about other credibility gaps. I be lieve that there’s a huge credibili ty gap with many Christians to day.
go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abomina tions?” The temple was jammed with people. Probably there was a fes tival o f some kind. It was a holy day — maybe it was the corona tion time of one o f the kings; per haps King Jehoakim. Or possibly the people were all stirred up be cause the enemy was about to in vade the land. Whatever it was, they were all in church. It’s an old heresy to say it makes no difference how you live as long as you believe the right thing. It’s as old as Jeremiah’s time — I suppose as old as man. And yet, it’s a modem heresy, too. Jeremiah warned them against mere pious repetition o f speech. Verse 4, chapter 7: “Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple o f the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ ” Oh, they could be satisfied with ritual, and pious words in the temple, but it wasn’t the place that was going to make them safe, and bowing and scraping could hardly please a holy God. An empty religion can only bind, and many can get bound — instead of finding God — through coming to a temple or church and saying memorized phrases and go ing through certain motions. And that’s what Jeremiah says they were doing, trying to find relief through motion. And emotion, I suppose, too. But in their hearts and their lives — there was a credibility gap. “Will you steal, murder, com mit adultery, swear falsely, bum incense to Bhal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are de livered !’ — only to go on doing all Outside Riffht — Inside Wrong
CHINA IS NOT CLOSED TO THE GOSPEL! T h ro u g h P o w e rfu l T ra n sm itte rs In th e P h ilip p in e s an d O k in a w a th e M e ssag e o f C h ris t is D a ily B e am e d to C h in a . L iste n e rs L e tte rs a n d R e p o rts fro m R u fu g e e s P ro v e th e E ffe c tiv e n e ss o f T h e se B roa dca sts. For Free Illustrated Booklet Write to: FAR EAST BROADCASTING COMPANY Dept. B, Box 1 Whittier, Calif. 90608
An incredibly Old Problem
It was indeed an old problem, for Jeremiah wrote these words more than 2500 years ago. And he talks about it in a very peculiar place. Where does he talk about this gap? Let’s look at Jeremiah 7 :1 and 2: “ The word that came to Jere miah from the Lord: Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word o f the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord.” This is called the temple ser mon. Jeremiah stands at the door of the temple. Behind him is the Holy o f holies. In front o f him are the throngs o f people. He calls out his sermon, blocking, as it were, their way into the holy tem ple, and fearlessly delivers God’s message to the people of Judah. In chapter 26, verse 8 (which speaks o f this same time), Jere miah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to say. What a faithful prophet he was! “And when Jeremiah had fin ished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the peo ple laid hold of him, saying, ‘You shall die!’ ” You see, the people considered it a crime to interrupt their “ play ing church,” and it was dangerous for even a prophet to tell them what they were doing. But Jere miah was fearless. incredible But Actual Now, let’s examine some more o f this credibility gap. Look at verses 8 and 10 of the seventh chapter. God is speaking through His faithful prophet. “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, bum incense to Baal, and
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