Rebecca and I have started reading a new book. At the beginning of this book the author talks about he has been to a lot of hospital visits and has done many funerals. He began to talk about how frail our life is and when it comes to the point when we are on our "death bed" - we should live our lives in such a way that we would not have any regrets. So, let me ask you, would you?
I share that, because I want to share the following two verses...
James 4:14 “…For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
Psalm 39:4-5 “LORD, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. 5Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.”
As we consider these two verses, I want you to go get a match and a candle. Go ahead, go get it. If you don't have a candle, just get a match. Ready? Now light it. Now blow it out. Now count how long it takes that smoke to disappear. The Bible relates that to our life. Our life is just a vapor!
Why do I share this? Because I have only been given one life - I don't want to live my life with any regrets! I don't want my life to be a wasted life. If my life is just a vapor - then I want my life to be full of purpose, hope, vision, direction, and LIFE. So that causes me to get to this question.
What is it that you are living for?
Now we are at our theme verses...
Jeremiah 9:23-24 “Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 24But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.”
As we consider these two verses and understand that it starts off with "Thus says the LORD," I want to look at three areas that we as people often consume our lives in and then one area that the Lord desires us to consume our life in.1. Glory not in Wisdom - Rühme dich nicht deiner Weisheit
Vs.23 “Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,”
Before we get into this, let me define a couple words for you…
- Glory – to praise, to make one’s boast in, to be boastful (excessive pride)
- Wise/Wisdom – intelligent; wise from experience of life & skillful with regard to affairs both in human & divine areas
Vs.23 “Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,”
He is not declaring that wisdom is bad or wrong. No, in fact, it states in …
Proverbs 4:7 “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom.”
Proverbs 8:11 “For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.”
James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
So it is not that WISDOM is bad. But what happens to us is that we begin to boast (glory) in our wisdom, as if we are the GREAT WISE ONE!
We need to be reminded of the following verses…
1 Chronicles 29:10-15 “Therefore David blessed the LORD before all the assembly; and David said: “Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. 11Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, And You are exalted as head over all. 12Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13“Now therefore, our God, We thank You And praise Your glorious name. 14But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, And of Your own we have given You. 15For we are aliens and pilgrims before You, as were all our fathers; Our days on earth are as a shadow, And without hope.”
If we have any wisdom it is because He has given it to us! Why would we glory in something that is not our own!Consider this verse…
1 Corinthians 1:25 “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men,”
2. Glory not in Strength - Rühme dich nicht deiner Stärke
Vs.23 “Thus says the LORD: “Let not the mighty man glory in his might,”
This is definitely another area that we as people boast (glory) in...OUR STRENGTH...OUR MIGHT...Our Mighty Deeds...The Great things that we have accomplished
I think we have some great examples to learn from in God’s Word…
Goliath
1 Samuel 17:4-10 “And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. 7 Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. 8 Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”
NebuchadnezzarDaniel 4:30 “The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?”
HerodActs 12:21-23 “So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. 22 And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.”
What happened to each of these men?
- Goliath died
- Nebuchadnezzar was humbled and later gave glory to the Lord
- Herod died on the spot
3. Glory not in Riches - Rühme dich nicht deiner Reichtümer
Vs.23 “Thus says the LORD: “Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;”
Here is the third area where we as people often glory in. Money! Our Riches! What we have acquired! But I want you to really let the LORD minister to you through His Word in these following verses...
1 Timothy 6:6-10 “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
1 Timothy 6:17 “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.”
How many people have you seen in your life destroyed with money? Especially in the day and age that we live in. With all that is going on with the economy. So many people were glorying in their riches, in their wealth, in their abundance, and now, for many, it is all gone!Consider these verses…
Matthew 16:26” For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Don’t Glory in Your
• Wisdom
• Might
• Riches
To summarize these three points, let us look at…
Ecclesiastes 2:3-11 “I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives. 4 I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. 5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. 7 I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. 9 So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 10Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor. 11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.”
Lastly, we look at the point that I believe that the LORD wants us to pursue with our lives...
4. Glory in Knowing Me - Rühme dich darin, mich zu kennen
Vs.24 “But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.”
Remember…
James 4:14 “…For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
I want to simply ask each of us, if we were on our deathbed right now, would be looking back in REGRET? What have we spent our lives PURSUING? In the end, will our wisdom matter at all? In the end, will our might matter at all? In the end, will our riches matter at all? WHAT WILL MATTER?Let’s look at the verse again…
Vs.24 “But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.”
I think that my 4-year-old daughter has said it correct these past couple of weeks…
“Daddy, I want to go to heaven.”
Why?
“Because I want to see Jesus.”
“I want to sing that song…. I WANT TO KNOW YOU.”
Is this our aim? Is this the purpose in our life? To KNOW Him! To live our lives for the glory of Him! I have found that as I pursue Him, as I live for Him, as I seek to know Him more and more, my life is not empty, it has purpose, I am less worried about the financial crisis, my foundation is secure, and lastly I have discovered that He has been completely faithful to me.
Turn with me as we look at our last verses…
Philippians 3:3b-14 “and have no confidence in the flesh, 4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Do you know Him? Is He your LORD? My prayer for you is that you would simply surrender your life to Jesus right now! Stop glorying in the things in this world. You might have it today, but what if it is all gone tomorrow? Because think about it - your life is a vapor - one day you will stand before His throne and the question will be asked... what did you do with My Son (Jesus)?
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