Jer 13:15-27 Your Principalities Shall Come Down, Even the Crown of Your Glory

[Study Aired July 18, 2021]

Jer 13:15  Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.
Jer 13:16  Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
Jer 13:17  But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’S flock is carried away captive.
Jer 13:18  Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.
Jer 13:19  The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
Jer 13:20  Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
Jer 13:21  What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
Jer 13:22  And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare.
Jer 13:23  Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
Jer 13:24  Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
Jer 13:25  This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
Jer 13:26  Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.
Jer 13:27  I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?

The first verse of our study gives us the Lord’s instructions. His instructions reveal what He desires that we do:

Jer 13:15  Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.

The Lord’s desire for us is that we humble ourselves as little children and do the things He tells us to do:

Mat 18:3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 18:4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself  as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of  heaven.

Our pride in our fabled free will is a foundation of sand which insures the destruction of our old man:

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

The message of scripture from Genesis to Revelation is that, by the Lord’s design, corruptible flesh and blood is “made subject to vanity”, made subject to “the law of sin” which the Lord Himself has placed within our  members.

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made  subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Cain was very proud and was jealous of the appreciation the Lord had shown for Abel’s obedience. The “law of sin in [his] members” led him to believe that if he killed Abel, then the Lord would have to accept his disobedience. It was at this point that the Lord revealed to Cain that he would be forced to acknowledge that “sin is at the door”. What the whole Babylonian Christian church has no ability to perceive is that the Lord then tells Cain that in the end, he will be given dominion over the law of sin in his members:

Gen 4:3  And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Gen 4:4  And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Gen 4:5  But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Gen 4:6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

As we have pointed out, the Hebrew word translated as ‘unto’ here in Gen 4:7 and in Genesis 3:16 is H413, ‘el’, and is better translated ‘against’, as it is properly translated in the very next verse:

Gen 4:8  And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against [G413: ‘el’] Abel his brother, and slew him.

Eve’s curse for eating the forbidden fruit was to be given a desire to not please her husband.  “Your desire shall be to your husband and he shall rule over you” is not saying that Eve will just naturally desire to please her husband. Instead, it was quite the opposite. It was the same curse we have all been given as to how we relate to our spiritual husband, Christ (2Co 11:2). Eve’s curse was the curse of being against her husband:

Gen 3:16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to [H413: ‘el’, against] thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Notice closely that in both cases Eve and Cain are promised that in the end they would be victorious over “the law of sin in [their] members”. Eve is promised that in time her husband would rule over her, and Cain is told that in time he would rule over sin in his life.

The message of the scriptures is:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it. (CLV)

The Truth of scripture is:

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

What 1^st Corinthians 15:50 reveals to us is that flesh and blood were never designed to inherit the kingdom of God. Flesh was designed to have an experience of evil and to be humbled and destroyed by that experience of evil.

Adam and Eve did not become sinners by eating of the forbidden fruit. Rather, they ate of the forbidden fruit because they “were made subject to vanity, not willingly but by reason of Him who subjected [them to vanity] in hope”. In other words, Adam and Eve became sinners because they were composed of corruptible flesh with “the law of sin” already in their members (Rom 7:23)

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

This study is just another repetition of that message of the Lord’s Words. It is a sad, yet an expedient Truth, that the words of this chapter are addressed to “the Lord’s flock”. “The Lord’s flock is carried away captive” (Jer 13:17) because they would ‘not hear’.

Jer 13:15  Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.

This may sound like a longing and pleading of the Lord, and indeed that is exactly what it is. However, there is something more to the Lord’s desires than our wistful desires, and this is the big difference:

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

What does the Lord “desire [for] His flock”, and in His time for all of mankind? This is what He “will have”:

1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

However, Job 23:13 tells us that if indeed 1^st Timothy 2:4 were to mean that the Lord desires for “all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth”, then that is what He will do, and all the slanderous false doctrines to the contrary will not change the Truth that what He desires even that He does, and His desire is to save all men.

Every historical Christian denomination will tell you that what 1^st Timothy 2:4 means is that God ‘desires for all of us to be saved’ and to come unto the knowledge of the Truth, but because we have free will, most of mankind will choose to disobey God and will choose to be cast into the lake of fire, which they believe is a literal hell with literal eternal flames of fire.

Our Lord and His Father are no such monsters, however, and while He is indeed giving us an experience of evil, He is doing so because He is “seeking an occasion against” the law of sin and death which He has placed within [our] members”:

Rom 7:15  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Rom 7:16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

“The law of sin which is in [our] members” is the “captivity” into which it is expedient that “the Lord’s flock is carried away captive”. It is for this reason that we are exhorted:

Jer 13:16  Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death,  and make it gross darkness.

Whether we “give glory to the Lord [in] this present time” is simply a work of the Lord which has nothing to do with what we will of ourselves to do or will of ourselves not to be done because:

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

That statement is a simple constant Biblical Truth which we will do well to see, hear, and believe.

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he  will have mercy, and whom he will he  hardeneth.

The words of Romans 7 are worked out within the lives of every one of the Lord’s elect. We want to do good and please the Lord, but what we want to do is not what we end up doing. We “give glory to the Lord”, but we “find… a law that when [we] would do good, evil is present with [us]”, and our feet stumble upon the mountains and principalities of darkness which are within us:

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places [the “law of sin in (our) members” (Rom 7:23)].

When the Lord says ‘if’, He is not guessing what might happen. He is not wondering whether we will “hear it”. He already knows quite well that He has given us eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear:

Jer 13:17  But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’S flock is carried away captive.
Jer 13:18  Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.

“The king” signifies our old man, and “the queen” is Babylon the great within us:

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Here is what God already knows about our sight and our ability to hear:

Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

These words are quoted out of the prophet Isaiah, who preceded Jeremiah by about 70 years:

Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am  I; send me.
Isa 6:9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Isaiah in turn is simply repeating what the Lord had told Moses many years prior to this prophecy:

Deu 29:4  Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

Paul’s statement in Romans 11:8 is in accord with Christ’s words in:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

When we read the words “If they will not hear” the Lord is not telling us that He has no idea what His creatures might do. Rather, He is prophesying exactly what He made us do to give Himself an occasion to judge and destroy our corruptible old man:

Jer 13:19  The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.

“The cities of the south” signify our attachment to this world. Egypt lies to the south of Israel, and Egypt signifies the rebellious world of sin out of which we must all come. This world which is enslaved to ‘the law of sin’ is who we just naturally are by the Lord’s design.

This is what the Lord told us in of ourselves in:

Isa 30:1  Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
Isa 30:2  That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
Isa 30:3  Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
Isa 30:4  For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
Isa 30:5  They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
Isa 30:6  The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come  the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
Isa 30:7  For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.

Pharaoh signifies our old man, the beast within each of us, and he certainly is our shame.  “His princes” are the princes of the Lord’s people who trust in their own flesh, their own beast, instead of their spiritual husband. Our ‘beast’ receives his power from the great red dragon.

Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Much of our lives are spent as “beasts of the south” living a life of “trouble and anguish” under the dominion of “a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour”. Even after the Lord’s chastening begins to do its work within us, we return to Egypt for safety and solace. This rebellious act gives the Lord the occasion He is seeking to continue His work of purifying us of our pride in our rebellion:

Jer 13:20  Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
Jer 13:21  What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?

Look at what the Lord is telling us about ourselves through what He did with ancient Israel. He had delivered Israel from Egypt with many miracles and with great power. He totally destroyed Egypt in the process of delivering His people:

Exo 10:7  And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?

Deu 11:4  And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day;

As “types of us” (1Co 10:6 CLV), after being delivered out of Egypt, Israel goes back to Egypt to seek deliverance from the armies of Assyria and Babylon.

Isa 30:1  Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
Isa 30:2  That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
Isa 30:3  Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your  confusion.

Who among us has not attempted to fit back into the world even after the Lord showed us that we must come out of the world? We all go from Egypt, through all the trials of the wilderness, where the carcass of our old man begins to die. Christ within us strengthens our new man, typified by those of Israel who were under twenty years of age when Israel came out of Egypt:

Num 32:11  Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:

Every step Israel took typifies some part of our walk and our own “experience of evil” (Ecc 1:13 CLV):

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [Greek: ‘tupos’, types of us (vs 6 CLV)]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

We must realize that entering the promised land is not entering into “the redemption of the purchased possession”.

Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest [Greek:  arrhabon, down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

There are many giants and enemies within the land of promise who must be subdued and conquered before that blessed day of “the redemption of the purchased possession”. The Lord has ordained that we begin entering the land of promise before we are carried away into Babylon by the Assyrians and the Chaldeans. Both Nineveh and Babylon were Chaldeans. It was the same people who carried away both the northern tribes and Judah. In that sense, both were carried away into Babylon, and both typify different stages of our own apostasy. Such is the depth of the rebellious pride and stubbornness of the Lord’s very elect. It is all a work of God who works all things after the counsel of His own will. Nevertheless, that stubborn, self-righteousness, and self will is so deep and strong within us that we are helpless to deliver ourselves from it until we are brought to cry out to the Lord:

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

The words of this prophecy of Jeremiah are the revelation of what the Lord has ordained we must endure before we are brought to cry out those words to the Lord in our desperation. The Lord has ordained that we are all typified by Job who made it clear that he certainly did not see himself as deserving of the trials the Lord had placed upon him. Job, typifying each of us, right in the middle of being judged of the Lord, accused the Lord of “taking away [his] judgment”.

Job 27:2  As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;

Elihu, speaking for the Lord, reminded Job of those words:

Job 34:1  Furthermore Elihu answered and said,
Job 34:2  Hear my words, O ye wise men; and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.
Job 34:3  For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.
Job 34:4  Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good.
Job 34:5  For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.
Job 34:6  Should I lie against my right? my wound  is incurable without transgression.
Job 34:7  What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water?
Job 34:8  Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men.
Job 34:9  For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.

By proclaiming his own righteousness, Job was “in the company of the workers of iniquity”, all the while thinking and saying to himself:

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

We all do just what Job did when we wonder why the Lord’s judgments are so severe upon the kingdom of our self-righteous old man, and we presumptuously contend with, reprove and condemn our own Maker:

Jer 13:22  And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity [our self-righteousness] are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare.

It is our nature to play down our self-righteous rebellion and condemn the Lord for His judgments against our rebellion. The reason we do so is that we do not yet see the depth of the law of sin within our members:

Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

The Lord is in the process of bringing us to see just how evil He has made us to be:

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Our flesh is flesh, and we must come to see that it will always be just that:

Jer 13:23  Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

This, therefore, is the fate of our carnal-minded old man:

Jer 13:24  Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
Jer 13:25  This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.

It is our trust in falsehood which emboldens us to contend with, reprove and condemn of Lord. We see ourselves as righteous “and in need of nothing”. We see ourselves as spiritually healthy and without the need of a physician. Physicians are for the weak and sickly who are somewhere far below us. We see ourselves as superior to others who are lazy, weak, and sickly and in need of a doctor:

Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

This Pharisee is like each of us when we ask the same question both Job and King David asked while enduring their own judgment:

Psa 73:3  For I was envious at the foolish,  when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Psa 73:4  For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
Psa 73:5  They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like  other men [The Lord’s elect].
Psa 73:6  Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
Psa 73:7  Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
Psa 73:8  They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
Psa 73:9  They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.
Psa 73:10  Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
Psa 73:11  And they [His people] say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?

It is because of that contentious, self-righteous spirit within us that we must yet have our own shame revealed to us:

Jer 13:26  Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.
Jer 13:27  I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom,  and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?

Christ is building His church, and it will be “made clean”:

Mat 16:18  “Now I also say to you, that you are Peter [“a stone”], and on this solid rock I will build my Assembly [or Church], and [the] gates of the realm of the dead [Greek: hades] will not prevail against it. (ALT)

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

“The righteousness of saints” is not a natural condition. It is a supernatural condition which is achieved only through the fiery trials of our judgment in this present time:

Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Remember, the word ‘if’ coming from our Lord is a prophecy of what He is working in us. Our suffering with Him is predestined, and it is not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us who are His firstfruit bride who will bring forth much more fruit:

Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature  waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

When we fall for the falsehood of “substitutionary atonement” instead of the Biblical doctrine of us as “his body… filling up in [our own] bodies that which is behind of the afflictions of the Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church”… when we believe the lie that Christ’s death on the cross means that we do not need to die with Him, we distance ourselves from Him and His suffering, and we are robbing ourselves of the glory of the calling we are given:

Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Christ did not die for us so we would not have to die. The insidious false doctrine of a “substitutionary atonement” has been used by the Lord to blind the eyes of “the multitudes” (Mat 13:2 and 10-11) to “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” which teach that we are to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1), [to] die daily [and be] crucified with Christ” (1Co 15:31 and Gal 2:20). It is Christ Himself who tells us in no uncertain terms:

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

His Father sent Him into the world to be the savior of this world, and He sees us as being Himself who must fill up that which is lacking of His afflictions for His body’s sake, which is the church:

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Act 22:7  And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

“As He is, so are we in this world”:

1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

God sent His Son into this world that the world through Him might be saved. His Son has sent us ‘as His Father has sent Him’ that through Him within us this world might be saved, and what He desires even that He does; performing the thing that is appointed for me.

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

“The thing that is appointed for [us]” as [the Lord’s elect] is to show to all of mankind, the same mercy the Lord has shown toward us through “His wonderful works to the children of men.” Those wonderful works are the fiery trials of Psalm 107 and Revelation 16, which are the unfathomable “way of His judgments”:

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

That is our calling, and there are very few who can receive it in this present time.

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

That completes our study for this week, and these are the verses for our next study in Jeremiah 14:

Jer 14:1  The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
Jer 14:2  Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
Jer 14:3  And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
Jer 14:4  Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
Jer 14:5  Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
Jer 14:6  And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
Jer 14:7  O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
Jer 14:8  O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?
Jer 14:9  Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.
Jer 14:10  Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
Jer 14:11  Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
Jer 14:12  When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.