The Time Has Come

        “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant...not like the covenant I made with their fathers...For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days...I will put my law within my people and I will write it on their hearts.”   - Jeremiah 31-:31-33

  The phrase “the time has come” is one that challenges all believers. If I was to summarize the greatest reasons people give for not believing and trusting in the Lord, it is one of timing. Think of how often people pray for something and do not receive the answer they want, in the time they expect. Other times people want God to move and when that doesn’t happen, their faith is challenged. I can remember my first steps toward entering the ministry as being a period where I had everything timed perfectly! I had secured a leave of absence from the railroad to take classes so if seminary didn’t work out I had a safety net. Contrary to my best laid plans, nothing worked out! So when I went back to the railroad and I decided to try attending a different seminary a few months later, I planned on using the same approach of securing a leave of absence. My boss, who was a believer, told me several things. First, it was an administrative concern. He believed that crew management would not be agreeable to another leave of absence. Then on a personal level, he shared a life lesson of faith with me. He said that attending a seminary was a “calling” and I needed to step out in faith without a safety net. Both he and my local Union Rep assured me that they had every confidence that I would answer God’s call wherever I wound up! With that, I had a peace, knowing seminary would happen in God’s time.

   From II Peter 3:8-9: “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness but is patient towards you, not wishing anyone to perish.”

   I have often raised the question: When do we trust God? I have suggested that the prevailing opinion is only when things are going well. I have also suggested that those of true faith learn the lesson of dependence on God in good times and bad. Have you ever noticed that some of the most powerful, prophetic as well as poignant letters, both secular and sacred, are written in times of adversity?  Here is how one commentator introduced chapter 30 of Jeremiah: “Human nature tends to grow more despondent with bad news. Here, [through Jeremiah] however, we find an operation of nature quite higher than human nature.” What does he mean? Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, has written a long and lengthy prophetic writing which, in a short term basis does not contain a very positive or encouraging message. In the short term, God isn’t going to redeem, save or deliver Jerusalem from destruction. The siege is on from Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar’s army. Wouldn’t God deliver His people as He did to the Assyrian army under King Hezekiah centuries earlier but in the same situation?

    The answer is No!  That shocking message was at the heart of Jeremiah’s writing with actions and strange illustrations to that point. Arrested and jailed for sedition by King Zedekiah, king of Judah, Chapter 30 was written from a prison cell. Cold, damp, lonely and without a friend, how many people could declare or believe God was their best friend? But in that very condition, Jeremiah learned to rely and trust in God. No wonder in 31:26, Jeremiah declares his sleep as being “sweet.”

Jeremiah frames eight promises that Chapter 31 rests on. As you read each one, I want you to think of how they are fulfilled in Christ.

5. 1. I will bring you back from captivity.
   2. I will break the yoke from your neck.
   3. And David their King, I will raise up for them.
   4. Though I make full end of all nations where I have scattered you. Yet I will not make a complete end of you.
   5. I will correct you in justice.
   6. And all who prey upon you, I will make prey.
   7. I will restore health to you.
   8. Then out of you shall proceed thanksgiving. And the voice of those who make merry.

    God wants you to have the assurance of this reality. How does this happen? The answer is in and through Jesus Christ.  The message I want to impress upon you, from God’s Word, is how God is able to give hope in the midst of situations where hope seems to be absent. How do we see that in the gospel readings? In the midst of spreading of the gospel to those who are on the  fringes of Judaism, Jesus announces that His Time Has Come. What does that mean? His appointment with Calvary, set by the Father, has arrived.

   As the reality of the looming cross is comprehended by Christ, the crushing weight of its meaning takes place. “My soul is troubled.” from verse 27. What follows is critical for any believer who wants to be a servant of the Lord and who is going through dark times as well. In the following verses Jesus prays for the Father’s Will to be done. Do we seek that in our prayers? The cross, which is the full impact of the world’s sins bearing down on him, Jesus obediently defers to the Father’s glory and name. “I have glorified it and will glorify it again” is the voice heard from Heaven at Jesus’ request for the Father’s name, whose will and purpose will come to fruition.

   What is the purpose of the cross?

       - Judgement on this world and the ruler of this world (the devil).  Jesus will end the power of sin over Adam’s lineage. He will judge sin, condemn it and atone for it.

       - To cast out the ruler of this world. The world is under the power of the Accuser; he is ruler of this world. Jesus says the cross will cast out the ruler of this world.

   The time has come to worship God through Christ in truth and spirit. Wait on the Lord in faith and hope. Even in the midst of challenge, evil and sin. God’s promise of salvation will happen. Expect God to fulfill His promise; expect His Word to redeem the worst the world can dish out for His glory. That is the secret to the Christian faith. For us the time has come...in Christ. Expect Him to fulfill and redeem!

   Perhaps the time has come for you to understand your world view (how you look at and interpret the world.) Join us for Adult Sunday School (9 am every Sunday that I am here) for the “Truth Project”, a study that is a starting point for looking at life from a biblical perspective. We will be looking at the relevance and importance of living the biblical world view in daily life (in 26 installments - so there are many chances for you to join, as many or as few lessons as you like.)

Your Servant in Christ,

Pastor Harry