I'd like to give you all a warm
welcome to our worship here this evening. Let us come before the
Lord, let us ask his blessing on our worship. Lord God of heaven
and of earth, we come before thee in the attitude of worship
and you grant us the help of thy Holy Spirit that we might
worship thee in spirit and in truth, that thy word be with
power, and that our hearts be engaged with our words, and that
our thoughts, our affections, be placed on things above. O
Lord, so grant us thy help and blessing, we ask through our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. Hymn 87 1st Part. Tune, Adoration 528. This evening I wish to read from
two portions of God's holy word. Firstly, the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 18. If you're
joining us with one of our Bibles from the free offer or Bible
box, that is page 722. 722. the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah prophesied the end of
the time of Judah before they went into captivity, or during
the time when they did go into Babylonish captivity for their
sins. So Jeremiah chapter 18 from verse
1. The word which came to Jeremiah
from the Lord, saying, Arise and go down to the potter's house,
and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down
to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. and the vessel that he made of
clay was marred in the hand of the potter. So he made it again,
another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came
to me, saying, O house of Israel, Cannot I do with you as this
potter, saith the Lord? Behold, as the clay is in the
potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. At what instant I shall speak
concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to
pull down and to destroy If that nation against whom I have pronounced
turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought
to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak
concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to build and to plant
in, If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then
I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them. Now therefore go to, speak to
the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith
the Lord, Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device
against you. Return ye now every one from
his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. And they
said, There is no hope. but we will walk after our own
devices, and we will, every one, do the imagination of his evil
heart. Therefore thus saith the Lord,
ask ye now among the heathen who hath heard such things. The virgin of Israel hath done
a very horrible thing, Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon, which
cometh from the rock of the field? Or shall the cold flowing waters
that come from another place be forsaken? Because my people
have forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and
they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient
paths. to walk in paths in a way not
cast up. To make their land desolate and
a perpetual hissing, everyone that passeth thereby shall be
astonished and wag his head. I will scatter them as with an
east wind before the enemy. I will show them the back and
not the face, in the day of their calamity. Then said they, Come,
and let us devise devices against Jeremiah. For the law shall not
perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from
the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with
the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words. Give heed to me, O Lord, and
hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. Shall evil
be recompensed for good? For they have digged a pit for
my soul. Remember that I stood before
thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from
them. Therefore deliver up their children
to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword,
and let their wives be bereaved of their children and be widows,
and let their men be put to death, and let their young men be slain
by the sword in battle, and let a cry be heard from their houses
when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them. for they
have digged a pit to take me and hid snares for my feet. Yet, Lord, Thou knowest all their
counsel against me to slay me. Forgive not their iniquity, neither
blot out their sin from Thy sight, but let them be overthrown before
Thee. Deal thus with them in the time
of Thine anger. Now let us turn to the New Testament
and to the Acts of the Apostles in chapter 5. Acts of the Apostles,
chapter 5, that is page 1012 in the Bible Box Bibles. And we'll commence reading at
verse 29. Then Peter and the other apostles
answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus, whom ye slew, and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted
with his right hand to be a prince and a saviour, for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses
of these things. And so is also the Holy Ghost
whom God hath given to them that obey him. When they heard that, they were
cut to the heart and took counsel to slay them. Then stood there
one in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a doctor of the
law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded
to put the apostles forth a little space, and said unto them, Ye
men of Israel, Take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching
these men. For before these days rose up
Thetis, boasting himself to be somebody, to whom a number of
men, about four hundred, joined themselves, who were slain, and
all as many as obeyed him were scattered and brought to naught. After this man rose up Judas
of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people
after him, he also perished, and all, even as many as obeyed
him, were dispersed. And now I say unto you, refrain
from these men, and let them alone. For if this counsel or
this work be of men, it will come to naught. But if it be
of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest happily ye be found even
to fight against God.' And to him they agreed. When they had
called the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they
should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. And they departed from the presence
of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer
shame for his name. And daily in the temple and in
every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. The Lord bless to us that reading
of his holy word and help us as we come before him in prayer. Let us pray. Our loving Heavenly Father, we
seek, Lord, that access to Thee through Thy beloved Son, that
Thou hast grant unto us Thy Holy Spirit, and that Thou hast grant
unto us that opening up of Thy Word, that we might see in it
Thy beloved Son, that we might see in it that new covenant,
and all the provisions of it for sinners. Lord, we do thank
Thee that Thou has provided everything needful for a poor sinner to
be saved and saved by grace and saved eternally. We do say, Lord,
that as we come together in Thy house and hear Thy word and hear
Thy gospel, that it might be just that which suits us O Lord,
do make us to be as that dry ground that drinks up the sweet
waters of that well of life, that which the woman of Samaria
desired to drink of and to partake of. O Lord, do have mercy upon
us. May we ever have that hunger
and thirst after righteousness, and a desire for those things
which are eternal. Now do save us from our sin,
do grant us repentance, do turn us again, and turn us from all
iniquity and all evil, and turn us unto thee. O Lord, leave us
not just to have a change that changes from one sin to another,
from one way of thinking to another, But Lord, do grant that we might
be brought to know Thee, the only true God, and Thy beloved
Son, whom Thou hast sent. Lord, we thank Thee that we can
gather in this evening and week evening to grant unto us our
souls to be refreshed and strengthened through Thy Word. And that Thou
dost remember any that gather here or join online that are
troubled in their souls, that are tried and tempted by Satan,
that are afflicted by their own wicked and evil heart, or those
that seek to know the way that they should go, or even those
that desire to know what the Gospel is and what it teaches
and what it sets forth. O Lord, do be pleased to grant
Thy Spirit's aid, both to speak and to hear, that questions might
be answered. that the way might be clearly
shown and set forth, and that we might know that the authority
that those on earth, when thou wast on earth, that they recognized
in thee, that thou didst speak with authority and not as a scribes. that thy word, though it be through
thy servant, might be with the authority of heaven. Lord, we
know as undershepherds we have no authority of our own. We only
have that which is found in thy word. And as we accept forth
thy word, that has its own authority from heaven. My word, thou hast
said, shall not return unto me void. it shall accomplish the
thing whereto I sent it. We do thank thee for thy word
in our own tongue, a faithful translation, and we do seek that
it ever might be fresh and new to us, the book of books and
the food of our songs. To remember us with the blessing
upon what Peter sets forth, ye have a more sure word of prophecy,
whereunto ye do well to take heed, as unto a light that shineth
in a dark place. Lord, do shine the light of thy
word in the dark place of our hearts, in this world. Let thy
word go forth. Lord, bless the copies of it
that go forth from this place. that it might shed light upon
all who receive it. Lord, thou said concerning those
in thy day that thou art come a light into the world. But men
love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Make us willing to be searched
by the candle of thy word. Thou search us and try our hearts
and see if there be any wicked way in us, and lead us in the
way everlasting. Save us from our besetting sins. Deliver us from those sins that
we would guard, and those sins that we don't want to be released
from by nature. Do bless us, Lord, with thy word
effectual, and that faith might be given, and that we might be
given repentance. and given remission of sins.
We thank Thee for our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, for the
redemption that is in Christ, for the price that has been paid,
the debt that has been settled, the wrath of God that has been
quenched. Lord, we do thank Thee that Thou
hast given assurance that Thou wilt call by thy grace all for
whom thou didst suffer, bleed and die, and that thou didst
pray for them, for thy sheep, for thy people. We do seek, Lord,
that abundant evidence that thou hast loosed and set us free,
not free to sin, but free from sin. Though sin dwells in us,
leave us not to dwell in sin. Do grant, Lord, that we might
be delivered from it, that it might not have the mastery over
us, that we might be as kings and priests unto our God. We thank Thee for every temporal
good and mercy, Thy long-suffering and forbearance to us, Thy care
and Thy keeping. We do pray for those in distress
at this time, those who have lost loved ones in the air crash
in America, to comfort them and be with them. And Lord, we do
thank Thee in thinking of the many miles that we have flown
by air and been preserved. And we would remember how many
on our roads also killed or maimed. And by preserving care, whether
we are journeying short or long, And we know that our times are
in thy hand, and many of thy dear people thou hast chosen
to bring home to thyself through means that we would call accidents
or tragedies. But Lord, we know that our lives
are in thy hand, and it is not a chance. And so, Lord, we do
pray for help, for comfort for those in their sorrows at this
time. Remember all that are in affliction,
to grant thy kind healing hand if it is thy will, to give grace
while they are ill and unwell, and to be pleased to be with
them and their loved ones. O lengthen days, Lord, hear prayer,
and do be pleased to take away fear. Lord, may it be that thou
hast conquered death, doth make a way that in tribulation that
is brought to pass in me ye shall have peace. O Lord do thou undertake
for us then tonight we pray for this town we pray for those round
about us We see, Lord, a real revival and a work here, and
that Thou fill this house with hungering and thirsting souls,
and that Thou be pleased to grant us to see a real change, a shift,
a difference. Lord, begin with us personally,
and then, Lord, extend it to us as a church and congregation,
and then to this town, and then further afield as well. Lord, may there be a difference
in this part of the country, a difference wrought by thy spirit
and by thy grace. Lord, we pray have mercy upon
this, our guilty land. Remember thy people and those
that cry unto thee, that sigh and cry on account of the abominations
done in the land, and may we be found amongst that number. Be with those of our dear brethren
that meet together as we do tonight. Bless each assembly of thy people. Now, Lord, do we please to guide
our footsteps in thy word, shine upon it, grant us the manner
for our souls, grant us, Lord, to get a little glimpse of Thee.
We ask, Lord, that Thou be with us as we anticipate Thy day,
that Thy blessing might be upon it. Ministry here, ministry for
our dear aged friends in the pilgrim home. We seek Thy blessing
upon them and those at Bethesda as well. O Lord, we ask now these
things. Through thy name, Lord Jesus.
Amen. Hymn, 1060. Tune, Pater Omnium 791. I direct your prayerful attention
to the prophet Jeremiah chapter 18 and reading through our text
verse 12. And they said there is no hope
but we will walk after our own devices, and we will, every one,
do the imagination of his evil heart." Jeremiah 18 and verse 12. Jeremiah was raised up a prophet
unto Israel, at a time when the nation was ripe for God's judgment. They had for many years gone
further and further away from the true and living God. They had learned the ways of
the heathen, they'd walked in ways of idolatry, they had been
very rebellious against the Lord and against Him through the word
of His servants. And it was coming up to that
time in the history of Israel that we read of in Matthew chapter
one, the division of those times, 14 generations from Abraham to
David, 14 generations from David to the carrying away into Babylon. And this was going to happen
and it was because of Israel's sin. And then we read in Matthew,
14 generations from after those 70 years, or after the time they
were carried away for 70 years captivity in Babylon, 14 more
generations unto Christ. We're reminded in that, that
this was one of the divine appointments, but nevertheless, We have here
the account of God's word to Israel and a word that they would
not hearken to. It is not for us to pry into
the secret counsels of God and what shall be done in Providence. Our business is to obey the revealed
will of God to listen to his word and to follow that. Now Israel, they were a typical
people and we can learn much and we are told in the New Testament
that that which was written aforetime is written for our learning,
that we through patient and comfort of the scriptures might have
hope. We are also warned of the path
that Israel walked, that we are not to walk in that path, whether
at this time or the time when they were driven back for a further
40 years in the wilderness, because again of their rebellion, limiting
the Holy One of Israel and refusing to go up into Canaan. Israel is a real picture of how
depraved how sinful, how wicked human nature is and how much
man has fallen. And so Jeremiah is raised up
here to speak on God's behalf to these people to get them to
change, to turn, to repent of that path that they were going,
but they would not hear We have in our text what they said and
what they devised to do and to continue to do, walking in their
own evil ways. Now on to this evening with the
Lord's help. Firstly, the call that is given
to the nation here to repent. I want to look at that also.
in the gospel sense as well. But then secondly, Israel's response
and the reason they give for their response. They said, there
is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices and we
will walk, will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart. And thirdly, I want to look at
the gifts, the hope in the gifts of grace. And this is why we
read our second portion in Acts 5, where we have our Lord Jesus
set forth as exalted to give repentance and remission of sins
unto Israel. But firstly, a call to repentance. If we go back to Adam and Eve
and to the fall of man, it was a fall in hearkening to Satan,
in disobedience to God, in rebellion against God, and it was a sin,
a transgression of the law of God by Adam who is the federal
head of the human race. In his sin, all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. We all are born in sin and shaped
in iniquity. We have all gone our own way. We go forth from the womb speaking
lies. There is none good, no not one. The sentence that was given upon
man's disobedience was that in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die. He died spiritually, he died
literally in due time, he died eternally. And we have death,
suffering, the effect of the fall, especially seen in man's
hatred against God, departure from him, siding with Satan,
and walking after the imagination of his own evil heart. That is
the course that we take by nature, walking far from God, away from
God, walking on that downward way to hell and destruction. We have the grave before us,
And we have the judgment before us. And after the judgment, then
there is eternity, either in heaven or in hell. And it is in this life that the
Lord sets before us the way of life and the way of death in
the gospel. There is no hope of any change
beyond the grave. The change that must take place
is in this life. If we pictured a picture of someone
that was running toward a precipice, running toward a pit, and we
would know clearly if they did not change their course, if they
kept on the course that they were on, they would go down that
precipice and they would be destroyed. We wouldn't need any further,
really, illustration to see the certainty that if a change of
course was not done, then there was destruction. And that is
what is set before us in the Word of God. The course that
we are going, the course that man is upon, is a way that leads
to destruction. Our Lord spoke of it as two ways. One was a broad way, a wide way. It had a broad gate, it had a
wide way. And many went in that, because
straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto
life. and few there be that find it. The broad way is a way that is
leading to destruction. It's the way that most are going,
where we all are going by nature, except by the grace and mercy
of God and in the provision of that eternal covenant of God's
grace. In Adam, We are under the covenant
of works, and we are judged by our works. And those that walk
in the right way are blessed in it, and those that walk in
the wrong, they are cursed in it. And we are judged according
to our works. But man is not capable of doing
any works that are pleasing to God. He's not able to redeem
his soul. He cannot pay for past offences. He cannot promise future good
to bring. And yet, right through the Word
of God, there is set before us the vital need of turning, of
changing, of course. In Abraham, Abraham was given
promises that his seed, and this goes from the first promise in
Adam, that in him and in his seed shall all nations be blessed. Paul is very clear, the apostle,
that that seed was Christ, they would be blessed in Christ. In due time that promise was
given not only to Abraham but to Isaac, his son, and Isaac's
son Jacob. And that promise was realized
in the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But before
he came, the nation of Israel was settled and formed in Egypt
as a typical people, and they were formed under that covenant
of works that we are all under by nature. In the books of the
law, in Exodus, in Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, they set before
us the blessings and the curses. The blessings on those who obeyed,
the curses on those that disobeyed. It was also set before them that
those that obeyed Even if they obeyed for most of their lives
and then they disobeyed, then they would lose the blessings
that they had. Blessings could be gained and
they could be lost. Those that were walking in a
wrong way, that then turned to a right way, were blessed in
spite of the wrong that they had walked in. And those that
were walking in a right way, if they turned from that, then
they were cursed, and then they were judged. There's no certainty,
it depended on works. Well, as the nation of Israel
was formed in Egypt, and then when it was brought forth into
the wilderness and given the laws of God, especially the Ten
Commandments upon Mount Sinai, then we see very clearly how
that man or that nation did not keep the law of the Lord. It is amazing how quickly they
turned away. They'd seen many miracles, they'd
seen many signs and many wonders, and yet in spite of So many promises
of good and of blessing, they still turned away, they still
went after their own evil and wicked heart. There were some,
there were some that did walk in right ways, they were blessed. And those that were, their eyes
were not upon their works as for blessing, they remembered
the promises that God had given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
the promises of a Messiah, the promises of one that should suffer
in their stead, that should redeem them. From the beginning of the
world, right from Abel, who offered a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain, there has always been those that had faith in the coming
Messiah, and not in their own works and in their own doings. But in Israel, and in what we
have here, is so evidently set forth what man would be if his
only hope was the hope of a covenant of works. Right through the word
of God then, There are calls to repentance. There's calls
to turning to people after people, generation after generation,
to not continue to go in the way that we're going, turn away
from idols, turn to the true and living God, hearken to the
word of the Lord, not hearken to false prophets. And these
calls were given from prophet to prophet, generation to generation,
and they are continued and it featured prominently in the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ. John Baptist preached repentance,
turning again. So it is the Lord's commission
to his servants to go forth and preach. repentance and remission
of sins through our Lord Jesus Christ. The difference is that
here we have in the Old Testament, in what is set before us here,
a call to repentance in and under the covenant of works. In the
New Testament, we have a call to repentance and to turn from
that hope of life in works, and turn to the hope in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and that He, and He alone is able to give repentance. We look at this at our last point. But the point I want to make
here is this call to repentance, just simply putting it in the
way where God sees a people that are going in a wrong way and
through his word calls them to turn and go another way, the
right way. And that is a vital point. All that are saved, all that
will be in heaven, they have not continued in the way in which
they were born. Every one has been brought to
change, to turn. How it is brought, we'll cover
it soon. But the vital thing is that without
such a change, there is no hope and we shall perish, we shall
be destroyed. It is a vital thing that when
we hear a message, a message from God, that the way that we
are going is a wrong way and set before us a right way, that
we heed it, we hearken to it, it's central to the message of
the scriptures, it's central to Old and New Testament, the
doctrine of repentance attorneying a change, that which we once
were but are now are different people. So dear friends may we
hug and listen to the calls to repentance. Now I want to look
secondly at Israel's response. When Jeremiah and other prophets
came to them, and told them to turn, how did they respond? Now the Lord had given to Jeremiah
a illustration, a picture of his sovereignty. He'd taken him
down in this chapter to the potter's house and shown him that he could
sovereignly do with a nation as he would, whether to pluck
it up, whether to lift it up, how to use it, he was a sovereign. In verse seven, at what instance
I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to pluck
up and to pull down and to destroy, and if that nation against whom
I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil
that I thought to do unto them. Here is the covenant of works. This is the Lord promising upon
turning and repentance a reprieve and that he had this sovereign
right to do amongst the nations of the earth. And we see this,
we know what the Lord did with the case of the Ninevites. Jonah was sent to them. You might
say Jonah wasn't sent with a message of repentance. All he was sent
with was a message that in 40 days the city would be destroyed. But they interpreted it, and
rightly so, in the same way as in this chapter, that because
the Lord had given them 40 days, they said, who can tell? Who
can tell that the Lord will repent, that the Lord will change? He
won't destroy us. And so they repented. They humbled
themselves. They repented in dust and ashes. And the Lord saw. And the Lord turned away and
did not destroy them. We have that instance where there
was no seeming hope of the Lord turning away his anger, and yet
he did. And they would have known in
Jeremiah's day of that instance to a Gentile nation. But why is it then that they
are not listening We're told the most solemn reason why. One, they say there is no home. They think that their cause is
too bad, is too impossible, that it will never be brought about.
Maybe they're saying the Lord's already determined it. He's already
appointed it. Therefore we cannot change it.
A fatalistic spirit seeking to blame the Lord, say, he's only
just saying about changing, but he's going to do it anyway. No hope. And then they tell us
really what lies right at the root of it. They still want to
walk after their own devices. They still want to do after their
own imagination to their evil heart. They do not want to change. And our Lord said exactly the
same. He says that I am come a light
into the world, but men love darkness rather than light because
their deeds were evil. They would not come to the light. They did not want to change. They did not want to turn. They
were happy in the way that they wanted to go. That is why they
did not hearken to those calls for repentance. You may say,
did they really understand what was at stake? Did they really
understand the danger? The one that you try and stop
running into the fire. Do they really understand what
the fire is? They're running over the precipice. Do they really understand what
shall happen? Do those running to eternity
really understand what eternity is? What the judgment is? What
hell is? What damnation is? Do they really
understand what the wrath of God is? No man is so dead. He cannot, he cannot understand
it and his love of his own way and his sin is so strong that
he sees no incentive to change at all. And so this language
is a language that many will use and many will say today when
the need of repentance is set before them. When the vital necessity
of it, they will say no. There is no hope. We will walk
every one after our own devices and why? The way of the gospel is that
there is hope. This is an unbelieving a God
dishonouring word to say that there is no home. And yet, even
the people of God can be tempted with this, when they see and
feel their own wicked, evil heart. And we're not just talking now
at the beginning, when a person is turned from sin unto God. Repentance, really, It follows
all the way through our lives. We read of it in Isaiah, the
promise. Thou shalt hear word behind thee,
saying this is the way walk ye in it when ye turn to the right
hand and when ye turn to the left. We're always making mistakes. We're always turning to a wrong
way. But the word is to direct us
into the right way and into the right paths. And so where there
is the word and says that there is no hope, it's looking, it's
looking at our own strength. It's looking at sin and loving
it. It's looking at God's purposes
and supposing we know what he's going to do anyway, and that
is stopping us doing what the Lord is actually setting before
us. May we always have set before
us the vital need of turning, of a change. And that mark that
is at the beginning of the way, in a call by grace, and all the
way along the way, when we read in Hebrews 12, that the Lord
chastens every son whom he receiveth. Every one of his children shall
be chastened and corrected. Why are they? Because they are
going the wrong way. Why are they chastened? So that
they'll change and go the right way and turn again. This has
always been the way. We think of the way the Lord
took with Israel in Elijah's day. bring Israel after three
and a half years of famine up to Mount Carmel and to put it
on a test whether Baal was God or the true God of Israel was
God. And the God that answered by
fire upon the altar, he was God. Well, Baal wasn't capable of
igniting the sacrifice at all, but the flame of God came from
heaven. and consumed not only the sacrifice
but the stone altar and licked up the water and the dust round
about the trench. When the people saw him, they
said, the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. And really, that sacrifice, every
sacrifice, it pointed to the one sacrifice of our Lord and
Savior upon Calvary's tree. and the wrath of God falling
upon him. That flame from heaven, it didn't
fall upon all of the hundreds of the prophets of Baal. It didn't
fall upon Israel that had followed after them. It fell on the altar. The Lord says, I, if I be lifted
up above the earth, will draw all men unto me. Let thy hand,
says the psalmist in Psalm 80, be upon the man at thy right
hand, the son of man. that thou madest strong for thyself. The Lord Jesus Christ endured
the wrath of God that was due to his people. And so, when Israel
saw that fire from heaven, then they made willing themselves
to turn and to destroy the prophets of Baal. Before that, they were
beguiled by them, they walked with them. But after they saw
that evidence, sacrifices pointing to Christ, then they were made
willing to turn, destroy those evil teachers and walk in the
right way. And so, right through a life
from beginning to end, the people of God, we have calls to repent. calls to change, to turn. And there's many things that
are said, many differences in Zion. Those that speak of duty,
repentance, and duty faith, but the word of God is very clear
of a need of change and the proclamation of the need of change and showing
what will happen where there is not a change of course, where
one persists and goes on in that same way. Those here in Jeremiah's
day, they did go into captivity. They didn't change. Babylon came. Nebuchadnezzar came. The temple
was destroyed. The people were put into captivity.
They went into captivity for 70 years. It did come to pass. Jeremiah saw it. He saw what
came upon the people. But God is justified in this. He sat before them first. That
way of turning, of change. In these gospel days, we said
that the message is the same. It was with John the Baptist.
It was with our Lord. It was with the apostles. And the apostles preached to
those at Mars Hill that had the altars to an unknown God and
many other gods. He declared unto them the God
that they ignorantly worshipped. And he said before them that
that God was the God of creation. And in Jeremiah we read that
the Gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, let them
perish from underneath the heavens and the earth. And the apostle
said before those in Athens, that in him we live and move
and have our being. And he said before them that
in the time of the Old Testament, God suffered all nations just
to walk after their own ways. But now commandeth all men everywhere
to repent." What did they mean? They meant that men are to turn
from looking for salvation, looking for life, eternal life, in their
own works and look for it in the Lord Jesus Christ. They're
to turn from idols to the true and the living God. that they
are appointed to the only way of salvation. Our Lord is very
clear on this, that there is none other name given among men
whereby we must be saved. If you believe not that I am
he, you shall perish in your sins. And that is a vital message
of change, of turning. It is vital in the gospel that
it be set forth, There is no salvation. There cannot be any
salvation while we continue in any other way than that of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle says, let us run
the race set before us, looking unto Jesus. The whole message
of the gospel is pointing to Christ. The hymn writer says,
I'll point to thy redeeming blood and say, behold, the way to God. So that is the message, but then
we have what the Old Testament and the Covenant of Works did
not have, and that was the provision of the Gospel, the provision
that we read of, where the apostles said in Acts chapter 5, And we
started with this, or just a couple of verses from it, and verse
29 we'll read from in Acts 5. Peter and the other apostles
answered and said, You ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted. and with his right hand to be
a prince and a saviour for to give repentance to Israel and
forgiveness of sins." Now we are not to then turn that about
and bring it to the Old Testament and say, if we are to be forgiven,
then we have to exercise repentance. We, it is up to us to do it,
that we have the power to do it. That's a half gospel. It's relying on part works and
just looking to the Lord just to pay our debt. But what the
gospel sets forth is that when we were without strength in due
time, Christ died for the ungodly. The repentance is set forth,
the requirement for it, just the same. A change is needed. But whereas under the law and
under the covenant of works, no help is given, under the gospel
it is given. And how does that then change
us? When we hear the message and
when we see our own way and hear the word of God, and we feel
just like it may be like they had in Jeremiah's day and say
there is no hope. Remember what was set forth in
the end of the gospel according to Luke, Luke 24. He says, say from verse 45, then
opened he their understanding that they might understand the
Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus
it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third
day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached
in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. Ye are
witnesses of these things." What a difference! The need of change
and repentance is exactly the same, but in the gospel, it is
the Lord Jesus Christ that gives repentance, and where that repentance
is given, then it is the token of remission of sins. Where sin
is gone on and persisted in, then
there is not the evidence of repentance. John takes it up
in 1 John 1, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Or in other words, give us repentance
and cleanse us from that unrighteous and evil and wrong way. We are
not then to use the language that they used in our text and
say there is no hope. Because however hard we might
feel our heart to be, and really, it is the Lord's people that
know their need of change, that will feel their hard heart, that
will say with the Apostle Paul, that the good that I would, I
do not, the evil that I would not, that I do, a wretched man
that I am. Who shall deliver me from this
body of damn? You're told that it is God that
worketh in you to will and to do of his own good pleasure. Our Lord exhorts that. If we, being evil, know how to
give good gifts unto our children, how much more shall your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? The gospel
points us to ask of the Lord those things that we cannot do. What the law could not do in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemns sin in
the flesh. It gives to those who see their
sinnership, who see their need of changing, It gives them one
to go to, who will give them a new heart, who will bring about
that change. And really, we may say this,
that it is the Lord that begins that work. He which hath begun
a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. The work begun will show our
condition, show which way we're going, show that we must change,
make us feel our sinnership, that we have an evil heart that
doesn't want to change. And then the gospel points us
to go to the Lord Jesus in prayer and ask him to change us and
ask him to give us a will and ask him to give us repentance,
to give us his spirit and to work in us what we cannot do
for ourselves and tell him that we know But if this work is not
wrought in us, we will perish eternally. We will be banished
from him forever. There's a profession and setting
before the Lord that we really do desire to change. The apostle was very clear in
that. There was a good that he wanted to do. There was an evil
he did not want to do. but he needed that deliverance
and help and he needed that from the Lord. He saw that he would
accomplish that through the Lord and the Lord alone. We do not
get to heaven by our own resolutions. We do not get to heaven by our
own efforts. We do not get to heaven by our
own works. We get there by the gifts of
grace and the gifts of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen
to what the Apostle says when he writes to the Ephesians and
he says to them in the second chapter of his epistle to them,
you hath he quickened or made alive, they didn't quicken themselves,
who were dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein in time past ye
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience. Among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past, or life, or walk, in the lust of
their flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath. even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
ye are saved. Then later on, verse 8, For by
grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It
is the gift of God. is not an exercised faith of
our own, it is given by God, not of works, lest any man should
boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which he hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. The apostle clearly sets forth
those Ephesians that had a change, a change of direction. It began
with being given life. I pass by thee when thou hast
in thy blood, I bid thee live. The Lord saying, I give unto
them eternal life as you'll never perish. Where that life is, then
there'll be a looking unto the Lord. It'll be realizing our
danger. And then we have all the beautiful
provisions of the gospel to work in us. to perform for us, to
change our hearts, to make us willing, to soften our hard hearts. These are the provisions of the
gospel. It's not you soften your own
heart, you turn, you repent, you do these things, you must
do that. When you hear a gospel minister
and all the time he's saying, you must do this, you must do
that, you must do this. And all the time it's dependent
upon the creatures, dependent upon the sinner. Yes, unless
we walk in those ways, we shall perish. But the work is the Lord's. And the blessing of the gospel
is the provision in the Lord Jesus Christ. What the Lord cannot
do, that is what he will do. And that is what he'll provide
for us. everything from life, everything
that we need. And it's Him that makes us feel
our need and to go to Him and to supply us that need. Now I
do want to, just before we close, just think of this for those
of the people of God that are discouraged, that do feel their
wicked heart, that are low, that may look at their circumstances
look at their own heart, look at their lies, whatever it is,
if you are coming, if I am coming to this conclusion and saying
there is no hope, the gospel does not say that.
The word of God doesn't say that. You listen to the psalmist. Why
art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise him, who is the help of my countenance and my God. A good hope is a hope in Christ,
not a hope that tomorrow I'm going to be better, Tomorrow
I'm going to be different. Tomorrow I'm going to be a better
person. I'm going to do better tomorrow.
Our hope is not in self. The hymn writer says, no, help
in self I find, and yet have sought it well. The native treasure
of my mind is sin and death and hell. Through Christ for help
I fly, the friend of sinners lost. And that is the direction
and the gospel, the ministry that points us to there for the
remedy, to the wise position for the Lord to do this for us. May we come to his throne with
our hearts hard. May we come with our impossible
cases. May we come and say, Lord, There's
that in me, I love my sins. I don't want to depart from them,
but I know I must part from them. I cannot continue in this wrong
and this evil way. Turn me, give me a heart to hate
sin, to love Thee, to mourn over my sins, and to tell Him, be
honest to Him about the condition that you're in. And may we be
clear, We do need to return, we do need this repentance, we
need what the gospel provides for poor sinners. And every sinner
brought safely to heaven will bless the Lord for that provision
that he has bestowed upon them, that they have sought, sought
from him and seen their need. So may we not have this, this
solemn word, of these of Israel, when the way has been set forth
before them, of a way of peace, a way of turning aside the wrath
of God, and they say there is no hope. What an affront to God,
when he says there is hope, and for a sinner to say, no there's
not, there's no hope. May we think of this, why did
Christ come? Why did he die? Why did he suffer? And it is summed up in that,
in paying the debt, he is able to impart, he will impart to
sinners, impart repentance and forgiveness of sins. The Lord is exalted and glorified
in that. When Barnabas went to see the
effect of the preaching in Antioch, he saw the grace of God and was
glad. What did he see? He saw repentance. He saw a change, a change that
he knew was wrought by God, by the Spirit of God, not just was
wrought by man's endeavour. He saw God's word. May the Lord bless us with repentance,
bless us with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and bless us with
hope, hope in the Lord, hope thou in God. They said there
is no hope, but may we say there is hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Hymn, 239. Tune, St. Denio 915. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all now and evermore. Amen.