Jeremiah 17

Jeremiah 17:1

MESSAGE OF THE UNMARRIED PROPHETThere was evil in everything they did. It even permeated their religion.

Jeremiah 17:5

It might be well for us to put that up as a motto today. Sometimes we think we can depend on certain men or on certain political parties to work out the problems of the world. You and I are cursed people if we put our trust in men and what men can do. This is the day to trust God.

Jeremiah 17:7

We shall be blessed if we trust Him.

Jeremiah 17:8

This is the same thought that we find in the first psalm: Blessed is the man whose “…delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psa_1:2-3).

Jeremiah 17:9

This is true of your heart and my heart. Unfortunately, we all have heart trouble.

Jeremiah 17:10

Only God can make a heart transplant. Man is now doing that sort of thing in the physical sense, but God has been doing it in the spiritual sense for a long time. When we come to Him, He gives us new lifewe are born anew and given a new nature. Sometimes we who are ministers use the expression, “Give your heart to the Lord.” Well, what would God want with that old, dirty, filthy heart of yours or mine? He doesn’t want it. The heart is deceitful. He wants to give you a new heart. He is a heart specialist; He is the Great Physician. Now we will conclude this chapter with a great verse:

Jeremiah 17:12

This is the hope of man. All men have hearts which are deceitful, dirty, filthy, and wicked. But there is a sanctuary. “A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.” A sanctuary is not only a place of worship; it is a place of safety, a place of peace. God gave to His people certain cities which were to be cities of refuge, sanctuaries where they would be protected. My friend, these are difficult days. It is dangerous to walk the streets of our cities. Even in our homes we are not safe from a bomb that may come from the other side of the world. Where can we go to be safe? There is a sanctuary, and it is the high throne of our God. That is the place where you and I can go. And He asks us to come. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith …” (Heb_10:19-22).