Intermediate Lesson 29 - Book of Jeremiah

MESSAGE FOR PEOPLE TODAY FROM THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH

Church: Philadelphia                                  Lesson 34 of 39                               Theme: Word of God

Background Information:

ü  We asked in the book of 2 Kings, “How can the creation know that the cost of sin is death?”

ü  In Job, we were awakened to learn how Satan will lie to God and try to turn our heart away from God; with a living sacrifice, we can build an inner temple to bear witness that we believe the word of God became flesh to save us from death.

Statement of Faith to Say Amen to for the Book of Jeremiah:

I can be a witness who aligns my living sacrifice with the word of the Lord and not the world.

Essential Question:

Can I bear witness to the world about the word of the Lord when the world has a heart of stone?

Book of Jeremiah:

Have students read pages 183-189 in The Pattern of Sound Teaching.

After students read the information ask them, "What do you want to talk about?"

Remember the Issue:

Living life with a Jeremiah spirit bears witness to the word of God even when it is a burden to bear. It will be a burden to bear witness to a group of people who are prejudiced against the word of God with hearts of stone. With the new covenant, our heart will be weighed and measured by the spirit. In the church of Pergamos, we can be given forgiveness. Then in the church of Thyatira, we can be given a new heart. Then in the church of Sardis, we can be given a new spirit. Jeremiah said God would give us a new covenant with a new heart and spirit of flesh. By putting on the armor of God, we can build an internal temple on the foundation of faith that the church of Laodicea formed on The Rock of Faith. We need to remember God’s armor includes an offense of the (6) Sword of the Spirit. Jeremiah 47:6 reveals how God’s righteousness will fight against sin with the sword. We need to remember God does offer a way to be saved with Jesus. With our living sacrifice, we can bear an inner witness to the world about the spiritual gift of receiving a heart of flesh because the word of God became flesh and now Christ bears the consequence of sin. A Jeremiah spirit will bear witness to the world with the truth even when it is a burden to bear.

(1)   The world is teaching us that we can learn the truth about creation with science. “Hear now this O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: 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 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?” (Jeremiah 5: 21-22). Just from seeing God’s creation, we should be able to understand that science cannot teach us the truth. A Jeremiah spirit will bear witness of how only the word of God will teach us the truth.

(2)   The world is not telling people that death is the cost of sin. Jesus came and showed us how we can beat death with his sacrifice. We will make a living sacrifice, and when someone makes a living sacrifice with a rebellious heart, the living sacrifice will be made to Satan. A rebellious heart will not be aware of God trying to turn its heart away from sin. As it is written in Jeremiah 17: 9-10, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: Who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reigns even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of doing.” A rebellious person will curse God in their heart. “But this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart, let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both former and the latter, in this season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest” (Jeremiah 5:23-24). Satan will try and turn us against God, so we will have behaviors that will build a living sacrifice with a rebellious heart that does not agree with the word of God. A Jeremiah spirit will bear witness to the rebellious person that they are making a living sacrifice to Satan.

(3)   The world is not telling people that God has a plan for every human born. God is the potter and we are the clay. The Lord wants to mold us, and when we ignore or reject that that God created the Earth and everything in and on it, or ignore the word of the Lord, the Lord will not be able to mold our clay. Jesus said to repent when he began his Earthly ministry. “Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you” (Jeremiah 5:25). A Jeremiah spirit will bear witness by telling people they have ignored God’s calling.

(4)   The world is watching people who sin and setting traps to catch them in sin, and then the world never tells them to repent. “For among my people are found wicked men: they lay in wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore, they become great, and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge” (Jeremiah 5:26-28). A Jeremiah spirit will bear witness to anyone who sets traps to catch people in sin when they never bring it to the attention of the person and refuse to judge the person’s sin.

Remember the Truth Jesus Brought:

When the clay does not work with God, the clay will harden. Just like clay hardens, so can our hearts harden. This is the end result when we continually refuse the call from God. Refusing the call of God will cause a person to have lukewarm faith. God made us wonderfully not to have lukewarm faith.

Remember the Rock God Established:

Jeremiah is the young prophet whom God had put forth his hand and touched his mouth; the Lord put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth. Jeremiah foretold the new covenant would be coming in the future. All people would know the Lord and know that the Lord will be able to throw away all of a person’s sin. As it is stated in Jeremiah 36: 26-27, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them.”

Activity:

The activity directions are located in Appendix 3.

Students will play a game called Sin.

Conclusion:

We can present our body as a living sacrifice when we bear witness to a hard-hearted world with tears.

Next Lesson:

In the next lesson, God's promise is how He gives us a way to escape what we cannot endure when we remember the enemy will use fear and lies to tempt us to be self-righteous and to believe that we are better than another person. We have to remember that only God is Holy, and we love because He loves us. In the next lesson, Amos explains how prejudices will stop us from performing reasonable services. Reasonable services are defined as building our internal temple which is our living sacrifice to reflect the holiness of God (Romans 12:1). God’s servants perform reasonable services.