King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Friday, August 15, 2019
Chapters: Jeremiah 32-34
Message: Using Our Liberty In Christ To Serve Others
Hello My Friend,
Liberty; Freedom of action or speech beyond the ordinary bounds of civility. Privilege; exemption. Freedom of the will. We all want the freedom to make our own choices, that is what freewill is for, but when those choices infringe upon the people, perhaps it is time to use our liberty a little wiser. And yet, it seems that many want the freedom to do and say what they please at the cost of others freewill. It occurred to me yesterday just how selfish sin is, it does not think of others, it does not care about the welfare of others, and it definitely is not considerate of others. Sin says, “I can walk into the ladies room even though I am a man, and I care less about women.” Sin says, I can smoke that joint in the car, and I care less about the other people on the road. Sin says, I can have unprotected sex, and I care less about the person I am with. Sin says, I can have that abortion, and I care less about the life I kill. Yes, I am being quite blunt today, and there are just as many Christians who live like the world. The freedom Jesus gave us on the cross gave us liberty from the Law, but that is no reason to take advantage of our liberty. “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” – Galatians 5:13-15.
“But if ye bite and devour one another,” They can blame God all they want, but sinful man is the cause of their devouring each other, all the hate, crime, famine, poverty, and violence in the world is the result of people using their liberty for the occasion of their flesh. This was the state of Israel, God had the majority of Judah carried off to Babylon while the Babylonians started taking over Judah and Jerusalem. Instead of doing what they were told, Zedekiah captures Jeremiah and has him put in the stocks. Jeremiah prophesies that both the city and the court will be burned and destroyed by Babylon. While in jail, God instructs Jeremiah to buy a piece of land. He prays to God for some understanding in all this.
“For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house. For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD, saying, Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it. And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” – Jeremiah 32:2-3,6,9,16,24-25.
“for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.” Jeremiah is asking God why He asks him to buy a field that will be utterly destroyed and desolate. Liberty is not free, someone who actually cared for the welfare of others bought the freedoms we have. If it were not for the people who gave their lives even unto their death, man would decide who gets to live and die, what we get to eat and wear, who gets to be rich or poor, and what god we must worship. Wake up people! Freedom always comes at the cost of others lives! Well, God answered Jeremiah’s prayer, and it was something rather insightful.
“Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.” – Jeremiah 32:37-42.
“so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.” Jesus Christ bought our redemption on the cross, when we of our own freewill choose Him to be our Saviour God does not promise that the rest of our lives here will be pain free, but He does promise that good will come. We may never see an end to suffering in our lifetime here on earth, but we will when we see Jesus. Amen! Even us faithful Christians sometimes forget that everything in God’s control, and that it is really not Him that brings all this evil. At times, we can ask and ask God for answers and do not get a response. Well He does respond, it is just that we often do not like the response and keep asking in hopes that we get the one we want. We never want pain to reveal something good, but more often than we expect, that is exactly what does. As Jeremiah continues to sit in that cell, God assures him that all they have to do is call on Him, and He will show them some amazing things.
“Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.” – Jeremiah 33:3,8-9,15,24-26.
“Considerest thou not what this people have spoken,” God is referring to Judah and the Levites here, the world wants to try and convince us that God has cast His people off, but God will never cast off any soul that received His Son. We may not understand His plan, we may not understand why the suffering and crazy things happening, but great and mighty things will come out of them. One day, Jesus will reign forever, and all faithful Christians will join the faithful Jews, in fact, there will be no such thing as Christians or Jews, we will just be God’s people. Praise God! With a few Jews left in Jerusalem trying to salvage what was left and get God to repent of the judgment, you can imagine what was going on. No, they were not turning to God, in the one instance, Zedekiah made a covenant to proclaim liberty on all those who were enslaved, but then they took it back. This was in regards to the law of a servant paying off a debt, the law stated that anyone owing a debt paid it off working for them for six years as a servant, after seven years they would be free.
“Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.” – Jeremiah 34:13-17.
“I proclaim a liberty for you,” Go against God, and He will give you liberty all right, He will let you die in your sins. Jesus can set the vilest sinner free, and truly does give us liberty from the guilt and shame of our sins, but He cannot do that if we have no intention of turning from our sinful ways. The Great, the Mighty God, is His name, nothing is too hard for Him, and yet so many Christians live their lives in captivity to sin rather than liberty in Christ. Everything is not always going to be perfect when we follow Christ, but we do not have to live in bondage to them, we just need to trust Jesus and live free in Him. “I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” – Galatians 5:10,16-18.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” – Jeremiah 32:27.
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for sending Your Son to make the ultimate sacrifice for us, with His sinless sacrifice You not only gave us a way to be saved from death and hell, You accept us and make us one of Your own. Only by believing in and trusting Jesus as our Saviour are we given liberty, and not by any works that we do, but by His buying our redemption. Lord, I want to live my life free walking in Your Spirit so that I can be the example and testimony that You need to bring liberty to others. Lead me and guide me, let me not use my liberty for the occasion of my flesh, but to love one another as Christ loves me. I love You Lord and ask these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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