King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 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.]
Date: Tuesday, August 08, 2023
Chapters: JEREMIAH 4-6
Study: Thou Art Made Whole, Sin No More
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
Same sex marriage, transgender pastors, polygamy, idol worship, these are some of the things going on in churches today. Not just any churches, but those who proclaim Christ. Now, anyone, regardless of the life they choose can come to Jesus by faith in Him and He will save them all the same, but when the Church becomes more corrupt than the world, then we have a problem. And if you think that Jesus is okay with these things, think again, He did not die for the Church so that they can make a mockery out of Him, [John 5:5-8,14 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? 7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. 8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.]
You see, salvation, while it has nothing to do with how bad you were that you needed Christ, is not about saving your flesh from the judgment as we are all appointed to die once. Unless Jesus returns in our lifetime, we will all face a physical death, what He saves is our soul, [Revelation 2:10-11 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.]
Since Solomon was king Israel has been divided, in fact, they made up their own gods, and for hundreds of years, even though they knew God, still today only a remnant actually walk with Christ. Now, there will come a day when the Jews will finally accept Christ, but until then this is what it is. God, had already sent judgment upon the Northern Kingdom, but Judah had gotten even worse, and now He was about to send judgment upon them. As we continue in the reading of Jeremiah, God calls for one last plea for them to return to Him.
[Jeremiah 4:1-4 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. 2 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. 3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. 4 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.]
[Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,] Whether it is doubt, fear, or some other sin that keeps Jesus from coming into ones heart completely, until that skin comes off He cannot help them. Jesus, does not force Himself upon anyone so if you say you believe in Him and accept Him, then He expects you to give Him your whole heart, [Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.]
[lest my fury come forth like fire,] Sin, must be put away out of the heart first in order to love Him mind, body, and soul, if it is not, then it is not out of God’s sight. If there is any sin in our heart at all we can expect some discomfort until we repent and get rid of it. Keep in mind that God was not destroying the people of Israel, He was destroying the land that He gave them, [1 Corinthians 3:10-11,15 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.]
It is a sad fact that a good majority of saved, born again Christians, take their salvation for granted. Meaning they know they are saved, but continue to live is sin because they know they are saved by grace. The fear of God has gotten about as vain as their fear of their parents, losing a job, or even breaking the law. People are unruly, disrespectful of any kind of authority, and this is not something new that God is seeing, in fact, Judah became just as unruly, and this was the reason why God was sending judgment.
[Jeremiah 4:6-9 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. 7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant. 8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us. 9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.]
[The lion is come up from his thicket,] God, had already warned them that Nebuchadnezzar, called a lion for his fierceness and strength, was on his way to capture them. Now, their only option at this point is to repent because God is not going to repent this time as He has done time and time again.
[Jeremiah 4:21-22,27-29 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? 22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. 27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. 28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. 29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.]
[I have purposed it, and will not repent,] When God repents, that means He has turned His thoughts away from the evil that He would have allowed should we repent. When we repent, we are turning our thoughts away from the fact that we cannot save ourselves from the punishment of hell because of our sins, but Jesus can. The second we receive Christ in our heart, God in turn repents of giving us that punishment because we are trusting that Jesus paid the price for us on that cross, [Colossians 2:13-15 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.]
[yet will I not make a full end.] There is one good thing to come of all this, since we are saved by grace and are promised salvation to our soul He will not destroy us. Way too many Christians are painted up to look like they are living for Christ, but it is only a visage, they are living some pretty wicked lives actually, and if they only would repent, then they would not be suffering so much. God, literally sent Jeremiah to search out Jerusalem to see if anyone of these who appeared to look like one of His were actually His.
[Jeremiah 5:1-5 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it. 2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely. 3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. 4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God. 5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.]
[The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.] Trust me, God, already knows who His faithful are, and the only ones He is proving that to is us. Of all the searching that Jeremiah did for someone who had not turned from God, he found something much worse than ignorant fools that had no knowledge of Him, He found those who knew of God, but were willingly ignorant to His Law and had no desire to learn or follow it.
[Jeremiah 5:9-14 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD’S. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD. 12 They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: 13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. 14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.]
[It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us;] These people thought that because they were Jews that they were privileged and therefore untouchable. Sound familiar? This sounds an awful lot like our unfaithful Christians today. Well, God does not accept that mentality now and He did not accept it back then either. While God can and does intervene more than we realize, there does come a time where repentance is the only option, and if it is not taken, then there will be no mercy, and ignorance to the truth will not save anyone either.
[Jeremiah 5:21-25 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: 22 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? 23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. 24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. 25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.]
[placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree,] When we were driving through Georgia we noticed that a lot of the rivers were receding, there was literally mud at the shoreline. Did you ever notice that the sea will stop right at the shoreline and go no further? Now, there are tides that will cause it to rise and storms that will send the waters raging, but the sea knows exactly where to go, how far to go, and it will never recede unlike any other body of water. The world will tell you that this phenomenon has something to do with the moon and weather patterns, I will tell you that this is all Christ, who is the master of the sea, [Matthew 8:24-27 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. 25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. 26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. 27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!]
Now, we all sin, and we can fall tremendously if we are not walking with Christ daily, but a life with Jesus is a changed life, one that shows the world that we are not of the world, but of Him. We are not to be like the world, if we are then we are falsely representing Christ, and there will be judgment for that. God, does not want to see the earth destroyed, and He certainly does not want a single soul that He created to end up in hell, but that choice is up to each individual. Jeremiah, being of the tribe of Benjamin, went to his brethren who had been by Judah’s side since they were divided, and begged for them to get out of Jerusalem.
[Jeremiah 6:1-3,7-9 O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction. 2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman. 3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place. 7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds. 8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited. 9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.]
[They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine:] Believe it or not, the number of babies born every year is declining, but even among those born only a remnant will be saved as very few will come to the knowledge of Christ. God, does not want to see the earth destroyed, and He certainly does not want a single soul that He created to end up in hell, but that choice is up to each individual, [Romans 3:22-24 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:]
You can tell people how much Jesus loves them all you want, and you can tell them that He died on the cross, but if you do not tell them why He died on the cross, and just what they are believing in then, they will never be saved because they must admit that they are sinners first. Now, through Jeremiah, God, expresses His anger toward those who are not ashamed of their sin.
[Jeremiah 6:15-19,29-30 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. 16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. 17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. 18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. 19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. 29 The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. 30 Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.]
[Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths,] My goodness, what I would not give for the old paths that were only a few years ago. When the kids were like sponges to hear God’s Word and had respect for their parents, teachers, and all authority, who did not pitch fits in public because they did not get everything they wanted. You know, we hear so much about people being brought into privilege because they are a certain color, race or gender, but the ones who believe that need to open their eyes to the fact there is no respecter of persons with God. [Romans 2:6-11 Who will render to every man according to his deeds: 7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 11 For there is no respect of persons with God.]
[because they have not hearkened unto my words,] Do not let the world fool you, or religion for that matter, anyone in their right mind can see that all the strange occurrences in the weather has to do with more than climate change. What is going on right now is one big altar call from God from all over the world, and it scares them to death. Well, fear will either bring you to God or away from Him, it is not what is going on in the world that we need to fear, it is the one who has the power over all the earth, [Matthew 10:26-28 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. 27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. 28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.]
[Reprobate silver shall men call them,] Reprobate silver is the dross or muck that has been sifted from the silver itself, it has no use or value. This is a picture of all those who are living their lives through the visage of religion or self righteousness and what they actually look like to God. Until we see Christ for who He is, until we acknowledge that we are sinners and cannot save ourselves, but Jesus can saves us, that is when we go from being a reprobate to a child of God, [2 Corinthians 13:5-8 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. 7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. 8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for reminding me once again of just how much You love me and how blessed I am to be one of Yours. For the life of me I do not understand why you are so merciful and forgiving, but You are faithful and just to forgive all my unrighteousness when I come to You confessing my sin. It truly is grieving to see our churches run by so much evil, and I can only imagine how much it grieves You, and how much You just want them to see Your Son again, and turn away from their sin. Lord, put Your hedge of protection around me and all Your faithful, fill us with Your power, mercies, grace, compassion, and a passion to reach the lost. Let us not fear the evil, only fear You and trust that what You tell us in darkness we will speak in the Light of Your Son. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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