Truth Has Perished

	"The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord," Jeremiah 7:1-7 records, "saying, 'Stand in the gate of the Lord's house and proclaim there this word, and say, "Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the Lord!"'  Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, "This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord."  For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, {if} you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.'"
	Although God gave these words to Jeremiah more than 2600 years ago, we can't help but appreciate their relevance to the so-called "Christian Nation" that is so dear to all of us.
	"Do not trust in deceptive words," God warns through the prophet in verse 4.  The Lord goes on to spell out three ways in which the people are doing just that.
	"Do not trust in deceptive words," verse four cautions, "saying, 'This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.'"
	God has been good to these people.  He has chosen them as His own.  He has allowed them to build His temple in their midst.  But the people have developed a warped idea about their relationship with Jehovah.  They believe that, no matter what they do or how they do it, they can simply point toward the temple and they will be OK.  But, as God expresses, this is not true at all.  Jesus encounters the same mentality during His time on earth.  So He counsels against being deceived into believing that it is enough to just be somewhere in the neighborhood.
	"And He was passing through from one city and village to another," we read in Luke 13:22-28, "teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem.  And someone said to Him, 'Lord, are there {just} a few who are being saved?' And He said to them, 'Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.  Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, "Lord, open up to us!" then He will answer and say to you, "I do not know where you are from."  Then you will begin to say, "We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets"; and He will say, "I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers."  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth there when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being cast out.'" 
	Do not trust deceptive words, God warns, saying "This is the temple of the Lord."  Do not be mislead into believing that close will be good enough when it comes to spiritual matters.
	"Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known," God asks in Jeremiah 7:9-10, "then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered!'-- that you may do all these abominations?"
	The people believe that they can kill and steal and commit adultery and offer sacrifices to idols, and then expect God to deliver them.  They can be friends of the world and still be friends of God.
	"What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?" James 4:1-5 wonders.  "Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?  You lust and do not have; {so} you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; {so} you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend {it} on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: 'He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us'"? 
	What is the situation today?  We condone adultery and homosexuality and abortion.  We preach that anyone can do anything religiously.  And we believe that God will deliver this "Christian Nation."  Why do we believe this?  We believe it because we are so smart.  We are so advanced.  We are so wise.  Unfortunately for us, this is the third part of God's warning against deceptive words.
	"How can you say, 'We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us'?" Jeremiah 8:8-9 asks.  "But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made {it} into a lie.  The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and caught; behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what kind of wisdom do they have?"
	What kind of wisdom, indeed, when we think we can make God do things our way just because we say so.  We don't have to do things God's way.  He has to do them our way.
	"Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites," Jesus exclaims in Mark 7:6-7, "as it is written, 'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'"
	"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men," 1 Corinthians 1:25 notes, "and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
	Do not trust in deceptive words, God warns.  Do not say, "This is the temple of the Lord," and believe that his will save you.  Do not believe that you can steal and murder and commit adultery and worship idols and still have God deliver you.  Do not believe the lying pen of scribes who think that God must follow them.

	Do not trust in deceptive words, God warns.  Do not say, "This is the temple of the Lord," and believe that his will save you.  Do not believe that you can steal and murder and commit adultery and worship idols and still have God deliver you.  Do not believe the lying pen of scribes who think that God must follow them.
	How does God respond to this situation?
	"And now, because you have done all these things," He begins in Jeremiah 7:13, "and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you but you did not answer."
	God speaks, but they do not hear.  Jesus encounters the same situation with His followers.  He tries to warn them against the leaven of the Jews, meaning that they should be watchful against false teaching.  But they are focused on material things, so they start talking about physical bread.
	"Having eyes, do you not see?" Jesus demands in Mark 8:18.  "And having ears, do you not hear?"
	Jesus speaks, but people don't hear.
	God also says through Jeremiah that He calls, but people do not answer.
	"And it was for this He called you through our gospel," Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:14, "that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
	Still today, God calls but people don't answer.
	What is it that God expects of the people in the days of Jeremiah?
	"But this is what I commanded them," He responds in Jeremiah 7:23, "saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.'"
	God simply asks that the people walk in the way which He commands.  What do they do?
	"Yet they did not obey or incline their ear," we find in Jeremiah 7:24, "but walked in {their own} counsels {and} in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward."
	God simply asks that the people walk in His commandments.  How do they respond?
	They do not obey or incline their ears.  They walk in their own counsels and stubborn hearts.  They go backward and not forward.  Have things changed a great deal in the last 2000 years?
	The people trust in deceptive words.  God speaks but they do not hear; He calls but they do not answer.  He simply asks that they walk in His commandments.  Instead, they do not obey or incline their ears.  They walk in their own counsels and stubborn hearts.  They go backward and not forward.  So what does God do next?
	"Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day," God observes in Jeremiah 7:25-26, "I have sent you all My servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending {them.}  Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck; they did evil more than their fathers."
	God sends His prophets.  Yet the people do not listen or incline their ears.  They stiffen their necks.  They do more evil than their fathers.  Have things changed much in the past 2000 years?
	What is next?  What is God's final action?  What may be in store for nations which follow in the footsteps of the Israelites?  The answer is not pretty.
	"As for you," God orders the prophet in Jeremiah 7:16, "do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you."
	What would it be like to reach this point?  What more do we have to do before we reach the point that God says, "Do not pray for these people any more...I do not hear you"?
	"And you shall speak all these words to them," God continues in Jeremiah 7:27, "but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but they will not answer you.
	God has given up on these people.  How far can we go before He gives up on us?  But the saddest is yet to come.
	"And you shall say to them," God instructs in Jeremiah 7:28, 'This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God or accept correction; truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.'"
	Friends, where are we now?  How much longer before someone is forced to recognize that truth has perished?
	Let's not let this happen.  Let's obey and cling to the truth so that we may be set free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."