Warren W. Wiersbe - Be Decisive. Taking a Stand for the Truth

BE DECISIVE

Published by David C. Cook

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All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,

no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form

without written permission from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version

of the Bible. (Public Domain.) Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New

American Standard Bible , Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by

permission; NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version . NIV . Copyright

1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan.

All rights reserved; NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982

by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved; TLB are taken from The

Living Bible, 1971, Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60189. Used by permission;

RSV are taken from the Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition,

1971], Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of

Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved; NEB are taken from The New English Bible, Copyright 1961 Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press; and MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

LCCN 2009934569

ISBN 978-1-4347-6634-2

eISBN 978-1-4347-0093-3

1991 Warren W. Wiersbe

First edition of Be Decisive by Warren W. Wiersbe published by Victor Books

in 1995 Warren W. Wiersbe, ISBN 1-56476-489-3

The Team: Karen Lee-Thorp, Amy Kiechlin, Sarah Schultz, Jack Campbell, and Karen Athen

Series Cover Design: John Hamilton Design

Cover Photo: Veer Inc.

Second Edition 2010

CONTENTS

The Big Idea: An Introduction to Be Decisive By Ken Baugh

A Word from the Author

1. The Reluctant Prophet (Jeremiah 1)

2. The Prophet Preaches (Jeremiah 26)

3. The Voice in the Temple (Jeremiah 710)

4. Voting with God (Jeremiah 1113)

5. Sermons, Supplications, and Sobs (Jeremiah 1417)

6. The Prophet, the Potter, and the Policeman (Jeremiah 1820)

7. Kings on Parade (Jeremiah 2124)

8. Facing Truth and Fighting Lies (Jeremiah 2529)

9. The God Who Makes Things New (Jeremiah 3033)

10. Contemporary Events and Eternal Truths (Jeremiah 3439; 52)

11. Tragedy Follows Tragedy (Jeremiah 4045)

12. God Speaks to the Nations (Jeremiah 4649)

13. Babylon Is Fallen! (Jeremiah 5051)

Postlude

Notes

The Big Idea

An Introduction to Be Decisive

by Ken Baugh

Our culture is accustomed to instant everything. We have microwaves that pop our popcorn and cook our instant oatmeal. We have ATM machines that dispense money whenever we want (if were not overdrawn on our accounts). We have twenty-four-hour convenience stores ready to provide midnight snack attack. We have fast food and fast passes at Disneyland so we dont have to wait in those annoying lines. We have instant messaging, email, overnight shipping, and direct flights that take us from coast-to-coast in less than five hours. Many of us keep in touch through Twitter and Facebook, because who has time to leave a voice-mail message anymore?

I love technology just as much as the next guy. I have a very smart phone, and I love to surf the Web, but Im not content with dial-up, cable, or even DSL. I want the blazing speed of fiber optics, and Im willing to pay for it.

Because we love instant everything, sometimes were lulled into self-deception when God doesnt respond instantly to sin. But Jeremiah reminds us that God disciplines those He loves. Even if we dont experience instant discipline for sin, our sin will be found out, and it will have its disastrous effect on our lives. Jeremiah warns Gods people: Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the L ORD . He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives (17:56 NIV ). The Big Idea of Jeremiah is that God is loving, but He is also just and will discipline those He loves when they sin.

Sin is not a popular topic these days. You dont even hear much about it in church anymore. But God still views sin the same way He always has: as rebellion against His ways and His will. God sent Jeremiah as a prophet to His people to warn them of coming judgment for their sin if they didnt repent. What sin did they commit? God said, My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water (2:13 NIV ). The people of Judah had committed idolatry, worshipping other gods instead of the one true God.

Idolatry is one sin that God takes very personally. It actually causes Him pain. If you are a parent, the rough equivalent would be for your child to say to you: I hate you and all that you have done for me. Leave me alone. I want to live my life my way, not by your stupid rules and what you think is best. Any parent who heard those words from a child they had raised, nurtured, and loved would be crushed. In a similar way, Gods heart is grieved when His children turn to idolatry.

Over and over again, Jeremiah warned the people to repent, to turn back to God, but they wouldnt listen. Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward (7:2324 NIV ). And this rebellion broke Gods heart, because God loves His people, and He cannot let sin go unpunished. God knew that the peoples rebellion and lack of repentance would require Him to take decisive action against them, and He knew that this action would bring them both great pain.

Through Jeremiah, God told the nation that His hammer of judgment was about to fall, and it was going to be more horrible than they could ever imagine:

In this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hands of those who seek their lives, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. I will devastate this city and make it an object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds. I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one anothers flesh during the stress of the siege imposed on them by the enemies who seek their lives. (19:79 NIV )

And all this happened just as God said it would (2 Kings 25). King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon sacked Jerusalem. The temple was destroyed, and all of the gold, silver, and bronze was taken. Most of the city wall was torn down, the city was burned, and most of the remaining Jews were deported to Babylon where they were held captives for seventy years.