Jeremiah 11 - Bearing the Burden of a Prophet Part 1 - Jeremiah 15-16

[Music] all right Jeremiah chapter 15 God willing and if we live we're gonna cover chapters 15 and 16 tonight you're gonna see text questions too at the bottom forget that yeah I'm planning on making the study a little bit longer this evening and so we're not gonna have time for questions afterwards I mean you can come on up I have to ask me all the questions you want afterwards I mean I'm not running out the door or anything so you know just keep the questions in mind but we're not going to come up and do the platform question things like usual on a Wednesday night okay let's pray and then we'll get into Father in Heaven were grateful we're grateful for this time in this place we think Lord of how brothers and sisters of ours around the world suffer and die for their faith how they are persecuted and Lord not just denied opportunities but sometimes tortured and imprisoned and killed for the sake of being faithful to Jesus Christ Lord that's not our experience on a Wednesday night here in Santa Barbara but our hearts and our minds are akin with those who have that experience and Lord we just want to serve you and listen to you and obey you the best that we can right here right now and pray that you show your grace and mercy upon those who have difficult times all over the world so Lord speak to us tonight about your word we love you and we praise you in Jesus name Amen amen Jeremiah chapter 15 let's begin at verse 1 then the Lord said to me even if Moses and Samuel stood before me my mind would not be favorable toward this people cast them out of my sight and let them go forth my that's a cheery verse to begin our evening Bible study with isn't it friends let lets be just very straightforward about the book Jeremih it's dark it's a downer in many ways now as we're gonna see tonight God can't let it go with the dark aspect of the Book of Jeremiah too far before he has to throw in some light and we're gonna see flashes of brilliant light through our text this evening there's no doubt about that but I don't want to sugarcoat this Jeremiah was a prophet who spoke to a bunch of people who didn't want to listen to him and who never did listen to him at a time when judgment was going to come upon the kingdom of Judah and that judgment came just as Jeremiah prophesied but when he gave the prophesies nobody cared nobody listened they hardened their hearts against Jeremiah and the message that he brought now look I am familiar how the Bible presents his concept to us that we each have our own race to run Paul the Apostle in a New Testament uses that figure doesn't he he talks about how he wants to finish his race how he wants to run the race that God has given him and he speaks at the very end of his life in the book of 2nd Timothy and how he has run his race my friends here's the concept do you have your race to run I have my race to run Jeremiah had his race run I don't think that there's a single person in this room who has the same race to run as Jeremiah but you know what you can learn by the way that he ran it you can learn something about how to run the race God has given you to run how you can serve God and give glory to him in the midst of the calling and the station that God has put you in right now by looking at this man who stood strong in the midst of such a difficult calling I mean look look at verse 1 again then the Lord said to me even if Moses and Samuel stood before me my mind would not be favorable toward this people cast them out of my sight and let them go forth you see several times before God told Jeremiah not to pray for the people it's not a startling thing that God would tell a prophet don't pray for those people because this was the idea God was trying to communicate bolted Jeremiah and to the people was that their judgment was settled there was no averting it and to strengthen that point God says even if Moses and Samuel were to pray to me it wouldn't change a thing that's if God was saying this to Jeremiah Jeremiah it's not like you're not a good enough prophet it's not like you're not good enough prayer because even if Moses were to pray to me even if Sam you were to prayed me and friends we know that from the Old Testament both Moses and Samuel were men who prayed and God averted judgment to Israel a couple of times when Moses and Samuel prayed God answered in a mighty way because as you know it is so far gone the people have been so established in their wickedness that even if Moses or if Sam you were to pray it would not matter and he says verse one my mind would not be favorable toward these people Jeremiah it's not your fault Jeremiah you shouldn't think if only I was a better preacher that people would respond Jeremiah you shouldn't think if only I was a better intercessor for the people then God would change no it's not you Jeremiah it's them it's those people and he says at the end of verse one cast them out of my sight and let them go forth Judah the kingdom of Judah would face their appointed and righteous exile out of the land pick it up now verse two and it shall be if they say to you where should we go then you shall say them thus says the Lord such as for death to death and such it for the sword to the sword and such a for the famine to the famine and so too for the captivity to the captivity and I will appoint over them four forms the destruction says the Lord the sword to slay the dogs to drag the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth did the Bower and destroy I will hand them over to trouble to all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah for what he did in Jerusalem you see at the end of verse one God promised you - I'm gonna cast you out of the land God imagines Judah rizzo are you gonna cast a said we're gonna send us God says I'm glad you asked I'm gonna send you to death in four ways now the first one the New King James Bible it's described there in verse 2 as death it's really not a good translation death is better translated there as plague or pestilence so God says here's four ways that you're gonna face death plague pestilence the sword in battle by famine and by captivity yeah I got four different selections on the menu of death for you when judgment comes Prince that's stern stuff but you and I read that we go home man that's rough the next statement to the ancient Hebrew mind is even more shocking the next statement is this and after four forms of death I've got four forms of destruction now look in the modern Western world we generally I'm not gonna say absolutely we generally have this mentality hey man if I'm dead I'm dead do whatever you want to my body I don't care in the ancient Hebrew and I should say Near Eastern mindset there was a fate worse than death and it was to die and to have your body desecrate it God says that's what's gonna happen not only will they die in four ways but then some of their bodies will be hacked to death by the sword look at it there it's all in verse three there's four forms of destruction some of them by the sword some of them mauled by dogs some of them picked apart by the birds of the air and others eaten by the beasts of the earth and an ancient Hebrew person would read this and just recoil in shock oh god what a judgment against us why would you bring such a terrible judgment against us notice it in verse four because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah there was a king before the time of Jeremiah so this is before Jeremih ever started his prophetic career before the time of Jeremiah there was a king over the kingdom of Judah named Manasseh and Manasseh was so wicked that he set judgment on an irreversible course for Judah now look it's not as if he was the only bad king of Judah I'm not trying to say that and God never says that but Manasseh was so unique because he set Judah on an irreversible course of judgment so much so that look at what it says in second Kings chapter 21 starting at verse 16 it says this Manasseh shed very much innocent blood till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another besides his sin by which he made Judas sin in doing evil in the sight of the Lord you see Manasseh not only sinned himself in a great way but what he did was even worse he led the people of Judah into great sin and it was so great that God said judgment is irreversible now can i play with your mind just for a moment here can I tell you something about Manasseh that it tells us in Chronicles second chronicles tells us that at the end of his life Manasseh repented you may I'm not gonna make any promises you may very well see Manasseh in heaven he'll be the guy with a very embarassed look upon his face but this what I want you understand even though he repented at the end and I'm not gonna say for certain but you may see Manasseh in heaven even though he repented and in the end his damage done by his sinful influence over other people was so bad that it set Judah on an irreversible course of judgment my friends every time I think of it it kind of Sobers me up and it makes me think about my life and your life and the influence we have on other people I have known people who have turned away from God at some period in their life they use sort of a religious phrase can I use a church term they back slid they turn their backs on Jesus they went off and did their own thing they immerse themselves in the in the corruptions of this world and they just said yeah I'm gonna do that and you know what they come back to the Lord eventually well maybe it's after years or months of a lot of pain of a lot of difficulty but eventually they come back to the Lord but you know what other people who followed them away from Jesus never come back and the influence they had on other people remains even though they themselves been friends that is a terrible burden to live with that was the burden of manasseh continuing on verse 5 for who shall have pity on you O Jerusalem or who will bemoan you or who will turn aside to ask how you are doing you forsaken me says the Lord you've gone backward therefore I will stretch out my hand against you and destroy you I am weary of relented and I will win oh them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land I will believe them of children I will destroy my people since they do not return from their ways their widows will be increased to me more than the sand of the Seas I will bring against them against the mother of the young man a plunderer at noonday I will caused anguish and terror to fall on them suddenly she languishes who was born 7 just breeds her last her son has gone down while it was yet day she has been ashamed and confounded and the remnant of them I will deliver to the sword before their enemies says the Lord but what a distressing portion speaking prophetically of the judgment to come upon Judah did you see that phrase in verse 5 who will have pity on your Jerusalem the Babylonians are going to come and crush you and nobody's gonna care the nations of the world will not do anything to intervene or to care for you why verse 6 because you have forsaken me instead of going forward you've used that phrase in verse 6 you've gone backward even to the point look at it in verse 6 God says I am weary of relented now friends Judah was blind to it but God had held back his judgment against Judah for a long long time until finally God says I am tired of holding back my judgment I'm gonna let it go I think that in modern society there is no area of blindness greater than the blindness we have that God may very well be weary of relenting I can never forget a quote I heard from Billy Graham actually I read it I didn't hear him say it from Billy Graham many years ago he said this if God doesn't judge the United States of America he owes Sodom and Gomorrha an apology you know you think about that and you think no look what we must be cool because we haven't had some amazing judgment like it talks about here in Jeremiah Oh listen we definitely had our issues haven't we we've had financial collapses we've had terrorist attacks we've had this we've had that oh yeah we've had our things but you know it all in oh you can't say it's the same thing as Jeremiah face we must be okay we must be all right God and we have no conception of how much God has held back how much God is relented and kept us from having what we might actually deserve from him but friends are just going to tell you there has to be a day or somewhere along the line God says to us as he said to ancient Judah I'm weary of relenting how long do you expect me to hold back judgment eventually it comes unless his people and the nation in some way repents if they don't look at what it says in verse 7 I will winnowed them with a winnowing fan do you know what the picture is there it's of what God or what a farmer does with wheat how he separates the wheat from the chaff and then he blows a fan and the light chaff blows away and he says that's what's gonna happen to you Judah you're gonna be scattered by my winnowing fan and you're gonna go away to exile it'll be so terrible the verse 8 says their widows will be increased to me more than the sand of the sea you want to know how many widows there's going to be out there more than the sands of the sea that's a destruction that's going to come to Judah so much so that look at what it says in verse 9 it says she languishes who has borne seven sons you know again we're going back to the ancient Hebrew way of thinking and the ain't Ebru way of thinking seven Suns that's a perfect family you can't do better than that look at this family seven sons you know at all isn't it just perfect please what saying is even your perfect family is gonna be destroyed in the judgement that is to come man this is shaking stuff that God's trying to get across and no wonder that Jeremiah responds in a very personal way look at Jeremiah's personal whoa in verse 10 he says woe is me my mother that you've borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth I've needed lent for interest nor of men they lent to me for interest every one of them curses me notice this he says you know I have such a burden and having to bear this message before other people but I wish I'd never been born friends how would you like to have Jeremiah's job that heavy message that I just said here that the message of the winnowing fan the message of the judge soon to come the message of the perfect family being destroyed how would you like to bear that message no wonder Jeremiah in a very personal way says to got caught okay can I take a rain check on this if this is my calling I wish I'd never been born look at what he says in verse 10 I'm a man of strife and a man of contention of the whole word everybody hates me nobody likes me anymore because I have to bear such a heavy message the friends I I'm so grateful that I myself as a teacher of God's Word and a minister of the gospel that I have a much better message to deliver isn't it wonderful now I can't ignore the message of judgment especially when it's right here in the scriptures that's why we're teaching through the Book of Jeremiah I can't ignore the message of judgment but I love being the bearer of the message of good news in Jesus Christ I love being the merit bearer of the message of here's how you can find forgiveness the bearer of the message here's how you can be born again here's how Jesus can turn around your life here's how Jesus can do everything that you need him to be for you in your life and now he can be the Lord the master the Savior the Redeemer the deliverer of your life but let me tell you something whether the message that God gives the messenger is good or bad they're duty-bound to deliver it even if it results in a great personal cost he goes on verse 11 the Lord said surely it will be well with your remnant surely I will cause the enemy to intercede with you in the time of adversity in the time of affliction Kennedy would break iron the northern iron and the bronze your wealth and your treasures I will give us plunder without price because of all your sins throughout your territories and I will make you cross over with your enemies into a land which you do not know where a fire is kindled in my anger which shall burn upon you oh listen verse 11 surely it will be well with your remnant Jeremiah both you and as a representative I'm not gonna completely destroy the people there will be a remnant but they're gonna lose everything they're gonna go through it in a terrible terrible way verse 14 I will make you cross over with your enemies into a land which you do not know you're going to be cast out of the land of Judah and go off into exile and now in verse 15 he begins to pray Jeremiah prays he says O Lord you know remember me and visit me and take vengeance for me on my persecutors then your enduring patience do not take me away know that for your sake I have suffered rebuke your words were found and I ate them and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart for I am called by your name o Lord God of hosts I did not sit in the Assembly of the mockers nor did I rejoice I sat alone because of your hand for you have filled me with indignation why is my pain perpetual and my wound and curable which refuses to be healed we surely be to me like an unreliable stream as waters that fail friends we right here in these verses have been given a great privilege Jeremiah has opened his very personal prayer closet and he said why don't you listen to me battle with God just a little bit friends do you ever battle with God in prayer now I don't mean actually fight him although it might feel like that sometimes do you ever reverently raise your voice to God Lord are you listening Lord can you hear me up there Lord I'm your servant will you do something I might behalf please listen there is a reverent way to do that I will also say there's an irreverent way but there is a reverent way to contend with God in prayer and I think that that's exactly what Jeremiah is doing look at what he says in verse 15 he says remember me and visit me and take vengeance for me on my persecutors by the way that's a very good prayer to pray Jeremiah was not saying I'm gonna get him he says you get him God you got some enemies right now in your life come on let's just be honest I'm not asking you to shout out their names or anything like that you got enemies in your life listen why didn't you just say interpret Lord you get them you take care of them I'm gonna forgive them I'm gonna let him go I'm gonna stop trying to exact revenge ins from them but Lord you take care of them that's exactly what Jeremiah was doing and then he says this in verse 16 so powerful I know you caught this verse he says your words were found and I ate them and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart as Jeremiah continued to plead his case before God he declared to God the great love he had for his word and the great value that he placed upon it look at what it says there in that verse first of all Jeremiah found God's Word you know what generally you find things when you're seeking for them it's not how it is Jeremiah sought after God in His Word and he found God's Word that's where it begins you got to find God's Word you got to make an effort to go out after it but then secondly he eight God's word he took it in as food for the soul and receiving refreshment and nourishment from a friends you could have a beautiful piece of bread that's there for your nourishment it's never gonna benefit you until you take it in chew it up put it into where your body can do something with it in the same way God's Word isn't gonna do you much good until you take it into your being you read it you think about it you meditate upon it you listen to it you would think somebody a fool for taking a piece of bread and rubbing it upon their head for nutrition that's not how you do it at all you take it in you eat it it's the same way with God's Word you may have the most lovely Bible possible I have a very nice Bible right here it's done by a very well-known Bible manufacturer named the Allen Bible it was given to me as a gift and man it's just a nice Bible you scent doesn't do me any good unless I take it in I can hold it I can pose with it I can give you no nice you know good preaching pose like this what good does it do unless I take it in that's what he says I found your word I ate it but then noticed the third step there he says I regard your God your word O Lord has the joy and rejoicing of my heart I delight in it it's not a burdensome do it oh I got to read my chapter today oh I got to read my verse today look it's better to read your chapter I got to read my chapter than to not read it at all but can I tell you something why don't you just ask God and say God would you give me a joy over this thing that I regard as a drudgery I want this thing that Jeremiah has spoken I wanted to be the joy and the rejoicing of my heart why verse 16 for I'm called by your name and verse 17 I did not sit in the Assembly of the mockers instead verse 17 I sat alone because of your hand God choosing you meant I had to turn my back on but that's okay I choose you and I will sit alone if that means I sit with you but nevertheless even all of that poured out all of that look at verse 18 this is where he gets real why is my pain perpetual and then later will you surely be to me like an unreliable stream as waters that fail Lord I did all the right things I read my Bible I found it I ate it I delighted it I separated myself and those other people i sat alone with you and I feel like you are to me like a dried-up river like a dried-up stream what's wrong with you God you know the kind of thing he's referring to we know it very well here in California in California when people visit our state or I should say Southern California places where they have real rivers you come with them and let's say you're gonna drive south from here on the 101 and you drive across oh yeah this is the Ventura River or where's the river yeah I just see San oh no this is Ventura oh here's the Santa Clara River we're gonna drive over this where's the red there's no River there it's just a dry riverbed what because it's sort of a seasonal River and there might be a tiny trickle that flows all the time but it's when the rains come and friends that's what Jeremiah saying god you're not a reliable river to me he's being very honest with God where are you God I've been faithful to you have you been faithful to me I want you to see how God responded to Jeremiah in verse 19 therefore thus says the Lord if you return that I will bring you back and you shall stand before me if you take out the precious from the vial you shall be as my mouth let them return to you but you must not return to them and I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall and they will fight against you but they shall not prevail against you for I am with you to save you and deliver you says the Lord we'll deliver you from the hand of the wicked and I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible Jeremiah had his crying session before God god I did everything right and where are you you're like a dry river to me and God says Oh Jeremiah nothing personal but when you repent it'll be good between us again did you see what he said there I'm not making this up verse 19 if you return that I will bring you back Jeremiah I'm waiting for you you need to let it out that's fine let it out and when you're willing to change your attitude and come to me humbly we'll get going again friends if you've been angry with God if you're disappointed or bitter towards him I would need to tell you two things number one God's big enough to take it he really is he's big enough to take it it's not like God's having a fainting fit in heaven homeboy look what they're saying about me no God's big enough to take it but then number two when you get over it and repent he's there waiting for you in open arms because I'll tell you and I don't know how to make it as tender as I can I just need to deliver it straight to you if there's a problem in your relationship with God it's not his problem it's mine I'm the one who's moved somehow I'm the one who needs to get it right and so God is very kind very patient to his barber Jeremiah okay get it out of your system that's good that's good but if you return I will bring you back if you take out the precious from the vial if you just understand that some of the stuff you've been saying is vile take the precious stuff out and then don't go associate with those you shouldn't associate with verse 19 let them return to you but you must not return to them and then he says the job isn't going to get easier Jeremiah they're still gonna reject you but verse 20 I will make to you make you to this people fortified bronze wall Jeremiah I Got News for you I'm not gonna take you out of the battle it's still gonna be tough they're still gonna not listen to you you're still gonna be discouraged but here's the good news I'm gonna strengthen you in the midst of it and you're gonna be like a fortified bronze wall so get out there get out there again me strengthening you you can do this now we're just kind of leaving this chapter going whoa man Jeremiah's so honest with God pouring out is hard listen this doesn't end the challenge for Jeremiah it almost gets worse take a look at verse 1 of chapter 16 the word of the Lord also came to me saying you shall not take a wife nor show you have sons or daughters in this place for thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place and concerning their mothers who bore them and their fathers who begat them in this land they shall die gruesome deaths and they shall not be lamented nor shall they be buried and they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth they shall be consumed by the sword and by famine and their corpses shall be meat for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth did you see that in verse 2 Jeremiah cry it out that's okay when you return to me we'll get it good I'll strengthen you now let me tell you this Jeremiah I'm telling you I don't want you to get married I don't want you have kids can I tell you in the ancient Jewish culture and in religious observant Jewish cultures today this was a radical command in ancient Jewish culture and in religious Jewish cultures today observant cultures it's a sin not to get married good Christianity has a different perspective on this based on the fact number one Jesus was single number two Paul was single and specifically said that there is a calling there's a giftedness associated with singleness and faithfulness to God in a person's singleness and celibacy we understand that in the Christian perspective but we're not talking about a Christian perspective with Jeremiah and Jeremiah it was a shame and a sin not to be married it was well you don't want me to get marry you don't want me to have kids what is everybody gonna say about me God says I don't care what they say and let me tell you why I don't want you to get married verse 4 because they shall die gruesome deaths there is judgment and distress coming upon this land and a family will be an impediment to my profit don't take a family and don't have children and jeremiah says ok lord this is a good thing it's a legitimate thing it's a thing that many other people have and you bless them with it but you don't want me to have now look at verse 5 for thus says the Lord do not enter the house of mourning nor go to lament or bemoan them for I have taken away my peace from this people says the Lord loving-kindness and mercies both the great and the small shall die in this land they shall not be buried neither shall men lament for them nor cut themselves and I'll make themselves bald for them nor shall men break bread and mourning for them to comfort them for the dead nor shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother get you Jeremiah you're not gonna get married and you're not gonna have kids you're my prophet secondly you're gonna stop going to funerals now listen again it was a big deal to go to the funeral and friends I need you understand this was before the judgement came because God says Jeremiah I don't want you to go to the funeral now I don't want you to participate in the morning now because there's going to come very shortly a time when there's so much death where there's so much destruction that people are gonna have funerals and I want you to be an illustration of that right now never say well why isn't Jeremiah at the funeral why didn't you oh my I come to the morning why didn't he do that and Jeremiah would say because God wanted me to do this as a sign can you imagine how much rejection he would face from his family and his friends and his neighbors because of this and then look at verse 8 also you shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them to eat and to drink for thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel behold I will cause to cease from this place before your eyes and in your days the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride get married you can't go to the funerals and you know I don't want you to go to the the feasts either the parties don't go to those either why because very soon when judgment comes there's gonna be no more parties and I want you as a living sign to demonstrate that right now but but Lord the judgment as a covenant can I go to this party no because you need to illustrate what its gonna be like when the judgment comes right now verse 8 you shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them why because in verse 9 I will cause to cease from this place the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness a friend's God told Jeremiah to not do three things that were extremely normal and expected in that day and age don't get married and have kids don't go to the funerals don't go to the parties and he call them to do it especially as a prophet it wasn't as if God said nobody should get married it wasn't if concerts say nobody should go to the funeral wasn't if concerts a nobody should go to the party but you're my you're my prophet you're my man you don't do this and can I tell you that there is a very important spiritual analogy for you and I that in the race that we have to run and let's face it your race is ignited exactly not not exactly like Jeremiah's but you have your race to run and I have mine in the race that I have to run God may prohibit to me certain things and say David that's just not for you don't do it but the Lord you say it's okay for them to do no David that's not for you but blurt no no buts David I'm your God you're my servant I have a claim upon your life and if I want you to not do something because I tell you not to do it you got to be okay with that I used to think about this a lot when I would work with young people who had a real call in an aspiration for ministry in the Bible College work we did in Germany because I would meet and I would also meet with you know the student body as a whole but I think especially of the young men who wanted to be pastors and one of the things I would talk to him about at some point in the semester to say guys I want you to know you can't have it all if you want to pursue the call of God on your life for pastoral ministry and really be a man given over to his word into his service there's gonna be some things that you have to deny yourself that may be fine for other people it may be certain pleasures it may be normal things of life it may be this kind of vacation this kind of success this kind of material accomplishment of this kind of rest might be sleep how about that you you want to serve God in the way you're gonna get a lot less sleep than somebody else because you're gonna be up late nights not only working your job caring for your family but now you get a study for what you got to teach for you you got to be okay with that it's the same principle for Jeremiah friends can I just challenge you with this if God is speaking to your heart right now this is how I'm working that in your life right now can you just embrace it from the Lord instead of bucking against it no God that couldn't be that must be the devil tell him not you know what can we just dressed that the Holy Spirit can speak to your heart right now and that you just receive it that's how God was working with Jeremiah verse 10 that shall be when you showed this people all these words and they say to you why has the Lord pronounced this great disaster against us or what is our iniquity or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God then you shall say to them because your fathers have forsaken me says the Lord and they've walked after other gods that have served them and worship them and if forsaken me and have not kept my law and you have done worse than your father's for behold each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart so that no one listens to me therefore I will cast you out of this land into a land that you do not know neither you know your fathers and there you shall serve other gods day and night where I will not show you favor Jeremiah is the messenger of this great big judgment and there's no surprise whoa whoa why Jeremiah you keep talking about this judgment why is God gonna judge us so Jeremiah says well the Lord told me to tell you why number 1 verse 11 because your fathers have forsaken me this coming conquest and exile of Judah was not due only to the sin of one generation it was the hardened rebellion over several generations that brought Judah to their soon-to-come judgment it was because of the sin of your father's but that's not all you see now you kind of talk like the television salesman but but that's not all it's not only the sin of your father's look at verse 12 and you have done worse than your father's for behold each one follows the dictates of his own evil arts you know what yeah it's the sin of your father's but it's also your sin because you've done worse friends there's some deep theology here that I just have the opportunity to mention the Bible says that we are guilty before God on the basis of our Father Adam's sin we were all in Adam when he sinned our Father Adam made us sinners before God now you may protest and say well that's not fair but here's the point it's not only Adam's sin it's also my sin matter of fact couldn't you say that my sin is worse than Adams what did Adam do in rebellion against God he disobeyed one command and that was responsible for the fall of the human race but verse 12 could be said of me and you have done worse than your father Abram for behold each one follows the dictates of his own heart by the way that phrase has been used many times in Jeremiah that someone follows their own heart and how wicked that is I can't get away from them in modern-day America that heaven on earth isn't it thought to be everybody follows their own heart God says no no that's the path to judgment verse 14 therefore behold the days are coming says the Lord that it shall no more be said the Lord who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt but the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and all the lands where he had driven them but I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers could I just say it my mind is thoroughly blown by verses 14 and 15 it's an example of what I told you before when it gets really dark in Jeremiah it's as if God says I can't stand how dark it is somebody shine a light for a few minutes and verses 14 and 15 are that light look verse 13 gets about as depressing as it could be verse 13 God says you're gonna go to exile and I will not show you favor they're almost as if God couldn't leave it there he goes you know what I'm gonna bring you back out of Exile and that work is gonna be so glorious that no longer will people say the Lord had brought us up out of Egypt but now they're gonna say the Lord who brought us up out of Babylon friends the central act of redemption in the Old Testament was God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt over and over again he says I am the God who brought you out of Egypt I am the God who brought you out of Egypt but now he says now you're gonna say I'm the God who brought you out of Babylon and it just goes to show you that God's work of restoration in an individual life can be even greater than the initial work of grace look without giving a long explanation let me just get to the point here you you were born again many years ago and you were generally born again and you glorify God for that and you should it's his grace it's his wonderful work he rescued you he saved you but along the way you turned your back on him did you not and again if you want to use that churchy word back slid if you want to talk about you just reject him but you went your own way you were genuinely saved but then you went your own way let me tell you something let me give a good news the the work of God's restoration of you his wayward child can be even greater than his initial work of rescuing you he'll bring you back from exile would you turn to him again many beautiful light that he shines all right now that was a beautiful light but let's get back the lights gonna go dark again here verse 16 behold I will send for many fishermen says the Lord and they shall fish them and afterwards I will send for many hunters and they shall hunt them from every mountain every ill now the holes of the rocks for my eyes are on all their ways and they are not hidden from my face nor is their iniquity hidden from my eyes at first I will reap a double for their iniquity in their sin because they defiled my land and they have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable --zz a dark judgment glimmer of hope dark judgment again I'm gonna get you you wonder how dark it is in those verses God says I'm gonna bring you in like a fisherman brings in the fish and if that's not enough then I'm gonna hunt you like the hunter hunts the prey there's gonna be no hiding from my judgment but then verse 19 and I'm so happy the chapter ends here we end with light again are you ready for some light again verse 19 Oh Lord my strength and my fortress my refuge in the day of affliction the Gentiles shall come to you from the ends of the earth and say surely our fathers have inherited lies worthless and unprofitable things will a man make gods for himself which are not God's therefore behold I will this once cause them to know I will cause them to know my hand and my might and they shall know that my name is the Lord Friends God at the end of Jeremiah chapter 16 promises a work of redemption that is so wonderful that not only does it bring exiled Israel back but it also reaches out and as a light to the Gentiles did you see that phrase in verse 19 the Gentiles shall come to you know not only is God fulfill his promise to his own people but he will also do a greater work than that God promises to draw the Gentiles unto himself drawing them verse 19 from the ends of the earth and they're gonna say look at verse 19 surely our fathers have inherited lie it's worthless and unprofitable things what fools we've been to worship our pagan gods what fools we've been to reject the God who actually is there what fools we've been to go after our atheism and our secularism in our materialism and all our weird religions it's in the Lord God we recognize that what fools we have been and then it closes on that beautiful thought verse 21 I will cause them to know my hand and my might and they shall know that my name is the Lord here's something for you to think about in 2015 Lord I want to know your hand and your might there are Bible scholars who debate in verse 21 is he speaking to the Jews he brings back from exile or is he speaking to the Gentiles and my answer from my researches yes it really doesn't matter what background you come from God wants you to know his hand and his might his skillful hand to shape and mold your life his might to transform your life and to strengthen you and to bless you can you receive that from him tonight and so that you will know him and all his character so that you will know him as the Lord father that's our trust that's our praise of you tonight we do not want to be in the same trap as ancient Judah and reject you and turn to things that are just imaginations of our own art but instead Jesus we look to you all over again and we say Jesus be our Redeemer be our deliverer be our Savior in a greater way than we've ever known Lord I pray right now for people who in a very special way tonight they need to know your hand and your might maybe they feel that you've been distant from them or detached from them lord I pray that right now just by an outpouring of your Holy Spirit you would help them to know your closeness and your grace we want this year 2015 to be a year of the strong hand of the Almighty in our midst do it Lord so that we can run the race that you've given each one of us to run faithfully until the end you blessing us Lord we know we can we give you our lives we give you this year we give you everything we are everything we have in Jesus name [Music] you

Channel: David Guzik

Views: 5,048

Rating: 4.8681316 out of 5

Keywords: jeremiah 15, jeremiah 16, prophet jeremiah, david guzik, guzik, enduring word

Id: flafePNgfks

Length: 47min 48sec (2868 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 09 2019