Stand for What is Right | Jeremiah 25-26 | Gary Hamrick

Jeremiah chapter 26 I'm going to read the first 11 verses and then we'll pray first one says early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah this word came from the Lord this is what the Lord says stand in the courtyard of the Lord's house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the Lord tell them everything I command you do not omit a word perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way and then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done say to them this is what the Lord says if you do not listen to me and follow my law which I have set before you and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I have sent to you again and again though you have not listened then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city and object of cursing among all the nations of the earth the priests the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the Lord but as soon as jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the Lord had commanded him to say the priests the prophets and all the people seized him and said you must die why do you prophesy in the Lord's name that this house will be like Shiloh and the city will be desolate and deserted and all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord and when the officials of Judah heard about these things they went up from the Royal Palace to the house of the Lord and took their places at the entrance of the new gate of the Lord's house and then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and all the people this man should be sentenced to death because he has prophesied against this city you have heard it with your own ears let's pause there and pray father this morning as we gather here we do so Lord in your name and for your glory we pray that you've been honored in our worship and now we trust that you'll be we study your word together and seek to apply it to our lives I thank you for all those who are here today Lord and those who might be watching online we just want it to be for your glory and for our edification build us up in our faith Lord we pray strengthen us and our walk with you open our eyes if some are here today who don't know you that they may trust you today and we love you and thank you that you first loved us in Jesus name we pray and everybody said amen well for those of you curious about these kind of things chapter 26 this chapter that we're we've read a little bit of we're gonna actually read through the whole thing today chapter 26 is not in chronological order you might remember from last week study when we were in chapter 24 it talked about how it was just after the reign of King Yahweh akin who was the second to last king of Judah just after King Yahweh akin had been taken captive by the Babylonians and taken off to Babylon chapter 26 is actually a chapter about his father so we're going backwards in time it takes place during the reign of his father King Yahweh Kim very similar pronunciations so chapter 26 is out of chronological order and then it resumes in chronology after this so it's interesting how even though it's out of chronological order the Lord certainly indeed wanted it inserted here in the narrative because there's an important critical event that happens here in this chapter that we will see in a moment this chapter begins with a strong exhortation from the Lord to Jeremiah this Jeremiah is not yet speaking what the Lord's put in his heart because the Lord is dealing with him first and I want you to just circle back to verse 2 and note with me that the Lord says to him stand in the courtyard of the Lord's house is the temple area there in Jerusalem and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the Lord and then notice the end of verse to tell them everything I can and you do not omit a word this is God's instruction to Jeremiah I've got something I want you to say to the people when they're coming to church or the coming of the house of the Lord to worship God says to Jeremiah I want you to tell them exactly what I put in your heart and I don't want you to omit a single word now why do you suppose that God instructs them and exhorts him in this way say everything I'm telling you and don't omit a word well it could be quite honestly because God knows that Jeremiah might be tempted to do what even today some pastors are tempted to do the temptation of avoiding saying the tough stuff because you don't want to offend people tamp it down you know keep the peace don't don't say anything remotely controversial or confrontational because you don't want to inspire the ire of people okay now Jeremiah inspired the ire of the people because even though perhaps he might have been tempted because in in our flesh if you have a certain responsibility you know this for whatever you might do you have to say the hard things too so maybe you're in management you have to say the hard thing you have to let somebody go you have to you know you're in some position or something in life where it's incumbent upon you to say the hard thing it's difficult and in our flesh we often don't want confrontation we don't want you know to get into a situation where we're gonna get somebody upset and and and so Jeremiah knows a little bit about what this is like because he's often being attacked being mocked being thrown in a sister and being beat up I mean he's got more stuff that happened to him before the end of this book but he certainly was familiar with the fact that when he said things that were tough to hear that people got upset and he was faithful nevertheless to say what God had put in his heart no matter how unpopular it was he didn't shy away from saying the hard truth in fact he couldn't he will write in a couple of chapters earlier in chapter 20 he writes about how when I would sometimes hold God's Word in my heart without saying it it burned in my heart like a fire in Jeremiah 20 verse 9 he said but if I say I will not mention God or speak any more in his name his word is in my heart like a fire a fire shut up in my bones I am weary of holding it in indeed I cannot so Jeremiah admits because you know there are times I've tried to hold back because I don't I mean who wants to be unpopular who wants to be threatened with it our very lives so Jeremiah's like sometimes I'd holding it but when I would hold it in it would be like fire burning in my heart and through my bones I could I couldn't hold it in I'd have to say what God had put on my heart and so Jeremiah warned the people his own people time and again he kept saying to them you forsake God he's gonna forsake you but you draw near to God he's gonna draw near to you but time and time again he would say this and time and time again the people would reject what he was saying and they got so tired of hearing what he was saying time and time again that both the religious leaders the priests and other so-called prophets appeal to the officials of Jerusalem in this chapter here to have Jeremiah killed now bear in mind these are not the enemies of Israel that we're not talking about you know the the Canaanites or the hittite so the amorite so you know we're not talking about these people who are like we want to kill Jeremiah these are Jeremiah's own countrymen we don't like what you're saying we don't like to hear you go on and on about how we need to turn to God or we're gonna be destroyed and so they they haul him before the officials of Jerusalem and ask the leaders to put him to death which might be another reason by the way why God said there in verse 2 tell them everything I command you and do not omit a word because God knew that the threat of death hung / Jeremiah's head but Jeremiah was true to the Lord and he was always faithful to say what God put in his heart because he feared God more than he feared man the truth is that Jeremiah was not calling for the destruction of Jerusalem he just was saying that that would be the unintended consequences for those who reject God if the people reject God then then the unintended consequences will be the destruction of their own homeland the real message that Jeremiah was communicating through this whole book two words for you no takers right now repent relent that's the main thing that Jeremiah will say throughout the whole Book of Jeremiah that if people would repent that is turned to God turned from sin and turn to God then God will relent that is he will not bring upon them the disaster that he otherwise would intend for them so repent and relent that's constantly what he's saying here that this is what we see reflected in verse three look again in your Bibles at verse 3 when God speaks to Jeremiah about go ahead tell him everything I've told you don't him add a word in verse three he says perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way that's repent and then I God speaking I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done you know this is this has always been the message of the Bible this has always been the summary of God's intent for us that in our sinfulness were separated from God in our rebellion there is a gap between us and God that cannot be remedied except by what Christ has done for us on the cross and that if we will turn from our sinful ways and turn to God and trust Christ as our Savior that's repent God relents and we do not experience the ultimate judgment that we otherwise deserve because God is a merciful God this is all that Jeremiah was trying to say in the course of his nearly 50 years of ministry Jeremiah starts out roughly around the ages Dean he finishes all in his mid-60s and and over the course of nearly 50 years of his public ministry this is what he was saying over and over and over again to his own people the people of Judah if you turn from sin and turn to God you won't have to suffer judgment otherwise her my says the Babylonians are coming and they're gonna wreck this place that's what he says to them but the truth is often an affront to people especially if they like their sin they don't want to hear the truth they don't want to be confronted about their behavior it's only after their lives are falling apart because of their sin that people often then turn to God and God will take us either way any way that he can get us God will receive us but I sometimes wonder why do we have to learn the hard way why are we so stubborn about this why does it often take a crisis to make us turn to God so this is not unique to the Jews in this story this is our story the Jews in Jeremiah's day didn't want to be confronted about their sin they didn't want to hear what Jeremiah had to say so they attempted to have him killed you don't like the message you know the saying kill the messenger and they didn't like the message and so they wanted to kill the messenger so tells us here in this chapter they gather around him a mob forms around him he's on the Temple Mount area telling the people what God put in his heart then this mob circles him they seize him was what the story tells us here in verse 8 and they say you must die they just they want the guy killed so they took him to the officials who were sitting at the gate now this is typical in those days there would be officials of the town elders of a town who would sit at the gates of the town and that would be a place where they would gathered to make civil judgments or criminal judgments they would serve like judges in a court of law and so the officials here this mob has gathered and up Jeremih and seized him and so they make their way to the gates because they know what's gonna happen we're gonna be called upon to make a a judicial decision here about what to do with Jeremiah and so that the officials are gathered there at the gates and the people then appeal to the officials look at verse 11 again it says and then the priests and prophets said to the officials and all the people this man should be sentenced to death because he is prophesied against the city you have heard it with your own ears now it's very interesting what's their accusation against him this guy has prophesied against this city you see when you can't refute what the guy is saying as from the Lord then what you need to do is trump up other charges and the charges they Trump up is that he isn't patriotic that this is treason against his own country because he's calling for the destruction of the country he's not calling for the destruction of the country he's just saying again this is gonna be one of the unintended consequences Jerusalem's gonna be destroyed if we don't turn to God and so they make this accusation that he's not being patriotic here if you go around warning people that their sin against god will result in the collapse of their country and people will start to say you're not a true patriot that you don't have the best interest of your country in mind if you're predicting such disaster against your own people and so this is their argument for killing him but Jeremiah replies with great courage and great conviction here why don't you look at the next verses with me verses 12 through 15 in verse 12 it says and then Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people this is his defense he just he's just got to make a statement here the Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the things you have heard now reform your ways and your actions and obey the Lord your God then the Lord will relent and not bring the disaster he is pronounced against you as for me I'm in your hands do with me whatever you think is good and right be assured however that if you put me to death you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing that's what he says to them man I love the courage of this guy just I mean half that half the city wants to kill him the Prophet quote prot other prophets quote want to kill him the priest want to kill him he's on this trial in front of the officials at the city gate and he just basically says listen I'm just going to be faithful to say what God's told me to say you can do with me what you want if you kill me you're gonna have innocent blood on your hands but all I know is and this is the end of verse 15 for in truth the Lord has sent me just to you to speak all these words in your hearing he didn't run he stood his ground and hidden he didn't care what the personal cost would be he just wanted to stand his ground for what was right and he wanted to be faithful to tell the truth and you know what happened when he had the courage to stand for what was right and to just say listen I'm I'm in God's hands and I'm just here to tell the truth and when he trusted the Lord and stood his ground and spoke the truth God defended him and God protected him and God took care of him because the verses following tell us that the people came to their senses and the people started realizing hey remember when Micah the Prophet a hundred years before Jeremiah said similar things to us in the days of King Hezekiah nobody killed him and you know what happened nobody killed him and the people actually turned for a season for a time and God relented and he didn't bring disaster upon us so that was kind of a good thing we didn't kill the prophet Micah say Micah who wrote the Book of Micah we didn't kill that guy and and it went okay for us if we killed Jeremiah it probably won't turn out as good for us we're gonna bring disaster on ourselves look at what they say here verse 16 then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets this man should not be sentenced to death he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God some of the elders of the land stepped forward and said to the entire Assembly of people Micah of Mora chef's prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and he told all the people of Judah this is what the Lord Almighty says Zion will be ploughed like a field Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble the temple Hill a mound overgrown with thickets that Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death did not hesitant seek his favour and did not the Lord relent so that he did not bring the disaster he pronounced against them we are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves so they come to their senses this is a good thing they realized we can't kill Jeremiah because it worked well for us when we heeded about a hundred years ago when our people heeded the warning of the prophet Micah in the days of King Hezekiah so we better learn from that and not kill this guy or else verse 19 we're gonna be bringing terrible disaster on ourselves now in addition here in this little kangaroo kangaroo court that's happening here at the entrance of the gate in addition to these people saying these good things a guy steps up and gives Jeremiah basically a character reference we don't know too much about this guy but he's mentioned in the last verse of this chapter verse 24 his name is ah he come and AH he come steps verse 24 says furthermore aji come son of shaphan supported jeremiah and so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death and so Jeremiah goes untouched and he escapes death all because God protected him because Jeremiah was willing to stand his ground and not run and be true to what was right and to honor God whenever we do that God will take care of us we have to stand our ground in these days for what is right we can't be running from the truth we have to be the light that shines in a dark world now inserted into this story is this little parenthetical commentary some verses I skipped in our reading through chapter 26 you may have noticed I want to draw your attention to verses 2223 now in your Bibles if you have an NIV version that's what I'm reading from verses 2223 are in parentheses you notice that it's a parenthetical commentary inserted in the middle of this life-threatening scene concerning Jeremiah and it tells us in these verses I'm going to read them in a moment in a moment but let me set it up for you it tells us that there's another prophet by the name of Uriah an obscure unknown prophet not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible except here there's other Uriah's mentioned in the Bible but not this guy this guy's only mentioned here this is it he it tells us that he's a prophet sent by God he's a legit prophet it tells us that he also prophesized the same thing Jeremiah saying you have to remember Jeremiah is not the only voice in that day there are other prophets there are other prophets who were called by God just not as popular or as well-known as some of the major prophets this guy was one of those good prophets his name is Uriah let me read a story though it doesn't work out as well for him verse 20 now your eye a son of Shanaya from kiriath-jearim was another man who prophesied in the name of the lord he prophesied the same things against this city and this land as jeremiah did when king jehoiakim and all his officers and officials heard his words the king sought to put him to death but Uriah heard of it and fled in fear to Egypt King Jehoiakim however sent el Nathon son of Akbar to Egypt along with some other men they brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim who had him struck down with a sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people now why why is that right here tell you why this is right here you guys see the contrast it's put right here in this story in the middle of this life-threatening scene with Jeremiah some unknown obscure prophet by the name of Uriah appears here not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible and he shows up in this scene here as a sharp contrast to Jeremiah and as a strong warning to us here are two men Uriah and Jeremiah both called by God both saying the same things from God both being true to God to say the tough stuff okay but when confronted when confronted and threatened one runs Uriah one stains his ground Jeremiah and the guy that runs Uriah is tracked down and his head is cut off and the guy that stands his ground is saved and God takes care of him now listen I understand doesn't always work out that way I get that plenty of people in the world have stood their ground for what is right and they were still slaughtered but if there's one thing that stands out to me as to why God inserts this little parenthetical commentary about an unknown prophet right in the middle of this life-threatening situation for Jeremiah it's this when you know what is right and you have convictions about things that honor God and when truth burns in your heart like fire no matter what others may do or others may say or think no matter where culture drifts no matter how unpopular it is or how crazy people think you've become or how threatening the opposition gets stand your ground and don't run honor God speak the truth and stand for what is right that's the day we're living in and let God defend you why else with this little story be plopped in the middle of a larger story if not to exhort us about standing our ground for what is right friends it's not enough to just know the truth or even tell the truth if you don't stand for truth what are the things that are important to you important to you enough in your life your family your community your nation that you are willing to stand for to honor God Christians have got to get serious about standing for what is right and not running and mobilizing together to stand for what is right in our nation I'm sure by now many of you most of you have heard just this week there was a bill HB 2491 that fortunately didn't make it out of subcommittee on its way to the Virginia General Assembly that if passed would have made abortion legal in Virginia through the third trimester how many of you heard about this delegate Cathy Tran of Fairfax who was the chief patron of the bill when questioned about the bill admitted that it would permit an abortion even if the mother was dilated and in labor when governor Northam was interviewed about this to clarify it on WTOP he doubled down he went even further he said quote if a mother is in labor I can tell you exactly what would happen the infant would be delivered the infant would be kept comfortable the infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother end quote this is this is post delivery this isn't fantasize this is insanity Francis we have to wake up if the church doesn't wake up how will the light be shine in a dark world now and don't don't think what maybe governor northen didn't know what he's saying he's a pediatric neurosurgeon he knows exactly what he's saying he's talking about the idea that a decision could be made regarding a baby post delivery if you don't think I'm angry I'm holding back I'm holding back friends if somebody said publicly you know what I had a litter of puppies my dog yet you had a litter of puppies and we don't want all of these and so we're gonna take a couple of them put them in a burlap bag with some rocks and throw them into the river people's heads would explode but now we're having conversations about whether or not babies can be delivered and then there can be a discussion there could be discussion as whether the baby should live or not friends we better wake up and we better say the hard stuff and stand for what is right in our day and not care what other people think and by the way [Music] you know listen two weeks ago if you were here I took sanctity of human life Sunday to present what I hoped was a balanced truthful graceful teaching on how sacred life is to God and how there is forgiveness for women who have had abortions and men who have been a party to it and I and I got tremendous responses and a lot of wonderful accolades for Cynthia who was willing to tell her story and I thank you for that and I and I thanked her over and over again but I get downright angry when politicians try to advance legislation for the killing of babies and we had better mobilizes Christians and take a stand for what is right and vote them out we got to take a stand in our day telling you what and you can you just need to know because if you live in Ashburn your delegate David Reed was a co-sponsor of that bill and if you live in here in Leesburg like I do delegate Wendy good itis was also a co patron of that bill and I'm calling them out because you're accountable to us and don't think it's over because even though it failed in the subcommittee they've vowed to bring it back next year so you come November 20 19 November this year you remember Reed and good itis you remember their names if you forget I'll remind you come November I'll remind you because this is insanity the New York legislature just passed similar measures in New York and Governor Cuomo signed it into law and you google it you can go and see the New York State Legislature cheered and applauded loudly in the chambers when that bill was passed this is the kind of insanity that our country has reached at this point and Christians had better be more like Jeremiah instead of Uriah we need more Jeremiah's in our day you're gonna stand up and say I'm going to trust God because I'm gonna stand for what's right I'm not gonna run God will take care of you God will be honored as long as we honor God that's all we have to care about we have to make sure we're honoring God fearing God more than we fear people and by the way it's not just standing for political or social issues it's standing for what is right in your own life in your own home where you work we need to be asking ourselves are we standing for what is right in our marriage or are we wanting to run even when it's hard stand for what honors God stand what is for what is right in your home when your kids don't like the house rules but you know you're just trying to protect them from the crushing culture and instill in them Christian values and biblical principles stand for what is right on the job even when the threat of being fired because you refuse to compromise your standards you know after the Jews fulfill their seven years of captivity in Babylon and they eventually get to go back to their homeland they have to rebuild and in the rebuilding project of the walls of Jerusalem under the leadership of Nehemiah that's all recorded in the book of Nehemiah brick-by-brick the people just start to rebuild the city and rebuild the walls and rebuild their lives but they were under constant attack and constant derision from neighboring people who were opposed to them who didn't share their common values and didn't worship their God they've got to be Abraham Isaac and Jacob it was just constantly a barrage of of just attacked you know you know what it was mainly when you read the book of Nehemiah it was basically psychological warfare you had neighboring nations that were constantly just with their words attacking and then threatening with warfare and the people became discouraged and the people became weary you know it's easy to become battle weary sometimes and I think increasingly more as Christians fight battle fatigue because we're in a war and wherever there is good and weather wherever there is good because there is god there's always going to be opposition to good and to god and nehemiah seeing that his people were growing weary from all of this conscious barrage of just constant verbal attacks and and just the threat of warfare as the people are trying to rebuild their city and rebuild their lives and just they wanted to honor God and they wanted to live for the glory of God Nehemiah would say to them and Nehemiah 4:14 as he says after I looked things over I stood up and I said to the nobles the officials and the rest of the people don't be afraid of them remember the Lord who is great and awesome and fight for your brothers your sons your daughters your wives and your home's he challenged them don't be afraid stand for God and fight for what is right stand your ground don't run there will always be opposition to what is good and right and holy because there will always be opposition to God and even in our own lives we might be tempted to run because we're battle weary and we're discouraged but in a day that is getting darker God is looking for more Jeremiah's not Uriah's people who will stand for what is right and trust God to defend them remember Paul would say in Ephesians 6:13 therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes you may be able to stand your ground and after having done everything to stand amen amen that's pray together father we thank you for the example of Jeremiah a man who was willing to stand his ground for what is right and to say the things that were true cared less about his life he cared less about pleasing others and more about honoring you and pleasing you I pray we would be the same lord who else is going to shine the light in the dark world if not for your church Lord strengthen us sometimes we grow weary may we stand for what is right in our marriage to fight for what honors you maybe we stand for what is right in our homes as we raise our kids in the ways of the Lord on the job being true to you no matter what the circumstance what the environment what the reaction and in our culture lord help us to shine your light into a dark world that others may see Jesus through our lives Lord strengthen us we pray in Jesus name and all God's people said amen amen god bless you all

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

Views: 4,951

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Keywords: Truth, abortion, Cornerstone Chapel, Calvary Chapel, right, stand, Gary Hamrick

Id: f2bIxIYqOZo

Length: 36min 39sec (2199 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 16 2019