Jeremiah 23:11-12 – Living on Reputation
11
“For both prophet and priest are profane;
Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the Lord.
12
“Therefore their way shall be to them
Like slippery ways;
In the darkness they shall be driven on
And fall in them;
For I will bring disaster on them,
The year of their punishment,” says the Lord. Jeremiah 23:11-12, New King James Version
Expositing from the eloquent Isaiah's repentance with reference to his tongue, Sinclair B. Ferguson links in The Power of Words and the Wonder of God, "We foolishly assume that our real struggles with sin are in those areas where we are 'weak.' We do not understand the depth of sin until we realize that it has made its home far more subtly where we are 'strong,'' and in our gifts rather than our weaknesses and inadequacies. It is in the very giftedness God has given that sin has been at its most perverse and subtle!"
The inwardly directed talk of such a heart grown self-confident in the Lord's service is perhaps more ruinous. Spurgeon mocks such pretensions in his sermon "Why Does God Save Men?" "God will save me because I am so talented." Sir, he will not. Your talent! Why thou drivelling, self-conceited idiot, thy talent is nothing compared with that of the angel that once stood before the throne, and sinned, and who now is cast into the bottomless pit forever! If he would save men for their talent, he would have saved Satan."
We need to hear these warnings, for we grow confident in our gifts, distracted from dependence on their sovereign Giver. We need to hear these warnings, for we grow accustomed to the station they give us, and the respect they generate among religious men, respect which reverberates, perhaps, long after God has ceased to work and reprove within us.
This is His cautionary tale in Jeremiah 23:11-12. Even he who wears the title of prophet or priest, after all, is subject to corruption. Even these called apart to religion's service are mid-career subject to being inspected by the Lord and found wanting.
The ways of the backslidden but still socially respected, He characterizes to the ever-fervent Jeremiah by contrast, are slippery. They slide into sin, moving by degrees away from a heart that is soft before the Lord, even while they still maintain that title and duty station. The same necrosis can happen in our spirits, as Spurgeon admonishes succinctly in "Samson Conquered," "Pride is a breach of our consecration."
Would that this were only a concern of those called prophet, priest, pastor, or elder! It is not so. The yawning disparity between optics and reputation and actual cover scribble condition before the Lord is widespread even among the laymen. We may mouth the words in the cadences of His Temple. We may generate awe, and indeed teach with fruitfulness, so bound up is the Lord's gracious character with the guaranteed impact of His Word. We may speak and minister mightily, and yet our hearts are far from Him.
Another man less revered would take a misstep, would be a little less bright in his countenance, and would be checked by his true friend before he had gone far afield. Yet, he whom the Lord has previously used can wander into flagrant sin before men would be bold enough to overcome their own hesitations and confront.
We can't coast, brothers and sisters. We can't rely on what people say, the respect they give or don't give. This is slow to adjust, positively or negatively, to the reality of our hearts which is apparent only to God.
That we know this may result in our recoiling, in fact, Tim Keller in God's wisdom for Navigating Life tells of a pastor eventually caught in adultery who, avoidant of the right within, preached for years without praying. Intones Keller, “A minister may fill his pews, his communion roll, the mouths of the public, but what that minister is on his knees in secret before God Almighty, that he is and no more.”
Welcome the rebuke of the Lord. Ask Him to shorten the process of peeling away the layers of outward righteousness which so impress men. Where He calls such an accountable class in Jeremiah 23:12 to a year of punishment, He may yet be merciful. He knows we are, regardless of how respected by men, but dust.
When David realized that the sheep he led were going to suffer because of his poor spiritual leadership, he pled to take the punishment on himself, and indeed the Lord responded by foreshortening His promised punishment. At what cost to ourselves and others do we hold onto pride of place, even in the house of God?
“For both prophet and priest are profane;
Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the Lord.
12
“Therefore their way shall be to them
Like slippery ways;
In the darkness they shall be driven on
And fall in them;
For I will bring disaster on them,
The year of their punishment,” says the Lord. Jeremiah 23:11-12, New King James Version
Expositing from the eloquent Isaiah's repentance with reference to his tongue, Sinclair B. Ferguson links in The Power of Words and the Wonder of God, "We foolishly assume that our real struggles with sin are in those areas where we are 'weak.' We do not understand the depth of sin until we realize that it has made its home far more subtly where we are 'strong,'' and in our gifts rather than our weaknesses and inadequacies. It is in the very giftedness God has given that sin has been at its most perverse and subtle!"
The inwardly directed talk of such a heart grown self-confident in the Lord's service is perhaps more ruinous. Spurgeon mocks such pretensions in his sermon "Why Does God Save Men?" "God will save me because I am so talented." Sir, he will not. Your talent! Why thou drivelling, self-conceited idiot, thy talent is nothing compared with that of the angel that once stood before the throne, and sinned, and who now is cast into the bottomless pit forever! If he would save men for their talent, he would have saved Satan."
We need to hear these warnings, for we grow confident in our gifts, distracted from dependence on their sovereign Giver. We need to hear these warnings, for we grow accustomed to the station they give us, and the respect they generate among religious men, respect which reverberates, perhaps, long after God has ceased to work and reprove within us.
This is His cautionary tale in Jeremiah 23:11-12. Even he who wears the title of prophet or priest, after all, is subject to corruption. Even these called apart to religion's service are mid-career subject to being inspected by the Lord and found wanting.
The ways of the backslidden but still socially respected, He characterizes to the ever-fervent Jeremiah by contrast, are slippery. They slide into sin, moving by degrees away from a heart that is soft before the Lord, even while they still maintain that title and duty station. The same necrosis can happen in our spirits, as Spurgeon admonishes succinctly in "Samson Conquered," "Pride is a breach of our consecration."
Would that this were only a concern of those called prophet, priest, pastor, or elder! It is not so. The yawning disparity between optics and reputation and actual cover scribble condition before the Lord is widespread even among the laymen. We may mouth the words in the cadences of His Temple. We may generate awe, and indeed teach with fruitfulness, so bound up is the Lord's gracious character with the guaranteed impact of His Word. We may speak and minister mightily, and yet our hearts are far from Him.
Another man less revered would take a misstep, would be a little less bright in his countenance, and would be checked by his true friend before he had gone far afield. Yet, he whom the Lord has previously used can wander into flagrant sin before men would be bold enough to overcome their own hesitations and confront.
We can't coast, brothers and sisters. We can't rely on what people say, the respect they give or don't give. This is slow to adjust, positively or negatively, to the reality of our hearts which is apparent only to God.
That we know this may result in our recoiling, in fact, Tim Keller in God's wisdom for Navigating Life tells of a pastor eventually caught in adultery who, avoidant of the right within, preached for years without praying. Intones Keller, “A minister may fill his pews, his communion roll, the mouths of the public, but what that minister is on his knees in secret before God Almighty, that he is and no more.”
Welcome the rebuke of the Lord. Ask Him to shorten the process of peeling away the layers of outward righteousness which so impress men. Where He calls such an accountable class in Jeremiah 23:12 to a year of punishment, He may yet be merciful. He knows we are, regardless of how respected by men, but dust.
When David realized that the sheep he led were going to suffer because of his poor spiritual leadership, he pled to take the punishment on himself, and indeed the Lord responded by foreshortening His promised punishment. At what cost to ourselves and others do we hold onto pride of place, even in the house of God?
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