False Religion Is Worthless

False Religion is worthless

Jeremiah 7:1-29

Good morning everyone- so glad you chose to join us.

If you would turn to the Old Testament book of Jeremiah Chapter 7

We just finished a series on Abiding in Christ- being connected to God, connecting to others and being sensitive to those that do not know God…people say they know God and desire God but their lives most times don’t show it.

They don’t love God or want God bad enough to allow Him to change them. Willing for him to change others but not them.

The God they love is the God that does what they want…when they want it done.

A God that says okay to what they are doing.

Is that loving Almighty God or is that creating for yourself a God of your choosing?

Jesus talks in Matthew 7 about 2 kinds of people-

Wise person who built a house on a firm foundation (Jesus)

A Foolish person who built their house on sand.

When the storms come and they will, one will stand and one will fall apart.

One is wise and one is foolish.

Which one are you? Do you have to learn everything the hard way or would you like to learn from other peoples mistakes and not make them yourself?

The text this morning is the prophet Jeremiah warning and calling out the people of Israel.

Warnings that we need to hear.

Standing joke -How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time or it is overwhelming so let’s look at Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 7:1-8 read from Bible-

Jeremiah has a word from God-

Stand at the door of the Temple (church) and proclaim this message-

“Reform your ways and your actions.”

“Do not trust in deceptive words.”

False Religion is worthless- Title of the sermon- God is after a relationship with you.

The prophet is calling them out for putting their trust in the temple instead of a relationship with God- (4) “Do not trust in deceptive words and say “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”

He is not stuttering… he is intentional-

THEY MUST CHANGE THE WAY THEY ARE LIVING IN ORDER TO EXPERIENCE GOD’S PRESENCE

Amend your ways and let me dwell with you in this place.

They are to practice justice, cease oppression, especially to the underprivileged people in society.

True religion is practiced in the community and not just in a building. (Repeat)

John Wesley says of God “You cannot frequent my house, and yet retain your sins.”

The prophet Jeremiah calls them out-

(9) “Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my name, and say, WE ARE SAFE.”

(God calling Israel)

The Lord calling His church (today) His People (today) to repentance

Repentance is a word not used very much anymore-

Repentance is to do180 degree change- you were going that way and now you go this way.

You did this and it was not pleasing to God so you do not do that anymore because you want to please the Lord more than you want to please yourself.

History repeats itself. We think this world is getting worse and worse but there is nothing new under the sun as far as a heart that is far from God.

We say we want revival- bring revival Lord but revival has to start in each one of our hearts before we will see it start in a community, state, or a nation.

Why do we say we are too tired to go to church and then plan a whole day of activities that don’t include God? Because we are sinners in need of a savior and in need of a changed heart.

The weeping prophet of God loved his God, cared for God’s people and wanted them to see that what they were doing was not only not pleasing to God but had great consequences if their hearts were not changed.

Jeremiah describes the conditions found in the house of worship in Judah, just before God let Babylon invade them.

(4) We find an almost self-arrogant attitude that led to ungodly conduct, but since they were fellowshipping in “church”, they thought everything was fine.

Sometimes, we do the same thing. We cheat on our income taxes, we lie to our bosses, and think all is okay because we are just doing what everyone else is doing.

Membership in any local church does not put off punishment for ungodly actions.

(5-6) illustrate that their judgment of how to apply God’s Word in their lives was way off the mark. They were totally self-centered.