Jeremiah 51:1-64 "God's Judgment on Babylon (2)"

[Music] Jeremiah 51 verses 1 through 64 thus says the Lord behold I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon against the inhabitants of Lepke my and I will send to Babylon widowers and they shall winnow her and they shall empty her land when they come against her from every side on the day of trouble let not the archer bend his bow and let him not stand up in his armor spare not her young men devoted to us to destruction all her army they shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans and wounded in her streets for Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God the Lord of Hosts but the land of the chaldeans is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel flee from the midst of Babylon that everyone saved his life be not cut off in her punishment for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance the repayment he is rendering her Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand making all the earth drunken the nation's drank of her wine therefore the nation's went mad suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken wail for her take balm for her pain perhaps she may be healed for we would have healed Babylon but she was not healed forsake her and let us go each to his own country for her judgments has has reached up to the heaven and has been lifted up even to the skies the Lord has brought about our vindication come let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God sharpen the arrows take up the shields the Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes because his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it for that is the vengeance of the Lord the vengeance for his temple set up a standard against the walls of Babylon make the watch strong set up Watchmen prepare the ambushes for the Lord has both planned and done what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon o you who dwell by many waters rich in treasures your end has come the threat of your life is cut the Lord of Hosts has sworn by himself surely I will fill you with men as many as locusts and they shall raise the shout of victory over you it is he who made the earth by his power who established the world by his wisdom and by his understanding stretched out the heavens when he utters his voice there is tumult of waters in the heavens and he makes the midst the mists rise from the ends of the earth he makes lightning for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouse houses every man is stupid and without knowledge every Goldsmith has put to shame by his idols for his images are false and there is no breath in them there are worthless a work of delusion at the time of their punishment they shall perish not like these is he whose who is the portion of Jacob for he is the one who formed all things and Israel's the tribe of his inheritance the Lord of Hosts is his name you are my hammer and weapon of war with you I break impatiens in pieces with you I destroy kingdoms with you I break in pieces the horse and his rider with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer with you I break in pieces man and woman with you I break in pieces the old man and the youth with you I break in pieces the young man and the young woman with you I break in pieces the Shepherd and his flock with you I break in pieces the farmer and his team with you I break in pieces governors and commanders I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion declares the Lord behold I am against you O destroying mountain declares the Lord which destroys the whole earth I will stretch out my hand against you and roll you down from the crags and make you a burnt mountain no stone shall be taken from you for a corner and no stone for a foundation but you shall be a perpetual waste to clears the Lord set up a standard on the earth blow the trumpet among the nations prepare the nations for war against her summon against her the kingdoms Ararat many in Ashkenaz appoint a marshal against her bring up horses like bristling locusts prepare the nations for war against her the kings of the Medes with their governors and deputies and every land under their Dominion the land trembles and rides in pain for the Lord's purposes against Babylon stand to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant the Warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting they remain in their strongholds their strength has failed they have become like women they heard Wellings are on fire her bars are broken one runner one runner runs to meet another and one messenger to meet another to tell the king of Babylon that his city has taken on every side the Fords have been seized the marshes are burned with fire the soot and the soldiers are in panic for thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel the daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me he has crushed me he has made me an empty vessel he has swallowed me like a monster he has filled his stomach with my delicacies he has rinsed me out the violence done to me and to my kinsmen be upon Babylon that the inhabitant of Zion say my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea let your Rousillon say therefore thus says the Lord behold I will plead your cause and take vengeance for you I will dry up her sea and make her fountain dry and Babylon shall become a heap of ruins the haunt of jackals a horror and a hissing without inhabitant they shall roar together like lions they so growl like lions cubs while they are inflamed I will prepare them a feast and make them drunk that they may become merry then sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake declares the Lord I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter like Rams and male goats howl Babylon has taken the praise of the whole earth seized howl Babylon has become a horror among the nations the sea has come up on Babylon she is covered with tumultuous waves her cities have become a horror a land of drought and desert a land in which no one dwells and through which no son of man and I will punish Belle in Babylon and take out of his mouth what he has swallowed the nation's shall no longer flow to him the wall the Favell on has fallen go out to the midst of her my people that everyone save his life from the fierce anger of the Lord that not your heart faint and be not fearful at the report heard in the land when a report comes in one year and afterward a report in another year and violence is in the land and ruler is against ruler therefore behold the days are coming when I will punish the images of Babylon her whole land shall be put to shame and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her then the heavens and the earth and all that is in them shall sing for joy over Babylon for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north declares the Lord Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel just as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth you who have escaped from the sword go do not stand still remember the Lord from far away and let Jerusalem come into your mind we are put to shame for we have heard reproach dishonor has covered our face for foreigners have come into the holy places of the Lord's house therefore behold the days are coming declares the Lord when I will execute judgment upon her images and through all the land all her land the wounded shall groan though Babylon should mount up to heaven and though she should fortify her strong height yet destroyers would come from me against her declares the Lord a voice a cry from Babylon the noise of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans for the Lord is laying Babylon waste and stealing her mighty voice their waves roar like mighty waters the noise of their voices raised for a destroyer has come upon her upon Babylon her warriors are taken their bows are broken in pieces for the Lord is a God of recompense he will surely pay I will make drunk her officials and her wise men her governor's her commanders and her warriors they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake declares the king whose name is the Lord of Hosts thus says the Lord of Hosts the broad wall of Babylon shall be leveled to the ground and her Highgate shall be burned with fire the people's labor for nothing in the nations weary themselves only for fire the word that Jeremiah the Prophet commanded Sarah I the son of Neriah son of Messiah when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign Sarah aya was the quartermaster Jeremiah wrote in a book all the disaster that should come upon Babylon all these words that are written concerning Babylon and Jeremiah said to Sarah ayah when you come to Babylon see that you read all these words and say O Lord you have said concerning this place that you will cut it off so that nothing shall dwell in it neither man nor beast and it shall be a you shall be desolate for ever when you finish reading this book tie a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the of the Euphrates and say thus shall Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her and they shall become exhausted thus far the words of Jeremiah so far the reading from God's Word this evening may he add its blessing to our hearts well any talk of judgment is really not popular in our culture today to speak to people about the wrath of God certainly is seen as harsh and and unloving now it's true a person might be imbalanced in how he speaks about the judgments of God but improper use of a specific part of Scripture is not a reason to stop the proper use of a part of Scripture and so the Bible especially the prophets they are filled with this talk about the judgments of God filled with promises and warnings and threatenings about the judgment of God and if this message is used to press home the need for salvation then the warning of judgment is actually one of the most loving things you can say to somebody who is in need of hearing it it's like trying to get people's attention when they are in danger sometimes you might use some methods that if you were you were just speaking with that person on a casual level it might be seen as extreme and and unkind maybe if somebody is sleeping you would slap them in the face to wake them up or or you might scream and shout at people in order to get their attention and normal conversation certainly that would be an improper improper behavior but if you are doing it as a warning to spare them from hardship then the warning is proper and good and so that's what's happening here in in in most of jeremías specifically in in this chapter as well this issuing of a warning it's a warning sounded by Jeremiah it's a warning that threatens judgment but the warning of judgments is simply a reminder of the future condition of men the the warning of judgment is simply a tool within the presentation of the gospel that should cause the person who hears it to turn and flee to Christ or consider where they must flee in order to escape this judgment and wrath and and so we're gonna take a look at what the description of this judgment Babylon actually looks like in this passage and and it's a difficult description when you think of it if you were to put yourselves in the shoes of the Babylonians what we see in this passage really is that they are a godless nation because they are a godless nation though they were an instrument of God yet they are they are acting independently of God and so they will stand before the Lord on their own they won't stand under the covering of Christ and so the doctrine that we want to learn together today is that avoid the intercession of Christ the desolation of the godless is absolute and we want to see that truth and we want to see that truth by looking at the desolation of Babylon we want to see beyond the desolation of Babylon in this chapter the desolation of the wicked the larger portion of that desolation that's pictured here in this chapter and then finally we want to see the logical conclusion of this warning which is our need for Christ so we want to learn together the void of the intercession of Christ the desolation of the godless is absolute we want to see the desolation of Babylon beyond that we want to see the desolation of the wicked as a whole and then we want to see from that the need for Christ's so let's consider first the desolation of Babylon this is a to chapter exercise and the chapters are quite lengthy so today's chapter we're dealing with many verses many words about the destruction of Babylon last lord's day when we looked at the destruction of Babylon we saw it more in terms of a comparison with a salvation of Israel we saw that at the same time of babylons destruction coming upon that nation that Israel was being restored and restored in there through their repentance restored through the tears that they cried over the the sins that they committed repentance that was seen and they're asking the Lord to direct them back to Zion this place where the people of God gathered for worship the only place in that time where the people of God were to gather the centrality of the worship of God in the temple of Jerusalem and so they were seeking to return to that place today we see that although Babylon was a vessel of God's judgment of Israel which brought Israel in fact to that point of repentance today we see very clearly how Babylon herself is judged for her actions as an agent of God's judgment in in God's wisdom he gives two lengthy chapters to describe the plans that he has for this pagan nation and so again as it was true last week there are so many verses that we have to cover in this chapter of Scripture that it will be impossible to deal with the details of all of them but I do want us to get a general feeling of what is going to happen to the Babylonians from this chapter and the reality is that things will be very bad for Babylon indeed it's impossible to read through this chapter and think that that Babylon is going to be okay that that Babylon doesn't have that much to be concerned about there is a sense of the totality of the destruction of Babylon it and I want to bring out three specific aspects of the destruction of Babylon that show us the severity of this destruction the first one is that their army will be defeated so last Lord's Day also we looked at Habakkuk 1 verse 6 aback of course is a prophecy that deals with a call to the injustice and Israel to be punished and and then God says well I am going to punish the injustice in Judah and I'm gonna use the Babylonians to do it and and it's it's that interaction between the prophet and God as to how God could use this nation to judge his own people and even God when he is describing that called DNC's describes them as a nation that that basically just marches right over other nations that that they cannot be resisted that they're dreaded and fierce and that their horses are Swift and that they're that they that they simply conquer they they they come in violence and they scoff at Kings and they think they conquer all that's that's around them and so in this chapter and I in Jeremiah 51 however there's a there's a contrast the the the army will be of no use to offer protection against the Lord and we see that for example in in chapter 51 verse 3 God there is saying that their whole army will be devoted to destruction in verse 4 it actually says that they will fall down in their own land now that's a new thing for the Babylonian armies in in the past when Babylon was at its peak it's it's soldiers might have fallen but they would have fallen on foreign soil they were they were on the offensive but here in this chapter of of Jeremiah the Babylonian army is falling in their own cities are falling in their own land that means they're on the defensive so for example in in verses 20 through 23 you see this description of how God used Babylon at one point in time this this idea of of them being a hammer breaking nations breaking horse and rider breaking chariot and charioteer breaking man and woman breaking breaking old man and youth young man and young woman breaking Shepherd and his flock breaking farmer and his team breaking governors and commanders breaking everything that's in their path basically that was what Babylon was like but now in this chapter as we work our way through it you see a change in that what what once was a fearless army is now a defeated army so in verse 30 again the warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting they remain in their strongholds there their strength has failed this was an army that used to march boldly crossing borders without second thoughts surrounding cities and capturing cities and slaying kings now it's warriors are huddled in the inner parts in the safe places where there's no danger to them they're no longer bold and courageous they don't want to fight there they're hiding in their own cities they're there they're there being fought against and being conquered for this group of soldiers the the news gets worse and and worse in verse 31 the runner runs out to meet another and the city of Babylon the cities of Babylon are taken one after another the king has informed time after time this city has taken the Fords have been seized everything is ruined the soldiers are in a panic the army that was their strength has been completely removed a army that was the source of their ability to assert their power on countries around them it has been completely destroyed by the Lord's hand and so her strength is no more so we see the hopelessness of Babylon the total destruction of Babylon and by the removal of their army which which removes their ability to to assert themselves they've become a weak nation a second place we see in this chapter a description of how the land of Babylon will be laid waste now this theme was already begun in chapter 50 is simply carried over from chapter 50 but there is a sense in which the Lord is seen as fighting against the people of Babylon and the land will suffer his vengeance you see that in verse 6 where it is the time of the Lord's vengeance or if you look in verse 11 the same kind of thing where the Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the meze because his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it for that is the Vengeance of the Lord of vengeance for his temple you see the same kind of thing carried through in first 36 all through all the way through this chapter where it talks about the Lord taking vengeance for his people on the nation Valon so there's a sense of the Lord's vengeance resting on them there's also a sense in which the cities will be wiped out which we've already seen in the in the failings of their army but that we also see that the nation as a whole will be destroyed so look in verse 37 for example Babylon shall become a heap of ruins on the haunt of jackals our horror and a hissing without inhabitant that should be familiar language for us as we think of how Jeremiah described Israel in this way in many occasions how Israel would be a haunt of hissing a curse and I know how how all those things would fall on Israel now those things are falling on Babylon Babylon will be a heap of ruins in the in in this chapter talks about the Lord laying Babylon to waste which was illustrated right at the end of our chapter when we saw this picture of the book being read while in Babylon and then tie a rock tied to it and thrown into the middle of the Euphrates that that Babylon would sink is in the same way as that that scroll sank in in the river the land would be totally laid waste their armies are ready to feed it so there's no way to protect or defend themselves and now the land will be laid waste as well as well and there's one more thing that we see one more source of usual confidence for pagan nations and that's their idols and we see in this chapter that the idols of Babylon will be useless as well that also is carried through from last chapter in chapter 50 verse 2 and 3 we see that bel and Murrow dak would be laid waste would be of no help to the people of Babylon in this chapter you see a more proactive description of how God will overthrow the idols and that the idols are unable to assist the people of Babylon and avoiding the judgment of God so for example in verse 17 you see that the goldsmith has put to shame by his idols because the eye the images of our false they're there they're not alive in in any sense in verse 44 you see the judgment of God against bail he says in verse 44 I will punish bail in Babylon the chief god of the Babylonians and and take out of his mouth what he has swallowed so there is a judgment over the chief god of the Babylonians in verse 47 God speaking says I will punish the images of Babylon in verse 52 the same kinds of things in the latter of the days are coming declares the Lord when I will execute judgment upon her images the images the idols the things that the Babylonians trusted in for the deliverance the the the false gods that they sacrificed to these all will be destroyed at the hand of the Lord God Almighty now when he speaks of God judging bel and Muro doc and these false gods Jeremiah is not giving credence to the fact that they are gods at all Jeremiah isn't validating their idols as gods but he's simply showing that through their idolatry that Babylonians mock God now there is a very clear description of the mockery of the Babylonians of the Living God that happens the very night of their fall in Scripture in the fifth chapter of the prophet Daniel you have the celebration Belshazzar is celebrating and you remember the hand comes and and writes on the wall many many take a parson well what was happening in this feast what was Belshazzar doing in this feast well he was blaspheming the God of the Jews in the midst of this drunken feast with his officials what did he take out of his storehouses he took the sacred articles the sacred vessels that they had plundered from the temple of the Lord they specifically took the vessels from the temple of the Lord and they were using these vessels these sacred vessels in their drunken feasts they were mocking the god of of the Israelites and that mockery that idolatry that mockery of God is it's judged in this passage the the things that they trusted in the Lord which mocks the Lord those things are judged here and the idols are useless to defend them against the wrath and anger of God and so the very clear picture that we have in this chapter of of Jeremiah is that Babylon is ruined but this ruin isn't just a historical fact the ruin of Babylon has implications for us as well Babylon is more than just a nation is more than just a capital of a godless people of around 5 586 BC no the the Babylonians in the Old Testament certainly are a great enemy of Israel and they lead them out of the promised land into exile but in the new testament Babylon becomes a representative name and so we see in Babylon really the desolation of the wicked as a whole in the New Testament Babylon becomes a name for the enemy of God's people the pagan world the world where godlessness reigns and so you look at first Peter 5 and 13 as that books coming to a close and as he's giving his final greetings to to the churches in in Pontus and Galatian and Cappadocia etc and at the end of his letter Peter writes she who is at Babylon greets you the church in in Babylon greets the church and pontius in Galatia now it's not the physical city of Babylon it's the church that's in the world but even revelation gives us a much clearer picture of this description of Babylon and how it becomes a representative term in the New Testament in the book of Revelation Babylon is referenced six times six times the the the city of Babylon is referenced in its never speaking of Babylon specifically as a city but it's speaking of Babylon in a representative way so if you go to Revelation of 14 verse 8 there you have three angels who deliver a message and it and the second angel says fallen fallen is Babylon the Great she who made all the nations drew the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality so Babylon there is representative as the source of the sins of passion of the world in chapter 16 and verse 19 year read of the judgment of God against Babylon as as a representative City it's called the great city and it says there that when the seventh Bowl is poured out the great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nation's fell and God remembered Babylon the Great to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath this is the godless City the city where people don't call on the Lord and God's wrath is poured out on them in chapter 17 verse 5 of Revelation you have this picture of the great prostitute who sits on the Scarlet Beast and the Scarlet Beast is covered in blasphemous names and on the forehead of this prostitute who sits on this Scarlet Beast has written a name of mystery and the name is Babylon the great mother of prostitutes and of Earth's abominations there Babylon is is representative of the abominations the rebellion of the world against God Almighty and again in chapter 18 of Revelation and the third verse we have a similar description of Babylon as we saw in chapter 14 it says there for all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality saying this after it has again declared that fall and fallen is Babylon the Great and so more than a physical location especially in the book of Revelation more than a physical location Babylon is the picture of the deceiver Babylon is the picture of the godless when Babylon is the picture of those who live in rebellion against God Almighty Babylon is the one who is representative of the world gone astray Babylon is representative of man's passions expressed in drunkenness and sexual immorality Babylon is the opposite in a sense Babylon represents the opposite of the people of God Babylon is that which represents the sinful inclinations of man Babylon is the one that represents all that is rebellion against God Almighty it's the opposite of the people of God and so in the Old Testament Babylon was judged and the judgment that God used for Babylon in the Old Testament is in shadow form and we see in the Old Testament in shadow form the judgment of Babylon which the symbolic Babylon of the book of Revelation will receive even more severely you see the shadow form in the Old Testament is always smaller less significant than the New Testament reality what are some other examples of this well for example think about the construction of the tabernacle in the children's class Sunday School class this morning we went through the tabernacle and the glory of God was in the tabernacle the picture of what Christ was doing would do was on display in the tabernacle even in how the furniture was laid out in the tabernacle but the glory of God which was displayed in the tabernacle is dwarfed by the glory of Christ when he's seen on the mountain of Transfiguration isn't he the glory of God in the new testament is always brighter than the glory of God as he reveals it in the Old Testament for example the mercy of God and in the substitution the substitutionary rituals of the Old Testament the day of atonement for example it displayed the gospel it displayed the work of redemption but it's far less bright it's the the it's it's dwarfed by the glory of the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross and you can think of other examples like that so in the Old Testament Babylon is destroyed it's Army is defeated its lioness laid waste is his idols have become useless and they were useless all along but under the New Testament Babylon there is a much greater much more severe judgment against this representative nation Babylon representing the godless ones the people of the world who live in hostility against the Lord and this is what happens to Babylon in the book of Revelation again Revelation 19 beginning in verse 17 then I saw an angel standing in the Sun and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead come gather for the great supper of God to eat the flesh of kings the flesh of captains the flesh of mighty men the flesh of horses and their riders and the flesh of all men both free and slave both small and great this is the judgment that will come on on Babylon in the New Testament in verse 20 it speaks of the beast and the false prophet who are who are part of the kingdom of Babylon in a sense and it says the Beast was captured and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he had deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those whose work who worshipped His image and these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur that is a more severe judgment than the Babylon of Old Testament received they are thrown into eternal fire an eternal fire that burns with sulfur you can see the same thing in the parable of the wheat and the weeds and in Matthew 13 in verse 41 and 42 you see that the causes for sin and the lawbreakers at the end when they're separated from the wheat they will be thrown into a fiery furnace where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth weeping and gnashing of teeth ah that never goes away that's the description of judgment in the New Testament it is more severe is it is heavier it is it is more terror terror filled than the destruction of the people of Babylon in the Old Testament the passages in Revelation are heavy and and dark and fearful and so the human temptation is to remove them to say that that God is a God of love and not a judgment of judgment did that that he's a merciful God and that he's not the angry god of the old well that is the that is the message that we hear sometimes from people who who seek to do away with the warnings of the judgment of God but the reality is that the god of Scripture is the same in the Old Testament as he is in the New Testament God is immutable that means he's he can't be changed he judges wickedness he he judges sin but in Old and New Testament he he provides a way of escape there is a way that we see this way of escaping in Scripture in the Old Testament in Exodus 11 right at the end of the ten plagues the tenth plague is really a horrific plague against the people of Egypt and the plague the tenth plague is announced to the people of Egypt they're warned about what will happen to them they're warned that if they do not let the people of Israel go then the first born of man and beast in every home will die imagine that imagine how many thousands of people died that night and they were warned of it by God the the threat was real and the threat was dark and the threat was terrifying but there is always that remedy for the pending judgments that God announces and that's when we that's where we are when we begin to consider our need for Christ there is a remedy to the pending judgments of God in all Testament and in New Testament in in Scripture throughout there is always a remedy presented for the warnings of the threatening and threatenings of God and so when when you get to Exodus 12 and in verse 13 you have a description of the remedy and what is the remedy they take the land that's a year old a perfect land without any broken bones and they slaughter it and they take the blood of that lamb and they they spread it on the on the doorpost and on the on the lintel so that the angel of judgment will pass over their home the threat of the death of the firstborn in every home could be avoided if only you cling to God for deliverance now the truth is blood had to be shed for the angel of judgment to pass by and so if there wasn't any blood the firstborn would certainly die so the Passover lamb saves Israel from from death the threats of God are not empty threats there's serious business God doesn't just make them to scare people that the threats they they pose for the unbeliever the threats of God against of judgment they should never be minimized before the unbeliever they they should never be criticized by anyone who claims the name of Christ especially that these judgments of God are too harsh or too much not merciful enough but what is true of Babylon what is true in Egypt is is true of the world Babylon is the embodiment of the false worship in rebellion against God and that is what the church must remember they must remember that the world faces the wrath and judgment of God and that unless Christ is applied to them they cannot avert this judgment and the judgment will be more terrible for them than it was for Babylon the danger is that we think of Babylon as those people from the past and they might have been in danger but there's no application for it today but the threatenings of Scripture aren't only for those of us for the one who is outside of Christ to warn him of future judgment this warning is also for those who are within the walls of the church who are presuming on the grace of God the this warning is also for those who live under the gospel promises but serve the God of their belly this is the warning for those of us in the church who have no love for Christ but who have a love for the world instead in several places in Scripture but specifically in in 1st Corinthians 5 you see these warnings of Paul urging the church to expel the sexually immoral the the greedy the idolatry the revived the drunkard a swindler and to hand them over to God's judgment as a warning as part of the New Testament Scriptures the warning of danger is issued throughout the Bible with increasing intensity and so in Jeremiah we see the awful judgment of God against the people of Babylon but when you come to the New Testament that same warning is issued even as early as John the Baptist in Matthew 3 the Pharisees are coming to him in the wilderness and what does what is what is what is John the Baptist say to them who who warned you to flee the wrath to come the wrath to come is is real the the wrath to come will be applied to the people of Israel the Pharisees the law keepers of their time the wrath of God is against the hypocrite who lives within the walls of the church as well so the description of in Revelation of judgment is more horrific for the New Testament hypocrite but the deliverance is greater as well in Exodus what did we have we had the the Passover Feast and the celebration of the lamb and that showed something of God's glory showed something of God's mercy to have a lamb died in the place of his people Jeremiah shows how how Israel returns to the promised land but but the new testament promises is far greater in 1st corinthians 5 or 7 we read of another passover lamb not a passover lamb that lived in a in a barn somewhere and when he was 1 years old he was slaughtered but we read about the passover lamb the lord jesus christ who came down from the splendor of heaven took on a human soul a reasonable soul suffered and died in our place so that the angel of judgment would pass over our hearts if his blood is applied to the doorpost of our hearts that is the the truth of the glorious passover lamb of the new testament and the people of israel are led back into the promised land where are the the New Testament led where they're led in Revelation 21 and to heaven itself and there's a glorious description revelation 21 verse 22 through through 26 where you have this description of the splendor of heaven and anticipation of a glory far greater than a return to a desolated city of jerusalem in verse 22 of that chapter it says I saw no temple in this city for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the lamb and the city has no need of Sun or moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives it light and it's lamp is the lamb by its light while the nation's walk and the kings of Earth will bring their glory into it and its gates will never be shut by day and there will be no night there they will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nation's but nothing unclean will ever enter it nor anyone who does what is detestable or false but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life that's a description of heaven the question that should raise in us is how do we get written in the Lamb's Book of Life how do we get into this place it's a glorious place how do how do we get into this exclusive place because it's not for everyone it's only for those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life the distinction is is simple those who do not worship the Lord are are not written in the book of life but we see that those who keep what they have heard who repent of sin that they will be written in the Lamb's Book of Life we see that in in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 5 it's it's written for you this Lamb's Book of Life you don't write your own name in that book your name is written there for you it's written for you by the hand of God himself it's written for you through faith and repentance gifts that God gives to you in Ephesians 2 verse 8 to 9 8 and 9 we learned that we're saved by grace through faith not of our own doing so that no one may boast we learned that God's salvation works salvation in us as a gift but if we are saved by grace through faith what are we saved from what are we saved from we're saved from the wrath and justice of God poured out in judgment we're saved from what we deserve for the godlessness and the sin that we have committed in air in our unconverted state and were saved by the Passover land the Lord Jesus Christ and were saved so that our knees would bow and worship before the God who could have judged us for our sin but instead he loved us to such an extent that he gave His only Son to hang on a cross for us that is the thought that every warning in scripture should evoke in us it should be the thought that were pushed towards by considering the judgments of God the judgment of the wicked is a warning to all men to repent and believe the gospel it's only through Jesus blood shed for you that the consequence which is applied to Babylon is avoided by you and so as God's people we should meditate much on the warning of destruction to realize the greatness of the gift of salvation our consideration of the judgment of God is a is a means to realize what we face apart from Christ in the Lord's Supper we ask questions to help us consider these things the first question deals with this very meditation about the judgment of God do you know what you face apart from Christ do you know what you face apart from Christ do you really understand it if you can if you do if you do really understand the judgment of God you can never come away from it with a shrug if you've really understood the judgment of God you will never walk away from a passage of Scripture that warns of his judgment and condemnation with a shrug you'll never be able to chuckle about the fate of those who will face this judgment if you've really understood what his judgment means you must understand the severity of the judgment of God but then there's also the second question that we asked before the Lord's Supper right how are you rescued from this condition of judgment how are you rescued from the judgment of God it's a meditation on how it is that you become written in the Lamb's Book of Life God's judgment is great and but his mercy is complete his his judgment is severe but is his mercy is tender you see the judgment of God is only one part of the great account of Scripture there is the part that warns of the judgment of God but then there's also the part that promises salvation to know what you deserve means that you will or should mean that you ask how it can be averted and when the answer comes that there's nothing that you can do that there's only the work of Christ then what is your response what is the response of a helpless person who is rescued by another it is gratitude gratitude that is unforced there's no there's no dragging your feet to give thanks to somebody who is who saved you from from death nobody has to has to push you towards that there's a simple gratitude that that flows naturally from us the same is true when it comes to our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ the life of the Christian isn't fearful living the life of the Christian isn't looking over your shoulder saying my works better be good enough for my salvation but the life of the Christian is also not nonchalant living the life of the Christian is also not saying my works don't matter no the life of the Christian is living in light of the threatenings of Scripture that have been averted for you by your savior the Lord Jesus Christ it's living knowing that you should receive judgment that this the threatenings of Scripture should be applied to you but that Christ was substituted on your behalf it's knowing the greatness of the mercy of God towards undeserving sinners such as such as we are and so the message of the judgement on Babylon is is not simply an Old Testament message it has an eschatological use that means it has a use for the last days a use for the judgment that we will all face the final judgement the account of the judgments on Babylon look ahead to the last day when when Christ will return and in that return all that all the dead will be raised and they will all be gathered before the throne of the Lord and they will be assigned the eternal judgment they deserve except except those who have been given the gift of life not because they've earned it but because God and his favor gave it to them there are those who will receive the gift of life and and those are given grace by Christ and and they're saved by faith and Jeremiah 51 this extensive treatment of threatenings and destruction desolation in Babylon it shows that this gift is precious it shows that this gift is of immeasurable magnitude this gift is is to be received by one who is desperate without hope is to be embraced with joy and Thanksgiving you see it's the response to the desperation of of Jeremiah 51 that shows us the gratitude that we should have towards God this gift that that we read about that that we're pressed towards when we consider a chapter like Jeremiah 51 this gift we see it as the of the basis of all the gladness and all the peace of God's people it doesn't matter if they're gathered in the Old Testament or in the New Testament and it's not based on anything that we have done but it's based in an aversion of the judgment of God because the merits of Christ apply to you let's pray together

Channel: Cliffwood Presbyterian Church

Views: 1,359

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Cliffwood Presbyterian Church, bible, sermon, reformed theology, family integrated worship, preaching, augusta, presbyterian, Theology (Field Of Study), Religion (TV Genre), Pastor, repentance, Old Testament (Religious Text), jeremiah, reformation, idolatry, God's covenant, the gospel

Id: 8iXxdbc4FXw

Length: 48min 53sec (2933 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 20 2019