1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2a“Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all youof Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord!’ ”
3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: a“Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
4aDo not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lordare these.’
5 “For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly aexecute judgment between a man and his neighbor,
6if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, aor walk after other gods to your hurt,
7athen I will cause you to dwell in this place, in bthe land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
8 “Behold, you trust in alying words that cannot profit.
9aWill you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and bwalk after other gods whom you do not know,
10aand then come and stand before Me in this house bwhich is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’?
11 Has athis house, which is called by My name, become a bden of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the Lord.
12 “But go now to aMy place which was in Shiloh, bwhere I set My name at the first, and see cwhat I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.
These people had put their trust that they would be safe in the principle that they were "in the church." The Temple was right there; they could look at it. Since God dwelt there, they were close to God, they thought. But why does God mention these sins? Because they were guilty.
In the same manner, many in the church have unwittingly put their trust in the fact that they have God's Spirit—that He dwells in them—therefore no terrible thing could possibly befall them. However, this overlooks the fact that God's Spirit does not force us to make right choices. It leads, it guides, but it does not force. It does not make us obey. That is our choice.
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