The Bible says in Jeremiah 46:27-28, “But fear not
thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will
save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob
shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.[28]
Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I
will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will
not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave
thee wholly unpunished.” These are two great verses that are full of the basis for
eternal security. God gives a commandment at the start of both of these verses:
“fear thou not.” God wants Christians to be brave and courageous and full of
confidence. We can be like this without fear if we think about Jesus and what
He has promised to do for us in the future and what He will do for us now. God
promised about the future in verse 27 “I will save thee.” And God promised
about the present in verse 28, “I am with thee.”
God’s promise about salvation in verse
27 is an unconditional promise. It is something that God will do. Jesus saves.
He does the saving, and we get the benefit. God makes the promise now, and God
says that it will happen in the future because of the promise that He makes
now. That is how a person can say, “I know that I am going to heaven when I die
because Jesus saved me.” In other words Jesus made me a promise and He will
keep that promise. What do I have to fear? The worse thing that can happen to
me is to die, and then I will just go to heaven because Jesus said that I am
saved, and I believe Him.
But I may not die for many years. As I
walk through this world, there are many challenges and difficulties. There are
also many who do not walk in the Spirit. How will I face all these things, and
how will I not be fearful of them? I simply need to trust in Jesus. He promises
every believer just like He promised Jacob that He will always be with us. God
promised, “Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with
thee.”
These promises in these two verses in
Jeremiah are addressed to both “
In the day in which we live wherein
there are so many crazy things going on involving many of the governments of
the world, it is important to member what God said in Jeremiah 46:28, “for I will
make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee.” God has a plan
for every nation, and every nation is heading towards its judgment. Jesus is
called the King of kings for a reason. They all report to Him, and they will
all give an answer. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess.
The Bible says in Jeremiah 47:1-7, “The word of
the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that
Pharaoh smote Gaza.[2] Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out
of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land,
and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men
shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.[3] At the
noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his
chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to
their children for feebleness of hands;[4] Because of the day that
cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every
helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of
the country of Caphtor.[5] Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut
off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?[6]
O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself
into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.[7] How can it be quiet, seeing
the LORD hath given it a charge against
The Bible says in Jeremiah 48:1-7, “Against Moab
thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is
spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and
dismayed.[2] There shall be no more praise of
[4] Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.[5]
For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going
down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.[6] Flee,
save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.[7] For because
thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken:
and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes
together.” Every human being was born to trust in the Lord. To trust
means to believe in, and to depend upon, and to rely on. That is why it says in
Romans 10:13, “Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved.” The name of
the Lord is Jesus. If you do not trust in Jesus, then you will trust in someone
or something else.
The Moabites trusted in two of the
more common things that people trust in who do not trust in the Lord. It says
in Jeremiah 48:7, “For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures…” All of the
false religions of the world, even false Christianity, are based upon human
beings trusting in their own works. If you trust in your own works, you will
end up being condemned at the judgment because everyone sins. You will never do
enough good works to cancel out your sins. Jesus died on the cross to pay for
sin. We see in Revelation 20:11-15 what happens to people who are judged based
upon their own works. It says, “And I saw a great white throne, and
him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and
there was found no place for them.[12] And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was
opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things
which were written in the books, according to their works.[13] And the
sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.[14]
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.[15]
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake
of fire.”
In addition to trusting in their own
works, the Moabites also trusted in their “treasures.” That also
is a common tendency of human beings. People think that if they have more
money, they can do more things. This is partly true, and that is why it easily
goes to an extreme. Of course, the more money that you have, the longer
vacation that you can take. If you have more money and you get sick, you can
travel to a better hospital and get the best doctors for your treatment. But
money cannot buy happiness, and money cannot keep you from dying when you time
comes. Use you money to serve the Lord and to prepare for more opportunities to
serve Him. That is why He gives you money in the first place. But if you trust
in money instead of trusting in the Lord Jesus for salvation, you will go to
hell. Jesus said in Luke 16:13-15, “No servant can serve two masters:
for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will
hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.[14]
And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they
derided him.[15] And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify
yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly
esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”
In order to explain clearly what
happens to people who trust in riches, Jesus told us what happened to a certain
rich man. Jesus said in Luke 16:19-31, “There was a certain rich man, which
was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:[20]
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full
of sores,[21] And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the
rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.[22] And
it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into
Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;[23] And in hell
he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus
in his bosom.[24] And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on
me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool
my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.[25] But Abraham said, Son,
remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.[26]
And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that
they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us,
that would come from thence.[27] Then he said, I pray thee therefore,
father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:[28] For I have
five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this
place of torment.[29] Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the
prophets; let them hear them.[30] And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but
if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.[31] And he said
unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” If you trust in
riches instead of Jesus, you will have the same destiny that this rich man
had.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2013 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved