of the inheritance they deserved as children of the King. 

          Colossians 1:12 reads: " giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light."  It's the fourth verse in a nine verse prayer by Paul for the members of the Colosse church, a prayer rich in reciting the promises God has for us in believing in Jesus Christ.

          For example, note the past tense in "has qualified us"; a promise already fulfilled.  It's done.  The Amplified Bible version reads: "Giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God's holy people) in the Light."

          The Greek word for "qualified us" actually means "to make sufficient," "to empower," or "to authorize."  God qualifies us only through the finished work of the Savior.  Apart from God's grace through Jesus Christ all people would be qualified only to receive the wrath of God.  "Inheritance" literally means "for the portion of the lot;" each believer will receive his own individual portion of the total divine inheritance.   

          In his book "Jesus + Nothing = Everything," Tulliam Tchividjian writes of these verses in Colossians that you and I have "already been liberated out of darkness's grip and transported into the kingdom of Jesus; you now are, and forever will be, safe and sound in Jesus -- all because of what He long ago accomplished for you."

          I couldn't say it any better than that.  It reminds us of the wisdom in Ephesians that tells us, again, that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in the spiritual realm.  It reminds us that not the sinner, or a disagreeable neighbor or even a dissenting friend, not even their opinion, is our enemy.  We need not worry about our reputation or the inaccurate things said about us, or the fear others will not respect us, or even if we will be recognized for what we have achieved.  That is all slavery. 

          No, Colosssians 1:12 assures us -- "The Father ... has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light" -- that you and I have been united to Him; we always have His name, His presence, His personality, His reputation overshadowing and filling all that we are in our innermost being.  Finally, because Jesus was "someone", you and I are free to be no one.  It's okay.  It's an amazing identity we don't deserve, an identity without guilt, without pressure, only true for us by God's amazing grace to us in Jesus Christ.  More deeply true of us than anything you or I could accomplish on our own, because of what Jesus Christ has done for you and for me, you and I have nothing to prove, no reputation to protect.

          If you can understand that, then perhaps you will understand that you have the freedom not to be what Jeremiah describes in verses 1 and 2, the sheep destroyed, scattered and driven away.  You have the freedom in Jesus Christ to be those sheep he writes of in verse 3, the remnant of the flock out of all the lands brought back to their fold, where they shall be fruitful and multiply.  Through the work of Jesus Christ our Lord, the Son of Almighty God, we have the obligation to separate ourselves from those shepherds of whom God says, "So I will attend to you for your evil doings."

          Indeed, the days of Jeremiah are long past, but the Word of Almighty God still reigns, being alive and powerful, and is to be paid mind to.  Not only does Proverbs 30 attest to us, " Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him," but even in Matthew 4:4 where Jesus answered Satan in the wilderness, we see the importance, more than physical sustenance, of the Word of God, "But He answered and said, 'It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.'"

          Jeremiah 23:5 says, "Surely the days are coming," and so they are, for Jesus Christ is even now here with us.  Let us be certain we stand with Him, in worship of Him, and not with those who destroy, scatter and drive away.  Amen. 

Week of Worship

July 12, 2012

Invocation:  O merciful god, help us to live always in the realization of the account we must one day give.  May we pray rightly, listen keenly, and live as faithful stewards of Your good gifts.  With the assistance of Your spirit.  Amen.

Read: Psalm 62

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday                Mark 9:1-8

Tuesday               James 1:19-27

Wednesday          James 4:1-10
Thursday              Romans 6:15-23

Friday                   Philippians 2:12-18

Saturday               John 14:15-24

Sunday                 2nd Samuel 11:1-15; Ephesians 2:11-22; Psalm 53;

                             Mark 6:30-34 

Reflection: (silent and written)

Prayers for the church, for others, for yourself.

Hymn: "The Voice of God Is Calling"

Benediction:  I have heard Your word for my life today.  I bind it to my heart, pledging my full obedience.  Help me, my Lord, to keep this pledge.  Amen.