In the days of the prophet Jeremiah, the covenant people were distressed in many ways because God had allowed their enemies to bring destruction even to the house of God and the times were aweful, and therefore it was difficult for them to understand where they had gone wrong to have been under such devastation. This tragic time caused the writing of the book of Lamentations and stands for an example of just how far our present culture has tumbled in the throes of God’s judgment today. Listen in as our teacher, Pastor Landis Fisher teaches a lesson on this vital and timely topic which he has titled: “Being In On The Secret”
Old Testament Scripture Reading: Lamentations 3:15 – 23 (KJV)
Lam 3:15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.
Lam 3:16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.
Lam 3:17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.
Lam 3:18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:
Lam 3:19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
Lam 3:20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
Lam 3:21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
Lam 3:22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
Lam 3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Lam 3:24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
Lam 3:25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
Lam 3:26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
New Testament Scripture Reading: Luke 17:20 – 33 (NASB)
Luk 17:20 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed;
Luk 17:21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
Luk 17:22 And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.
Luk 17:23 “They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them.
Luk 17:24 “For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day.
Luk 17:25 “But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
Luk 17:26 “And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:
Luk 17:27 they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:28 “It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building;
Luk 17:29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:30 “It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
Luk 17:31 “On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back.
Luk 17:32 “Remember Lot’s wife.
Luk 17:33 “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
Transforming Power Statements:
1) In the days of Jeremiah, the covenant people had been judged and the remnant was seeing the aftermath of what the enemies of God were allowed to do, even to the covenant people, as a form of God’s intention to move His purposes forward in spite of the breach of promise His own people had chosen to do, rather than being a light in the midst of darkness because they chose to do the same things as the wicked.
2) Friendship with the world is enmity against God and the Church are those who have been called out of the world to be set apart for God’s use in the process of the redemption of the rest of the world; and therefore, needs to be deeply concerned about their own personal sanctification and cleansing, while becoming even more deeply engaged with God Himself via prayer, His Word and participation in His Church as they see time approaching judgment.
3) As believers in God, let us plan to draw closer and engage ourselves even more deeply in the fellowship of the Church and the Word, rather than becoming more distant, knowing that there is a present judgment and even a greater coming judgment from God that the present world is not aware of even now and let us elevate evangelism, which is the will of God.
