Following the Old Paths

Here is Chapter 5 This is a bit longer and I will make it a two part article. Part one this week Part 2 next week.
CHAPTER 5 FOLLOWING IN THE OLD PATHS
Our Heavenly Father we ask you to be present and speak to the heart. This one who reads is seeking your guidance and loving care. Send the Holy Spirit to heal any hurt and show how much you care and love us. We know Lord that you have given each special gift for a specific purpose. Thank you Lord for caring enough to listen as our hearts seek you and loving enough to send your only son to die for our sins. In Jesus name we ask all things.

“He sure is old fashioned.” “ He needs to get with it.” That is what I overheard a group of young people saying about an elderly gentleman at the mall just the other day. All he did was say hello and wish them a good day. All they could think of was “He is just a dirty old man.”
“Hath a nation changed their Gods, which are yet no Gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord.
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water.”
Jeremiah 2:11-13

If you will read the story in the book of Jeremiah you will find the nation of Israel was is a bad state. Look epically at verses 7 & 8 of chapter 2 and you will see a picture not unlike the church today.
Verse 8 gives a clear picture of the church today. “The priest said not, Where is the Lord? And they that handled the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.”

The church today is in a backslidden condition. In Jeremiah 6:16 the Bible says that the tribe of Judah was also in a backslidden condition. I would like to draw some parallels between the two. In verse 13 of Jeremiah 6 Judah is accused of being overtaken with covetousness. This appears to be a wide spread problem as the Bible says it is from the least to the greatest. Now the church today is in a like condition as there are among the membership those who are overtaken with covetousness for the material things, the spectacular things, and the things which draw attention to ones self. This is evidenced from the pulpit to the back pew. There are preachers who only preach for the sensationalism and the money. There are members who only attend a certain church because it’s “good for business.” The politicians of Judah’s day were screaming peace, peace when there was no peace. What is being said today? Peace talks here, there and everywhere. In fact it kind of rings of a passage in Matthew 24, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars...” Everywhere you look there is talk of peace but there is no peace. Do you suppose God is trying to tell us something? Judah’s morality must have been an issue with the Lord as He said they were not ashamed after they had committed an abomination. The US today has the morals of an alley cat. She is not ashamed of how her citizens act in public. I remember a time when someone said a four-letter word someone would be embarrassed and blush red. Not today, that kind of language is the norm, even among women. Judah was instructed in verse 16 of Jeremiah chapter 6 to look to the old paths or the old ways of doing things. Boy would that not set well with the yuppie crowd today. Go back to the old ways, what are you crazy. I didn’t say this was going to be popular, just right. What are some of the old ways? Well for one we should return to the path of prayer. Prayer is the most powerful tool we as Christians possess. If it wasn’t why do you suppose those who are at risk ask for prayer? Take note of whom they ask for prayer. It is not the president, the congress or any political leader. Who then gets this request? It is those who have shown they have God’s ear. If you don’t believe in prayer don’t get on the bad side of someone who has God’s ear. I think mothers have a corner on the market of prayer. If ever there was a group who prayed more successfully for others it is mothers. Guess what God listens to them.
What is prayer? It is nothing more than talking to your heavenly father, talking with your heart not your head. That is if you have a heavenly father. Some don’t, as they are not saved, born again as it were. Jesus explained it this way when He said, “Ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.” Matt.7:7-8. Now that’s not too hard to understand. Sounds pretty straightforward to me.
If you will examine the early church you will find that they were a praying church. The first church was started with prayer and continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine, fellowship, breaking bread and prayers. Now doesn’t it seem strange that if the first church was a praying church then the church of today should be a praying church? That doesn’t mean having the pastor open and close with a prayer. It means that the entire church should be in a prostrate position before God exhorting Him with their petitions. Many think they have prayed simply by bowing their heads when someone recites a prayer and then they say amen. However, I feel the prayers of many are hollow. Kind of sounds like tinkling cymbals or breaking glass.

Judah was instructed to harken to the watchman set over them. Now that is a strange thing for God to tell these people. You must pay attention to the preacher. The one to whom I have spoken and given direction, the one I have called. What a strange concept. Actually He said “Harken to the sound of the trumpet.” What the Lord is saying is that they as well as we are to pay attention to the warnings. Okay but who is giving the warnings? It should be by the local pastor, not the TV evangelist or money preacher, but the one, who God has called, and is speaking to, directing and blessing. We are not to question the warning just obey them. If you came upon a sign in the road that said, “Danger Bridge Out Ahead”, and a policeman was directing traffic onto an alternate route would you tell the policeman you didn’t have to listen to him as he was just trying to make your trip harder. It’s doubtful you would do or say such a thing. Yet when God sends messages to His watchmen and they give out clear warnings why don’t we listen? Why do we crucify the messenger?