Psalm 5, 6; Jer. 36:27-37:2; 1 Cor. 14:1-12; Matt. 10:16-23
Did the king believe that because he burned the scroll containing the words Jeremiah heard from the Lord that they would fall away? The arrogance of this king is remarkable. Jeremiah had served the king’s father well in enacting his reforms to return the nation to the Lord and yet this man refuses to hear the word of the Lord spoken through the prophet. His “reward” for his arrogance is that his dead body will not be treated with honor and dignity and his children will not sit on the throne. He refused to repent of his sins and ask the Lord to relent of the judgment spoken against him and chooses instead to double-down on apostasy by rejected the word. In the end we see that indeed his own son does not reign and the people continue to reject the Lord.
Jesus doesn’t exactly send out the disciples on this mission with an encouraging word. He tells them of persecutions, both physical and non-physical, that will come their way on the mission and these indeed come to pass, not on this mission but on the mission He gives them prior to the Ascension. They will indeed suffer persecution, some will die and others will be exiled and yet the mission is being accomplished to this day, nearly 2000 years later. We in the west live in a time and place where we are not persecuted and we are not honestly threatened with much persecution, unpopularity and the banning of prayers in the Name of Jesus prior to sporting events is not persecution but rejection. We must make the most of the opportunities now and be thankful that we are able to openly profess our faith and openly worship Him who is worthy of all praise and worship. He has been rejected by men, is being rejected by men and will be rejected by men until such time as He comes again when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is indeed Lord.
What is the point of all inspired utterance? To build up the church. That does not mean that all our words are to be filled with sunshine and rainbows, sometimes the church needs to hear that there are significant problems. The letters in the book of the Revelation contain both commendation and condemnation. In order to build up the church that has fallen we need to speak the truth and that truth sometimes hurts but also we need to celebrate when the church is doing the right things. Paul affirms that the gift of tongues has value but for the building up of the church the gift of prophecy, words spoken intelligibly, are more valuable and important. Clarity is the key. Tongues often are a private gift while prophetic insight is often for the benefit of others, particularly the church. Are we willing to listen to those prophetic voices when they speak both good and correction?
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
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