In Jeremiah Chapter 6, verse 16, the great Prophet, Jeremiah, is inspired by God to pen these words, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” It is interesting that the prophets of old, who we look to for examples, often begin what they say with, “Thus saith the Lord.” This is important. Why is it important? It is important, because God’s Word is what saves. Acts 20:32 says, “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” The power of any sermon preached or lesson taught is the fact that it is based upon a “Thus saith the Lord.” Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
This life here is challenging, as we face persecution, temptation, and sickness. The thing is though that all of these things are just temporary and light when compared to the eternal joy that awaits us in Paradise, where there is no persecution, no temptation, and no sickness. II Corinthians 4:17-18 says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
In our efforts to go to our eternal joyous place of abode, we must stand in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and we shall find rest for our souls in this life as we have an abundant life here and eternal rest in glory (John 10:10).
We must not do as so many of Jeremiah’s time on the earth did and say, “We will not walk therein.” Those people were already in captivity to sin, and they would find themselves in captivity to a people who would show them no mercy.
Friends, by Christ’s Words we will be judged. Jesus says in John 12:48, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. “Let us seek to be guided by those Words in all ways. We must be faithful unto the very point of death (Revelation 2:10).
-Jason Gann, TBC Registrar
