HEALTHY INDEPENDENCE-II—Jeremiah 17:1-14
Attention:
Original Letter circling the Internet:
The date of the attack: 9/11 - 9 + 1 + 1 = 11.
September 11th is the 254th day of the year: 2 + 5 + 4 = 11
After September 11th there are 111 days left to the end of the year.
119 is the area code to Iraq/Iran. 1 + 1 + 9 = 11
Twin Towers - standing side by side, looks like the number 11.
The first plane to hit the towers was Flight 11.
There are more. . . . . . .
State of New York - The 11th State added to the Union
New York City - 11 Letters
Afghanistan - 11 Letters
The Pentagon - 11 Letters
Ramzi Yousef - 11 Letters(convicted of orchestrating the attack at the WTC in 1993)
Flight 11 - 92 on board - 9 + 2 = 11
Flight 77 - 65 on board - 6 + 5 = 11
*A response from David Pawson:
•WOW, I'm a goner! There are 11 letters in the name "David Pawson!"
I'm going into hiding NOW. See you in a few weeks.
Wait a minute...I just realized "YOU CAN'T HIDE" also has 11 letters! What am I gonna do? Help me!!! The terrorists are after me!
Oh no, there must be someplace on planet Earth where I could hide! But no!!!! "PLANET EARTH" has 11 letters, too!
I know, the Red Cross can help. No they can’t. because, you guessed it, there are 11 letters in "THE RED CROSS," I can't trust them.
I would rely on self defense, but "SELF DEFENSE" has 11 letters in it, too! Can someone help? Anyone? If so, send me email. No, no, no, don’t do that because "SEND ME EMAIL" has 11 letters!
Will this never end? I'm going insane! Oh no, “GOING INSANE"has Eleven letters!!
Nooooooooooo!!!!!! I guess I'll die alone, even though "I'LL DIE ALONE" also has 11 letters!
Oh my, I just realized that America is doomed! Our Independence Day is July 4th . . . 7/4—7th month/4th day . . . 7 + 4 = 11!
*P.S. "Foolishness" also has 11 letters.
Some of you who consider yourselves to be independent, are not really independent from anything except your own sanity!
God’s people must exhibit a ‘Healthy’ independence from the world in which they live.
?Are you living INDEPENDENTLY of that which has potential to destroy you?
The prophet Jeremiah contrasted two major aspects of Independence—Independence from God versus independence from the world.
*Dependence upon YHWH brings independence from worldly influence.
What can be gleaned by contrasting healthy & unhealthy independence?
*How can I be independent of worldly influence?
So far we’ve have found that A Healthy Independence Engages(deals with/handles/manages)...
1. A RESIDENT REBELLION(:1)
2. An ABERRANT EDUCATION(:2)
3. BLINDLY SIGHTED BENEFITS(:3-4)
Today we’ll find that...
4—A Healthy Independence also Engages...
An ANGERING LIFESTYLE(:4e)
Explanation:(:4e)
:4e—“For you have kindled a fire in My anger which shall burn forever.”
“For you have kindled a fire in My anger...”
Due to their self-serving sinfulness, in turning from the eternal God, to the lesser gods of their own choosing, “A fire” has been “kindled” ‘within’ YHWH’s “anger.” That is, His “anger” is no longer an ‘internal’ “anger”, but has resulted in His outward response.
“which shall burn forever.”—This does NOT mean that YHWH will never be able to forgive them, but rather that the ‘hurt’ of their leaving Him will always be remembered. ‘Tough Love’ is about to be levied upon His people.
YHWH’s jealous “anger” was foretold in Leviticus chapter 26 before Israel ever entered the land He had promised & gave them:
Lev. 26:1-17(:1-39)—“‘You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God. You shall keep My Sabbaths & reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD. If you walk in My statutes & keep My commandments, & perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, & the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, & the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, & dwell in your land safely. I will give peace in the land, & you shall lie down, & none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, & the sword will not go through your land. You will chase your enemies, & they shall fall by the sword before you. Five of you shall chase a hundred, & a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you. For I will look on you favorably & make you fruitful, multiply you & confirm My covenant with you. You shall eat the old harvest, & clear out the old because of the new. I will set My tabernacle among you, & My soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among you & be your God, & you shall be My people. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke & made you walk upright. But if you do not obey Me, & do not observe all these commandments, & if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease & fever which shall consume the eyes & cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, & you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, & you shall flee when no one pursues you.”
*YHWH is a jealous God—He was in Israel’s day, He is today, & He will be forever. Godly jealousy is rightly a significant part of His holy character.
Deut. 4:24(:23-29)—“Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, & make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you. For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. When you beget children & grandchildren & have grown old in the land, & act corruptly & make a carved image in the form of anything, & do evil in the sight of the LORD your God to provoke Him to anger, “I call heaven & earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, & you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood & stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek the LORD your God, & you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart & with all your soul.”
Ex. 34:14(:12-16)—“Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, & cut down their wooden images ‘(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, & they play the harlot with their gods & make sacrifice to their gods, & one of them invites you & you eat of his sacrifice, & you take of his daughters for your sons, & his daughters play the harlot with their gods & make your sons play the harlot with their gods.”
•When a person puts their trust in Jesus, they put their trust in THE SINGULAR triune Almighty God! IF or When YHWH is ‘not enough’ for you, then let that be a wake-up call to you—that have taken it upon yourself to spit in God’s face, & have prostituted yourself to other gods!
•Such jealousy on the part of God requires personal repentance on your part...
Deut, 30:1-6—Moses to Israel—“Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing & the curse which I have set before you, & you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you, & you return to the LORD your God & obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you & your children, with all your heart & with all your soul, that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, & have compassion on you, & gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you. If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, & from there He will bring you. Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, & you shall possess it. He will prosper you & multiply you more than your fathers. And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart & the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart & with all your soul, that you may live.”
Rom. 2:26-29—“Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code & circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; & circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.”
Lev. 26:40-45—In contrast to Israel’s disobedience—“But if they confess their iniquity & the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, & that they also have walked contrary to Me, & that I also have walked contrary to them & have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, & they accept their guilt-- then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, & My covenant with Isaac & My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land. The land also shall be left empty by them, & will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; they will accept their guilt, because they despised My judgments & because their soul abhorred My statutes. Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them & break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.’”
Mat. 3:1-2—“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, & saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Mat. 9:10-13—“Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors & sinners came & sat down with Him & His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors & sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go & learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy & not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
•Some of you, no doubt, think that you are “well”—that you’re a ‘good Christian.’ You think that other people ought to ‘repent.’ If you ever consider yourself to be above a need for repentance, then you are not taking your own personal sin very seriously!
Mat. 11:16-20—“But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces & calling to their companions, “& saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.’ “For John came neither eating nor drinking, & they say, ‘He has a demon.’ “The Son of Man came eating & drinking, & they say, ‘Look, a glutton & a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors & sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.” Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent:”
*The eternal God is a loving Father...He cannot allow His own children to run roughshod over the heritage He has for them!
•Would parents willingly hand over their life-long, ‘work-their-fingers-to-the-bone’ inheritance to their drug addicted adult child?! NO! Only those who will responsibly & thankfully attend to that inheritance will possess it.
•Likewise, you must figure out the true value of your parent’s love for you!...And thus the true value of God’s love for you!
•Irresponsible adult people come to church-houses thruout this nation looking for hand-outs, preying on the compassionate hearts of God’s people. However the Church has no godly patience for such beggars & ‘workers of the system.’ The Church has a heart-felt concern that you have left God & that you use His name loosely & lightly & thus blasphemously!
•We invite you to draw near to God thru Christ Jesus! BUT we have no patience for irresponsible people who deceitfully present themselves as ‘Christians’ in word only!
*Heb. 10:31—“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
“Kindled”—xdq kaw-dakh’—Qal Perfect—1) To kindle, be kindled—1a) (Qal)--1a1) To kindle, 1a2) To be kindled. Strong—To inflame; a primitive root. Used 5X--Deut. 32:22; Isa. 50:11; Isa. 64:2; Jer. 15:14; Jer. 17:4.
“Fire”—va aysh—Noun Fem.—1) Fire—1a) Fire, flames, 1b) Supernatural fire(accompanying theophany), 1c) Fire(for cooking, roasting, parching), 1d) Altar-fire, 1e) God's anger(figuratively). Strong—Fire(literally or figuratively); a primitive word.
“Anger”—Pa ‘af—Noun Masc.—1) Nostril, nose, face; 2) Anger. Strong—properly--The nose or nostril; hence--The face, & occasionally a person; also(from the rapid breathing in passion)--Ire.
“Burn”—dqy yaw-kad’—Hophal(passive of causative) Imperfect—1) To burn, kindle, be kindled—1a) (Qal)--To be kindled; 1b) (Hophal)--To burn, be burning. Strong—To burn; a primitive root. Used 9X.
“For”—de `ad—Preposition—1) As far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as—1a) of space—1a1) As far as, up to, even to, 1b) in combination—1b1) From...as far as, both...and(with 'min'-from), 1c) of time—1c1) Even to, until, unto, till, during, end, 1d) of degree—1d1) Even to, to the degree of, even like. Conjunction—2) Until, while, to the point that, so that even. Strong—(used as a preposition, adverb or conjunction; especially with a preposition); As far(or long, or much) as, whether of space--Even unto; or time--During, while, until; or degree--Equally with.
“Ever”—Mlwe o-lawm’—Noun Masc.—1) Long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world. Strong—properly, Concealed, i.e. The vanishing point; generally--Time out of mind(past or future), i.e. practically--Eternity; frequentatively, adverbial(especially with prepositional prefix)--Always. Used 439X.
Illustration:
Suppose you walk into your local animal shelter/You’re looking for a dog for your little girl who’s 3 yrs. old/A dog that growls & shows it’s teeth at your approach is probably not going to be a choice candidate for your little baby’s companion!/A dog that ‘bites the hand that feeds it’ is living an angering lifestyle!/It angers the one(s) you are accountable to!/It will not be accepted!/An ANGERING LIFESTYLE
Application:
?Are you properly engaging(dealing with/handling/managing) An ANGERING LIFESTYLE?
?Are you exhibiting A Healthy Independence?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
P.S. "Foolishness" also has 11 letters.
Action:
A Healthy Independence Engages(deals with/handles/manages)...
4. An ANGERING LIFESTYLE(:4e)
1. A RESIDENT REBELLION(:1)
2. An ABERRANT EDUCATION(:2)
3. BLINDLY SIGHTED BENEFITS(:3-4)
Pt# 4 Only! Video Presented 07/12/2020am to:
1BCCbelle(Video to YouTube shared to Facebook @ 'Byron Sherman' & ’First Baptist Church Carrabelle’)
206 SE Ave. A(Storrs Ave.)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
