Standing on The Word.
Opening Hymn Closing Hymn
Scripture Reading: Ps. 1
Let us turn to the Jeremiah 36:1 - 4 (KJV); And it came to pass
¶And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
Here we have one of the accounts of the LORD speaking directly to a prophet and instucting him to write what he was going to tell him in a book. Record is given of such instructions to Moses, Isaiah and John the beloved. Daniel was told that his words would be sealed until the time of the end. This indicates that he too wrote his experience and the messages given from God in a book.
Thus Brothers and sisters the bible is not a book to be taken lightly. It is the expressed word of God spoken by men inspired by God.
It is this Word which put the heavens in place Ps. 33:9
It was in this word that Abraham placed his faith
It was this word which promised that a Saviour of the World would come
And Jesus Christ himself declared to be the Word of God.
The word of God is not trivia.
It was written:
• Over a 1500 year span (from 1400 B.C to A.D. 100)
• That is over 40 generations
• over 40 authors from many walks of life (i.e. - kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, scholars) participated in its work.
• It was written in different places (i.e. - wilderness, dungeon, palaces)
• In times of peace and in times of war
• By people in different moods (i.e. - heights of joy, depths of despair)
• on three continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe)
• And in three languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek)
The bible is no mere book,
It is not the product of the thoughts and imagination of any man’s heart
It is not a wonderful piece of fiction
It is verily the word of God.
One writer said
The Bible is a window in this prison-world, through which we may look into eternity.
Timothy Dwight.
Peter when testifying about the Old testament declared through the Holy Spirit in 2 Pet. 1:21
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 2 Peter 1:21
And Paul speaking to Timothy admonished him saying 2Tim 3:16,17
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Timothy 3:16
In doing this Paul highlighted an important fact, that we need not lose sight of: the writing of the scripture has a purpose.
It was not done because people liked writing.
It done for our entertainment or pleasure
It was not written to chronicle the history of the Jews
It was written that men would know the thoughts of God.
It was written that men might know how to live in the presence of a Holy God
Paul says that the scripture was written to
1. Teach us doctrine-teach us about God and what he desires of us. What he expects of us and what he is willing to do for us.
2. To reproof us - convincing and convicting us of the wrongs that we have done.
3. To correct us-To change and bring about reform in our lives. It is the most powerful tool for transformation of a man.(Hebs. 4:12) No reformation can be permanent which is not based on the principles of the word of God.
4. To instruct us- Instruction in regard to the principles of justice, or what is right. Man needs not only to be made acquainted with truth, to be convinced of his error, and to be reformed, but he needs to be taught what is right, or what is required of him, in order that he may lead a holy life.
5. But its fundamental and basic goal is to equip a man to live godly life.
Whether it fulfills that purpose in our lives is up to each individual person sitting here. it is meant to be read daily as part of our daily routine. Its instructions are to be incorporated into our lives. Thus it was that Jeremiah did not only ask Baruch to write the words but he sent him to read them to the people. Jer. 36:5 - 7
And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the LORD: Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD’S house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities. It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this people.
Again we see here the purpose for reading the scripture. Jeremiah hopefully lamented saying :
It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way:
There was one who listened to Baruch who became excited by what he heard. Because of this he told it to the leaders and the leaders to the king. Jer. 36:20 -26
¶And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king. So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king. Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him. And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words. Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them. But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them. Jeremiah 36:20-26 (KJV)
Scripture when read should have a positive effect on people who are seeking a closer walk with God. If you are reproved by the Word of God do not look at others, act on it by correcting that which you are shown is wrong. Something always happens when a person hears the Word of God. He is either confirmed in his actions and life style or he changes. In this account the King did not even listen to the whole sermon. He took the scroll and burnt it in the fire as if that would cause a change in the course of events predicted upon Jerusalem. He did not allow the Word to fulfill its purpose in his heart. Are you allowing it to do its work in yours?
Brothers and sisters some of us behave in the very same way. We cannot get the preachers notes but we drown out the preacher’s voice in our minds. We no longer want to hear him because he has mashed on our corns. We are finished with the sermon before it is over. But the Word of God still stands. We cannot change it because we ignore it. This man threw the Word of God into the fire. Yet it lives on.
For years the word of God has been under attack. People have burnt it, banned it, ridiculed it, and laughed at it. But it has stood triumphant nonetheless.
We by our actions, by our words testify either to the validity of the scriptures or we provide the critics with evidence that what the Word boasts of it cannot achieve. What are we doing? Many of us instead of living out the principles of the Beatitudes we choose to hold firm to the Badattitudes. Which I express in this way;
Rather than Blessed are the poor in spirit we choose Blessed are the rich in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of this world
Blessed are those who do not mourn, they shall be called rough necks.
Blessed are the arrogant, the proud, the violent, the powerful; those who dominate and oppress. They supposedly own everything but they shall inherit nothing.Being meek has long been categorized as being weak and we would rather not be described in this way.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for injustice. The reign of this world is yours. Those who support , promote and benefit from injustice, from the oppression and suffering of others- they shall be rich but shall never be satisfied. Of course we are more caught up in getting our daily bread than we are in getting our spiritual bread. We could scarcely be concerned about being hungry and thirsty for spiritual things. Come on, how often do we take up the Word of God during the week. How often do we meditate upon its lines. And when we do, how long do we take? There is no question about it, if we were dissatisfied with the way we are we would seek change but we don’t at least not hard enough. We may confess our faults and admit our deficiencies but to change calls for too much energy.
Blessed are the merciless for they shall be called tough. Being merciful is not our foretaste. In a world where tough looking dudes are our heroes, mercy is not a characteristic we desire. To be labelled as soft is not something that we desire.
Blessed are they whose thoughts are impure they shall sit and drink with kings and princes of this world. We generally conclude evil motives for people’s actions before we even give them the benefit of the doubt.
Blessed are those who dislike peace for they shall be called confident and self assured. People of progress.
We neglect the pursuit of peace, instead we follow the carnal path of revenge. Not in the out and out way but subtlely we seek to humiliate and scandalize. We spread rumours or seek to have projects fail so that the person would be disgraced. We certainly are not peace seekers.
Jesus said in Matt. 5: 23,24
Matthew 5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
But we pay no heed to that admonition. We still come to church and offer the sacrifice of praise while the fire of hatred burns within our hearts against our neighbour. What are we doing with the Word of God?
Tell me what difference it makes whether we toss the Word into the fire or we choose to ignore its admonition. It is the same thing!
What makes it worst is when our Christian friends support us in our actions or our attitudes.
Jer. 36:23-25
And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words. Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them.
All the princes and advisors stood around and watch the king burn the scrolls and the Word of God noted- yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
The Spirit of God thought it noteworthy to record the reaction of these men to this blasphemous act because it shows us the respect these men had for the WORD Of GOD . It shows us what happens when our allegiance is to men rather than to God. Only three men had the guts to plead with the King not to burn the scrolls but they themselves did not react when he did.
What effect does the word of God have on you.
After reading it do you endeavour to change or do you put it aside and continue your life as usual?
Too many of us prefer friendship over truth. We watch our friends going down the wrong way but choose not to inform them that it is wrong. We rather support them in their endeavours. We add fuel to the fire by stating if it were us what we would have done. We bring news of the person, gossip, rumour, any thing bad that would help our friend feel better. But are we being true friends, are we looking out for their best interest or are paving a road to hell for both them and ourselves?
We have to stop the foolishness. We must understand that our actions and attitudes are seeds for other actions and attitudes from other individuals.
No one rended their clothes when Jehoiakim burnt the scroll so this encouraged him further and he issued a warrant of arrest for the prophet Jeremiah and his Scribe. But the Word of God states that God hid them. Eventually the scroll was written again and stronger language was used against Jehoiakim and his family.
The Word of God advises us today so that we may not reap the evil of tomorrow. Ignoring the Word of God brings hardship not only to you but to those associated with you. It brings hardship to the church, to your family and to your friends.
We cannot afford, as we turn the last bend, to ignore the Word of God. It is too late now in the whole scheme of things for us to be playing with our salvation. We are closer now than we were before. Remember this- Ps. 1
¶Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. ¶The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Psalms 1:1 - 6 (KJV)
Let us delight in the Law of the LORD and seek to obey it.
