Thursday, May 29, 2008
Jeremiah 29 HOW TO KNOW GOD
1 This is the text of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exiles, the priests, the prophets, and all the people Nebuchadnezzar had deported from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2 This was after King Jeconiah,the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had left Jerusalem.
3 The letter was sent by Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah whom Zedekiah king of Judah had sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The letter stated:
4 This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon:
5 “Build houses and live in them . Plant gardens and eat their produce.
6 Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease.
7 Seek the welfare of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it has prosperity, you will prosper.”
8 For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you, and don’t listen to the dreams you elicit from them,
9 for they are prophesying falsely to you in My name. I have not sent them.” This is the Lord’s declaration.
10 For this is what the Lord says: “When 70 years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm My promise concerning you to restore you to this place.
11 For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
12 You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
14 I will be found by you”—the Lord’s declaration—“and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will restore you to the place I deported you from.”
15 You have said, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon!”
16 But this is what the Lord says concerning the king sitting on David’s throne and concerning all the people living in this city—that is, concerning your brothers who did not go with you into exile.
17 This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “I am about to send against them sword, famine, and plague and will make them like rotten figs that are inedible because they are so bad.
18 I will pursue them with sword, famine, and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse and a desolation, an object of scorn and a disgrace among all the nations where I will have banished them.
19 I will do this because they have not listened to My words”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“that I sent to them with My servants the prophets time and time again. And you too have not listened.” This is the Lord’s declaration.
Jeremiah 29 HOW TO KNOW GOD
The people of Israel were in trouble. Deportation to Babylon was God’s punishment for them. Historical Background to Babylonian Captivity
Phase 1: 605 BC, 2 Chronicles 36:6-7 King Jehoiakim in shackles, Daniel and others of noble birth deported to Babylon
Phase 2: 597 BC, 2 Kings 24:10-16 Jehoiachin, Queen mother, other rulers, craftsmen, artisans, king’s army (7,000 strong), all but the poorest people deported to Babylon
Phase 3: 586 BC, 2 Kings 25:1-7 Fall of Jerusalem, temple looted, destroyed, walls pulled down King Zedekiah blinded, deported to Babylon
They thought that God didn’t have a single thought of peace toward them, it looked like that all the thoughts God had toward them were thoughts of evil, thoughts of catastrophe…God had it in for them…and He is punishing them in some way. But God says, “I know what I’m doing! I know the plans that I have for you and they are plans to bring you a future and a hope! I know it looks to you like My thoughts toward you are thoughts of calamity, but I know what I’m doing! And everything I’m doing is to bring you a future and a hope!”
What God was trying to say to you is this… Verse 12 begins with the word “then”…it may not appear that way in your translation, but that’s what it is in the text… “THEN when you’re in captivity and you don’t understand what’s going on with your life, THEN when you call upon Me and you shall pray to Me and I will listen to you and you will seek Me with all your heart.”
What God is saying to His people is, “The reason that I’m bringing about this captivity, the reason that I’m doing all these things in your life is to bring you to a place where you will seek Me.” See, they had become so satisfied and settled in their “religion” that they began to seek after other gods…and they were giving their affection and their attention to other gods, and so God says, “What I’m going to do is I’ve to capture your attention and I’ve got to get to the place where you will turn to Me and seek Me, so all of this that is happening, all of this captivity that is coming up on you is so that you will come to the place THEN, THEN, THEN one of these days you will turn to Me and you will seek Me with all your heart.”
What were they being punished for? Well here the problem and the solution are put in one bundle.
They were not seeking God with their whole heart.
The solution, they should seek God with their whole heart.
It sounds a simplistic issue. But it is no more simplistic in our day as it was in Jeremiah’s day.
Blaise Pascal said, there is a God shaped vacuum in every human heart that only God can fill.
This sort of what God promised the people of God through Jeremiah:
Jer. 29:11-13 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 ‘And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
"Plans for welfare and not for evil" (ESV).
"Plans to take care of you, not abandon you" (MSG).
"Plans for good and not for disaster" (NLT).
"'Plans for well-being and not for trouble" (NLV).
Blaise Pascal said, there is a God shaped vacuum in every human heart that only God can fill.
Augustine “our hearts are not at rest until they find their rest in Thee.
Here are two statements that call forth a response in our hearts.
Both statements echo in our hearts because both statements recognise the unrest and emptiness, an unfulfilledness of the human heart.
Both statements echo in our hearts because both statements recognise that the solution for the human heart is a personal relationship with God.
But why do these statements echo in our hearts?
1. The Revelations That Sustain The Personal Knowing Of God.
The First Way Of Knowing God Is Through Indirect Communication
The classical apologists looked to present evidence for the existence of God.
They were concerned to present Christianity as a rationally acceptable world view.
The Classical apologists presented Christianity as rational through basically 6arguemtns.
The teleological argument:
The cosmological argument
The ontological argument…
The Moral argument from universal conscience.
The classical apologetic was based upon Romans 1:18-22. For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, 19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. 21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened.
We live in a real world. And the real world indicates some thigns to us.
Psalm 19:1-3 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. 2 Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge.3 There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. 4 Their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.
19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.
But there is another way that God is known rather than the logical viewing of creation and logically reasoning from this the possibility of the existence of God.
The second way God is made known is through direct communication.
Romans 1:19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them.
May also be understood as “God has made it known in them.”
Rom 1:19 διότι τὸ γνωστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ φανερόν ἐστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς· ὁ θεὸς γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐφανέρωσεν.
There is a sense of the Divine that is communicated directly to our hearts through the creation.
Psalm 19:1-3 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.
There is also a sense in which God has put within our human hearts the “primitive knowledge” of Himself.
It is there already. It is just waiting for the assertion of the truth of God so it can echo back to Him the joy in the knowledge of God.
It is waiting to be reawakened.
There is a sense in which it speaks to us every day in the voice of conscience.
Romans 2: 14 So, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, instinctively do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. Their consciences testify in support of this, and their competing thoughts either accuse or excuse them..
The law written on our hearts disturbs us as conscience reminds us of our need to know and obey God.
Well all of that is true, but what about us?
The Third Way We know God Is Through Indirect Revelation
Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The Fourth Way God may be known Is Through Direct Revelation
1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
The way that you came to know the Lord
1. I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew he moved my soul to seek him, seeking me.
It was not I that found, O Savior true; no, I was found of thee.
2. Thou didst reach forth thy hand and mine enfold; I walked and sank not on the storm-vexed sea. 'Twas not so much that I on thee took hold, as thou, dear Lord, on me.
Seeking the Lord may be something the pagan needs to do, but not me! I’ve already got the Lord…you know, I’m saved…I’ve known the Lord for forty years… Well, Paul said the same thing to the Philippians. He said he knew Him. He said he counted all things loss that he might know Him and he said that he continued to count all things loss that I might know Him. What did Paul mean? Well, there’s knowing Him and then there’s knowing Him.
I remember sitting on a plane hearing some American students talking.
One said, “I have seen everything there is to see in Australia!” I raised my eyebrows.. who was this wonderful person who, with an American accent, had seen all there was to see of Australia? I had lived here 45 years, and I hadn’t seen hardly anything! He went on “I flew into Sydney, next I went to Brisbane, then down to Melbourne, then over to Ayers rock, and then up to Darwin and the parks up there.. and then over to the Great barrier Reef, and onto the islands. Yes I’ve seen everythngi there is to see of Australia!” Another Americn student asked him “Wow how long have you been over here?” “A week.”
I almost laughed aloud. In 1 week he had seen a lot, mark you, but had he really come to know the land of Australia? Had he really come to understand Australians? Had he even really experienced anything significant of the wonderful places he had been?”
See, there’s a difference, isn’t there? See there’s a difference in knowing the Lord and knowing Him. There’s a difference in being in a country and being in a country and knowing all about it.
There is being married and there is having a real marriage.
Some people could say, “Oh yes, I’m saved…” “Well, tell me about it.” “Well, He’s my Saviour.” “Describe Him to me.” “Uh, well….” “Tell me some of the things He’s done for you.” “Uh, well, He saved me…” “Yes, but tell me something else.”
And so, God is saying, “What I want for you is for you to seek Me.” “Lord, we already know You…” “Yes, but you only know the top. You’ve only been in the airport…you don’t know all the glories that I have for you. You don’t know all the beauty that is in the Christian life. You don’t know all the strength and the resources that are there. I want you to know Me!”
There are things God has placed in our lives so that we have the innate knowledge of God, but that is not knowing God.
In fact, that innate knowledge of God, as minimal as it is., can be suppressed.
Romans 1:18 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, 19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them.
2. The Reprehensibles That Suppress The Personal Knowing Of God.
GOD MUST BE FOUND BEFORE BE CAN BE KNOWN AND ENJOYED. “He is not far from each one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being.” Yet this natural nearness of God may be unrecognized by us, and may not be sufficient to bring us into the spiritual communion with him. The God of nature may be “the unknown God,” or he may be recognized and yet not enjoyed as the “Portion” of the soul. Sin hides the vision of God, and drives the soul into remote spiritual banishment from God, even though it cannot affect his physical presence.
The Problem Of Pride
21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools
Self-centredness.
The Problem of Perversion
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.24 Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves.
The Problem Of Perspective
Our natural limitations of thought and experience surround the idea of the Divine with mystery, and make us feel that though God is partly known there are still ways of God that are far beyond our ken, so that we exclaim in bewilderment and distress, “Verily, thou art a God that hidest thyself!” (Isaiah 45:15).
3. The Restoration That Seeks The Knowing Of God.
Jer. 29:11-13 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 ‘And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
The purpose of God is not achieved in our lives until we find our everything in Him. To seek and find the Lord is to find in Him our joy, delight, fulfilment and success.
God draws near to those who do not seek him, to urge them to search and find him (Isaiah 65:1). He seeks us before we seek him. Our search is the response of our hearts to his invitation (Psalm 27:8). But this search must be made. The promise of finding is attached to the condition of seeking (Matthew 7:7). The prodigal must return to his father before he can receive the welcome home. Men are waiting for God to visit them, reveal himself to them, do something that will bring them back to him.
They may wait forever, and in vain. God is waiting for us. It is our part to arise and seek him.
WE ARE TO SEEK THE LORD EXCLUSIVELY.
Vs. 13 - "You shall seek ME." They were in captivity but they were not told to seek their freedom, or better conditions.
I really believe one of the problems we’re having in contemporary Christianity is that we’re seeking everything in the name of the Lord, but we’re seeking everything but the Lord. We’re seeking His blessings. We’re seeking His gifts. We’re seeking His miracles. But are we seeking Him?
AB Simpson “ Iwish to speak to you about Jesus, and Jesus only. I often hear people say, "I wish I could get hold of Divine Healing, but I cannot." Sometimes they say, "I have got it." If I ask them, "What have you got?" the answer is sometimes, "I have got the blessing", sometimes it is, "I have got the theory"; sometimes it is, "I have got the healing"; sometimes, "I have got the sanctification." But I thank God we have been taught that it is not the blessing, it is not the healing, it is not the sanctification, it is not the thing, it is not the it that you want, but it is something better. It is "the Christ"; it is Himself.”..
HIMSELF by A. B. Simpson
Once it was the blessing, Now it is the Lord; Once it was the feeling, Now it is His Word.
Once His gifts I wanted, Now the Giver own; Once I sought for healing, Now Himself alone.
Once 'twas what I wanted, Now what Jesus says; Once 'twas constant asking, Now 'tis ceaseless praise.
Once it was my working, His it hence shall be; Once I tried to use Him, Now He uses me.
Once the power I wanted, Now the Mighty One; Once for self I labored, Now for Him alone.
Once I hoped in Jesus, Now I know He's mine; Once my lamps were dying, Now they brightly shine.
Seek for nothing more: Col. 2:9,10 For in Him the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled by Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
Sometimes we love God for what He can do for us than just for Himself!
So, we’re to seek God exclusively. We’re not to seek for anything beyond Him because there is nothing beyond Him. Having Him you have everything, don’t you? What more could you have?
Seek for nothing more and Settle for nothing less.
WE ARE TO SEEK THE LORD EARNESTLY.
Vs. 13 "With all your heart." An O.T. phrase meaning "to obey all His Word." The word search is important. It’s not a casual looking about. It is an intense investigation, an intense search. And when you search you shall search with all your heart. That’s important! It’s a Hebrew phrase that means “with determination…with desperation.” It means willing to do whatever is required to find Him. It reminds me of the verse in Hebrews 11: 6… “God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
This search must be with all the heart. The reason why we are disappointed of the answers of our prayers is often that our prayers are so insincere, so cold, so half-hearted. It is reasonable to expect God, the allseeing, to answer our prayers, not according to the vigor of the language, but according to the fervency of our desires. If we value the knowledge and communion of God aright, we shall seek him with all the heart: (1) with the heart, i.e. sincerely, spiritually, inwardly, not with mere formal inquiries; and
(2) with the whole heart, i.e. with singleness of purpose, intensity, earnestness.
We Seek the Lord Earnestly Because we are desperate: captivity.
We come to a service and we get inspired to pray more, but it’s a half-hearted search. I tell you this thirst and hunger for God will not be satisfied by a little mid-morning snack. It is something that will be satisfied only in the finding of the Lord and you see, we do this out of desperation. Desperation that whatever God wants me to do I will do…whatever it takes to know Him as much as it is possible for me to know Him I will do. I will do whatever it takes to find Him. Sometimes we seek the Lord out of desperation because we’re in captivity.
They thought they had to have the temple! And so they sought the temple more than they sought the Lord! They valued the temple more than they valued the Lord! That’s why the Lord had the temple destroyed!
We Seek the Lord Earnestly Because we are determined. "With all your heart." I was overwhelmed as a young man to read AW Tozer’s book, The Pursuit of God, (1957). He showed me what it was to seek the determinedly.
WE ARE TO SEEK THE LORD EXPECTANTLY.
Vs. 14. "And I will be found of you." Heb.11:6
1. God will Reveal Himself. Vs 14
2. God will Release us from Captivity. Vs 14
3. God will Restore Lost Possessions. Vs. 14
