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The “something better” of the new covenant

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commandments

Despite what you may have heard, the first covenant God made with the Israelites was good.1 It was a declaration of fidelity to God, their rescuer. In some ways, it was not unlike our wedding vows—a forsaking of all others and a promise of faithfulness toward our spouse. In that covenant, God was saying, “If you are faithful to me, you will live this way”:

  • You will have no other gods before me.
  • You will worship me only.
  • Do not take my name in vain.
  • Keep the Sabbath day holy.
  • Honor your mother and father.
  • Do not murder.
  • Do not steal.
  • Do not commit adultery.
  • Do not lie.
  • Do not covet.

And these are good laws, make no mistake. They are good commands that are right for us to obey. In keeping them there is life and joy. But as good as the Law is—as good as that first covenant was—it couldn’t empower anyone to keep it.

It couldn’t cure the problem of their hearts.

It couldn’t make something dead live.

The Israelites—and we along with them—needed something else. Something better, as the author of Hebrews might say.

And that’s what’s so beautiful about this passage, isn’t it? God promised something new for his people. “I will put my teaching within them, and write it on their hearts.”

That “new” word is tricky, of course. What do we mean when we use “new” in the context of God? Does it mean the first covenant was a mistake? Had God now moved on to Plan B? Would there be a Plan C, D, E, F, and G, too?

Not at all. When we think about new, we shouldn’t ignore the fact that “new” really does mean new—but that’s new for us. In the history of the world, no covenant like this one had ever been made, and would never be made again. God was doing something totally different… Which is what he had planned from the very beginning.

What God promised in the new covenant is nothing less than the gospel itself. He would write his teaching on the hearts of his people. He would put his teaching within them. And this is how he did it—in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Jesus, the Son of God, the Word who was in the beginning with God and was God himself, made this covenant with God the Father before the foundation of the world. That Jesus would come into the world as a human being, to identify with his people, to perfectly fulfill the commands of the first covenant, so that, as the author of Hebrews wrote,

…those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)

Jesus fulfilled the covenant for us and took the punishment our sins deserved in order to forgive us. And if that weren’t enough, he sent his Spirit to give us new hearts, hearts that are no longer enslaved to sin, but instead long to love and please God our Father, and to live within us to enable us to fulfill God’s commands!

That’s the new covenant, friends.

That’s the “something better”!

And I pray it’s a “something better” every single person reading this has experienced or will experience.

  1. That is, the Law. The following is an adaptation of my notes from my November 13th sermon at South Georgia Baptist Church in Amarillo, TX. ↵

God’s plans are good (even when we don’t like them)

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god-plan-good

There’s a verse that’s in every Christian household or office space (and not just because it’s in our Bibles). Maybe it’s on a coffee mug or a t-shirt. Perhaps a poster or a greeting card. Or perhaps it’s featured on a decorative throw or a tattoo. It’s the life verse of virtually every women’s ministry leader and children’s ministry director.

Of course, you know I’m referring to Jeremiah 29:11, and it’s assurance that God knows the plans he has for us, “plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

It’s a wonderful encouragement, isn’t it? We look at it and say, “Wow—God has a plan for me!” That plan, of course, is one we assume to be free from any sort of difficultly, strife or conflict. But to paraphrase the oft-quoted line—this verse you keep using; I do not think it means what you think it means.

When we read this verse, we typically do so through the lens of the western desire for prosperity, safety and security. That God’s plan obviously includes a full bank account, a big house and kids who remember to wash their hands after using the toilet. But as much fun as those things might be—especially the last one for the germaphobes out there—this isn’t really what’s promised by God to the Israelites. And make no mistake: this verse offers a promise to them, first and foremost.

Although we all (should) know this, we can’t forget that Jeremiah 29:11 comes as part of a larger conversation between God and the newly exiled Jewish people. After years of rejecting God, of consistently rebelling against him and his commands, Jerusalem and the nation of Judah was finally overtaken by  Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, and Jeremiah was there to witness the whole thing. As they sat in Babylon, many so-called prophets came to them with messages promising a swift return to Jerusalem and a restoration of their fortunes.

Surely, God wouldn’t leave the people in exile, away from the promised land, for more than a few months. Maybe a couple of years, tops. But any longer than that, come on…

And yet, of these prophets God said, “Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord” (8-9). They were liars, deceivers who preyed on the people’s hopes and dreams. But their promises and prophecies were empty babbling. They were fanciful ideas from their own minds, and nothing more.

Instead of a swift return, God had something else in mind for his wayward people:

Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (Jer. 29:5-7)

So, rather than telling them not to unpack their belongings, God says get comfortable: Settle in Babylon. Get jobs. Get married. Have children. Be a blessing to this city, because you’re going to be here for a while. For the rest of your lives, in fact.

And it’s in this context that God says to his people, “For I know the plans I have for you.”

Despite this being primarily a promise to the Israelites, there is a principle that is true for us as well. Though, to be honest, I doubt us Christians feel anymore joyful about it than the Israelites of the day. Sometimes we’re in communities and context where we’d rather not be. It’s difficult to imagine trying to be a faithful Christian in an incredibly harsh context—one where you can be killed simply for your beliefs. And yet, for many, that’s the reality they live with. But God is still good, isn’t he?

Even here in North America, there are certainly times when we might prefer to hunker in the bunker or move somewhere far away from all the people who need Jesus because they really don’t like this Jesus we represent. And yet, it’s to them God has sent us. And he has a plan for us here: it is to serve those in need. To proclaim truth of the gospel. To do all we can to encourage all around us to thrive, and to be “a light to those who are in darkness” (Rom. 2:19b). To seek the wellbeing and welfare of our communities because those who are perishing need to see that Christians really do care for them.

In other words, God’s plan for us right now is to be his ambassadors in a foreign land. And God’s plans are always good (even when we don’t like them). We aren’t to sit on our duffs and just wait until Jesus returns. We are to go about the work he has commanded us. Because that is the plan he has for us—and it is the best future any of us could hope for.

Adapted from an earlier post written in October 2009.

What to expect when we preach the gospel

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friends-gospel

In modern times, we tend to look at the world around us and say, if only we were X—whether X is hip, trendy, socially active, or whatever—then we’d win the culture to Christ. We act as though there’s some magic formula to this. That somehow we can make everything go exactly our way if we could just unlock the secret.

Now, imagine having these sorts of aspirations—of winning your people with your powerful and prophetic preaching—and rather than turning to God in repentance, they turn on you with murder in their eyes. That those plotting your demise are not strangers, but your childhood friends.

And not your friends only, but your family: your parents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles…

They all want you dead.

What would you do?

Jeremiah, often described as the weeping prophet, didn’t need to imagine this, for it was his experience. He wrote in chapter 11 of his book of their scheming. For he heard them say,”Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more,” not knowing that “it was against me they devised schemes” (Jeremiah 11:19).

How would you respond to opposition of this degree? Would you flee? Would you be tempted to retract your message? Or would you turn to the Lord to defend your cause as he did, pleading, “But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause”? (Jeremiah 11:20)

While many around the world don’t have to wonder, for it is their daily reality, I hope none of us here in North America will ever have to experience exactly what Jeremiah did. None of us should ever desire persecution of this nature, or actively pursue it. Nevertheless, it’s important to remember as we consider the experiences of Jeremiah, the Apostles, the Reformers, and so many others right up to our own day is that the gospel is offensive. If we preach the truth—if we preach that Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, died for our sins on the cross and rose again on the third day—we are preaching “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” (1 Peter 2:8).

The gospel shows us as we truly are—lost, depraved, unable to save ourselves no matter how good and moral we attempt to be. Thus, it confronts us with uncomfortable realities. We know we can never be good enough (even by our own standards, to say nothing of God’s). We know the deeds and thoughts done in private. The gospel shatters our self-image, and so we are left with two options: repent or retaliate.

And that’s the hard thing for so many to get, I fear: generally speaking, we’re not going to win any popularity contests when we’re preaching the gospel in a culture that runs contrary to it. The hard-hearted Israelites to whom Jeremiah preached would not hear him, and in their rebellion sought his death. Today, we’re called bigots for upholding biblical truths and not being able to bless actions that run contrary to them. We’re called intolerant for our exclusive claims. Even when people think we, individually, are very nice, collectively, Christians are personae non gratae.

This is what we should expect when we represent Christ, no matter how well we represent him. Some will be drawn closer, but others—many others, perhaps—will be repelled. That’s what we should expect, because it is what we’re told will happen. So do not lose heart if social action doesn’t win the affections of the lost, or being culturally relevant still results in us being left out in the cold. Give thanks to God and carry on.

Conrad Mbewe: The Righteous Branch #TGC11

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Conrad Mbewe is the pastor of Kabwata Reformed Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia, Africa. He is widely regarded as the African Spurgeon. KBC is presently overseeing the establishment of ten new Reformed churches in Zambia and Botswana. Conrad is the editor of Reformation Zambia magazine and writes three columns in two weekly national newspapers. His most recent contribution to a book is found in Dear Timothy—Letters on Pastoral Ministry, published by Founders Press. He is also the principal of the Reformed Baptist Preachers College in Zambia.

Mbewe expounded on Jeremiah 23:1-8.

The audio is available for download here. Video footage can be viewed below:

 

My notes are below:

As I meditated on this passage, the subject of leadership was burned afresh in my own heart. Clearly this is the issue that arises in this passage that we have just read. And again and again in the Bible we find, as the leaders go, so go the people of Israel. You see the people hardening their hearts and going their own way.

Often you find phrases like “the king led the people into great sin”… And in Malachi, we find God chastising the priests, saying “It is you who have led my people to desecrate my temple…” And the converse is also true, where repentance first comes to the king and then the people.

What Jeremiah deals with here is the need for consistent, godly and fruitful leadership that ultimately brings glory to God… Oh that God may help us see how we should deal with our lives, so that we might be the means by which God blesses His people. [Read more…]

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The Persevering Prophet: Fruit

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PP-Fruit

I’ve had one question stuck in my mind since completing my reading of Jeremiah:

How do you determine a fruitful ministry?

What makes it successful? Is it the number of converts? The number of professions of faith?

At Compassion, one of the ways we measure our fruitfulness is the number of children we see sponsored. For our ministry, this is an incredibly important metric, because if we don’t see children sponsored, we’re failing in our jobs.

But are these kinds of metrics—the number of professions of faith, the number of people attending a church, the number of people serving in a particular ministry—the thing we should measure?

If you look at converts, Jeremiah’s ministry was a spectacular failure. He had two people listen to his calls of repentance: Baruch, his scribe (see Jer. 32:12) and Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian eunuch who served King Zedekiah (see Jer. 38:7-13).

Years of ministry. Countless sermons. Powerful & provocative words.

Two converts.

Everyone else tried to kill him.

Jeremiah’s ministry has taught me something incredibly important:

Fruitfulness is not determined by metrics—It is determined by obedience to God’s Word.

[Read more…]

The Persevering Prophet: I Know the Plans I Have for You

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PP-Plans

In the middle of the book of Jeremiah, there’s this verse that I suspect most Christians consider their “life verse.” It’s everywhere. It’s on t-shirts, coffee cups, posters (maybe with a beautiful landscape or cute fuzzy animals), greeting cards… you name it, there’s probably a product with this verse on it:

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope — Jeremiah 29:11

It’s a great verse, no doubt. It’s incredibly inspiring. Many read it and, in application to themselves say, “Wow, God has a plan for me. A plan for my welfare and for my future!” And while that’s true (see Romans 8:28-29), there’s something else going on. When God said this to the Israelites, in a letter from Jeremiah, they had just been taken into exile in Babylon. And during that time, many “prophets” were giving the people false hope, telling them that they would be back in Jerusalem on top of the world in a couple years, tops. But this is not God’s plan for them; just the opposite, in fact. [Read more…]

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