Sermon
Jeremiah 2:5
We don’t need you
Introduction: We learn here that this is Jeremiah writing to Judah (the southern kingdom) and its capital city Jerusalem for the purpose to urge God’s people to turn from their sins and back to God.
There’s a story about a group of scientists who decided that human could do without God. So, one of then looked up to God and said, “We’ve decided that we no longer need you. We have enough wisdom to clone people and do many miraculous things.”
God listened patiently and then said, “Verily well, let’s have a man making contest. We’ll do it just like I did back in the old days with Adam.” The scientists agreed, and one of them bent down and picked up a handful of dirt. God looked at him and said, “No! You have to make your own dirt?”
· In Jeremiah’s day the Israelites were living as if they no longer needed the Lord. They had entrusted themselves to other gods, even though their gods could not respond to their needs. Jeremiah confronted them about their rebellion, for they had forsaken the true God and Shown disrespect for him (Jeremiah 2: 13, 19)
· Are we guilt of living as if we don’t need God? We may know Him our Savior but be worshipping the idol of our own wisdom or self-sufficiency. Could the Lord be saying of us,” they have gone far from me?” (2:5)
· Unless we worship only God our lives cannot be truly free; For we were made for Him alone- All else is but idolatry.
The idol of self is a sorry substitute for God.
Galatians 6:7, 8
1. Acknowledge that science conforms to divine law
a. A scientist is one who determines how things function. For example, a physician studies the human body to see how its members work and interrelate with themselves and their environment. Although he may not understand the laws discovered, the scientist accepts them as fact.
b. Since the laws are dependable, the scientist should be the first to acknowledge a Supreme Lawgiver and be in awe of His complex design.
c. Just the opposite occurs, however, as described in Romans 1:21-32. Man becomes so drunk with his discoveries that he worships the creation as well as his own abilities to perceive it rather than the true object of devotion, the Creator.
2. Man is deceived when he disregards God
a. What is translated “be not deceived” in Galatians 6:7 have the negative which implies the possibility of deception. As humans, in the present environment in which we live, it is possible for us to be deluded. The Greek verb may be taken as present indicative, indicating the possibility of continuous deception; or as the imperative, do not be deceived. The voice of the verb can be interpreted as either passive (do not be deceived by others) or as middle voice (don’t deceive yourselves). We are, thus, not to wander away from our worship of God.
b. Paul continues in Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked”. This verb is derived from nose, and sneeze (denoting displeasure). In our idiom we would say, “Not to turn up our nose” or sneer at God.
c. In Greek, the word “God” does not have the definite article in front of it, referring to God in His totality: eternal, infinite, omnipotent (John 1:18). It is foolhardy for men to turn up their nose at such a God.
3. The consequences of man’s contempt are certain
a. In Romans 1, Paul describes how God gives man up to his depravity and its bitter rewards (Rom. 1:26-28). A present application is the epidemic of AIDS, spread primarily by homosexual acts (a sin mentioned in this passage).
b. A more general rule is stated in Galatians 6:7, “For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” We cannot fool God. His laws apply to our lives as well as to the realm of nature. We turn up our nose at Him only to our own detriment.
(Conclusion):
As we look back over a scripture.
Jeremiah 2:5 they are gone far from me. Israel had broken her covenant with God, even though He had remained faithful to them. All believers are confronted with the same temptation of forgetting the goodness and redemption of God while pursuing their own desires and the sinful pleasures of the world.
So we are to never forget the Lord and remember his goodness and grace that we have a job to do and at the end of the week we get a paycheck.
