DEVOUR GOD’S WORD (Outline)
September 5, 2010 -
Pentecost 15 -
JEREMIAH 15:15-21
INTRO: God’s living and active word is the only thing that satisfies the deepest need of every soul. Our world offers to satisfy every earthly sense with pleasure. These pleasures do not last. At times we readily make use of earthly pleasures to fulfill our sensual desires. Worse we may feed our desires to excess. Once again it is very vital for us to study the importance of God’s holy word in and for our lives here and for eternity. Even Jesus had to remind the people of his day he was more than a mere miracle worker. "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" (JOHN 6:51). Indeed, God’s word is living bread.
DEVOUR GOD’S WORD.
I. This is our joy and delight. II. We bear the Lord’s name.
I. DEVOUR GOD’S WORD: IT IS OUR JOY AND HEART’S DELIGHT
A. Verse 15a. Jeremiah knows the love of the Lord. Jeremiah is confident in the Lord’s care for him.
1. The Lord sent Jeremiah to the people with a message of judgment against their rebellion.
2. God’s people did not like this message. God’s people did like God’s messenger, Jeremiah
3. Verse 15b. Jeremiah seeks the Lord’s help. Jeremiah knows the Lord can and will help.
B. Verse 16. It was the very word of God that reminded Jeremiah of the Lord’s presence and power.
1. Verse 17. Jeremiah’s friends abandoned him. He was not lonely the Lord was with him.
2. Jeremiah did feel alone in his stand against the wicked ways of the world surrounding him.
C. Verse 18. Jeremiah vents his frustrations. His life is troubled. The Lord will never fail Jeremiah.
D. The Lord has never promised a life of ease for his followers. God has never guaranteed that the be-liever would live in the lap of luxury. This message is contrary to many of the well-known, mega-church, preachers of today. Our heavenly Father is far more concerned with our eternal welfare than with fleeting wealth and prosperity of this world. The apostle Paul realized that it was through much tribulation that any would enter the kingdom of God. Think of Job. Job lost his herds, his flocks, his buildings, and even his children. Job did not lose his faith. Job did not curse God. That is what Satan wanted Job to do. "I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread"(JOB 23:12). Job devoured that word of the Lord. God’s word satisfied his soul, completely.
E. Why do we not always put our complete confidence and trust in God’s living and active word? We live in this world. We have a sinful nature. The world offers all sorts of things that our sinful flesh feels it needs. Satan tries to steer our thoughts away from God. Too often the earthly things that we can see, feel, and touch worm their way into our lives. In an instant everything earthly can disappear. Solomon spoke of all the wealth he had. Solomon came to one conclusion. "Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun" (ECCLESIASTES 2:11). God’s word is our delight, always meaningful.
F. Time and again what we thought was so important becomes meaningless. That which we strive to attain lasts but a fleeting moment. The joy of any moment often quickly passes. This is not so with the word of our Lord God Almighty. "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls" (1 PETER 1:8,9). Yes, God has given us heaven – the very salvation of our souls. Everything else in this world may be lost. God’s love remains forever. We are saved by grace through faith. God’s word is our very joy and our heart’s delight.
DEVOUR GOD’S WORD. Partaking of this bread of life will bring to our lives great joy and delight.
II. DEVOUR GOD’S WORD: WE BEAR THE NAME OF THE LORD
A. Though rejected by everyone Jeremiah found his comfort in the word of God, verse 16.
1. Jeremiah knew that the Lord had called him to be a believer and to be his prophet.
2. Jeremiah did not seek out this calling or office for himself. It was the Lord’s choice, alone.
3. Jeremiah found great joy and even greater comfort in knowing that he belonged to the Lord.
B. Verse 19. The Lord answers Jeremiah’s questions. “Repent, turn, turn” are the same Hebrew words.
1. Repentance means turn. The Lord reminded Jeremiah not to turn to the world’s wickedness.
2. The nation needed to turn (repent) back to God. They would turn by God’s “worthy” word.
a. Jeremiah would preach God’s word. b. God’s word would become their joy and delight.
C. Verse 20. This is the promise of the Lord God Almighty. The Lord would save Jeremiah – always.
1. These words are not an empty promise. God’s word never fails. “Declares the LORD”!
2. Verse 21. The Lord God Almighty doubly assures Jeremiah that he will save, redeem him.
D. As believers we bear the Lord’s name. We are called Christians showing that we are followers of Christ. The names – believers, Christians – do not exempt us from the sins of this life. We are still sinners living in a sinful society. As believers we also know that our sins bring sadness in our lives. Our sins betray God’s goodness. As believers God has given us faith. With faith is the strength to admit to the sinfulness that plagues everyone of us. We see our sins. We are sorry that our thoughts, words, and action all too often fall short of the glory of God. We repent. "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death" (2 CORINTHIANS 7:10).
E. Repent means to turn. We cannot go in two directions at once. Whenever we travel north we cannot be going south. When we turn to God we cannot be turning toward Satan and sin. There is a problem in our nation today concerning repentance. The word repent implies (actually means) that someone has done something wrong. This is sin. No one wants to hear about sin. If we do not hear about sin we feel no need to repent. Who would repent if they have done nothing wrong? Blessing upon blessing is the fact that it is the Lord God Almighty who forgives sin – freely. "Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon" (ISAIAH 55:7). We freely sin – our God freely forgives. God chose us to bear his name.
F. Jeremiah thought he was alone in a godless society. It is not much different today. The world pro-motes evil as good and good as evil. Truth is relative. This means there are no moral (or immoral) boundaries. It almost seems as if Christianity is shrinking as godlessness takes over society. This may be so. Our Lord promises that the gates of hell shall never overcome the church. You, all believers, and me are still the church. In our sin-darkened day and age the Lord assigns us to be his witnesses. "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life" (PHILIPPIANS 2:14-16a). Devour God’s word. Hold out that word of life for all.
CONC: God’s word is our soul-satisfying source of eternity. Still we do not always treat it that way. God reminds us to hear, read, study, and learn that word of the Lord. God’s word is the only thing that can bring true joy to every believer. As believers God’s word reminds us that we bear the Lord’s name. The Lord chose us to be his own to share his word. " Jesus answered, ‘It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’ ' (MATTHEW 4:4). The more we use the Bible the more we will want to DEVOUR GOD’S WORD. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
PENT. 15 rdgs:
PROVERBS 25:6,7;
HEBREWS 13:1-8;
LUKE 14:1,7-14;
(PSALM 119)
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