From the Black Hills, the Badlands and the Prairie of Western South Dakota

www.scatteredchristians.org

March 24, 2010
Audio sermon
Video sermon

The 'issue' is identical today - Christianity has rejected God's words - the voice of His mouth - and soon, as a result, the Tribulation will take over.

We, as Gentiles (saved, of course), will be taken out - something that Jeremiah didn't have the joy of looking forward to.

So, if you want to read about the Book of Jeremiah - the history, context, etc. I would highly recommend the following studies / sermons that I have preached & taught in my office back in 2003.

Overview of Jeremiah
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Jeremiah Was Not a Bullfrog

These are verses that could be said TO today's Christians, etc. Nobody says it better than Jeremiah!
...the word of the LORD came unto me, saying..

Note: I hope you don't just read these verses and 'skip' the audio sermon - you will miss the preaching that goes with these verses and you will miss a lot of what is being said about Jeremiah FOR us today.  We are looking for learning and admonishment from Jeremiah; we are not trying to make the Book of Jeremiah apply TO us today.

Paul is our apostle, not Jeremiah, but we can sure learn with how Jeremiah said what he said to those who rejected the voice of the LORD - the very thing that is taking place today - people AND Christians are rejecting the voice of the Lord in that ole' KJB!

Jeremiah heard the Voice of the LORD

• 1:4; 1:11; 1:13; 13:3; 13:8; 24:4; 32:6
• We have a King James Bible to do the same thing that Jeremiah did - hear the voice of the LORD!

• 6-12 - Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD!  behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth.  And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou?  And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.
• We are like Jeremiah in so many ways - EXCEPT when Jeremiah preaches on God's wrath - THAT will be applicable to the Tribulation - of which we have no part in!
• 16 - And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
• We don't have to worry about this - but today, this will be the Tribulation.  For now, God's goodness is in effect - See Romans 2:4,5
• 17-19 - Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.
• This is such a fantastic verse that we still allow to so relevant in our lives today!  be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
• we allow ourselves to be dismayed, thus we trim our ways, and we live a confounded life of confusion concerning right and wrong - we are so wothless these days with our testimony of the Risen Savior through Paul!

• 7-8 - And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.  The priests said not, Where is the LORD?  and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
• 11 - Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods?  but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
• 13 - For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
• 27-28 - Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee?  let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
• 31-37 -  generation, see ye the word of the LORD. ...  thou shalt not prosper in them.
• 27 - ...Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
• This is today's 'church face' - what a marvelous verse to show the church face!!!
• So many understand the 'church face' in other people - but they don't recognize their own face!!!

• 12-15 - Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart,
• 20-22 - Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.  Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.  Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
• 25 - We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

• 1,2 - If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
• If folks would take the KJB and follow Paul in their manner of life, our lives and country would be changed.  We are not looking for a return to the magical Jesus who will 'fix' everything in our lives and the false power of prayer today from II Chronicles 7:14 and the gospel from the Great Commission  - those are Scriptures directed to the Jews then - not to us today!  We learn from them, but we are follow Paul's teachings!
• 3,4 - For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
• It hurts us to do right in today's world!  We need to deal with our own lives, not be concerned about others as end up trimming our way to seek love from them!
• 19-22 - My bowels, my bowels!  I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.  How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
• The Tribulation is closer than most realize or even care to realize - they don't even want to hear about it these days!  But for now, the goodness of God is in effect, (Romans 2:4,5) not the fear of God's wrath - other than the Tribulation AFTER God cuts off the Gentile nation - Romans 11:22
• 30 - And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do?  Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
• Oh, today's Christian is so much like Jeremiah's people - God's grace is a marvelous thing - but it is not to be our ticket back to the ways of the world!

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To be continued - there are many more verses coming that 'say it so well' of what is going on today!

Let's learn from Jeremiah as we seek to learn to FOLLOW Paul's manner of life!

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Mike Paulson
(former pastor of King James Bible Church of Touchet, WA)
Doing the work of an evangelist teaching Paul's gospel of the Risen Saviour!
www.scatteredchristians.org

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The entire King James Bible is written FOR us, but it is not all written TO us!
We learn from the "For" and we learn to apply the 'TO!"