Friday: Further Thought – Lessons From Jeremiah
Many years ago a Seventh-day Adventist minister named W. D. Frazee preached a sermon called Winners and Losers.
In it he went through the lives of various Bible characters, looking at their work and ministry, and then he asked the question regarding each one: Was he a winner or a loser?
Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com
For example, he looked at John the Baptist, who lived a lonely life in the wilderness. Though eventually John had a small following, it never amounted to much, and certainly it was not what Jesus, who came later, had. And of course, John lived out his last days in a dank prison where, at times, he was harassed with doubt, finally only to get his head chopped off (Matthew 14:1-12). After recounting all this, Elder Frazee asked: Was John a winner or a loser?
What about Jeremiah the prophet? How successful was his life? He suffered a great deal, and he wasn’t afraid to whine and moan about it either. With few exceptions, it seems that the priests, prophets, kings, and common people not only didn’t like what he had to say, but also thoroughly resented it. He was even seen as treasonous against his own people. In the end, the destruction and doom that he spent his life warning about came, because time and again the people rejected his words. They threw him in a muddy pit, hoping he’d die there. He lived to see his nation go into a terrible exile while Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. Thus, from a human perspective, not much went well for Jeremiah. From one perspective, you could argue that he had a fairly miserable life.
Discussion Questions:
- Was Jeremiah a winner or a loser? What are the reasons for the choice you make? If you say he was a winner, what does that tell us about how crucial it is that we not judge reality by the world’s standards? What standards are we to use to try to understand what is right and wrong, good and evil, success and failure?
- In what ways do we see the life and ministry of Jesus prefigured in Jeremiah? What are the parallels?
- Earlier this week we saw the deception of going on with religious worship as usual without a change of heart. What is true grace, in contrast to the cheap, worthless, and even deceptive version of it warned about here?
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Jas 5:10-11
"Take, my brethren, [as worthy examples before us,] the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure..."
We count them happy/blessed which endured, because they were. All that live Godly lives will share in the fellowship of His suffering.
These are the winners! Those that receive the crown of life!
Rev_2:10 Do not at all fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the Devil will cast some of you into prison, so that you may be tried. And you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Rev_3:11 Behold, I come quickly. Hold fast to that which you have, so that no one may take your crown.
They are all winners, bless are those who have the privilege to suffer for the
Lord sake. It takes faith to suffer and stand up for Christ name.
To be called a conqueror, it means to be persecuted,hated and die for Christ our Lord. This servant of God was a super hero not a super zero...a winner having ran a precious race. Through the grace of God i wish to stand firm spiritually like him and call sin by its right name.
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Hebrews 11:37-40 ESV
It is all about the patience of God and that if at all possible none be lost.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 ESV
The lesson on jeremiah has taught me alot of things.i even relate his time to ours and find that YES,true worship has been neglected and pagan worship has been accepted into the church.false prophets like hannania are the order of the day in my country.