All right, let's look at Jeremiah
chapter 12. And I entitled the message, as
I said, just the opening line of verse 1. Righteous art thou,
O Lord. Righteous art thou, O Lord. And
this is Jeremiah the prophet. This is the continuation of the
section of his prophecy where he's talking about the covenant. the broken covenant, the covenant
of Sinai, the law of Moses, which the people of Israel had broken.
That part of the covenant, which sometimes scholars call the Palestinian
covenant, had to do with the land and their prosperity and
continuation in the land, which covenant they broke. And he's
still prophesying to them as a prophet of doom, You know,
nobody likes to be a prophet of doom, but we have to tell
the truth. But there's also hope in his
message. That hope comes at the end of
this chapter. There are other things throughout
the chapter that we'll see the hope in, but it really comes
at the end of this chapter when he talks about the restoration
that's to come in the future. I don't know that we'll get to
that tonight, but we'll get as far as time will allow. But what
he's doing, as we've said before, Jeremiah is preaching to his
nation. And his nation is, as we say
in our modern day vernacular, going down the tubes. The wrath
of God is a sure thing now. It will not be turned back. In
fact, several times the Lord tells Jeremiah not even to pray
for them, not even to intercede for them, because the time of
mercy is over. He said that over in chapter
11 and verse 14 remember he says therefore pray not thou for the
people Neither lift up or cry or pray cry a cry or prayer for
them for I will not hear them In the time that they cried to
me for their trouble There's a space of time. I know in the
Bible. I believe teaches this there
is a space of time in which God bring uh... give sinners opportunity
to repent now we know that man by nature will not repent we
know that but yet there seems to be a space of time i don't
know what that time is for each for individuals i know that if
a person dies in unbelief i know that time's over but uh... wrath of god is coming through
and so what jeremiah's message is to the people It's kind of
like today. I mean, you know, we watch our
nation and it really, it depresses you, doesn't it? The things that
are going on. And not only in the open immorality
and perverseness of people, but also in the false religion. That
depresses me. I know it depresses you too.
Much religion, but not much truth. and uh... you know to meet together
like this and study the word what you know you know that's
a rare thing you know people meet together and they have meetings
and they have uh... uh... parties and they have entertainment
and all that but to study the word of god that's what the church
is to do we're to sing our hymns you know somebody asked me well
why don't you sing more hymns on wednesday well we sing our
hymns but we're here to feed upon the word of god to preach
christ And even the singing of hymns is not to be entertainment,
it's worship. That's what the singing of a
hymn is, it's worship. But we look at our nation and
we see our nation going down the tubes. But our message to
people as we preach the gospel, just like Jeremiah's, is this.
And that's this, you don't have to go down the tubes with it.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. That's
the message of the gospel. But here's the thing, Jeremiah,
like us, and like Job of old, he looks around and he surveys
the situation and he sees providence, you know, everyday happenings.
Here's, as I think it's in the book of Isaiah, where it talks
about a righteous man who perishes and a wicked man who lives long. And we ask these questions, how
can this be? Things seem to be out of kilter.
Things seem to be chaotic, but they're not. The Bible tells
us, and I know this is tough for people to understand. It's
so tough that people by nature will reject it. Most people who
claim to be Christians reject much of what's in this chapter
12 tonight. And that is this, that God is
in control. He's a sovereign God. He's never
let this world out of His control. And yet, people ask, well, if
God's in control, how come there's so much injustice in the world?
Well, there's injustice in the world because of sin. Now, God's
not the author of sin, but I want to tell you something. God's
in control of it all. And if you don't believe that,
don't ever quote Romans 8, 28 again. All things work together
for good to them that love God, who are the called according
to his purpose. Why do all things work together for good for the
people of God? I'll tell you why. Because God's
the one who's working them together. I'm not working them together.
You aren't either. We don't have control over anything,
really. I mean, we think we do at times, but we really don't.
But why is there so much injustice in the world? And that brings
forth Jeremiah's question. That's the first four verses
of this chapter. Here's Jeremiah's question. It
was Job's question. It has been my question in times. It'll probably be my question
again. And hopefully, by the grace of God, and by the power
of God, and the wisdom of God, I'll get my answer from the scripture,
just like Job did, and just like Jeremiah did here. And here's what he says, he starts
out, before he asks the question, he gives a testimony to the justice
of a sovereign God. Look at verse 1. Righteous art
thou, O Lord. He says, when I plead with thee.
Now the pleading here has to do with contending with God or
complaining to God. Just like Job, you know, we studied
the book of Job. And that was a continual theme
through that book, wasn't it? Job had a complaint. And so what
Jeremiah is saying is now, now, before I start, I know God thou
art righteous. You're just God is a just God.
God never does anything wrong. God never does anything. It's
unfair or unjust. And Jeremiah is saying righteous
art thou O Lord. When I plead with you, when I
ask you these questions, I know this, that I don't understand
it all, I can't figure it all out, but I know this, you're
a just God. Now that's a given right there.
God is just. And so he says, yet let me talk
with thee of thy judgments. Let me reason with God. of his judgments. Let me ask
you, let me ask you about your judgments in this area. Now here's
the question, look at it. Wherefore or why doth the way
of the wicked prosper? Jeremiah sees the wicked prospering. We see the wicked prospering,
don't we? And he says in the next part
of it, wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? Why are they happy that deal
evilly? And then he says, he says, it's almost like he's saying,
well, I'm your servant. Now, Jeremiah is suffering. He's
the, you know, he's the weeping prophet. They call him. He's
in sorrow. He gets depressed. He, uh, several
times he says, I'm just going to quit. Nobody's listening to
me. He couldn't quit because he said the word of God burned
within him like a fire. And now his own, you remember
we read this back in chapter 11, his own hometown people,
his own priestly brethren. You know, Jeremiah was of a priestly
family. He's a priest and a prophet. And his own priestly brethren,
according to the flesh, have basically put a contract out
on him and said this. Look over in verse 21 of chapter
11, the last part of it. Well, he says in verse 21, therefore,
thus saith the Lord of the men of Anathoth. Now that's Jeremiah's
hometown. a little bit north of Jerusalem.
And he said, prophesy not in the name of the Lord that thou
die not by our hand. If you speak these things in
the name of the Lord again, we're going to kill you. That's what
they said. That's why, remember, I entitled
the message on this, why natural man hates the gospel. It exposes
him for what he is. And that's what we need. Sinners
who cannot earn or even deserve salvation if God were to give
us what we deserve and what we've earned What would it be? eternal
damnation And that's all of us the best of us and the worst
of us it exposes their false refuges and You have a refuge. You see, they didn't want to
hear what Jeremiah had to say. Don't speak in the name of the
Lord. You're not telling us what we want to hear. Speak like those
other prophets who say, peace, peace, when there is no peace.
That's why people by nature won't sit under the truth and they
go find them a preacher who will tell them what they want to hear. But they said, if you speak in
that name, We're going to kill you. And so Jeremiah is basically
saying here, I'm your servant, Lord. I'm suffering greatly,
but they prosper. And that just doesn't seem right
to me. Now, Jeremiah, as I said, he
makes certain to attest that God is just. I know God is just. I know God is righteous. I know
God is fair. I know God is true in all His
ways. God Himself, through the wise
man in Proverbs, makes this statement, Proverbs 17, 15. Listen to this. He says, He that justifieth the
wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are
abomination to the Lord. God hates that. And yet when we look at things,
we may see it to be, you know, kind of out of kilter. But here's the fact, God always
judges according to truth. Did you hear that? Romans chapter
2, that's what it's saying. God always judges according to
truth. Now we don't always judge according
to truth, but God does. God knows the end from the beginning. We know the beginning from the
end. We know how things start out, but we don't know how they're
going to end up. God knows the end from the beginning. He's
the sovereign God. He's the determiner. All things
after the determinate counsel of His own will. The God who
worketh all things. after the determinant counsel
of his own will and never does anything wrong and always judges
according to truth. Let me tell you something. Let
me tell you how important that is to us. That God always judges
according to truth. If it were not so, if God did
not always judge according to truth, there would be absolutely
no salvation for sinners like us. No salvation. And what do I mean by that? Well,
let me tell you something. God's purpose to glorify Himself
in the salvation of sinners out of His sovereign love and mercy
is based upon His strict justice. Isn't it? That's why there's
an everlasting covenant of grace made before the world began in
which God chose a people and gave them to His Son. and placed
all the conditions and requirements of salvation upon his son. Why? Because God always judges
according to truth. And when Christ came into this
world made of a woman, made under the law, To do what? To satisfy justice by redeeming
them that were under the law, by paying the price of God's
justice in our place. Having our sins imputed or charged,
accounted to Him, so that when God punished His Son, the God-man,
for our sins, sins that Christ had no part in committing, And
sins that did not, they were not imparted, infused, or He
was not contaminated by them, and yet based upon those sins
imputed, charged to Him, God was righteous when He brought
His judgment down upon Christ. He judged according to truth.
Christ was made guilty for our sins. Christ was made a curse
for us, and He died. What was happening there? God
was judging according to truth. God was not pretending. God was
not faking it. No, sir. He was judging according
to truth. And by the same token, when God
justifies the ungodly, based upon Christ's righteousness imputed,
charged, accounted to us and takes us into his fellowship
and blesses us with all spiritual blessings. He's judging according
to truth. He's not faking it. He's not
pretending. You see, imputed sin to Christ
was not pretended sin and imputed righteousness to us is not pretended
righteousness. It's real. God judging according
to truth. So this fact is so. Now, when
it comes to issues of providence, that's God's government of things,
what's happening today and what will happen tomorrow and all
of that, we may not see it and we may not be able to figure
it out just like Jeremiah. We see things and they seem out
of kilter or whatever, but God is still judging according to
truth. Righteous art thou, O Lord. That's so. And I'll tell you
something. That's sometimes hard for us
to take, isn't it? That's why the majority of people
deny it. Look at verse 2. Now right here is a verse that
most religious people, even those who call themselves Christian,
will not believe. And probably wish that it was
taken out of the Bible, just like Romans chapter 9. But it's
here, and it's the revealed word of God. Here's what Jeremiah
said. Now, remember what he said. Why do the way of the wicked
prosper? Why are they happy that deal treacherously? He says,
verse 2, Thou hast planted them. God planted them. Yea, they've
taken root. They grow, yea, they bring forth
fruit. Thou art near in their mouth
and far from their range. Here's what he's talking about.
They prosper. God put them where they are. Now God is not the
author of sin in any way, shape, form or fashion. Yet, He planted
them. Look over in, let me see if I
can find this verse. Proverbs chapter 16. Look at Proverbs chapter 16. Somebody says, well, preacher,
you're preaching above my head tonight, we'll join the club. We'll get badges and wear them. I mean, I'm telling you now,
what jokes say, these are things that are too high for me. Yet,
why do we preach it? Because they're in the Bible.
Because God said it. But look at Proverbs chapter
16 and verse 4. He says, the Lord hath made all
things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
And what do you think about that? Isn't that amazing? God himself
placed these wicked people in their place, just like Pharaoh. You remember he said, Pharaoh,
for this purpose did I put you there and raise you up? God's
name, now look back here at Jeremiah 12. He said, remember he said
they bring forth fruit, but now what kind of fruit did they bring
forth? It's fruit unto death. Paul spoke of that in Romans
chapter 7. And here's the fruit unto death.
Here's what it is. They say thou art near in their mouth. They
say God. They say Jesus. They say praise
the Lord, but far from their reins. That's their heart. from
their conscience. Remember Christ spoke of that
as he quoted from Isaiah. They draw nigh unto me with their
lips, but their heart is far from me. And then look at verse
3. He says, But thou, O Lord, knowest
me. Now Jeremiah is laying his heart
open to God here. God knows his people. Over in
2 Timothy chapter 1, I believe it is. There's a verse
of scripture there. Let me just read it to you. Paul
here is talking to Timothy about people who had apostatized from
the gospel. They fell away and they were
denying the truth. And he says in verse 19 of 2
Timothy chapter 2, verse 19, he says, Nevertheless the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are His. And that knowing there is not
just a recognition. It's an intimate knowledge of
God as a father to his children. As a redeemer to his redeemed
ones. As a shepherd to his sheep. It's
a saving knowledge. It's a knowledge of love. redemptive
love and he says the Lord knoweth them that are his and let everyone
that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity so Jeremiah
back here in verse 3 he says but thou O Lord knowest me he
says in verse 3 thou hast seen me you've seen me how does the
Lord see his people he sees us in Christ he knows what's going on I've
heard preachers say well the Lord doesn't see our sins Well,
if he didn't see our sins, why did David pray unto him? He said,
against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in
thy sight. You don't think the Lord sees
what we do? He sees and knows everything
that we do. But he doesn't charge us with
our sin. That's what David said, blessed
is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. He doesn't hold
it against us. He doesn't condemn us for our
sin. Why? Because there's therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. He sees
us in Christ. We have a mediator. We have an
advocate. Jesus Christ the righteous and
he's the propitiation, the just payment for all our sin. He's
the one who turned away the wrath of God from us. That's what Jeremiah's
nation is rejecting. Ultimately, that's the promise
of the coming Savior. So you've seen me. Christ is
the Lord, my righteousness. That's how the Lord sees me.
And Jeremiah, he knew that. He knew who his righteousness
was. He testifies of that several times in his prophecy. Jeremiah
23, Jeremiah 33, and we could go on. He knew that his righteousness
was not in himself or in his works, but it was in Christ,
the promised Savior, the promised Messiah, the Redeemer to come. That's the hope of Israel. Christ
is the hope of Israel. Old Simeon said that in Luke
chapter 2. He said the consolation of Israel. That's what that is. Christ is
the hope of Israel. And I can't figure all these
things out, and you can't either. Jeremiah couldn't, but God's
righteous, and our hope is in Him. And then he says in verse
3, he says, you know me? God knows His people. He elected
them, He redeemed them, He justifies them in Christ. He sends the
Spirit to regenerate us so that we can know Him. He knew us before
we knew Him. And he sends his spirit to give
us life and give us ears to hear and eyes to see and a new heart
that we might run to him, be convicted of our sin and run
to Christ so that we might know him. He said, they shall all
know me from the least of them to them. And then he says, thou
has seen me. God see, God saw me before I
was ever born. He saw you before you were ever
born. He chose me before the foundation of the world. When
Christ died on that cross, He had my name on His heart and
on His shoulder. He knows them that are His. And
then He says, Thou hast and tried mine heart toward thee. Now not
only has God known us, and not only has God seen us in Christ,
He's known us in Christ, seen us in Him, He also tests us.
That's trials. That's what He's talking about.
We've read about that in the book of Hebrews chapter 12, the
chastisements of the Lord. That when we're chastised, it's
correction for our good and our instruction. It's the work and
the action of a father to his children whom he loves. It's
not meant to beat us down and to kill us, it's meant to stir
us up in that peaceable fruit of righteousness whereby we come
out clinging more and more to Christ. That's what that chastisement's
all about. And so Jeremiah says, you test,
you tried mine heart. Now remember back there he said,
those who bring forth that dead fruit, They speak your name,
but their heart, their conscience, their reigns are far from you.
But you've seen me, you've known me, you've tried my heart. And
what does God see when he tests the heart of his people? He sees
that from our hearts, the regenerate heart, the contrite, the broken
heart, that our hope is in Christ. I'm really trusting Christ. My
hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
That's what God sees in our hearts. Oh, there's sin there too. There's
the flesh now. Don't deny that. That won't do us any good to
deny that. That's why we need Christ. That's
why our only hope is Christ. Because there's sin there. There's
sin there. But when God tests us, when He
tries us, What did the apostle write in Hebrews 12? It's to
bring forth that peaceable fruit of righteousness. And what is
that? That's a sinner depending, living, looking to, resting in
Christ even more. Even more. That's growth in grace
and in knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look back at
verse 3. He says, Now pull them out like
sheep for the slaughter and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
Now what Jeremiah is saying there is exact your vengeance upon
the wicked. I don't believe Jeremiah is saying
that in a proud way. Look at verse 4. He says, how
long shall the land mourn and the herbs of every field wither
for the wickedness of them that dwell in? Now that's part of
that Palestinian covenant. Remember, their prosperity in
the land was conditioned on their national obedience, but they
had failed. So would we. And always remember that. Always
remember that. I'll show you that in a minute.
He said, the beast are consumed, the birds, because they said
he shall not see our last end. In other words, in other words,
they're not looking to God, depending upon God. They think they're
hiding from God. In other words, and turn to Luke
chapter 13. I always, whenever I read scriptures
like this, when you say, and you see this in the Psalms, you
see this in the prophets, is the prophet of God praying that
God would exact his justice upon the wicked. And whenever I see
those, it always reminds me of Luke 13, and I believe this is
what the prophets had in mind, the wise men had in mind. Now,
here's what Jeremiah's saying. He said, they're going to get
exactly what they deserve. They're going to get what they
deserve. And we understand that if God gave any of us what we
deserve, what would it be? Eternal damnation. Lord, if thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who would stand?" Now, why is
that revealed in the Scripture? So that I can be proud and puffed
up and say, well, boy, well, I'm glad they're getting what
they deserve, but, you know, I deserve better? No. You remember,
look at Luke 13, verse one. This always reminds me of this,
this passage right here. When I read passages like this
in Jeremiah, it says, there were present at that season some that
told him of the Galileans, talking to the Lord, telling him of a
certain group of Galileans whose blood Pilate, that's Pontius
Pilate, had mingled with their sacrifices. Now this is in their
history in Galilee. And Pontius Pilate had sent the
Roman soldiers into this place, and these rebels against the
Roman government were sacrificing according to the old covenant,
and Pilate had them slaughtered. And then look at verse 2, it
says, And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these
Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they
suffered such thing? Now they got what they deserved.
God is just. Now, do you suppose that they
got what they deserved because they were greater sinners than
the rest of us? All right. Verse 3, I tell you,
nay, that's not the case, but except you repent, you shall
all likewise perish. We deserve the same thing. We
deserve all the bad things that can happen to us because of our
sin. And that's why we need repentance.
And look at verse 4, he says, those 18 upon whom the tower
of Siloam fell. Now, you know, when Pilate did
what he did, you know, people could say, you know, well that's
the wickedness of Pilate. Let me tell you something, God's
in control of that too. But now here's something that
they couldn't argue about. It's like an insurance company
would call this an act of God. Here's a tower in Siloam that
fell and slew 18 people. And he says it slew them thinking
that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem.
Well, they must have done something pretty bad. They got what they
deserve. He says in verse 5, I tell you
nay, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. That's
why we need repentance. I heard, you know, back during
that hurricane that hit New Orleans, you know, preachers talking about
how, well, that was such a wicked city, God had to do something
with it. I heard preachers say that, huh? Yeah, it's a wicked
city, but Ashland, Kentucky is a wicked city too, folks. This whole world is a wicked
world. If God gave any of us what we
deserved, what we've earned, what would it be? It would be
worse than a tower or pilot. It would be eternal damnation.
So what's the message? Repent. Turn to Christ from your
dead works. And so God gives Jeremiah an
answer. Let me just read a few passages
here and then I'll quit tonight and we'll pick up here, but look
at verse five. Here's God's answer to Jeremiah,
just in two verses here. He says, now Jeremiah, if thou
hast run with the footmen and they've wearied thee, then how
canst thou contend with horses? Here's his first answer. Jeremiah,
if you've run with mere men and they've wearied you, That's representative
of the small trials of life. You know, I got to thinking about
this. You'd think if your family came
to you and said, now don't you speak any more of this gospel
that you believe or we're gonna kill you. I don't think you would
consider that a small trial, would you? I know I would, but
God says it is. That's what he's saying. Jeremiah,
if you've run with the footman, if you've been in a race with
men, and now you're wearied, that's a small trial, then how
canst thou contend with horses? What are you gonna do when you
have to contend with the horses, the bigger trials of life? You know, over in Hebrews chapter
12, talking about the chastisements of the Lord, The apostle tells
the Hebrew believers there, he says, you've not yet resisted
unto blood. In other words, you've not been
martyred for the faith. You may suffer the derision and
the ridicule and the alienation of men because of what you believe.
And that's bad and it's not, we don't like it. But you've
not been martyred. Your life hasn't been put on
the line. And then look back here at verse Five he says thou
run with the footman and they've wearied thee then how canst thou
contend with the horses? Here's here's the here's the
second answer He says and if in the land of peace wherein
thou trustest They wearied thee then how wilt thou do in the
swelling of Jordan? You've heard that term before
didn't have it to the swelling of joy. How you gonna do in the
swelling of Jordan? if in the land in peace wherein
you trusted the Lord and What will you do in the swelling of
Jordan? That's a reference back to the book of Joshua, chapter
3, verse 15, when Israel was crossing over the Jordan. It's
a symbol of the day of trial and trouble, even the day of
death sometimes. And what he's saying to Jeremiah
there, he says, if you trust the Lord when everything's going
well in the land of peace, comfort, Then what are you going to do
when the real trials come, the swelling of Jordan? You say,
well, I'm not going to trust him then. No. The lesson here
is this. Trust in the Lord and lean not
unto your own understanding. Walk by faith, believing God's
word, not by sight. The wicked may prosper, but it
will not last, will it? Remember the psalmist in Psalm
73 verses 12 through 17? We read those verses over and
over again as we studied the book of Job. And he said, there's
the wicked that prosper and all that. And he said, it's too high
for me to figure this out. He said, it's too high for me. My little puny mind, I can't
figure this. There's a wisdom that's beyond
me that I don't know. And he said, until I went into
the sanctuary of God, That's the word of God, the way
of God, and found out their end. How's it going to end up? Yeah,
the wicked may prosper, but it's only temporary. It's only for
a time. The rich man died and lifted his eyes up in hell. Lazarus
was in abject poverty and sickness in this life, but he went to
Abraham's bosom. That's how it's going to end
up for those who die in Christ. God is faithful to all His promises
to His people in Christ. For all the promises of God in
Christ are yea and in Christ. Amen. So don't despair. Look
at verse 6. We'll conclude with this. For
even thy brethren and the house of thy father, even they have
dealt treacherously with thee, yea, they have called a multitude
after thee. Believe them not, though they
speak fair words unto thee. When our families and our friends
forsake us over the gospel, over our testimony of Christ as the
one and only way of salvation and every other way is a false
way, every other way is a false refuge. Whenever our families
and our friends forsake us and speak against us, it's a real
trial. How do we react to it? We trust
in the Lord. Don't believe them, he says.
Don't believe them. Now it may be, it may be that
like Cain, they'll kill Abel. It may be that like those in
Jerusalem, those Pharisees and legalists in Jerusalem and false
religionists in Jerusalem may pick up their stones and kill
Stephen. But don't you believe what they
say. Their hope is a false hope. Any
hope but Christ is a false hope. Any claim of righteousness but
in him is a false righteousness. Any claim of forgiveness but
by his blood is a false claim. Don't believe him. But then he
goes on. How do we react when they speak fair words? Did you
notice that? He says, yea, they have called
a multitude after thee. Believe them not, though they
speak fair words, good things unto thee. What if they speak
good unto you, speak well of you? How will you react then? Don't believe him, he says. There's
no, listen, there's no good thing to a believer that does not leave
you trusting, resting, hoping in Christ alone. No matter how
good and fair it sounds. Remember those in Romans 16 with
fair words and good speeches. Our concern should not be their
fair words or their harsh words, our concern should be God's words
and God's judgments, and righteous art thou, O Lord. don't be in
despair over their false charges and don't be taken in by their
praise and their flattery psalm twelve in verse two they speak
vanity everyone with his neighbor with flattering lips and with
a double heart do they speak and you know what their message
is it's peace peace when there is no peace so we look to christ and we trust
him and when it comes to these These difficult problems that
we can't figure out in Providence, what do we do? Well, go back
and read Job 42, the last chapter. Lord, I've heard of thee by the
hearing of thee, and now mine eyes see thee, and I repent in
sackcloth and ashes. Lord, thou art merciful. just. Thou art righteous in all your
ways. Okay. Hymn number 393 is our
closing hymn. Take my life and let it be. 393.