FBC Morning Light (8/10/2024)

Good early morning, people of faith. This weekend, we have numerous passages from Jeremiah, as well as Daniel chapters 1 and 2. Remember that this year's reading is a chronological approach, so this is all passages that are happening roughly at the same time.

Jeremiah 7 and the Danger of Trusting Lying Words

We're going to be focusing on Jeremiah chapter 7. Let me read starting in verse 1. It says, The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Stand in the gate of the Lord's house and proclaim there this word and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Do not trust in these lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these.

So the exhortation here is to not trust in lying words. Well, what are the lying words here? The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these. Somehow, some way, the people apparently believed because the temple was in Jerusalem that Jerusalem was not going to fall.

And so those are lying words. And so as the people have this false belief, the false faith that because the temple of the Lord was there in Jerusalem that Jerusalem wasn't going to fall, Jeremiah is given these words to prophesy.

And it says down in verse 8, it says, Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before me in this house which is called by my name and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations, right?

So because the people have this false faith in the temple being in Jerusalem, so God was not going to allow the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem. That was a lie. They carried that further. They had all of these direct sins, abominations to the Lord, including worshiping of Baal.

Not unlike some things you may see in a church where someone says, I place my trust in Christ. Now I get to do whatever I want to do. And they spend much of their time drinking and carousing and just all manner of evil.

And yet come on Sunday morning and say, all is right because I go to church on Sunday morning as if that is going to absolve you of your sins. It will not. It will not. It is a good thing to go to church.

But if you think you can live a duplicitous life in this manner, you are living by lies. So the people have this trust in the temple being in Jerusalem. And in verse 12, the Lord addresses this. He says, but now go to my place, which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first when the people of Israel had come into the land, the ark was at one time at Shiloh.

But by this time, Shiloh was in complete ruins. Shiloh did not really exist as a dwelling place for people at this time. And so the Lord's using this object lesson to say, look, you can't trust in the temple being in Jerusalem because look what I did to Shiloh.

Look what I did to Shiloh. It's human nature, I think, to put our trust in things that have been around for a long time. You say this church building has been here longer than I've been alive. I expect it to be here.

And yet a fire or a tornado or a flood or something could take and just wipe this building off the face of the earth. Right. We think, oh, these this country has been around for hundreds of years, longer than anyone's been alive.

But yet, if you look in the grand scheme of things, nations come and nations go. And we have no guarantee that this nation will last forever. Right. And so in light of these things, in light of these things, let us not place our trust in these things, but rather place our trust in the only one who is sure that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

And let us not live a duplicitous life where we say, I can go and do these evil things and God will forgive me. Right. Let it be that our lives are changed by by Jesus coming and changing us from the inside out.

Trusting Christ Rather Than Temporary Institutions

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we know that this building, this city, this state, this country are all temporary things in your eyes. And yet your word stands forever. Help us to place our trust in you through your word and what you've told us about who you are and what you've done for us.

It's in your son's name, Jesus, we pray. Amen. Have an excellent day, people of faith.