Jeremiah 32:1-3, Jeremiah 32:6-15, Psalm 91:1-6, Psalm 91:14-16, Amos 6:1, Amos 6:4-7, Psalm 146, 1 Timothy 6:6-19, Luke 16:19-31
A). A PLEDGE FOR A SURE FUTURE.
Jeremiah 32:1-3a, Jeremiah 32:6-15.
The wonderful words of hope which are found in Jeremiah 30-33 were spoken whilst Jeremiah was shut up in the court of the prison in the king of Judah's house (Jeremiah 32:2). Jeremiah was accused of committing treason, no less, because he spoke of the imminent defeat and final demise and captivity of the present regime (Jeremiah 32:3-5).
Jeremiah was given God's words to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, before he could ever fulfil the second part of his ministry, which was to build and to plant (Jeremiah 1:10). We cannot plant churches unless we first confront people with the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, their own need to repent, and the reality of the judgement to come. Following this there are the comforting words of God's grace, of the forgiveness of sin, the imputation of Christ's righteousness to all who will believe, of the hope of glory, and the certainty of heaven.
God spoke a very personal word to Jeremiah concerning a cousin who was about to visit him in prison, not for his comfort but with a view to selling him some land (Jeremiah 32:6-7). This must have seemed quite bizarre to Jeremiah considering his own incarceration on the one hand, and the imminent prospect of exile for the whole nation. Yet he knew it was the voice of God when, sure enough, his cousin came offering him the right of redemption for some land he owned (Jeremiah 32:8).
Although the business was private, yet it involved a transaction which necessarily took on a very public nature. The purchase was sealed with all due order, even in prison, with witnesses and the appropriate evidence of purchase deposited with Jeremiah's faithful amanuensis, Baruch (Jeremiah 32:9-14).
On their part, the witnesses may have thought it strange that this prophet who had predicted exile was still content to buy land in a doomed territory. However, the private proposition gave rise to the public transaction, and the public transaction gave rise to the prophetic proclamation of a prospective restoration (Jeremiah 32:15).
The explanation of God's instruction to Jeremiah to buy land in such a time was that it was a pledge, a guarantee, a seventeen shekel down-payment, if you will, on God's promise that they would eventually return to the land (cf. Jeremiah 32:43-44).
When the New Testament was written, the word “exodus” had become a euphemism for death. It is used as such in 2 Peter 1:15. Likewise, Jesus discussed His own “exodus” with Moses and Elijah in the mount of transfiguration (Luke 9:31). This He accomplished in the cross of Calvary, purchasing our salvation, and sealing the promise with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the pledge, a down-payment if you will, a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until we enter the fullness of our redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14).
B). A PSALM OF TRUST.
Psalm 91:1-6, Psalm 91:14-16).
PSALM 91:1-2.
The opening verse of this Psalm seems to state the obvious: “those who take their shelter under the Most High are sheltered by the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1).
Yet there is a reason for this turn of speech: even those who are deemed ‘the people of the LORD’ are at best rebellious children, and struggle against His parental protection (Luke 13:34).
If you are truly trusting in God, then be at peace: stop struggling to get out of the nest!
Quiet faith snuggles in, and takes assurance in the LORD: “My refuge, my fortress, my God in whom I trust” (Psalm 91:2).
This is spoken as a personal experience, and opens out into a testimony of His keeping power.
PSALM 91:3-6.
Whether understood literally or metaphorically, the examples in the middle of the Psalm stand as a testimony of the comprehensiveness of God’s protection.
The “snare of the fowler” (Psalm 91:3) could represent the traps that people lay in order to catch Christians in their words.
They did it to Jesus, and ‘the servant is not greater than his Lord’ (John 15:20).
‘Always be ready to give an account of the hope that is within you’ (1 Peter 3:15).
“Deadly pestilence” (Psalm 91:3) could be translated as ‘noisome words’ – slander perhaps?
Whichever way, God’s cover reaches far beyond that of the mother bird of Psalm 91:4.
It is greater than any insurance policy that you might buy for yourself: put your trust here and His faithfulness (truth) will be your defence.
Psalm 91:5-6 speaks twice of the terrors of the night, and twice of the dangers of the day (Cf. Psalm 121:6).
“The arrow” of Psalm 91:5 could be either physical or spiritual, or both at once.
PSALM 91:14-16.
This is a Psalm of trust, but that trust is built upon a relationship. It is for “those who know my name” (Psalm 91:14), where ‘knowing’ suggests intimacy.
It is for those who ‘love God because He first loved us’ (cf. 1 John 4:19).
There is a reassurance of answered prayer, and of God’s continuing presence even in the midst of trouble (Psalm 91:15).
His deliverance is certain, His salvation sure; and we receive an indication of God’s eternal pleasure (Psalm 91:15-16).
C). LUXURY AND LAZINESS.
Amos 6:1a, Amos 6:4-7.
Amos was a farmer from Tekoa, to the south of Jerusalem (Amos 1:1). The LORD called Amos to ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel’ (Amos 7:15). The prophet’s ministry was thereafter directed mainly to the ten tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel, with their capital in Samaria: but he was not unmindful of the two tribes of the southern kingdom of Judah, with their capital in Jerusalem (aka Zion).
“Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria,” begins this oracle (Amos 6:1a).
We are presented with a picture of luxury and laziness (Amos 6:4-7).
While the common folk slept on thin woven mats upon the ground, these leaders lay on beds of ivory. They sprawled upon their couches. They ate veal, and the choicest lambs of the flock - without a care, it seems, for the future of the flocks and herds (Amos 6:4).
They improvised music, imagining themselves thereby to be emulating David. They drank wine from bowls - were they sacrificial bowls, or is the allusion to excess? They anointed themselves with the finest deodorants (Amos 6:5-6).
Yet they were not grieved at “the affliction of Joseph” (Amos 6:6)! We are reminded of the way that Joseph’s older brothers cast him into a pit, and then sat down to eat bread (Genesis 37:23-25), apparently oblivious to ‘the anguish of his soul’ (cf. Genesis 42:21). God hears the cries of His people (cf. Exodus 3:7) - and so should we!
‘God resists the proud’ (James 4:6). Therefore these who are named “chief” of the nations (Amos 6:1), who indulged themselves with the “chief” ointments (Amos 6:6), shall “go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed” (Amos 6:7). This is the fate of a complacent, uncaring leadership.
There is the very real possibility that ‘religious’ people are trusting in their religion, rather than in the true and living God. Jesus told the Samaritan woman, ‘salvation is of the Jews’ (John 4:22) - and so it is, for salvation is only found in Him (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). That is why we insist that Christianity is not a ‘religion,’ but a relationship with Him.
Perhaps ‘Christian’ people, too, can end up trusting in their denomination, rather than their Saviour. After all, in the final analysis, those who are “at ease in Zion” are in no better state than those who “trust in the mountain of Samaria” (Amos 6:1a).
D). A CALL TO WORSHIP.
Psalm 146.
The last five Psalms (146-150) all begin and end with an exhortation to praise the LORD, addressed collectively to the congregation of God’s people. Yet it is not enough for the praise leader just to call others to worship: it is also the exercise of his own soul (Psalm 146:1; cf. Psalm 103:1). The writer’s praise is his very life’s breath (Psalm 146:2).
Such should be our praise. It is not something in which we indulge ourselves on special occasions only, but something which is relevant to all times and in all places (cf. Philippians 4:4). It is easy to say “Praise the LORD” in the good times: but we should not be prevented from such worship even in the shackles of the deepest dungeon of our lives (Acts 16:23-25).
With the Psalmist, our commitment should be to worship the LORD “while I have my being” (Psalm 146:2). Yet this is no individualistic super-piety. On the contrary: our ‘soul’ is ‘bound in the bundle of life with the LORD our God’ (1 Samuel 25:29); and our worship belongs to all the generations of God’s people (Psalm 146:10) – even to generations yet unborn (Psalm 22:30-31).
Yet even while we are worshipping the LORD, the temptation is always there to put our trust in something or someone else. The children of Israel very quickly resorted to the golden calf (Exodus 32:1), and throughout their history made unhelpful alliances with the super-powers of their day (Isaiah 31:1; cf. Isaiah 30:3). Even good king Hezekiah made the mistake of trusting the Babylonians (Isaiah 39:4-6).
So the Psalmist warns us: put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons of men in whom there is no help (Psalm 146:3). They are, after all, men like any other. They too, like Adam, will return to the earth from which they were drawn (Genesis 3:19); and their thoughts will perish with them (Psalm 146:4).
Our help and our hope is in the LORD our God (Psalm 146:5; cf. Psalm 121:2). The contrast brings us back to the beatitude of Psalm 1. If we are like ‘this’ and not like ‘that,’ then “happy are we.”
Yet who is this LORD, that we should worship Him? First, He is the God of Creation (cf. Psalm 8:3; Psalm 19:1). Second, and not far behind it, He is the God of Covenant “who keeps His promises for ever” (Psalm 146:6).
“The God of Jacob” (Psalm 146:5) “executes judgment for the oppressed” and “gives food to the hungry” (Psalm 146:7). This covenant God heard the voice of the cry of the children of Israel in bondage in Egypt (Exodus 3:9), and fed them in the wilderness (Exodus 16:32). The LORD loosed the captives (Psalm 146:7).
The name of “the LORD” resounds throughout the rest of the Psalm - yet we could just as easily read the name of Jesus. After all, it was He who set us free from our sins in His own blood (Revelation 1:5), and who goes on releasing those who have been held in bondage to sin and to death (Romans 6:6; Hebrews 2:15). It is He who opens the eyes of the blind (Psalm 146:8; cf. Acts 26:18), and who raises up the bowed down (Luke 13:11-13).
We are also able to see what we should be doing. The LORD cares for the strangers, the refugees, the outsiders (Psalm 146:9): so should we. The LORD relieves the orphans and widows – and often that is through the obedience His own people.
Again there is the echo of Psalm 1. The LORD loves the righteous (Psalm 146:8), but the way of the wicked He turns upside down (Psalm 146:9). It is no wonder that, from a worldly perspective, the early Christians were accused of ‘turning the world upside down’ (Acts 17:6).
Why should we trust and praise this God? Unlike the princes (Psalm 146:3), He shall reign for ever and ever, and to all generations (Psalm 146:10). This is your God (the Psalmist addresses God’s people) - so be sure you all “Praise the LORD” (Psalm 146:10).
E). ORDERS OF THE DAY.
1 Timothy 6:6-19.
# A WORD TO POOR CHRISTIANS (1 Timothy 6:6-10.)
Paul’s response to those who suppose that ‘gain = godliness’ (cf. 1 Timothy 6:5) is the exact opposite: “But godliness + contentment = great gain!” (1 Timothy 6:6-7). This contentment arises not from self-sufficiency, but from our God (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:5).
To the contented poor, the Apostle offers the encouragement, “having food and raiment, let us therewith be content” (1 Timothy 6:8). To the covetous poor, he offers a warning: “For the LOVE OF MONEY (not money itself) is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).
# FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF THE FAITH (1 Timothy 6:11-16).
I. “As for you, man of God, FLEE all these” (1 Timothy 6:11): false teachers (cf. 1 Timothy 6:3), and their money-grabbing ways (cf. 1 Timothy 6:5); and the inordinate love of money (1 Timothy 6:10).
The wise man desires neither poverty nor riches, and that with good reason (Proverbs 30:8-9). Money itself is not evil, but covetousness is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). It is not money itself, but “the love of money” which is “a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Such unrestrained attachment to wealth, or to the pursuit of wealth, causes some to err from the true faith - which itself constitutes idolatry.
II. “Flee these, but PURSUE…” (1 Timothy 6:11).
1. Pursue righteousness. Being made right with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, do right by Him. Exercise personal integrity, justice, and fair dealing with other people.
2. Pursue godliness. You cannot serve both God and Mammon (Matthew 6:24).
3. Pursue faith. There is a need for faithfulness, and personal integrity.
4. Pursue love. “Agape” is the highest form of love. It speaks of a love of God which is also charitable towards our fellow human beings.
5. Pursue patient endurance in adverse circumstances.
6. Pursue gentleness in relation to other people.
III. “FIGHT the good fight of The Faith” (1 Timothy 6:12).
The false teachers stood accused of being ‘seduced from the Faith’ (1 Timothy 6:10). There is a time to run, to flee, or to pursue: but there is also a time to make our stand for the “good” deposit. This battle is for the truth of Apostolic Christianity: in defence or on the offensive, we are on the victory side!
IV. “LAY HOLD on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:12).
To this you were called: grasp it, seize it, own it as your own. It is a present possession which is already yours, not just something tagged on to the end of this life.
“The confession of faith which you professed” (1 Timothy 6:12) is often taken to refer to the occasion of Timothy’s ordination. It is also possible that it refers to his baptism, as candidates would be expected to give some testimony of God’s work in their lives prior to the administration of this sacrament.
V. “KEEP this command” (1 Timothy 6:13-16).
“I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickens” (gives life to) “everything, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession” (by not denying His own Kingship); “that you keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 6:13-14).
As a minister, Timothy was to obey his orders, ‘without fault or failure.’ Similarly, the ‘everyman’ of Christianity is to fulfil his or her own calling, in obedience to the commandment of God (1 John 3:23).
The timing of that appearing is known only to God, “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords: who only has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man has seen, nor can see; to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen” (1 Timothy 6:15-16).
# A CHARGE TO RICH CHRISTIANS (1 Timothy 6:17-19).
The rich are not told to give up their riches, but to be aware of certain dangers: such as (i) arrogance, and (ii) putting their trust in uncertain riches.
They are encouraged to be (i) “rich in good works,” (ii) generous, and (iii) willing to share. Thus they will have a good foundation for “the time to come,” and will “lay hold upon eternal life.” This is the true treasure.
F). THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS.
Luke 16:19-31.
It was against the Pharisees who were lovers of money that Jesus spoke the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. It is a sad story, which shows two men in quite different lifestyles in this life, and the fate of each of them in the life to come.
1. The rich man, however important he thought himself to be, is not given a name in the Gospel. He is a man with fancy clothing and plenty of food, and a house big enough to have its own gate. Other people existed only to serve and pamper him. Even in the place of torment he imagined that Lazarus should be sent to serve him, cooling his tongue, or carrying messages to his brothers.
2. Lazarus was a poor man. Lazarus’s poverty was so great that he had to sit begging at the rich man’s gate. Even bread, the basic food, was not readily available to him, and he would gladly have eaten the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.
Lazarus was sick, no doubt from malnutrition and the inability to maintain his health. The poor man could never afford doctor’s fees. The only compassion he received was from the dogs that came and licked his sores. This was not a hygienic thing to allow.
The only dignity that remained to poor Lazarus in this life is that he is given a name. The LORD God knows His own people, and calls them by name.
3. So the beggar died. We hear of no funeral, but rather of the angels carrying his soul to the bosom of Abraham. By this we may conclude that Lazarus was truly one of God’s children, a true son of Abraham living by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Even the repentant thief on a cross was told by Jesus, “Today you shall be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
At death, the souls of believers enter into heaven. Their bodies remain in the earth. The Apostle Paul speaks of this state for Christian believers as being “asleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). Thus they remain until the return of Jesus Christ.
4. The rich man also died. In this at least the rich man and Lazarus were equal. Death is the great leveller. “Death comes to all men and after death the judgement” (Hebrews 9:27).
The rich man was buried. In his case we do hear of a funeral. We can imagine that there would have been hired mourners, as was customary in their land. There may have been public orations from relatives and friends, and from flatterers who hoped to benefit from his legacy. This is the way of the world.
We do not, however, hear of angels bearing his soul to heaven, but rather of his immediate torment in hell. We may conclude from this that, whatever his upbringing or religious affiliation in this life, the rich man had not been a godly man, a true son of Abraham through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Whilst Lazarus was ushered immediately into paradise, the rich man had no place there. “There shall by no means enter heaven anything profane, but only those who are written in the Book of Life” (Revelation 21:27).
The rich man was sent to hell. This is the fate of the wicked, and of all that forget God.
5. The difference in judgement between the rich man and Lazarus was not simply a reversal of their social status, but a fair judgement on how they used their opportunities in this life. Not all rich men go to hell, nor do all poor men go to heaven.
It was not the poverty of Lazarus which guaranteed his acceptance into heaven, but how he lived his life before God. He begged, but he did not steal. Jesus makes no mention of the man publicly bemoaning his difficulties, or blaming others, or entering into political agitation, or condemning the rich man’s apparent heartlessness. That is all for God to judge.
Despite his poverty, Lazarus had learned contentment, as many do. More than this, he had learned the fear of the LORD - otherwise he would not have been received into heaven. “Better is a little with the fear of the LORD, than great treasure with trouble” (Proverbs 15:16).
Likewise, the rich man was not condemned to hell because of his riches, but rather for his missed chances. He had every opportunity to show compassion to the poor man at his gate, but does not appear to have done so. Surely, he also knew the Hebrew Scriptures: “Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy” (Proverbs 31:9).
6. The separation between the rich man and Lazarus was full and final. When we die, we go to our respective places, either to heaven or to hell. We are judged on the lives we have lived, and on how we have used our opportunities to repent of a bad way of life by turning to our Lord Jesus Christ. We make our decision in this life, because after death there is no more opportunity for repentance. “If a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie” (Ecclesiastes 11:3).
The dead rich man could see Abraham afar off, and could see Lazarus in his bosom. The rich man prayed to Abraham who he thought he knew, calling him father. He did not pray to the God of Abraham, whom he had evidently never known. He asked Abraham to send Lazarus to serve him in that dreadful place, to bring water to relieve him from the awful flame.
The answer of Abraham only confirmed the totality of the separation between the godly and the unrighteous. The rich man had all his good things on earth, and Lazarus was receiving his good things in heaven. And there is a great gulf fixed, so that none can pass between heaven and hell.
Next the rich man asked that Lazarus be sent back to earth to warn the rich man’s five brothers of the reality of hell’s torments. Yet, said Abraham, they have Moses and the prophets. The Bible was read every week in the synagogue. That should be enough.
Knowing his own brothers, no doubt as he thought he was beginning to know his own heart, the rich man persisted. Surely if one goes to them from the dead they will repent? The final word of Abraham on the matter is conclusive. If they do not believe Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.
7. We have the Bible, in its entirety. We can hear it read Sunday by Sunday, and at other Services appointed by the Ministers. If we can read, and are able to purchase a copy for ourselves, we will also find other times to hear what God is saying to us.
The Pharisees were condemned by Jesus for not discerning God’s voice in the books of Moses and the prophets which they professed to love. We have an even greater opportunity to exercise our faith because we have the writings of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. This is the Word of God, the only rule to direct us how to serve God.
In the New Testament we do read of one who arose from the dead, who before His death did warn us of hell, and by His death makes a way of access for repentant sinners to enter paradise. Rich or poor, if we do not take the chance to repent of our sins, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to join the community of God’s people on earth, then the fault is ours. In that respect, our fate is in our own hands.
What is it to be?
Will you continue under the wrath and curse of God against sinful mankind, revelling in the midst of the miseries of this life, with the prospect of a place of torments forever? Or will you trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, repent of all your sins, and enter into the assurance of His Father’s love, with the prospect of enjoying fellowship with Him in a place of no pain forever?
