Sunday, May 30, 2021
“Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD’S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:” (Jeremiah 26:2 KJV).
No matter how offensive they are, we never water down God’s words for anyone!
Jeremiah could have altered God’s Word to make it more palatable. Like the feel-good “Christian” celebrities who mislead multimillions to make multimillions today, he could have preached: “I do not make mention of ‘sin’ in my sermons, for such a word only instills pessimism. We need to think positive thoughts. The LORD is so pleased with Jerusalem and King Jehoiakim. No Divine wrath or Gentile army is coming here to destroy us!” (In fact, false prophets were proclaiming this in Jeremiah 6:14, 8:11, and 23:16-40.)
Had Jeremiah joined the false prophets in their “ear-tickling” messages, he would have surely avoided persecution—particularly his torture and name-calling. Howbeit, him changing the message would ultimately not help his audience. It would only make repentance that much harder. A polluted message would not bring about the change in mind JEHOVAH God wanted, whereas a pure message would cause them to come back to God and avoid the wrath against their idolatry. Whatever Jeremiah said, God would not overlook their sin. Therefore, it was far better for Jeremiah to tell them what they needed to hear rather than what they wanted to hear!
Brethren, when we refuse to speak the words “Hell,” “wrath,” “eternal judgment,” and “sin;” indeed, we have gained the lost world’s friendship. However, we have not changed their impending doom at all! Whether we tell them of their sin problem or not, they still have it, and if they die without Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, they will absolutely not get into Heaven! We may opt out in sharing sound Bible doctrine with fellow Christians, so as to have the praise of these people as well. Yet, we have only played the hypocrite again—and deprived them of what would brought them to spiritual maturity and stability. Again, tell them what they need to hear rather than what they want to hear!
Let us summarize and conclude this devotionals arc….
333 Words of Grace 