1 Timothy 5:3-16 :“Managing Relationships in the Church - Widows and vulnerable people”

Today we have  an excellent  opportunity  to  take a closer look at  the diaconal  ministry  of the church.  In Paul’s first  letter to Timothy  he has written to him, among many other things,  concerning two offices in the church -  the eldership and diaconal ministry.  In Chapter 3: 1-13 he outlines the essential qualifications for elder and diaconal leadership. Both offices are essential to good church governance. We see the outworking of this  in Acts  6:1-7  in terms of the  synergy  between the apostles (prototype elders)   and the  7 men full of the Spirt and wisdom (prototype deacons),  chosen  to solve  a matter that was threatening the peace and harmony and therefore the testimony of the early church. 

The eldership is entrusted with the   human leadership of the church under the Lordship of Christ, and under directive of the Word of God, and the diaconal ministry exists to make the gospel that the elders preach look good by showing the love of Jesus in tangible ways. The diaconal ministry like the ministry of the elders   is a beautiful and rewarding ministry. To see people helped and restored through the truth and grace given by our Triune God is a glorious thing to behold!

In our passage we now have an opportunity to discover diaconal ministry in action. We have here a case study of vulnerable people in the church – widows. Note, the principle can be applied to all types of vulnerable people in the church.  In this case it is the widow. If a woman loses her husband, who is given to her by God as a protector, she becomes vulnerable.  This is true today and in biblical times this was especially so, and therefore much is said in the Bible about the protection about vulnerable people. Strangers or foreigners , orphans  and widows were  classified  as vulnerable.  God has a heart for the vulnerable. James has a specific word on this matter: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction…” [James 1:27].  In Psalm  68:5 God is called  “the Father of the fatherless and  protector of widows”.[1]This is what  made the  early church act like she did  in Acts 6:1-7.  God measures  the spiritual temperature of a society and of the church by the way they  care for the vulnerable.  It all flows out of the law of God  which  in summary says: ”You shall love the Lord your God…. You shall love your neighbour”. [2]

Our passage  is  most extensive treatment of the subject in the Bible concerning the care of the vulnerable. Two great subjects  emerge here: the issue of  church and community support for widows and at the same time, the widow is encouraged to  take responsibility  and  to make positive contributions to the church's ministry.

Diaconal Team Leader : Douglas Reissner 

EXPOSITION

1.      Honour widows  who are truly widows: The opening line  (v.3) introduces  the controlling  thought of  our  passage. The church must honour (Gr.  timaō  lit. to revere, value)  those widows who are  (Gr.ontōs) – lit. alone, desolate.  But how do we know which  widow  is eligible  for  church support?

2.      Evaluate their needs (vv. 4-8). The church is not called to provide support to widows indiscriminately. Therefore some guidelines are provided.   This is the kind of wisdom that  a diaconal ministry needs.  Before we continue this thought we need to remember that the OT considered re-marriage as the ideal for a widow. Where re-marriage was not possible, a widow could stay either in the house of her parents (Gen. 38:11) or that of her in-laws (Ruth 1:16). In our modern society it is good that a husband should make adequate provision (housing, pension fund, life policy) for such an eventuality. But the fact of the matter is that life is not always tidy. A young woman loses her husband to a heart attack or in  a   car accident. She is left with three children and very little means. What now?  The first principle  is this: Honour widows  i.e. don’t neglect them; don’t disrespect them by ignoring their plight.  Cry out to God for them; stand with them; love them, support them emotionally, physically and spiritually, and let the church help  them however it can. Here is how help  ought to be sought: This is biblical wisdom

(i)           Widows with families  (v.4)  ought  to be taken care of by their family members.. It is a matter of godly virtue  and  v.8 makes it clear that  neglecting  the needs  of such  a vulnerable  person is tantamount to denying the faith … in fact it is worse than being an unbeliever.  The logic is rooted in obedience to the fifth commandment: "Honor your father and your mother" (Ex.20:12; Eph. 6:2). Parents   spend their lives working for the welfare of their children. When it comes to such a time  at which  a parent  becomes vulnerable it would be a sin  for their children and grandchildren  to  neglect  them. 

(ii)         Widows without families (5:5, 9-10); These are distinguished from widows having support or financial means – they are truly widows. They are all alone. But this is not the only criterion. The character of this kind of widow is  also considered in vv. 9-10.   So, in this passage  we find an extended discussion on what  a ’real’ widow is and what  kind of widows should be supported and not supported. The  church  (or presumably  the deacons on behalf of  the church)   are called  to  examine the  practical circumstances  in which  the  widow  or the vulnerable person finds  herself.   If she is all alone, without any means of support  (i.e. no husband  and no extended family),  at least sixty years of age (v. 9), the culturally recognized age of retirement, as well as  at  an age at which remarriage was unlikely[3], and  if she  is  a woman who has a  reputation of good works in the church and in the community, a faithful  ‘one husband  woman’,  faithful mother, hospitable, caring for the church and  the afflicted in her life   she would be eligible for church support.  The standard for bona fide church support  is incredible high, you may think, and yet this is an exposition of the  life of a normal Christian woman of God.

We see that  practical need alone was insufficient grounds for receiving financial help from the church. The church,  having many  financial responsibilities could subsidize only the activities of widows with exemplary lives of faith.  But more than that the widow was also one that did not  simply hope  in the support that  the church would give. Her supreme hope was ultimately in God (v.5).  She knows that ultimately He is  her Provider. Clearly, the widow eligible for financial support was the one who manifested godliness  in every part of her life. Therefore, to qualify for church support the widow had to be truly all alone, she needed to have  demonstrated  a life of  God centered service and she  needed to display   a hope that was continually  fixed on God, with prayer and supplications.

(iii)             Widows that do  not qualify  for support. In v.6   mention is made of the widow who is self- indulgent. That  thought may be connected  with the younger widows of vv.  11-15, and provides  a graphic contrast to the widow described in v.5.   The bottom line, says Paul is that there are  some widows who show no  trust, devotion, love or faithfulness to God. She lives for her pleasures. She is dead in her sins, meaning that she is unconverted. The church is not  under any obligation to support her. Now we need to understand that this is  generalization. Not every young widow would be indulgent. Paul was clearly observing a general trend in  society,    a  pattern of behaviour among young widows,  and he wants to avoid that undue pressure is exerted on the church’s limited resources. And so the general advice and rule was  that young widows were not to be considered for enrolment  on the list  of widows supported by the church (v. 11).  The general advice given  was that young widows should remarry. They should not be placed on a widows list, by which the church became responsible for their support. Once it is granted, it is very difficult to undo the support of a vulnerable person.   Vv.11-15  makes some critical observations in this regard. Younger widows would be more subject to  strong physical desires that would draw them away from Christ. Their  strong  desire to remarry in v. 11  could lead them  to marry unbelievers who would inevitably draw their hearts away from Christ. Many people get into a bad relationship because they think that they  desperately need a relationship. It’s a common occurrence that Paul warns against.                              

           A second reason not to include young widows on the list  appeared  to be the tendency to become idle, to flit from house to house and, worse yet, to become gossips and busybodies, saying things that are inappropriate (v. 13). It may mean that young widows, their financial burden lifted, lacking the spiritual maturity to apply themselves to prayer and other tasks of ministry associated with the list, became lazy and even counterproductive. V.15 indicates this to be true: “some have  already strayed after  Satan”. Some have already departed from the faith (see 4:1f)   

What Paul has just laid down as reasons for excluding young widows from church support now leads to the logical conclusion: They should marry. Obviously they should only remarry in the Lord  (see 1 Corinthians  7:39). 

CONCLUSION

This passage helps us to understand  the responsibilities and manner of working  of diaconal ministry  as an arm of the church’s ministry :

1.      To ensure  that real  need is addressed.

2.      To ensure that  people  are really helped. Most help is short term. The work of the diaconate is to  prayerfully seek solutions in which  the person  in question is helped to cope on their own. Dependency is never encouraged as a rule in the Bible.

3.   The only time the Bible envisages an ongoing   support structure is when the person in question is aged  and unable  to  look after themselves financially. Even then  the criteria for supporting such a person are  that  she  must  reflect a consistently godly demeanour, in which she is able to demonstrate that she has lived a life of godly virtue, and  that  she continues even now to hope in God and help the church by her prayerful demeanour.         

4.      This passage  clears the church’s ministry from  a sense of false guilt. Any pastor can give you many stories about strangers who call the church and ask for some kind of assistance – and any pastor can tell you how hard it is to deal with such situations with love, but without getting ripped off. The principles revealed here are extremely relevant today, when many look to the church as a place where the poor and needy should be able to come for financial help.  Let us pray  for our diaconate, and let us thank God for this ministry of good works  that makes the gospel look good! Amen  

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[1] See also  Ex 22:22-23; Deut.  27:19; Isa 1:17 ; Jer.  22:3-4

[2] Ex 20:1-21 ;Mark 12:28-31

[3] Presumably, at this age the temptations that faced the younger widow (vv. 11-15) would have ceased to be a serious concern.

Hebrews 13:7-13 "On the Occasion of the Induction of our new Vocational Pastor: Frans Brits"

Our new vocational  pastor : Frans  Brits 

Dear congregation,

We are met together in the Name of God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Head of the church,  and the Holy Spirit to induct  Frans Brits  into the vocational ministry of the Eastside Baptist Church, which is  a part of the body of Christ here on earth. God’s design  for the church  is  that she,  under the  leadership of the Lord Jesus Christ her Great Shepherd, should be led by  under-shepherds, alternatively called pastors, elders or overseers.     

The calling  to be a  pastor is both of God and the church, and in that order.  The inward call from God  comes first to the individual by the Holy Spirit, and  thereafter  the call is confirmed by the church as she recognizes the gifts  and calling.  Abraham,  Moses, Jacob, Joseph, Samuel  David  etc. were all called by God  and they were recognized  as such in Israel. The 12 disciples  were personally called by Jesus to be apostles, and the apostle  Paul was personally  called to the apostolic  ministry  at a later time (Acts 9)  and by and by the church recognized that calling with the help of a kind brother called Barnabas.(Acts 9:27-30). 

God gives  leadership gifts  to the church (Eph. 4:11). We believe that Frans Brits  has been called of God  to the pastoral ministry. He has previously  testified to the inward call from God  to this service. Prior to his ordination as an elder in 2014, He  went  through a two year internship period as an apprentice elder. Following this,  God  has opened up a door for  him by granting his family permanent residence in our country! Now he was free to pursue  the  work and burden that has been laid upon him  by the Lord. Whilst he was working as an acoustic technician, it was consistently clear to his employers that this would be a temporary  arrangement.   Frans Brits  was trained as  a theologian at the University of Pretoria. Now  he is being trained  in the work of a pastor  in the context of the local church. Somebody  once asked an old pastor: “How long does it take to train a pastor?” He said, “A life-time”! 

Frans has a good working knowledge of Scripture, and as an ordained elder  he has consistently shown a heart hunger  and thirst  after  God. He has  thus been  duly examined  over a sustained period.  In  October 2016  you, the church,  were  asked to confirm  his  calling to the vocational or  fulltime  pastoral ministry of our church.  Having done  all this we are now ready to present  him to you once again  for  that  purpose.   

Since he has been previously ordained as an elder in 2014, we  shall not  go through  the set  procedure of elder ordination  again.  Today we shall simply confirm that, which  we have  said already in 2014 when  the other elders had  laid their  hands  on him on your behalf.  

We have  two duties this morning :

(i)       To instruct  and remind the church  concerning how  we ought to  relate  to our new pastor,accepting  him  and his ministry with  all our heart. In this we are called to pray for ourselves as we take on this responsibility to support him  and his family in prayer and  materially, and  in  helping him to  do  the work of a pastor, by  adding our spiritual gifts to his pastoral   leadership gift.  

(ii)         To  instruct and remind   our new vocational  pastor   concerning  the    biblical  mandate,  as required by  God of being a faithful shepherd  to our souls. To that end we will ask him two questions, which he will   have to respond to.

With all that in mind  we would  like to consider these words from Hebrews  13:7-17  as  we think of our  responsibilities  to our  pastor, and  his corresponding  responsibility to us:

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

1.   Our duty  to  Pastor Brits 

Since this text relates  primarily to  the  congregation that receives the ministry from  their pastor, we shall start there:

(i)       Remember that he is one of your leaders,  called and appointed  by Christ.

(ii)      Consider  that  if he is  truly called of God, and if  his life is  an example to  you, then  consider him as a mentor -  imitate  him.

(iii)    Remember that one of his  duties is to speak the Word of God to you. Listen to him, and weigh his words carefully,   when he  speaks God’s Word to you.   In obeying him you obey Christ. At the heart of this passage, and sandwiched between verses 7 and 17 is a reminder  of the centrality of Christ. The primary  ministry responsibility that your pastor has is to  preach  the Word of the  unchanging  Christ (v.8) to you. In this world you will always be tempted by  strange and diverse teachings. You will always be  tempted to let your hearts not be strengthened by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, but by  thinking that you can inherit  the kingdom of God  by a system of works and  a system of self –righteousness, thinking that you are a Christian by what you do and don’t do, rather than  living your life completely by  an obedient faith and trust in the Lord Jesus alone . A true shepherd will always lead you to Jesus!

(iv)     Remember that he is  appointed by God to watch over your souls. He must give an account to God  for your soul. Help him to be a faithful shepherd. Allow him to speak to you in the Name of Jesus.

(v)      Don’t make life difficult  for him. His  calling will  bring enough challenges. You will gain nothing from  an elder whom you  always resist. “…Be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [1 Peter 5:5]  If you disagree with him, and  if you believe  that he is wrong,  act in the spirit of  Matthew 18:15ff.  

2.    Pastor Brits’ corresponding  duty to us

This same passage, although it speaks directly to church members  about their relationship with their pastor, also implies the pastor’s corresponding duties to his flock.

(i)           He must lead  us  after  the example of our Great Shepherd, the Lord Jesus  Christ.

(ii)         His life must be of such a nature that we want to  imitate him, even as he imitates Christ. It is not sinful to imitate someone, provided that  this person  himself or herself imitates  Christ. [1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1; Phil.3:17; 1 Thess. 1:6]. I thank God for the  faithful pastors, Don Watson and Peter Radmanovich that took hold of me in my  early Christian pilgrimage  at the Walvis Bay Baptist church. They  showed me the love of  Jesus, and I gladly submitted to  them and followed them  at that time. 

(iii)       He must  be a true and faithful messenger of  the Word of God to us. One of his chief duties is to   speak the Word of God to us [13:7].  This means that he must  possess the Word of God in his own heart. In this regard,listen  to Martin Luther’s advice to preachers:

"At night always carry in your heart something from Holy Scriptures to bed with you, meditate upon it like a ruminant animal, and go softly to sleep; but this must not be too much, rather a little that may be well pondered and understood, that you may find a remnant of it in your mind when you rise in the morning. And in all study of the Holy Scriptures one must always despair of one's own ability and labors but only pray God with fear and humility for understanding. Therefore, when you approach the Bible,

 a. You must lift up your eyes and heart to Christ in heaven and in a brief supplication implore his grace;

 b. You must do this often during your reading in order that you may think and say: Lord, grant that I may rightly understand this, but even more that I may perform it.

 c. You must, above all things, guard against desiring to study the Scriptures only in order to know and understand them …for I believe that you are not such stupid scholars as to seek honor, gain, or glory thereby, nor even to be able to teach others.

d. You must seek absolutely nothing but the glory of God, in such spirit that your one thought is: Behold, dearest Lord Jesus, if this study be not to thy glory, let me not understand a syllable of it; but grant unto me, a poor sinner, as much as in thy sight shall be to thy glory."

As one reflects upon what Luther says, we can only conclude, it is no wonder that God  used men like that.

(iv)        He  must be a shepherd of our souls.  He must remember  the words of Peter in the Bible: “Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but  being an example to the flock” [2 Pet. 5:2,3].  Pastor, love your congregation with the love of Jesus, not only in word, but in deed.  That love is not soppy- sentimental, but in the spirit  of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

(v)          He must lead us in such a way  that we  will easily submit to his leadership. He must lead us  by his  joy,  which he derives from his relationship  with the Lord  Jesus.  His ministry  must not be characterized  by groaning. That  would be of no advantage to us.

   

The presiding elder  shall then say to the  elder candidate :

Forasmuch as  we believe  that you are acting in obedience to the call of God, it may seem  needless my brother, to ask for any further assurance of your faith  and sincerity of purpose, but in order that you  may yourself better realize the solemn  trust you have undertaken, and that this congregation may better understand your mind and will, we ask you now to answer the questions which in the Name of Christ  and His church, we address  to you:

1.     Do you believe in one God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and do you confess anew Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord?

Answer:  I do!

2.     Do you promise to execute your charge with all faithfulness; to preach and teach the word of God from the Holy Scriptures; to lead the congregation in worship and to administer the ordinances; to tend the flock of  Christ and to do the work of an evangelist ?

Answer:  This I will endeavor to do, the Lord being my helper.

The presiding  elder shall then say to the congregation  :

Do you, the members of this church acknowledge and receive Frans Brits  as a pastor  of this church, promising him all  due honour and support in the Lord?  

Will  you  please signify this by standing ?

Prayer of induction  with all  the other elders laying on  their hands.

Induction formula

Frans Brits,  as you have  been called  by the Holy Spirit to this ministry, and as the Holy Spirit  has  spoken to us  and has said: “Set him apart  for the ministry  to which I have called him “ (Acts 13:2)

I declare you now  to be duly inducted and appointed as a pastor   of this church.

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace. Amen.” (Numbers 6:24) 

Great Promises from the Prophecy of Jeremiah #4 : Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”

This is yet another  well loved, oft quoted  verse, and a great promise  from the prophecy of Jeremiah,  to guide our thoughts  into  the coming year.  

With this text I am bringing our January meditations  from  Jeremiah  to an end. 

THE  CONTEXT  OF CHAPTER 33

The scope of this chapter is very much in keeping with the preceding chapters which we have already considered.  Israel is destined to go to exile in Babylon, and Jerusalem will fall into the hands of the Babylonians. The land will be restored to the Jews in about 70 years. The relevance of this text for us today  is that,  like Jeremiah,   faithful people of God in an age  that is  so  filled with spiritual deception  and  spiritual devastation, may  suffer the  results of living in a society  that has abandoned the true God and   which in turn has been handed over to its own desires.  Our country  seeks solutions  in every sphere  but God’s solutions.  We, like Jeremiah need to persevere in clinging to God against all the odds, and we need to  continue to be committed to hear the Word of the Lord as Jeremiah did.  We need  to  know that there will  come a time, when we shall inherit the kingdom of God in all its glory, when Jesus  comes again. The heavenly Jerusalem will be our city, and the dwelling place of God will be with man. He will dwell with us, and we will be His people, and God Himself will be our God. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away [Rev. 21:3,4].

The particular promises  of chapter 33  are  that 

(i) the city shall be rebuilt and re-established. Health and prosperity  and security will be restored (vv. 1-8) 

(ii)  God will be glorified  as His people  rejoice in Him and praise His name  (vv. 9-14). 

(iii)  An announcement is made that  a righteous Branch (a Messianic term)  will rule, in keeping with  God’s promise made to David. Jesus is the Son of David. He is the   Mediator of the New Covenant  by which  we are  kept securely,   forever and ever (vv.  15-26).   Thus we see that chapter 33   goes far beyond the restoration of  the Jewish kingdom. 

Our focus  will  be  on the  first three verses  of this chapter, containing a very great promise  in 33:1: “The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he  was still shut up in the court of the guard.”  

We have read of Jeremiah’s imprisonment before in  32:2.  A Word of hope  comes to  Jeremiah and  thus to the nation of Israel  in the midst of her darkest of political times, as the Babylonians are preparing siege ramps to  sack  Jerusalem.  The Word of hope comes as Jeremiah is kept under guard   and imprisoned by king Zedekiah, who still believes that Jeremiah the prophet is undermining his kingly authority, believing the word of the false prophets more than the word of the true prophet. The Word of the Lord comes as a word of hope in the most hopeless of times. No imprisonment can deprive God’s people of His presence. No locks or chains can keep God from visiting and speaking to His people in prison. In fact, God has,   on numerous times visited His people in prison in an extra ordinary way. 

Think of Joseph in an Egyptian prison. Genesis 39:21 says: “But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”  

Think of Daniel in the lion’s den. The Bible says: “No harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.” [Dan. 6:23]. 

Paul and Silas were in prison, “having had  many blows inflicted upon them”,  and yet they were able  to pray and sing hymns to God in the night  [Acts 16:23-25]. The presence of God was clearly with them.  

Some of Paul’s   epistles were written from prison[1], and these letters provide us today with so much comfort and encouragement.    

God has used the lives and words of His  suffering people  in  very great ways.  The letters of Samuel Rutherford [c. 1600 – 29 March 1661] are currently on our bedside table. Rutherford was a Scottish Presbyterian pastor, theologian and author.  In his  first years as a pastor in his parish church  at Anwoth in Scotland, he experienced  great sadness. His wife was ill for a year and a month, before she died in their new home. Two of his children also died during this period.  Samuel Rutherford was a faithful pastor. He was always praying, always preaching, always visiting the sick, always teaching his people, always writing and studying. He preached  a God centred doctrine and  He insisted that  Christian profession should be matched by  godly living. Because of this he was  banished by the authorities  from his church at Anwoth to Aberdeen. At this  time  God used him, particularly in terms of  his pastoral  letters  which he sent to his  church members, particularly  those that were suffering in his parish. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, that great Baptist preacher  described Rutherford's letters  “the nearest thing to inspiration which can be found in all the writings of mere men”. [2] 

In preparing this sermon,  I  read  a sermon  of  Spurgeon on Jeremiah 33:3[3], entitled “The Golden Chain of Prayer”  and I   saw  that he quoted  Rutherford.  He said :

"Rutherford had a  quaint saying that when he was cast into the cellars of affliction, he remembered that the great king always kept his wine there, and he began to seek at once for the wine bottles, and to drink of the “wines on the lees well refined.”  What Rutherford wasn’t saying that his  adverse circumstances  were  an opportunity to get drunk! What he was saying is,   that even in the  darkest times  God has an encouragement  for you in the dark cellars of life.  When God is at the end  of your story, it matters very little what men may do to you.  

Many years ago I read the  biography of  John Paton (1824-1907), another Scotsman  who became  a missionary  to what was once known as the “New  Hebrides”, named after a chain of Scottish Islands. This  group of islands  is found in the  South Pacific Ocean, and it  is now  the nation of Vanuatu. John G. Paton  arrived there  in 1858.  His  decision to go there  was subject to severe criticism  by a respected elder of the church. The elder, Mr. Dickson said,  "You will be eaten by cannibals!"  John Paton responded,  “Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in  years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honouring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms; and in the Great Day my Resurrection body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen redeemer”.  The knowledge  of the presence of God in our trials  is our greatest comfort, and again  we  say, that it matters very little  where we are, as long as God  is with us. 

And so, the  Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he was imprisoned, and it came a second time to Jeremiah, as a re-assurance.

33:2  “Thus  says the  LORD who  made the earth, the LORD who  formed it   to establish it – the LORD is his name…”.  The  One who gives this promise and the One that  invites us to call  to Him  is no one less  than  the Lord of Heaven and Earth.  This is an important  assurance in the midst of  chaos and confusion, when our world  lies upside down  and  when truth lies slain in the streets, and when the true  church, the  city of God on earth is hardly visible in the community, because her members are  dispersed  and exiled….  This is an assurance by His own Word,  that God has not forgotten  the people of His covenant, the  true children of Abraham,  comprised of  both, the Jews and the  Gentiles. The firmness  and the  certainty of God’s covenant   is expressed in  33: 19-26, and again, it comes in  in two separate   statements, emphasising and re-emphasising the covenantal faithfulness of God. 

33:3  Now,  all  this  forms the basis  of this great invitation  for prayer : “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Now you may remember  that  Jeremiah  has been found praying   concerning  this in 32:16-25.  And now he must call upon God again!  I remind you that  prayer is an ongoing work.  We have prayed for our own city and its people many times,  and  we  must continue to pray for her.    We  must pray again and again. That is the meaning of Luke 11:1-13  and Luke 18: 1-8,  Jesus’s teaching about prayer and perseverance in prayer.  God has promised a certain restoration  of all things,  and we must always pray “Your kingdom come”, but until that happens  we must  also pray for our daily bread (physical needs), we must continue  to pray for  the forgiveness of our sins even  as we forgive  others, and we must pray  continually that we may not be led into temptation.    The people  of Israel  thought that they had the kingdom for good, but they forgot that  they needed  to maintain  its purity and devotion to God. But they forgot their God and  went in search of other schemes, and now look  where it got them!  Oh how merciful and gracious God is to them  and to us, despite their  and our hardheartedness. He invites us by His Word: “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”

1.       Call to me

In the midst of your life, with all its complexities and uncertainties  in the face of political  and economic instability, and in the midst of  poor commitments to  Christ  and  His Word, and therefore poor commitments to  His church, God still says “Call to me”.  This is at the heart of our prayer week. Prayer week is not  simply there  to  give you an opportunity to pray one hour per night for 5 days and then to be  done for the year . Prayer week is meant to stimulate you to see the value of calling persistently upon the  God who sees and hears, and who commands us to pray without ceasing!   

2.                   I will answer you: God promises Jeremiah that persistent prayer  will  find an answer.  My  own experience concurs with Spurgeon:  “ If there is anything I know, anything that I am quite assured of beyond all question, it is that praying breath is never spent in vain. If no other man here can say it, I dare to say it, and I know that I can prove it. My own conversion is the result of prayer—long, affectionate, earnest, persistent. Parents prayed for me; God heard their cries, and here I am to preach the gospel. Since then, I have adventured upon some things that were far beyond my capacity, as I thought; but I have never failed, because I have cast myself upon the Lord. You know as a church that I have not scrupled to indulge large ideas of what we might do for God; and we have accomplished all that we purposed. I have sought God’s aid, and assistance, and help in all my manifold undertakings, and though I cannot tell here the story of my private life in God’s work, yet if it were written, it would be a standing proof that there is a God who answers prayer!”  

3.                   … and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known… Spurgeon’s  comments here are worth repeating. In fact, I will close with them.

“All believers see Christ, but all believers do not put their fingers into the prints of the nails, nor thrust their hand into His side. We have not the high privilege of John to lean upon Jesus’ bosom, nor of Paul to be caught up into the third heaven. In the ark of salvation, we find a lower, second, and third story; all are in the ark, but all are not on the same story. Most Christians, as to the river of experience, are only up to their ankles; some others have waded till the stream is up to their knees; a few find it chest high; and but a few—oh, how few!—find it a river to swim in, the bottom of which they cannot touch. My brethren, there are heights in experiential knowledge of the things of God which the eagle’s eyes of sharpness and philosophical thought have never seen;… God alone can bear us there; but the chariot in which He takes us up, and the fiery steeds with which that chariot is dragged, are prevailing PRAYERS. ….If you would reach to something higher than ordinary groveling experience, look to the Rock that is higher than you, and look with the eye of faith through the windows of persistent prayer. To grow in experience then, there must be much prayer. 

Dear friends, I pray you take this text—God Himself speaks it to you—“Call unto Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Take God at His Word. Get home, go into your chamber and shut the door, and try Him. Young man, I say, try the Lord! Young woman, prove Him—see whether He is true or not! If God is true, you cannot seek mercy at His hands through Jesus Christ, and get a negative reply. He must—for His own promise and character bind him to open mercy’s gate to you who knock with all your heart! God help you, believing in Christ Jesus, to cry aloud unto God, and His answer of peace is already on the way to meet you! You shall hear Him say, “Your sins, which are many, are all forgiven.” The Lord bless you for His love’s sake. Amen.  

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[1] The prison epistles—Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon—written by the apostle Paul during his incarceration in Rome.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Rutherford

[3] Spurgeon has actually very little to say about the context of  Jer 33:3. He  simply takes the text  and  turns it into a sermon on prayer, dividing  it  into three points : First, prayer commanded—“Call unto Me.” Secondly, an answer promised—“And I will answer you.” Thirdly, faith encouraged—“And show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”   

Great Promises from the Prophecy of Jeremiah #3 : Jeremiah 32: 36-44 - “I will make with them an Everlasting Covenant

The human heart instinctively yearns for paradise, for  a place of peace  and tranquility.  We were made for peace and tranquility, but we don’t seem to get it on this earth. And so we spend  money  to  get away  to places where we  hope to  get away from the  great rat race. On a far  larger scale,  and for  thousands of years,  mankind has  migrated  and separated  to get  away from each other.  Abraham and Lot separated. Listen to these words: “Then Abram said to Lot, “let there be  no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen…. Is not the whole land  before you? Separate yourself from me…” [Gen. 13:8,9].

The history of  the world is the history of a people on the move. People  are  forever seeking  to escape political,  religious, social and economic   conflicts. People are forever  in search for  a place  where they can build their idealistic futures. This is the origin of the American dream and I suppose everyone else’s dream.   But there is  no safe place on the face of this earth. As long as  there is a devil  and  as long as  there are sinners on the face of this earth this will not happen.   Peace and tranquility  will continue  to  elude us.   

I have always been fascinated by the story of the  mutiny  on  the  Royal Navy vessel HMS Bounty which  occurred in the south Pacific on 28 April 1789. Led by Acting Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, disaffected crewmen seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and set him and 18 loyalists adrift in the ship's rowing boat. Some of the mutineers settled on Tahiti and others on Pitcairn Island, one of the most  isolated islands in the South Pacific. Bligh  completed a voyage of more than 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) in the  little boat to reach safety, and began the process of bringing the mutineers to justice.  Fletcher  Christian's group,  undiscovered on Pitcairn until 1808, could have carved out  a life of bliss  for themselves, far away from  that civilization from which they came, where there was always war.  When they were  eventually found, only one mutineer, John Adams, had  remained alive. All his fellow mutineers, including  Fletcher Christian, had been killed, either by each other or by their Polynesian companions.  

The human  race is  simply not able to live in peace  with one another – nowhere!  Our  manner is like that  of Cain,   who not only murdered his brother, but who  became a fugitive and a restless wanderer upon the earth (Gen. 4:12). Only the  Prince of peace  by His word, the gospel of peace,  can bring about peace with God and with one another.  When He is not at the centre we are ready to murder one another.

And so it was in Israel. Though Israel  was endowed  with  the unique  favour  of  the God of all Creation,  and although she was   so  favoured with  God’s presence and God’s  good law  to govern her  society, her people   could not manage to live  under God and in submission to one another. As soon as they forgot the law of God within a generation  Israelite   society   was inundated   with murder, intrigue, idolatry  and idol worship, lawlessness, poor relationships  and the like in all levels of society.   

Now the nature of the God of all creation  is holy and just and loving. In  this spirit He entered into a covenant   relationship with  Abraham and  then with Israel. But,  the people of the covenant weren’t always committed to  the terms of the Covenant. And so God, being holy and  righteous and loving and merciful needed  to be what He is.  As a holy  and righteous God, He  needed to  punish   the sin  of His people. But as a loving and merciful  covenant keeping God, He  needed  to  preserve them. And so, at this time of Israel’s history  in about 589 BC, He did both. He handed them  and their city over to  be  destroyed by   their enemies, and  He preserved  a good portion of them from destruction by taking them  out of  Jerusalem  and into Babylon  for their own good (!) promising to bring them back from there in 70 years. 

And so, as we pick up at v.36  we read: "Now therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, 'It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence'.  

Notice the emphasis  in v. 36 .. “you say…” PERIOD!  Although it is all true, that  Jerusalem will be sacked, and true that  Israel  must go into captivity, because she has violated God’s covenant   they  and we  must remember that this is not the end of the story.  In His wrath  towards His sinning  people   God does not forget to  exercise mercy. Often,  when we experience  the  chastising hand of our Good Father in Heaven,  we only tend to see the dark side of things  and not the end of  things. In reality it  is  never  “You say…”, but “God says”, and He isn’t finished yet. 

Listen to the next verse, vv. 37,38: “Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people and I will be their God.”   The bad news suddenly  turns into good news.   

That is the essence of the gospel in Isaiah 9:2  [quoted in Matt 4:16] a Messianic text : “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.” After many years of spiritual darkness  and the  absence of the Word of the Lord, the messenger has suddenly come to His temple [Mal 3:1]. That will be true of the second coming at the end of all times. Suddenly, the Lord Jesus will be here. [Matt. 24,25 ; 1 Thess. 5: 1-6; 2 Pet. 3:10].

A recent article published by Christianity Today  says that  “for the third year in a row, the modern  persecution of Christians  worldwide has hit another record high in 2016." [Research from Open Doors].   So, yes, Syrian  and Iraqi  Christians  have been driven from their land , but yes, the present fate  of   the Christian people in Syria  and Iraq  is not the last word. God has the last word. And in this context,  it is a word of grace.

So, yes,  God  has driven  His people  into these foreign lands, but yes, that is not the final  word on the matter.  God  sent His people into Babylon for a while  to  preserve them  there. The same has happened when God sent His people to Egypt for a little while. The Lord Jesus and His parents needed to hide there for a little while from the wrath of Herod, so that the Scripture says, “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” [Matt.2:15]  Suddenly,  the LORD  brings His people back. God promises here  that He  will gather them and bring them back to their land and to Himself.  In a moment we shall see that this promise is connected to an eternal covenant, and applicable to us.

And so, by way of application I want to ask a question:  If God is a God of eternal holiness and justice,  who can  hand  sinning Israel  over to the Babylonians  and  also  send them into  exile, far away from home, then  how do we  know that this will not happen to God's chosen people today - the church, the bride of Christ, the true  sons  and daughters of  Abraham?   And  following that question  comes the next question. Can  God  see us through  our sinful neglect  of Him? Can He bring us   into a place of peace and tranquility?  The answer is  a resounding  “yes!”, and that is what the rest of the text is essentially  about - the  amazing  grace of God  to undeserving  sinners.  This grace is our  only sure confidence for the future. You and I,  are utterly  unreliable. If we were left to our own powers to keep the faith and to  be holy  and to  persevere, we wouldn’t  make it. Grace is all of God. “Grace  has led me safe thus far, and  grace will lead me home”  wrote John Newton.  Another hymn, “Come Thou Fount of every Blessing”,    written  by a 22  year old  pastor,   Robert Robinson in  1758  confesses the same truth :

O to grace how great a debtor, daily  I'm constrained to be!

Let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee:

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;

Here's my heart, O, take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.

Now the  gracious promise of God  towards  His true people  rests on the foundation of His covenant:  

"And I will make  with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me into their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in  faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.”

This is one of several Old Testament promises of the new covenant that Jesus said He sealed with his own blood for all who are in him. This promise is not just for the believing  Jews, but for those who are true Jews, true sons and daughters of Abraham  by virtue of union with Jesus,  who is  the seed of Abraham (Gal.3:7,16).

Four Promises  For Faithful  Believers  As They Negotiate Difficult Times

1. God Will Be Our God :  V. 38: "And they shall be my people and I will be their God. ”God is for us, even  when we have to experience calamity.   God sees to it that we remain His  people. All that He  is  as God, He  exerts for  their good.

2. God Promises to Change Our Hearts :  V. 39 &  40b  "I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever … that they may not  turn from me… (v. 40b) .  Under the everlasting covenant sealed in the blood of Jesus, God will not simply stand by to see if we, by our own powers, will fear him. No ! He  will sovereignly and  mercifully give us the heart that we need to have, by which we will  be led safely home to heaven.

3. God Promises   to give us the ability to remain faithful to Him : V. 40: "I will make an everlasting covenant with them…”.  This is what is different about the new covenant, when compared with the Old  Covenant.   The New covenant  promises  that  God’s people  will  be given the ability, the power,  to trust God , fear God  by the indwelling Spirit  through Jesus  Christ our Lord, who has kept the law of the Old Covenant,  that we could never keep.  Under the New Covenant we are enabled by sovereign Grace.  

4. God Promises to Do This with  All His heart and Soul:  V. 41   Although  the eternal , infinite God is not a man like us, He has attributes  of personality, just like us, and here  He is saying through Jeremiah that He intensely desires   our good with His entire heart and soul. And oh, how infinitely big  God’s heart and souls is… not like mine and yours.

God will keep His  promises as  surely  as He will exercise  His wrath.  That is what we are called to learn today, and that is how Chapter 32 ends.  As He has brought disaster   upon His people, so will He  bring  all the good  that He has promised.     He will do this  notwithstanding their present despair (v. 42).

The true church of the Lord Jesus Christ in these very difficult days almost appears to be obscure. She is  persecuted  from without and within. The enemy is not only out there, but He is in here, and sometimes I think that the latter is the more insidious problem  that we have. But this we may know:  The church  shall have rest after these  days of adversity.  We may look forward to it. In history  and from  time to time God has given us revivals,  short periods of respite  just so that we would not grow unduly discouraged . But a time is coming  when God  will restore  peace in the earth … when metaphorically  speaking houses and lands and fields shall be bought.  This is the fulfillment  of a promise made to Jeremiah by God  in the earlier part of Chapter 32.  All this points forward  to our heavenly Canaan, reserved for all those who have God's fear in their hearts and do not depart from him.  Keep  the eternal city  in sight as you  continue your pilgrimage. 

Heaven is our ultimate  goal!