2 Chronicles 36:16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
Ah my Friends, it’s another day of apparently unceasing warfare. But luckily, we know that eventually we’ll be victorious, for we have the Creator of the Universe on our side, and the greatest leader and field marshal ever, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, riding shotgun, directing the proceedings. Now that doesn’t mean we’ll win every battle. We’ll surely lose some along the way, but since we know the final outcome, we must persevere and not let the intermittent losses cause us to lose faith. Today we’re talking about how the ungodly ‘misused his prophets.’ And Friends, unfortunately, believers of all ilk have been misused and abused for their beliefs. For some reason the ungodly are afraid of the godly and are unable to adopt a live and let live attitude towards us. Is it because they know deep down that we’re right, and they can’t handle righteousness? But Jesus said it plainly: ‘Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city. That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel unto the blood of Zechariah son of Barachias, who ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.’ (Mat.23:34-36) And if Jesus said it, my people, then we know it’s gospel. The unrighteous will eventually pay for all the innocent blood of the Lord’s people they’ve shed. And we have a great example of prophet abuse in the unholy treatment meted out to Jeremiah. When he prophesied that the Chaldeans would invade Israel and burn Jerusalem, he was imprisoned for his apparent defection to the enemy. And when he continued declaring that Babylon would conquer the nation; ‘Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hamelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords (ropes). And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.’ (Jer. 38:6) Yes Friends, that’s the kind of disgusting treatment that Jeremiah received at the hands of his own people, for speaking God’s truth, which obviously did not jive with the lies of the princes and city fathers. Most of us will never find ourselves in that desperate a situation, but we’ll all, at some stage of our Christian walk, suffer some abuse, indignity or resentment simply because of our belief in a holy and righteous God, who does not tolerate sinful, worldly lusts. However my people, that should in no way, shape or form deter us from pursuing and performing our Christian duties to the best of our ability. Remember Jesus desires excellence of all His followers, and He’s given us all the tools we need to do whatever He’s called us to do. If we happen to suffer persecution for His sake, then through His indwelling Spirit, He will enable us to bear it, and /or find a way out. Just like Jeremiah did not stay long in the mire of the dungeon, so will we be rescued from innocent persecution. And yuh see God’s mysterious workings, in that it was an Ethiopian, Ebed-melech, a eunuch (officer) in the king’s guard who entreated king Zedekiah: ‘My Lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.’ (Jer.38:9) The king relented and Ebed-melech got some men, rope, old clothes and rags, padding for Jeremiah’s armpits, let it down into the dungeon and pulled Jeremiah up. Glory Hallelujah! He didn’t get out of prison, but out of the mire where he was sure to die of hunger and cold. (Jer.38:11-13)Yes my people, the Lord sends strange, unfamiliar, unexpected people and/or circumstances to test and also to help us. And who was persecuted more than Bruh Paul eh? As he wrote to Timothy: ‘Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.’ (2 Tim.3:11-12) Very true words my Friends. Nonetheless he advises: ‘But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of…the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.’ (2 Tim.3:14-17) Yes mih people, encouraging words from possibly the most abused believer ever. We’ll all suffer some, but we just got to believe and remember that the Lord will help us. So let’s keep on doing our duties, while reading and studying the scriptures, for it’s in there we’ll find strength to rise above anything that comes against us. It’s the Book of Life. Please hang in there my Friends. When life gets difficult, just remember that we are guaranteed to win in the end, and sincerely turn to the uplifting, encouraging tome that has answers to all our questions on the many machinations of life. Much LOVE!…our faith in Jesus…shall overcome all persecution…
Ah my Friends, it’s another day of apparently unceasing warfare. But luckily, we know that eventually we’ll be victorious, for we have the Creator of the Universe on our side, and the greatest leader and field marshal ever, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, riding shotgun, directing the proceedings. Now that doesn’t mean we’ll win every battle. We’ll surely lose some along the way, but since we know the final outcome, we must persevere and not let the intermittent losses cause us to lose faith. Today we’re talking about how the ungodly ‘misused his prophets.’ And Friends, unfortunately, believers of all ilk have been misused and abused for their beliefs. For some reason the ungodly are afraid of the godly and are unable to adopt a live and let live attitude towards us. Is it because they know deep down that we’re right, and they can’t handle righteousness? But Jesus said it plainly: ‘Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city. That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel unto the blood of Zechariah son of Barachias, who ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.’ (Mat.23:34-36) And if Jesus said it, my people, then we know it’s gospel. The unrighteous will eventually pay for all the innocent blood of the Lord’s people they’ve shed. And we have a great example of prophet abuse in the unholy treatment meted out to Jeremiah. When he prophesied that the Chaldeans would invade Israel and burn Jerusalem, he was imprisoned for his apparent defection to the enemy. And when he continued declaring that Babylon would conquer the nation; ‘Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hamelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords (ropes). And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.’ (Jer. 38:6) Yes Friends, that’s the kind of disgusting treatment that Jeremiah received at the hands of his own people, for speaking God’s truth, which obviously did not jive with the lies of the princes and city fathers. Most of us will never find ourselves in that desperate a situation, but we’ll all, at some stage of our Christian walk, suffer some abuse, indignity or resentment simply because of our belief in a holy and righteous God, who does not tolerate sinful, worldly lusts. However my people, that should in no way, shape or form deter us from pursuing and performing our Christian duties to the best of our ability. Remember Jesus desires excellence of all His followers, and He’s given us all the tools we need to do whatever He’s called us to do. If we happen to suffer persecution for His sake, then through His indwelling Spirit, He will enable us to bear it, and /or find a way out. Just like Jeremiah did not stay long in the mire of the dungeon, so will we be rescued from innocent persecution. And yuh see God’s mysterious workings, in that it was an Ethiopian, Ebed-melech, a eunuch (officer) in the king’s guard who entreated king Zedekiah: ‘My Lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.’ (Jer.38:9) The king relented and Ebed-melech got some men, rope, old clothes and rags, padding for Jeremiah’s armpits, let it down into the dungeon and pulled Jeremiah up. Glory Hallelujah! He didn’t get out of prison, but out of the mire where he was sure to die of hunger and cold. (Jer.38:11-13)Yes my people, the Lord sends strange, unfamiliar, unexpected people and/or circumstances to test and also to help us. And who was persecuted more than Bruh Paul eh? As he wrote to Timothy: ‘Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.’ (2 Tim.3:11-12) Very true words my Friends. Nonetheless he advises: ‘But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of…the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.’ (2 Tim.3:14-17) Yes mih people, encouraging words from possibly the most abused believer ever. We’ll all suffer some, but we just got to believe and remember that the Lord will help us. So let’s keep on doing our duties, while reading and studying the scriptures, for it’s in there we’ll find strength to rise above anything that comes against us. It’s the Book of Life. Please hang in there my Friends. When life gets difficult, just remember that we are guaranteed to win in the end, and sincerely turn to the uplifting, encouraging tome that has answers to all our questions on the many machinations of life. Much LOVE!…our faith in Jesus…shall overcome all persecution…
SCRIP-BITS 