Tag Archives: Conscience

Day 92: God’s Word vs. The Authorities

Jeremiah 20:10-13

For I have heard the defaming of many,
“Terror on every side!
Denounce, and we will denounce him!”
say all my familiar friends,
those who watch for my fall.
“Perhaps he will be persuaded,
and we will prevail against him,
and we will take our revenge on him.”
But Yahweh is with me as an awesome mighty one.
Therefore my persecutors will stumble,
and they won’t prevail.
They will be utterly disappointed,
because they have not dealt wisely,
even with an everlasting dishonor which will never be forgotten.
But Yahweh of Armies, who tests the righteous,
who sees the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance on them,
for I have revealed my cause to you.
Sing to Yahweh!
Praise Yahweh,
for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers.

Jeremiah’s friends turned on him when God required that he speak to them about the coming terror. I think we can understand this. Jeremiah was thrown in jail by the authorities. A person isn’t popular after they have been thrown in jail. In our culture we say that they “have a record.” People tend to trust the authorities and doubt the one who was convicted. Obviously, Jeremiah knew that God was asking him to be shamed for the sake of the truth.

This may not seem like a big deal to us today. We may think that things are different for us, but that is so very far from the truth that it should cause us to be afraid. Jeremiah’s friends treatment caused God to condemn them to “everlasting dishonor which will never be forgotten.” That’s how serious it can be to trust the views of the authorities rather than God’s word. God is able to look beyond the command of the authorities. He sees “the heart and the mind” of every one of us individually. Today, there are many leaders who are attempting to control people by denying them the right to guide their behavior by their own conscience. If we give in to them, we are putting them in the place of God and that is idolatry. They seek our worship and it is our responsibility to be like Jeremiah and deny them of it.

Jeremiah could see that God was going to bring him justice by delivering him from his old friends, but that doesn’t mean that Jeremiah was immune from his emotions as we read next.

Day 91
Contents
Day 93

Day 16: The Lamb of God

John 1:29-31 : The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

John saw Jesus coming and even though he didn’t know who it was going to be beforehand, realized that Jesus was the one (more about this next time) and pointed Him out to the people. He told the people that Jesus was “The Lamb of God.” This is very significant to the Jewish people. The Law of Moses required that lambs be sacrificed regularly to pay the price for the sins of the people. John was plainly predicting that Jesus was going to die and not just for the Jews but for the sins of the whole world.

The Bible clearly teaches that there is no forgiveness of sin without death:

Hebrews 9:22 : And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

God is a good God and He must maintain justice. It is common today to not see justice for some things that are clearly wrong. God is never like that. All wrong is punished without any exceptions. God has clearly taught this in His law that He gave to the Jews (The Old Testament especially the first five books of the Bible). Some of these laws will be ones that God will hold you responsible for. You know what they are because He has put them in your conscience:

Romans 2:14-16 : For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

A thing we all need to come to grips with today is: “Who’s death is paying for my sin?” Where did the blood come from for your failures to live up to the conscience that God has put in you? John the Baptist upheld the law of God to the crowds that he preached to. He baptized them in preparation for this “Lamb of God” who would take away the world’s sins. If failure to keep the law caused such death, what do you think the penalty will be for those who refuse to accept the payment that God provided in the “Lamb of God?”

John the Baptist did the job of bringing the news of this “salvation” to the Jews. John who wrote this book, along with the other writers of the New Testament did a great job of bringing this news to us, the people of “the world.”

Day 15
Day 17