We might faithfully speak God’s truth but where people believe lies, being right doesn’t mean we’ll be well received. The prophet Jeremiah spoke God’s truth and was right about everything he said. That didn’t stop him being beaten and put in the stocks. It didn’t stop people hating him because they hated his message.
Truth is always true but the truth is people don’t always welcome the truth. God’s Word may be right, but people don’t always want to hear what is right. We may share God’s Word as it is but people may hate us for it.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t matter how much people hate God’s Word or what they do to God’s people. God’s Word can’t be stopped. Truth remains true whether people want to hear it or not. God’s Word remains true whether people welcome it or not. God’s Word will come to pass whether people respond well to it or actively stand against it.
We may face the sharp end of the world’s hatred of God’s Word. We may be harmed and persecuted because of God’s Word. But the world cannot stop God’s Word. He promises that we’ll be vindicated in the end.
Unfortunately, knowing you’re right doesn’t make harm and persecution feel good. If that’s all we’ve got – a sense of being right – it may not seem worth it. But our vindication isn’t just about being right; it’s a matter of what we’re right about. The smug satisfaction of being right doesn’t do much for me. I certainly won’t take a beating for it. But being right that Jesus is coming to judge the world in righteousness, being right that Hell is real place of eternal conscious punishment, being right that we’re sinners who deserve God’s judgement but in his mercy he offers salvation in Jesus; and being right that those who receive it are children of God and loved beyond measure; I might take beating for that if I know I’m right about it.
We know Jeremiah wrote about 2,500 years ago. Between him and us, loads of God’s word has come to pass. We have the benefit of seeing God’s Word born out in history time and time again. So, when God’s Word says things about our future that we can’t see, but we look at the amount of stuff he’s said in the past that has come about, it gives us good reason to trust his Word for our future.
If we have those strong grounds, knowing that we’re right to believe God’s Word, knowing he’ll always do what he says, we might endure persecution, suffering and hardship knowing that God’s promises to us are good and his Word is always true. That’s not just smug satisfaction that we’re right. Who cares about that?! That’s proper hope for the future. That’s a guaranteed future inheritance. That’s future glory for us if we’re willing to endure suffering for his sake now.
God’s Word is true and cannot be bound. God’s Word gives us a sure and certain hope for our future. That hope means, though we might suffer for it now, we have good reason to press on because we’ll be vindicated in the end.