Jeremiah was a thundering prophet of the Old Testament. Every word he preached was like a sword cutting into the flesh. He angered politicians and church leaders so much they threw him into prison.
But all the time, this weeping prophet looked forward to a day when God would visit his people and change their hearts. Jeremiah knew that God pitied His people and loved them with an everlasting love.
As predicted in Jeremiah 24, Christ was sent by the Father to fulfill the New Covenant. He sealed the agreement with His very own blood and put it into effect the day he died. This means God is not dealing with our generation as he did with Jeremiah's. We have new agreement based on better promises. Jeremiah's message of Law has been fulfilled now in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And what a difference between the thunder of Jeremiah, and the mercy of Jesus.
In our Lord’s final hour, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to his heavenly Father about his disciples. Remember, Peter would betray him within hours, Thomas would doubt him, and all the disciples would forsake him and return to their homes. But Jesus would not condemn them, as we see in this fantastic prayer in John 17:
“[Father], You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word … I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them …They are not of this world … The glory You gave Me I have given them … You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17: 6, 8, 16, 22-23).
We say, “But, Jesus, don’t you see what is in Peter’s heart? He’s going to betray you! And Thomas is full of fear and trembling. How can you pray for them to be loved when they’re so weak?”
Oh, yes, their sin grieved Jesus but the New Covenant was being ushered in and it would feature forgiveness, mercy and grace. “I will forgive their iniquities; I will remember their sins no more.” Jeremiah, under the Old Covenant, preached, “Your sins have cut Him off from you,” but Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
Things are different now. Sin is still hated by God, but we have a living Savior, seated at the right hand of the Father, still praying for us. Jesus is trying to say to us, “You do not need a thundering Jeremiah to keep you from sin and the world. You need only to accept me, repent, and draw closer to me. No condemnation. No fear. Simply love me completely and you will forsake all your sins.”
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David Wilkerson (1931 – 2011)
Founder of Times Square Church in New York City with over 100 different languages spoken in the congregation. Wilkerson wrote many powerful books such as: The Vision and Cross and the Switchblade. His ministry was prophetic as God called him to be a watchman to the Church in North America. He gave clear messages on repentance to the Church.Wilkerson also founded Teen Challenge where there are hundreds of centres for Christ-centered drug recovery and addiction recovery. He also organized and spoke at pastors gatherings in many countries where he gave prophetic strong messages to encourage pastors and leaders.
Recommends these books by David Wilkerson:
The Vision and Beyond, Prophecies Fulfilled and Still to Come by David Wilkerson
Knowing God by Name: Names of God That Bring Hope and Healing by David Wilkerson
God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression by David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson is an American Christian evangelist, most well-known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He is also the founder of Times Square Church in New York, an interdenominational church.
Wilkerson is well-known for these early years of his ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. He co-authored a book about his work with the New York drug addicts, The Cross and the Switchblade, which became a best-seller, selling over 50 million copies in over thirty languages since it was published in 1963. The book was included among the 100 most important Christian books of the 20th century.
For over four decades, Wilkerson's ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. He has authored over 30 books.
David Wilkerson is the founder and president of World Challenge, Inc., a nonprofit organization incorporated on September 22, 1971. Reverend Wilkerson, the author of over thirty inspirational books, is perhaps best known for his early days of ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. His story is told in The Cross and the Switchblade, a book he co-authored which became a best-seller. (The story has been read by over 50 million people in some thirty languages and 150 countries since 1963. In 1969, a motion picture of the same title was released.)
For over four decades, Reverend Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. Throughout that time a distinctive characteristic of his work has been his direct efforts to reach the neediest members of the population with help for both body and soul. Even now, the almost 70 year-old minister often goes out alone or sometimes with an assistant to walk through the streets of New York City, along Broadway and Eighth Avenue or down 42nd Street and nearby "Crack Alley" on 41st Street. His mission is always to seek out the lost, the disoriented, and the addicted , to tell them of the power of the risen Christ to set them free.
David Wilkerson, born in Hammond, Indiana on May 19, 1931, was married in 1953 to Gwen Carosso. The Wilkersons' two sons are ministers, and their two daughters are married to ministers. They have 11 grandchildren. The Wilkersons served small pastorates in Scottsdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until Reverend Wilkerson saw a photograph in Life magazine of several New York City teenagers charged with murder. Moved with compassion he was drawn to the city in February 1959. It was at that time he began his street ministry to what one writer called "desperate, bewildered, addicted, often violent youth.