Consider Who You Serve

Presented to:

Bethel Chapel Pentecostal Church

Auditorium Sunday School Class

Granite City, IL

25 February 2018

Updated: February 24, 2018

By:

Boyce Belt

Consider Who You Serve

Opening:

• “Giftedness is far too often mistaken for maturity. — Ben Hardman^[1]
• Prayer

Text:

Jeremiah 2:1-13 (KJV) 1 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. 3 Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the Lord. 4 Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:

5 Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? 6 Neither said they, Where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? 7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. 8 The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the Lord, and with your children's children will I plead. 10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. 11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. 12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. 13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Introduction:

In Jeremiah chapter two the imagery of the bride is used to catalog Israel’s sins: she had been seduced into idolatry; she had forsaken the refreshing waters of marriage for the broken cisterns of infidelity; she had left her divine husband for a wayward life among the surrounding nations; and she had stooped to the level of base spiritual harlotry by worshiping false gods and engaging in false religious practices.  Even veteran harlots would blush at what God’s bride had done.  Her prostitution was both flagrant and incurable.  Accordingly, judgment must come.^[2]

This passage is presented in the form of a covenant lawsuit, an indictment brought by God against His people.^[3]  In this case God is both the accuser and the judge.  In a sense it is a divorce case in which God’s people have both abandoned Him and committed fornication against Him.

In verses 10 and 11 the Israelites are asked to consider other nations who serve false gods and note that they have never changed the god which they serve.  Why then would those who serve the only true God forsake him for one of their own making?

1. A Good Start (vv. 2-3)

1. A Holy People (v. 3)
2. Blessed by God (v. 7)
3. Hindered by Self

1. Galatians 5:7 (KJV) Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?
2. Galatians 1:6 (KJV) I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
3. The problem is not serving Satan but rather in serving self.

2. A Forsaken Truth

1. Departure from Scripture (v. 8)
2. Defiling the Land (v. 7)
3. Distorting Their Heritage

3. A Cheap Imitation (description of a cistern)

1. A Counterfeit Gospel

1. Galatians 5:9 (KJV) A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

2. Stagnation

1. Nothing In
2. Nothing Out

3. Inability to Maintain

Conclusion:

Next Week: Consider God’s Anger

Prayer