VESPERS

4 November Anno + Domini 2009

"They Have Refused to Repent”

Jeremiah 5:1-19 (Matt. 22:23-46)

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

"They have refused to repent.”  The LORD had sent them prophets, including Jeremiah, but they would not heed their call.  The Israelites living in Jerusalem had abandoned the faith in order to run after other gods.  They had exchanged the truth for a lie.  They were more interested in self-satisfying pleasure than in the Word of the LORD.  So, they told the prophets to get lost.  Who were they to tell them how they should live?  Who were they to come in and try to ruin their good time?  They were happy.  They were content.  Life was good.  "Get lost, prophet!  We will not allow you to rain on our parade!” 

"They have refused to repent.”  That was their problem.  They would not acknowledge and confess their sins.  They would not return to their LORD.  And so, in came the lion, the wolf, the leopard, to devour this easy prey.  Satan was very pleased with the apostasy of the Jerusalem crowd.  Nothing pleases that old, evil foe more than when people thumb their noses at the LORD.  His goal is to get them to do just that; to get them to trust in themselves; to convince them to do whatever is pleasing and right in their own eyes. 

But, the LORD was not pleased in the least.  He was patient with this people.  He sent them prophets to exhort them to repent and return to Him.  But, they refused.  Therefore, He gave them up to the wolf and pronounced judgment upon them.  He had brought them out of bondage and into the Promised Land, but now He gives this ungrateful and unfaithful people back into the hands of a foreign nation; back into bondage.  Jerusalem was reduced to rubble and its inhabitants were either killed or dragged off in captivity. 

Let this be a warning to us, dear friends.  The devil continues to roam around us like a lion, seeking whom he may devour.  He stands poised and ready to strike us at any moment.  He waits for his opportunity and that opportunity comes when we refuse to repent.  That's the key, my friends.  Repentance is always the key.  Jerusalem was not destroyed because it's inhabitants were sinful, but because they refused to repent and return to the LORD. 

Do not give the devil the opportunity he desires.  Repent.  Acknowledge and confess your sins.  You have not loved the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.  You have not loved your neighbor as yourself.  Not perfectly.  Not even close.  Examine yourselves.  You know it's true.  You can't make it on your own.  You need the forgiveness the LORD stands ready to pronounce.  And that forgiveness, won by the precious Blood shed in your place by Jesus on the cross, is yours in full when you repent. 

The Old Testament Reading this evening is full of doom and gloom, and it's hard to see any Gospel, any Good News, present in the reading, but it's there.  "But even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make a full end of you.”  The LORD preserves His remnant.  Even if the vast majority refuses to heed His call to repent, issued forth by the prophets He raised up to preach in His Name, there remain those who do repent and believe.  His Word does not return void, but accomplishes the purpose for which He sends it.  There will always be a remnant of the LORD. 

And that is Good News for us today, for things are not much different today than they were in Jeremiah's day.  A great apostasy - a great turning away from the true faith - is evident to all who would open their eyes and ears to see and hear.  But, still, the LORD raises up prophets to preach repentance and forgiveness in His Name.  And through this preaching, He will continue to preserve His remnant.  Blessed are you who heed this preaching, who repent and return to the LORD in faith.  You have the forgiveness you need, and the roaring lion cannot touch you, for the Lamb has defeated Him on the cross.  And, where there is forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation.  Therefore, your reward will be great, for you will dwell in the House of the LORD forever, where there will be no roaring lions seeking to devour you, but only repentant sinners become saints and holy angels surrounding the Lamb and feasting on His good gifts for all eternity, in perfect bliss, peace, comfort and joy.  This promise is for all who repent and return to the LORD in faith - this promise is for you!  In Jesus' Holy and Precious Name.  Amen.