Face The Nation

FACE THE NATION

Read Jeremiah 8:-9:26

Read Jeremiah 8:-9:26

The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. Jeremiah 8:20

There used to be a television show airing on Sunday mornings called Face the Nation. (It may still be on, but I am busy at church on Sundays.) Perhaps, if we were to put a title to this sermon in Jeremiah 8:4-9:26, we should call it “Face the Nation.” Jeremiah’s message has three points.

In 8:4-17, the prophet reviews the sin of the nation. Their perpetual backsliding has led to a loss of God’s blessings and to spiritual discouragement. He then speaks about the sorrow of the nation (8:18-9:6). In what is easily one of the most poignant verses in the Bible, Jeremiah laments, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved” (8:20). Jeremiah pictures what we call late fall––past summer and post harvest, that time before the dead of winter. His imagery is heart-wrenching. The golden age of Israel was over (David and Solomon’s kingdoms). And the prophetic age, intended as a time of spiritual renewal and the harvest of many souls, was about to end. And still, Israel was not saved. Finally, Jeremiah lifts up the hope of the salvation of the nation (9:7-26). This salvation manifests itself in four acts of God: refinement from the Lord (9:7-16), repentance from the people (9:17-22), reliance upon the Gospel (9:23-24) and the recompense of God upon nominal religion (9:25-26).

Jeremiah summarizes the message of all the prophets over the previous four centuries prior to his day:

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Boasting in human wisdom, human strength and human wealth will foolishly lead to spiritual ruin. As I pen this devotion, our nation (and, therefore, our Church) is suffering from this uncalculated failure. Our brightest, boldest and best in the marketplace and the government have failed. The result has been a major recession with unprecedented worldwide effects and dramatic political fallout. Yet, I fear that we Americans have yet to get the message. Let me attempt to connect the dots: “The harvest is over and summer is ended, and we are not saved…but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows (God), that (God) is the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth” (8:20; 9:24).

Face the Nation, look at its sins. Pray for its spiritual condition and its moral order. Our only hope is in the Gospel, and in particular, the Christ of the Gospel. We need not the wisdom of the academy, the strength of the government or the wealth of Wall Street to save us. We need an outpouring of steadfast love, justice and righteousness from Jesus Christ. The harvest of our capitalistic wealth may well be past, and the summer of America’s golden age may have ended, but still there is hope that we might be saved. “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation” (Psalm 85:6-7).

PRAYING FOR THE PCA

CEP: Pray for the teenagers in PCA churches who must wrestle every day with what it means to be salt and light in a society that does not operate by the same moral and religious code. Today would be a great day to lift up in prayer teenagers you know from your church, asking that God will raise up adults in the church who will form meaningful relationships with them so that they can learn what it means to stand firm and by doing so become a generation that is known as one that seeks after God. Please pray also for the salvation of thousands and thousands of teenagers that are connected with PCA churches who are not yet followers of Christ.

CC: Pray for the members of the President’s Staff: Jeff Hall, Vice President for Academic Affairs; Wallace Anderson, Vice President for Enrollment Management; Troy Duble, Vice President for Advancement.

MNA: Pray that more PCA churches will take on the ministry of being prepared for disasters and seize these very important opportunities to reach out with the Gospel. Pray for Arklie Hooten as he leads MNA Short Term Missions and Disaster Response.

PCAF: Ask that the PCA Foundation’s President, Randy Stair, will be uplifted, encouraged and given Godly direction as he manages the ministry, staff and business affairs of the Foundation.

RH: Pray for staff protection from the attacks of the Adversary. Sometimes the Adversary attacks by illness, by discouragement and by hindering necessary financial support or by creating equipment breakdowns. Sometimes he hinders by keeping us spiritually occupied by the “tyranny of the urgent.”