Class Lesson August 26, 2012

Hey Gang,

This week we conclude our series from the life of Jeremiah, the prophet, as our studies have focused on how we can be the kind of person through whom God works to carry out His purposes in the world. Our closing lesson this week wants us to understand the importance of persevering when we serve the Lord by refusing to compromise godly convictions no matter what the cost. Don't quit when the going gets tough!

Derek Redmond - 92

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When was the last time you wanted to say, “I quit?” Did you? Why or why not?



When is a good time to quit? When is a bad time to quit? 

• Many people are willing to serve God as long as the task isn’t too demanding and everything runs smoothly. But when problems develop, and it isn’t fun anymore, the ranks thin. God calls us to persevere in serving Him as long as He directs us to do so, regardless of the cost.
• There are times to quit. Obedience to God, not refusing to quit, is the guiding factor.

Jeremiah had many reasons to quit; he was persecuted, beaten and imprisoned repeatedly. His own people sought to kill him; year after year, his message was rejected. Only two people – Baruch his scribe and Ebed-melech the Cushite responded to his preaching. Jeremiah was neither popular nor well respected. Wisely, Jeremiah didn’t quit. For 40 years he consistently obeyed what God told him to do despite suffering, opposition, and lack of results. Jeremiah is a good example to us how we too can persevere through the trials we face today.

• 605 BC Babylon became the dominant world power when it defeated Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar then attacked Jerusalem and took most of the nobility, including Daniel, to Babylon.
• 597 BC King Jehoiakim tried to shake off Babylon’s rule, Nebuchadnezzar attacked again and forced surrender and he took 10,000 exiles.
• 596 BC The puppet king Babylon installed, Zedekiah, rebelled and sought help from Egypt. Babylon returned to Jerusalem the next year but left to fight the Egyptians. Leaders in Jerusalem believed they were saved. But Jeremiah prophesied the Babylonians (Chaldeans) would return and burn Jerusalem to the ground – not what the people wanted to hear!
• 586 BC Babylon burned Jerusalem to the ground.

We should persevere in serving the Lord by refusing to compromise godly convictions no matter what the cost.

Persevere (definition): Be persistent; refuse to stop.

Which of these words best describes perseverance?

Endurance, Faithfulness, Survival

Which are you seeking to do? Endure? Be faithful? Or just survive?
 

 
I. PERSEVERE WHEN ATTACKED – JEREMIAH 37:11-17

Jeremiah’s Imprisonment

11 When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people. 13 But when he was at the Benjamin Gate, an officer of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, and he apprehended Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” 14 “That’s a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” Irijah would not listen to him but apprehended Jeremiah and took him to the officials. 15 The officials were angry at Jeremiah and beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison. 16 So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and stayed there many days.
Jeremiah Summoned by Zedekiah

17 King Zedekiah later sent for him and received him, and in his house privately asked him, “Is there a word from the Lord?” “There is,” Jeremiah responded, and he continued, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.” 

Why was Jeremiah attacked?

• Jeremiah took advantage of the lull in hostilities to check on some property he’d purchased. As he left the city, the gate officer accused him of defecting to the Babylonians. The officials were happy for any excuse to beat Jeremiah and throw him in a dungeon so dangerous he would likely die. During Jeremiah’s long confinement the Babylonians returned and resumed the siege. The situation became so desperate Zedekiah called for Jeremiah. The king knew there was a word from the Lord; Jeremiah had been preaching it for 40 years! Despite all Jeremiah had endured, he did not change the message God had commanded him to speak.
• We should expect to find ourselves in peril at times when we refuse to compromise the truth of God’s Word.

What do you think the king wanted to hear from Jeremiah when he asked for a word from the Lord after Jeremiah’s punishment?

• What would have been the easy road for Jeremiah to take here? Why didn’t he take it?
• He could have gotten out of trouble and into the king’s good graces by changing his message and saying everything would be ok.
• Jeremiah lived by the principle that it’s better to fear and please God than men.
• Jeremiah didn’t cave in to save his skin, but he did ask for justice. He insisted he was innocent of treason and negotiated better conditions. Zedekiah transferred him to a safer confinement in the guard’s courtyard where he was fed daily. Perseverance does not mean passive! We don’t need to stay in those dangerous situations if God provides a way out.

As Christians, how are we attacked today and by whom?

Who is Your Accuser & Attacker Today?

Every believer has an enemy who loves to accuse and attack us: Satan (1 Peter 5:8; Revelations 12:10). Sometimes he uses people to deliver his attacks. Other times he simply discourages, or hits us with problems.



How does Satan accuse us? Through what people might this happen?

• How does he set about his deception? In 2 Corinthians 11:14, Satan is called "an angel of light," which means that he uses apparently respectable means and people to deceive us. He tries to lure us away from the truth and towards the counterfeit. Paul says: "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him" (2 Cor. 11:4, KJV).
• How does Satan accuse? Sometimes he tells us that we are not saved. Or if he can't succeed with that, he tries to convince us that God has finished with us and that we are irreparably out of His will. Nothing is more demoralizing to a Christian than this. But let me give you a rule of thumb here: all oppression is of the devil.

How does he attack us? What dungeons does he try to throw us into?

• Satan incites our fleshly desires within us through the unbelieving world around us. (lust of the flesh and eyes, pride of life)
• Satan attempts to deceive us with the lies of worldly wisdom through the unbelieving world around us.
• He attempts to deceive us with a false Jesus and a false gospel through false Christians.
• Satan can physically afflict us or ones that we love with illness, crimes, disasters, persecution and the like.

What risks was Jeremiah taking by continuing to say what God had told him to say? What risks would he have taken by quitting? When has continuing to obey God forced you to weigh risks or consider dangers?

• Explore a wide range of risks: relational, social, at work, in church, with self, with life goals.
• You should not be surprised when some people dislike or even hate you.
• You should not be surprised when some people do things that hurt you.
• You should be true to God whatever the cost.

Do we have to have a special calling to speak God’s truth to situations we face today? What does it mean to know and not say?

• Jeremiah’s call – Ours: to present the gospel of grace and salvation through our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.

II. PERSEVERE WHEN OTHERS WAIVER – JEREMIAH 38:4-6

4 The officials then said to the king, “This man ought to die, because he is weakening the morale of the warriors who remain in this city and of all the people by speaking to them in this way. This man is not seeking the well-being of this people, but disaster.” 5 King Zedekiah said, “Here he is; he’s in your hands since the king can’t do anything against you.” 6 So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the guard’s courtyard, lowering Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

Who are You?

1. Some good people are hated and mistreated by others. - Jeremiah

2. Some people hate and mistreat others.  - The Princes
 
3. Some people ignore mistreated people. - King Zedekiah

4. Some people try to help mistreated people. - Ebed-Melech


There may be times we experience great suffering because of our faithfulness to God.

• Jeremiah stood accused and condemned, knowing his life was in the king’s hands. This was Zedekiah’s chance to do the right thing for once. Instead he washed his hands of the whole matter. His hands weren’t really tied; he was the king! But he was a king with no backbone. The officials showed lack of backbone also. They didn’t have courage to kill Jeremiah outright. Instead they lowered him into an empty cistern, so he could die from lack of food and water.

Who does Zedekiah remind you of in Jesus’ day? - Pilot



How did fear influence Zedekiah choice to ignore Jeremiah’s defense? How did fear influence Jeremiah’s choice to continue to speak God’s truth? Name ways to handle fears that press us to waver in obeying God.

• Zedekiah gave in to fear. Jeremiah surely felt fear, but he chose to obey God. Explore why.
• The king was in his palace, wavering, while the prophet was in the pit, strong and resolute. What made the difference? Following God’s clear directions. Recall 1:19 – God’s deliverance often comes from unexpected sources. Ebed-melech, a non-Israelite from Africa, was the only person in Jerusalem with enough backbone to come to Jeremiah’s defense. With Zedekiah’s permission, he lifted Jeremiah out of the cistern and saved his life.

Have you ever warned someone against a course of action only to be misunderstood, ignored, or mistreated because of your convictions?

• Though confined in the guard’s courtyard, Jeremiah persevered in proclaiming God’s message that Jerusalem would fall. All who stayed in the city would die, but anyone who surrendered to the Babylonians would live. Four officials got tired of hearing that repeated message of doom. They complained to Zedekiah that Jeremiah was weakening the people’s morale.
• Ironically, Jeremiah was trying to save God’s people and continued to speak God’s word to them despite the danger to his own life. Yet the officials labeled him a traitor and called for his death. People will try to promote their own agendas behind the smoke screen that they’re looking out for others. We’ve got to stick with God’s truth even when we look like the bad guy! Otherwise, more people get hurt.

There’s a story of the farmer’s donkey that fell into an abandoned well. The well was deep and the donkey was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway. The farmer called his neighbors to help fill in the hole. The donkey stood in the well in fear as they shoveled dirt in on top of him. When the hole was nearly filled in they were stunned to see the donkey calmly step out of the well. As they shoveled dirt on the donkey’s back, he would shake it off and step up until he was freed. What would you say is the moral of this story? 

How can we shake it off and step up in life situations today?

III. PERSEVERE THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WORD – JEREMIAH 38:14-18

Zedekiah’s Final Meeting with Jeremiah

14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the Lord’s temple. The king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; don’t hide anything from me.” 15 Jeremiah replied to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, you will kill me, won’t you? Besides, if I give you advice, you won’t listen to me anyway.” 16 King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in private, “As the Lord lives, who has given us this life, I will not kill you or hand you over to these men who want to take your life.” 17 Jeremiah therefore said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If indeed you surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned down, and you and your household will survive. 18 But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans. They will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape from them.’” 

What are some of the hard truths of God’s Word we might be tempted to water down or sugarcoat? Why can’t we afford to do this? 

• May want to start with general truths. Keep moving to situations people actually face such as with a certain family member or friend.
• When God’s people disobey; they will pay for their sins.
• God’s Word helps us persevere.
• Remembering our calling from God helps us persevere.
• God’s Word also gives hope to those who rely on God, enabling them to persevere under difficult circumstances.

Was Jeremiah’s life a failure or a success?

• Forty years of faithful service and nobody listened to Jeremiah, except his scribe Baruch and Ebed-melech. The city he’d tried to save was a pile of burned rubble. Was Jeremiah’s life a failure? Absolutely not. Success = obedience to God. Gad called Jeremiah to convey a message and that’s what Jeremiah did. People God uses aren’t always those who make noticeably big differences. They are the ones who persevere in doing what God tells them to do whether it seems to make a difference or not. Sometimes differences come generations later or in unseen ways.

Why is perseverance especially important in today’s world?



Perseverance of the Saints

Baptists believe a doctrine called Perseverance of the Saints. We believe that truly saved people persevere. This does not mean that they are perfect, but it does mean that a person saved by God’s grace will persevere.



Perseverance of the saints is the name that is used to summarize what the Bible teaches about the eternal security of the believer. It answers the question, “Once a person is saved, can he lose his salvation?” Perseverance of the saints is the P in the acronym TULIP, which is commonly used to enumerate what are known as the five points of Calvinism. Because the term “perseverance of the saints” can cause people to have the wrong idea about what is meant, some people prefer to use terms like “preservation of the saints,” “eternal security,” or “held by God.”


The simplest explanation of this doctrine is the saying: “Once saved, always saved.” The Bible teaches that those who are born again will continue trusting in Christ forever. God, by His own power through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, keeps or preserves the believer forever. This wonderful truth is seen in Ephesians 1:13-14, where we see that believers are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase possession, to the praise of His glory.” When we are born again, we receive the promised indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that is God’s guarantee that He who began a good work in us will complete it (Philippians 1:6). In order for us to lose our salvation after receiving the promised Holy Spirit, God would have to break His promise or renege on His “guarantee,” which He cannot do. Therefore, the believer is eternally secure because God is eternally faithful.

Prayer of Commitment

“Lord, help me grow closer to You when times are tough. Amen

I hope you have enjoyed this series from Jeremiah as it certainly has similarity to today's events in our world. Don't forget that Harvest America is Sunday night at 7PM. We are going to meet in the church foyer at 6:30 and sit as a class. Afterwards we are planning to leave and have a coffee & dessert social at a local restaurant to discuss Greg Laurie's event.

Have a blessed rest of the week and we'll see you on Sunday!

In His Love,

David & Susan