All right, let's open our Bibles
to the book of Jeremiah chapter 12. Jeremiah chapter 12. I'm going
to begin in verse 7 and try to go to the end of the
chapter this evening. Title of the message is The Lord
Will Return. the Lord will return I took that
title from verse 15 says there and it shall come to pass after
that I have plucked them out that's plucked Israel out of
that land he said I will return and have compassion on him I
will return the Lord will return now Jeremiah in this passage
In these three chapters, chapter 11, 12, and 13, he's setting
forth by way of prophecy. And of course, you understand
now, prophecy is not only prophesying or predicting the future, but
it's just preaching forth. The word prophecy means preaching
forth, setting forth, forth-telling as one translation puts it. the word of god so that anytime
they spoke the word of god to the nation or to an individual
whether it was for that day specifically or whether it was a promise of
the future it was still prophecy well this passage contains both
but in his prophecy in chapters eleven twelve and thirteen what
he's doing here he's setting forth the curses of the broken
covenant. The curses of the broken covenant. Now we've talked about that.
This is the old covenant. The law covenant. Sinai. Law
of Moses. And we know that there were conditional
and unconditional aspects of that covenant. But this promise
of prosperity and possession of the land that God gave them
was conditioned on their obedience and they failed. Brother Bill
read Ezekiel 36. How many times did you hear him
say in there, they had not glorified my name or sanctified my name
but they profaned my name among the heathen. Wherever they went
it said they profaned my name. That's what God said. That was
his charge. against Israel. They profaned my name among...
They didn't tell the truth on God. They didn't serve God. They didn't trust in God. All
of those things. And they broke the covenant.
And there were curses that were connected with the breaking of
that covenant. And in the first few verses of
this chapter, that's what he's going to deal with. The first
point here, beginning at verse 7, is the glory of the Lord departing. The glory of the Lord departing. That goes down to about verse
13. The glory of the Lord departing. And then from verse 14 to verse
17, and this is the graciousness of our God here. Because when
he's pronouncing the curses of the broken covenant, he does
so with a promise of hope. And boy, that's something that
we need, don't we? We who are such a sinful race
of people. We know by God's revelation what
we are. And sometimes when we see that,
you know, we often add this, and I believe rightly so, we
don't really see the depths of depravity. Over in chapter 13,
verse 23, there's a verse there that we quote quite often describing
the depravity of man, the total depravity of man. It says, can
the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then
may you also do good that are accustomed to do evil. That's
man right there. That's us by nature. That's the
best of us and the worst of us. So whenever we see these passages
of scripture that speak the reality of our sinfulness and the curses
of death and damnation that come upon sinners, our God is so gracious
and so merciful to give us a word of hope and of course that word
of hope is founded upon and conditioned and centered around the Lord
Jesus Christ the promise of his coming and that's what verses
14 through 17 here in chapter 12 we could say that this second
point there is the glory of the Lord returning the glory of the
Lord returning. So you have the glory departing
and the glory returning. Well, let's look at the glory
departing. Here's God's righteous judgment upon His covenant people. And it's a prophecy of Judah's
destruction. Listen to it, verse 7. God says,
I have forsaken mine house. The house means his family. Now,
we know that the covenant brought in that nation as the family
of God only in a temporal and ceremonial and civil way, not
in an eternal way. You see, God never forsakes his
eternal household, his eternal family. But here he says, I have
forsaken mine house. I have left mine heritage. Israel is often called God's
heritage. He says, I have given the dearly
beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies. And we'll talk
about that love here in just a moment. Verse eight, he says,
mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest. In other words,
it's like a wild animal that has turned against its owner.
In other words, this lion here, he's talking about, he's talking
about Israel, he's talking about Judah. Attacking actually attacking
God And you know, that's I thought about that quite a bit, you know
when I thought about myself in false religion Standing behind
pulpits speaking a false gospel, you know, that was an attack
on God. I Think about Saul of Tarsus Thinking he's doing the
service of God but going after God's people. That's an attack
on God And that's what Israel was doing here He says, it crieth,
yelleth out against me. And this is a religious people.
And he says, therefore have I hated it. Love turned to hate. That's what he's talking about.
Now think about this. Now he says, I've forsaken mine
house, household, his family, but The symbol of that, and when
I say symbol, I'm not talking about something that's not physical
or real necessarily, is when you think about God's house referring
to the temple, the temple in Jerusalem. Now think about that.
That also was called the house of God because it was in that
temple that the Shekinah glory was housed. above the mercy seat. God's presence. That's the Shekinah
glory they call it. And you know what that Shekinah
was. That's a way of referring to the greatest revelation or
manifestation of the glory of God to be found. And it was in
that temple in the Holy of Holies above the mercy seat. And of
course you know that's a type of Christ. God justifying the
ungodly by His grace through the blood and the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because it's in that, that great
grace transaction that every attribute of God is manifested
and honored and seen as working consistently together and revealed
to sinners. That's called the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ for us. But if you think about it
that way, God's house not only referring to his nation, this
Jewish nation, but to the temple itself, which the Shekinah dwelt
in, the glory, among the people, that was revealed, that glory
was going to depart. God's presence, the Shekinah,
was going to depart from that temple. And that refers to their
destruction by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army, because
you remember, if you read the history of it, Nebuchadnezzar
brought that army in three times. And he took a group of people
back to Babylon each time. On the third time, he brought
that temple down. And we don't know what happened
to the Ark of the Covenant. As you know, there's a lot of
speculation, a lot of myth, a lot of legend, a lot of talk. We
don't know what happened to it. As far as we know, it was destroyed.
Some even say that Jeremiah took it and took it to Egypt with
him. We don't know that. The scripture doesn't say. It's
gone. It's gone. The scripture says
nothing else about it. There are folks who believe it's
housed somewhere in Ethiopia today. They don't know that.
But the point is that according to the terms of this conditional
covenant, which covenant they broke, the glory has departed,
the presence of God. That presence of God, oh my,
so it meant acceptance with God through the blood of the Lamb.
It meant protection from God. The Ark of the Covenant was not
a weapon. It wasn't a radio receiver or anything like that. But it
was indicative of the protective hand of God to that nation. And
that glory has departed. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ...
Turn to Matthew chapter 23 with me. I want to show you this because
we'll connect all these things together. I want you to see this.
This is interesting. In Matthew chapter 23. When the
Lord came upon the scene in Jerusalem, He himself foretold the same
thing that Jeremiah was talking about in the destruction of Jerusalem. Now, you know, 70 years after
their captivity, after Jeremiah, they were allowed to return,
they rebuilt the temple, but they still didn't have the Ark
of the Covenant. That glory was still gone. Now, I know that
raises a lot of questions in people's minds, you know, about
how they worshiped and all that. It was not. It was not like it
used to be. I can tell you that. It was a
very, very poor substitute. Even that temple was. But Christ,
when He came on the scene, He predicted the destruction of
Jerusalem and that temple even further to a point that it would
never return again. And look at verse 34 of Matthew
23. Listen to this. He said, wherefore, behold, I
send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes. Some of them
you shall kill and crucify. Some of them shall you scourge
in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city. Who's
he talking about? He's talking about the religious,
the religious majority, the religious leaders. He said that upon you
may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth. from the
blood of righteous Abel into the blood of Zacharias, the son
of Barakias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar." Now,
I won't go into all that, what that means, who that is. They're
differing views. But apparently, what he's talking
about, here's a child of God that was killed. Here's a preacher
of the gospel, a priest of God, no less. And he says in verse
36, he says, Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come
upon this generation. And then he says, O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them
which are sent unto thee. Prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah.
How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as
a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and you would
not. Now I want you to notice that verse. This verse is really
butchered by modern day religion. They use this verse to say, well,
see there, Christ wanted to save them, but they wouldn't let him.
That's not what this teaches. Notice he didn't say, now look
at it. He didn't say, how often would I have gathered you together
and you would not. That's not what it says, does
it? It says, how often I would have gathered thy children together
even as a hen gathered her chickens under her wings and you would
not. He's talking about the religious leaders who tried to hinder the
people from coming to Christ. It's an indictment against them.
That's what he's talking about. Did his children come to him?
You bet they did and the Pharisees and the Sadducees and none of
them could stop it. They couldn't stop the children
of God from coming to the Savior. That's the work of God. That's
the work of a sovereign God. There's no preacher, there's
no religious person who can stop Christ from going out and getting
one of his sheep and bringing that sheep into the fold. But
it's showing here the wickedness of the religious majority. But
look at verse 38. After he says that, he says,
but your house is left unto you desolate. That's the temple. And that's what Jeremiah is talking
about. And then he says, for I say unto you, shall not see
me henceforth till you shall say, blessed is he that cometh
in the name of the Lord. God's got a people. So even Christ
predicted this. And well, you say, is this the
same time that Jeremiah's talking about? Well, yes and no. There is a physical temporal
fulfillment of it, but then there's a spiritual fulfillment of it.
And you think about this. Now, look back at Jeremiah 12.
Now, I want you to think about this. He says, I've forsaken
mine house. That's the old covenant. That's
the curse of a broken covenant. Now what about the new covenant?
Does he ever say he'll forsake his house then, the new covenant? God's elect out of every tribe,
kindred, tongue, and nation whose names were written in the Lamb's
book of life. That Lamb that was slain from
the foundation of the world. Is he ever going to forsake then?
Oh, he says, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you.
He says, that which God hath begun He'll perfect. He's able
to save to the uttermost them that come unto the Father by
Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. You
see, the basis of that preservation is not our faithfulness, but
His intercession. And what does He plead as the
ground of His intercessory work? His blood. His blood. Listen, here's a people. chosen
of God, justified in Christ, redeemed by the blood, called
by the Holy Spirit, and the Bible says, God says, nobody can lay
any sin to their charge. Now, is that what that means?
No one can lay any sin to their charge. Now, how are they going
to lose it? How are they going to be forsaken of God if God
cannot lay any sin to their charge? And why is it he cannot lay any
sin to their charge? Because he put it on Christ.
He was made sin. Listen, if God can lay sin to
my charge or to the charge of any of his elect people, then
his making Christ to be sin was an injustice. It cannot happen. He says, I've left mine heritage,
God's heritage. Well, we know that Israel was
God's heritage in a temporal, ceremonial, temporary way. But what about his church? That's
his heritage, redeemed with his own blood. He said, I've given
the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
What about the new covenant? He says, no weapon that's formed
against you will defeat you. He said that in Isaiah. And then
his love turned to hate. He said, I've left my heritage.
Deuteronomy 32 and verse 9, the Lord's portion is his people.
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance, his heritage. And given the dearly
beloved over to his enemies. This shows, now I'll tell you
what this shows. that this love that God had for the nation under
the old covenant was not and is not the same eternal, unconditional,
redemptive love that He has for His people, His spiritual nation,
His elect under the everlasting covenant of grace. Turn over
to Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31. Look at verse 1. Now here he's talking about the
restoration of Israel, but look at verse 1. He says, At that
time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of
Israel, and they shall be my people? And thus saith the Lord,
the people which were left of the sword found grace in the
wilderness, even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. That's the love of the everlasting
covenant of grace. That's the eternal, effectual
love of God to his people. This love that he speaks of here
in Jeremiah 12. The love that he spoke of in
Deuteronomy 7 when he talks about his joining himself to the nation
Israel, that's exactly what it was. It was his joining himself
to that nation under that covenant for a time. It was always his
purpose and his will to disjoin himself from that nation. How
do you know that? Well, turn to Galatians chapter
3. Galatians chapter 3. Now, think about this. Why was
the law given? in the first place. Why did God
make a covenant with this nation on Mount Sinai to begin with? Well, look at Galatians 3 and
look at verse 18. He talks about the inheritance
here. For if the inheritance be of the law, now was the inheritance,
what is the inheritance that he's talking about? He's talking
about salvation. He's talking about the blessings
of salvation. What does the Bible say about
those blessings? We're blessed with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. All conditioned on Him. Now that
inheritance be of the law. Was it ever of the law? No. He said, if that inheritance
be a law, it's no more of promise. If the inheritance, if salvation
and if blessings was of the law, the law of Moses and their works
under the law, then it wasn't by promise. It's something you
earn. It's something you deserve. But
he said, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. It was a promise
of grace, wasn't it? Abraham just like Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord now here comes the question Well,
if that's the case then why was the law given? Wherefore look
at it verse 19 wherefore then serveth the law? Okay, he says
it was added because of transgressions That's why it was given And it
was in effect till the seed should come to whom the promise was
made. Who's that? That's Christ. When was that
promise made to Him? Before the foundation of the
world. Why was the law given? That sin might have bound, Romans
5 and verse 20, to show them their sin and the impossibility
of that inheritance being earned by their works. It was never
given for salvation. It was never intended that way.
They broke it. So would we. Man's a sinner. That's why we need grace. That's
why we need Christ. And so till the seed should come
to whom the promise was made and it was ordained by angels
in the hand of the media. You see that? Why was the law
given? The love of God to his chosen
people in Christ is an eternal, unchangeable, powerful, effectual,
covenant love. And I want to tell you something.
We'd better be glad it is. Better be glad in it. It ensures
our eternal salvation. It never changes to hate. He
said, I am the Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. You see, under the law, he says,
I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. No one can pluck them out
of my hand, Christ said, my father's hand. Look at verse nine back
here in Jeremiah 12. Let's just go through. We'll
make a comparison between the old and the new. Listen to this,
verse nine. He says, my heritage is unto
me as a speckled bird. That bird there, I believe, is
speaking of a bird of prey. And so he's talking about like
a vulture. They feed upon the dead. And
that's what man by nature is. in his religion, in his philosophies,
in his way of life, he feeds upon the dead, he brings forth
fruit unto death. He said the birds round about
are against her, come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field,
come to devour. That's the foreign nations that God uses to punish
Israel. They all hate him. Now, under
the old covenant, that broken covenant, he says my heritage
is like a vulture, a bird of prey, a bird of death. What about
under the new covenant? What are they? They're his sheep.
That's right. He said the good shepherd giveth
his life for the sheep. They're his sheep which he redeems
by his precious blood. They're his sheep which he finds
and picks up and brings into the fold that none can pluck
them out of his father's hands that's the new covenant verse
10 look at this he says many pastors have destroyed my vineyard
they have trodden my portion underfoot they have made my pleasant
portion a desolate wilderness what's he talking about there
he's talking about all those false preachers and prophets
that cried peace peace to Israel that's the old when there was
no peace that's the old covenant but what about the new covenant
Is it going to be that same way under the New Covenant? No. He
says under the New Covenant, back here, let me just show you
in Jeremiah 3 and verse 15. Here's what he says about the
New Covenant. He says, I will give you pastors according to
my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Over in Jeremiah 23, he says, I'm going to give you shepherds.
That's talking about the under shepherds of Christ. His pastors,
his preachers, his teachers. And he said, they're going to
feed you with green pastures. That's the word of God. That's
what, that's the new covenant. Jeremiah 12, look at verse 11.
In other words, this, and he says here that those pastors,
they trodden underfoot. They made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness. Under the new covenant, it's
not going to be a desolate wilderness. It's going to be a fruitful field,
a flourishing tree, a palm tree. Psalm 1 speaks of that look at
verse 11. He says they have made it desolate and being desolate
it mourneth unto me The whole land is made desolate because
no man layeth it to heart Now is that the way it's going to
be under the new covenant? No, I under the new covenant again
it's not going to be a dazzle it's going to be flourishing
they're not going to mourn they're going to have joy joy in christ
that doesn't mean everything's going to be happy happy happy
down here on earth but in christ we have joy that's what psalm
126 was about laughter and joy peace of mind peace of conscience
through christ the lamb of god And he says, because no man layeth
it to heart. Well, what about the new covenant?
He says, I'm going to write it on their heart. I'm going to
give them a new heart. Their heart's going to be circumcised. The flesh is going to be, the
filth of the flesh will be cut away, which means they'll be
brought to repentance of dead works. They'll be brought to
faith in Christ. That's the new covenant. You
see the difference? Look at verse 12. He says, the spoilers are
come upon all high places through the wilderness. For the sword
of the Lord, that's his wrath, shall devour from the one end
of the land even to the other end of the land. No flesh shall
have peace. That's the old covenant. There's
the curse of the broken covenant. What about the new covenant?
Conditioned on Christ. He's the prince of peace. He
established peace by the blood of His cross. He was made sin,
Christ who knew no sin, for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Having been justified, we have
peace with God through faith in Him. And that peace will never
be broken. That's the peace of God which
passes understanding. It's a peace which knows no bounds
under the New Covenant, you see. And then look at verse 13. They
have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns. Now this goes back to
the law of sowing and reaping. You're going to reap what you
sow. If you sow false doctrine, you'll reap damnation. If you
sow salvation by works, you'll reap death. If you sow grace
in Christ, you'll reap eternal life. That's not earning it. He said, they have sown wheat,
but shall reap thorns. They have put themselves to pain,
but shall not profit. In other words, they were serious
about this. They pained to earn their way
into God's favor. They worked hard, you know, say,
working their fingers to the bone, so to speak, trying to
establish a righteousness of their own, but to no profit,
you see. and they shall be ashamed of
your revenues because of the fierce anger of the Lord." In
other words, those profits, those revenues that come in, they think
so highly of them now, but they're going to be ashamed of them.
Just like those false preachers in Matthew 7. Lord, haven't we
preached in your name? Haven't we done many wonderful
works? They're proud of those revenues now, but when it's all
exposed for what it really is in the light of Christ, they'll
be ashamed. But what about under the new
covenant? Well, in Christ, His people bring forth fruit unto
God. That's the work of God. Christ
said, I'm the vine, you're the branches. His true branches bear
fruit. You see, that's the difference
between the curses of the broken covenant, the blessings of that
covenant which is not broken because Christ fulfilled all
conditions. Christ met all requirements.
You see the difference? There's the surety, all right?
Well, here beginning at verse 14, now that's the glory departed
now, the glory of the Lord's departed. But here in verse 14,
he speaks of the return of that glory, the promise of restoration. And I believe he's speaking of
the gospel age here. And I'll tell you, this is an
extremely important section of God's word. which deals not only
with the judgment on the surrounding nations. He's going to talk about
the nations that come against Israel, which have participated
in and benefited from that captivity, that Babylonian invasion of Judah. But it also speaks of the hope
of even the incorporation of the Gentiles into the heritage
of God, the family of God. You see, God has a people. out
of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. And that's what Jeremiah
is talking about. It's a wonderful passage because
it shows clearly that God has a people out of every nation. Hope is given to Judah here. But listen, hope is also given
to wicked nations. How? Well, God's purpose in all
of this forsaking of Judah and Jerusalem is for the purpose
of bringing salvation to much people. And you think about that. What a type. Now that's a type
of how God saves sinners. Think back on Joseph. It seemed
like God forsook Joseph. Had him, his brothers got rid
of him, he's down in Egypt, got put in jail and all that. What
was the purpose of all that? Joseph said it, to save much
people alive. Think about our Lord. He said,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now, he wasn't asking
a question there to get some information that he didn't have.
In fact, the Bible itself tells us that. He told his disciples.
He said, this was the very purpose that I came into the world. To
seek and to save that which was lost. He was making a point for
us. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken? Why did the Father forsake the
Son? I'll tell you why. Because of
our sins charged to Him. Because the wrath of God must
come down upon the sin-bearing substitute. The curse of a broken
law, remember that Ark of the Covenant, what did it contain?
The broken tablets. The curse of the broken law had
to come down upon the Lamb. That's right. And out of that, He saves much
people alive. That's what's being taught. But
listen, look at verse 14, he says, thus saith the Lord against
all mine evil neighbors, that's the nations that were gonna come
against Israel, that touch the inheritance which I have caused
my people Israel to inherit, that land. Behold, I will pluck
them out of their land and pluck them out of the house of Judah
from among them. God's gonna pluck them out. Who's
he talking about? Jew and Gentile here. And he
says in verse 15, and it shall come to pass. And you think about
that, that's a tremendous statement of restoration. And what he's
saying here too, let me get this in, Judah is going to be preserved
out of all this. Judah is going to be preserved.
Now that country was utterly desolate, it was destroyed, the
temple was destroyed, the glory had departed, they were taken
into captivity. And out of God's sovereign providence,
that nation, Judah, was restored. Now why? Genesis 49, 10. The
scepter will not depart from Judah till Shiloh come. You understand
it. God's the one who kept them together.
They didn't keep themselves together. You see, their preservation was
not owing to their goodness or anything, all right? But God's
sovereignty. So there it is. Now, God's judgment
will fall upon the surrounding nations for their sin and idolatry,
but he'll preserve Judah all for the purpose, one purpose,
and that is to send Messiah into this world, to send Christ into
the world to save his elect people, Jew and Gentile. He's gonna pluck
them out. I like that word pluck. When you pluck something out,
it seems like there's a resistance when you pull it out, isn't that
right? In other words, it doesn't just jump out toward, you know,
when I go out to pull weeds, they don't jump out at me. I
have to pluck them out. But look here at verse 15. He
says, and it shall come to pass after that I plucked them out,
I will return. and have compassion on them and
will bring them again every man to his heritage and every man
to his land. Now there's that restoration.
Not only for Judah but for Gentiles as well. I will return. What's
he talking about? He's talking about the coming
of Christ into the world. You know when the glory of the
Lord returned to that land? Unto us a child is born. Unto
us a son is given. He shall be called Jesus, for
He shall save His people from their sins. Emmanuel, God with
us. When the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, that's when
the glory of the Lord returned, even to that land. Jesus Christ,
the glory of God Himself, the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ, was born. And as God-men walked this earth,
That's when that glory, he said, I will return. He did. Christ
came. That's the glory of God, the
first advent of Christ. And when Judah was destroyed
here by Nebuchadnezzar, just shortly after Jeremiah's prophecy,
the glory of the Lord The ark of the covenant, the mercy seat
departed. And you know something? That
never returned and it's never returned today. Now there's some
people who take this passage and they say, well, it's going
to return. I don't see that here. I don't
see that here at all. And especially in the salvation
of the Jews and the Gentiles, God's people out of every tribe,
kindred, tongue, and nation. You know, even when Judah returned
after the 70 years of captivity, they were still under foreign
rule. That never changed. They were still slaves, so to
speak, and they remained so up until the time of Christ. And
then when the land was destroyed in A.D. 70, it was destroyed
by their conquerors. That was God's instrument of
judgment against them. The Ark of the Covenant was still
gone. And even today, it's a desolate land. And it's trouble, trouble,
trouble. There's no peace there. I mean,
they're shooting off bombs every day, just about. Back and forth. All of that. This speaks of God's
elect people, Jew and Gentile, being brought by Christ, by His
power, under His headship. The glory of the Lord. God revealing
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ within our hearts.
And it's speaking of His spiritual heritage, salvation by grace.
Look at verse 16. He says, "...and it shall come
to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of My people,
to swear by My name, the Lord liveth..." That's His name, the
Lord liveth. Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
The ways of My people. What is the way of God's people?
It's Christ. Salvation by grace. Forgiveness
by His blood. Justification by His righteousness
imputed. Life from Christ by the Spirit,
the Lord liveth. We don't worship an idol, a dead
God. We worship a living Savior. We serve our risen Savior. He's
in the world today. The Lord liveth. And it says,
and they're going to swear by His name. That swear there is
indicative of all worship, all service, all faith, our hope,
Our solidity, our foundation, our assurance is in the Lord
liveth. That's Christ, the risen Savior. And it says, as they taught my
people to swear by Baal. In other words, they're going
to teach people, they're going to point sinners to Christ and
not to Baal. And he says, then shall they
be built in the midst of my people, built up as a spiritual house,
1 Peter chapter 2. the church of the living God
and he says in verse 17 but if they will not obey I will utterly
pluck them up and destroy that nation saith the Lord now turn
to Jeremiah chapter 31 and we'll close with this now you notice
there it says if if if they'll learn the ways of my people swear
by my name the Lord living And if they won't, he said, I will
pluck them up. What's he saying there? Well,
he's simply saying what the gospel mandate is. He that believeth
on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. He that believeth not
shall be damned. That's simply it. If we have Christ, we have life
eternal. If we have Christ, we're justified
before God. If we have Christ, we're forgiven
of all our sins and no sin can be laid to our charge. If we
don't, what's our lot in life? Eternal damnation. But now you
know what people do with these ifs. Some say, well, this means
the Lord's compassion is conditional. He said, I'll return and have
compassion on. Well that means they say the Lord's compassion
is conditional on if they will really learn the ways of my people.
But now the Bible teaches us that man on his own, man by nature,
will not hear and will not learn. And Israel did not hear. Israel
did not learn. These people who are being cast
out, his heritage, they didn't learn. They didn't hear. They refused. So is this promise
that he's speaking of in these verses, is it made sure by a
better class of people that's going to come up in the future?
You know, we're the new and improved man, aren't we? You know, back
then, you know, they were just barbarians and, you know, they
didn't have what we have. We're just the new and improved
version of mankind, aren't we? We'll hear and we'll look. Is
that what he's saying? Well, Judah returned to the land
seven years after. Did they hear and learn then?
The answer is no. They did for a little while,
but it didn't last. And think about Judah in the time of Christ.
Were they hearing and learning the ways of God then? Well, absolutely
not. If this were the case, if that's
what this verse is teaching, let me tell you, then God's love
and salvation would be based on the fact that whoever he's
talking about is better than these current Jews here. And
if that's the case, I'd like to see some of those individuals.
This if refers to the evidences of God's power and grace in bringing
his people, Jew and Gentile, to hear and learn his ways by
his power, his sovereign power. This is supported by the scriptural
descriptions of the new covenant. What does he say about the new
covenant? Look at it in verse 31 of Jeremiah 31. We've read
this verse so much in studying Jeremiah, you ought to be able
to quote it. But it makes the point. He says in verse, Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the
land of Egypt, which my covenant they break. The broken covenant,
see? Although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord, I
joined myself to them. Remember, we've seen, I don't
know if you remember this or not, but there are a couple of
times in Jeremiah where God says, I wrote them a bill of divorce,
but I divorced them. They broke the covenant. They
adulterated themselves. They abandoned God. And then
it says in verse 33, But this shall be the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel after those days said, I will
put my law in their inward parts. That's in the inner man. That's
the regenerated person. "...and write it in their hearts,
and will be their God, and they shall be my people, and they
shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from
the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. And
I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin
no more." God will never charge them with their sin. That's the
new covenant. Now he that believeth in the
Son shall have life, that's true. The ways of my people, he said,
that's the way of Christ, it's the way of grace, it's the way
of truth. His people, who are his people? They're the people
of God, they're the redeemed, they're the elect of God, they're
the redeemed of the Lord. They're taught to swear by His
name, the Lord liveth. They're brought to faith in Christ
and repentance of dead works. And they're built up a spiritual
house that nobody can ever, ever destroy because it's built upon
the foundation of Christ. And all who are incensed against
Him shall be ashamed. There's no hope for any sinner
anywhere without Christ. See, there's a future hope. Jeremiah's
pointing them to it. But it's not in that law of covenant.
It's in Christ who kept the everlasting covenant of grace for his people.
All right. 527. Thanks to God. Hymn number 527.