Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 1. As we said each time, we are
continuing to go through the book of Hebrews and taking in
chapter 11, verse 32, where the writer to the book of Hebrews
was speaking of the faith, and then mentioned, and the prophets. Last time we looked at the faith
of Isaiah, and I'd like for us to look this evening at Jeremiah. Before we begin, let's have a
word of prayer. Our Father, we are so thankful
for this blessed day. A day that you've given us to
come together and assemble ourselves in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. How wonderful is this time. Bless, we pray. Lord, as we consider
your word and looking to him alone, for it's in Christ's name
we pray. Amen. Jeremiah, along with all of the
prophets, all of the judges. I've been entitling these messages,
The Faith of, The Faith of Barak, The Faith of Samson, The Faith. The faith of these prophets is
the same faith that we possess. Faith is given from above. And so when we say the faith
of this prophet, actually what we're saying is the object of
their faith. Now Jeremiah was a type, as all
the prophets were. He was type. of the Lord Jesus
Christ. So we realize that while we are
speaking of and considering what the Scriptures has to say from
Hebrews 11, and that is the That's the terminology of Scripture.
It was talking about the faith of Rahab, the faith of Noah,
the faith of Moses. But actually we're talking about
the Lord Jesus Christ who is the object of their faith. So knowing that Jeremiah is a
picture, is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we realize
that while we do consider Scripturally, the faith of this man, the faith
of this object of God's mercy, actually, we're considering one
that is truly greater than Jeremiah. So, let us always remember, if
we see not the Lord Jesus Christ in the Scriptures, then we've
missed the message of God. Remember when the Lord was walking
with the two on the road to a Mass, and beginning with Moses, And
in all the Scriptures, now, we have to understand something.
When the Lord Jesus Christ was speaking to those two disciples
on the road to Emmaus, the Old Testament is what they had. The
New Testament had not been penned yet. And so he's talking about
all of the Old Testament spoke of Christ. Well, let's begin
this evening considering this prophet Jeremiah. Let's look
at the calling of Jeremiah. I want you to turn to Jeremiah
1. Let's read verses 1-5. Jeremiah 1, the words of Jeremiah,
the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth, in the
land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the
days of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth
year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim,
the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh
year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the
carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month." Then the
word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee
in the belly, I knew thee. And before thou camest forth
out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet
unto the nations." Now, here we find Jeremiah, a prophet that
was called of God, that prophesied during the reign of five kings. But the thing that is just most
wonderful to consider concerning this man Jeremiah was that the
Lord revealed to him that he was eternally known, sanctified,
set apart, ordained a prophet of God. He said, before I ever
formed you in the belly, before I ordered the parents of Jeremiah,
before they ever got married, before they were ever born, before
I formed you, I set you apart to be a prophet. I ordained you
to be a prophet. Almighty God has set apart has
chosen, has elected, not only all of His people, but all the
positions of His people. Placed them exactly where He
chose to place them. All the parts of the body of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Known unto God are all His works,
the Scripture says, from the beginning. So, what we're doing
right now, is we're watching everything you see going on right
now. All of the things that happen
in our lives, all of the things that are happening in this government,
all the everything, Almighty God has everlastingly purposed
to bring all these things that are coming to pass to work together
for good to them that love God. To them who are called according
to His purpose. So it was the Lord's sovereign
pleasure and purpose to send Jeremiah to be his spokesman
to Israel when God calls a man. It is the Lord that has given
that man his disposition, the characteristics of that man.
God calls men, gifts them, He teaches them the gospel. He gives
them that attitude of submissiveness. to accomplish the purpose of
his good pleasure. So here we see Jeremiah, a type
of Christ. You remember the Lord Jesus Christ
was the one who was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
So Jeremiah, known and possessed always by Almighty God, and in
seeing that, before I formed thee, In the belly. Before I
formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Now let me ask you this. Before the Holy Ghost formed
that, according to the wording of Scripture, that holy thing,
before that body was prepared Him, and Almighty God placed
Him in the womb of a virgin, Did Almighty God know the Lord
Jesus Christ? Does not the Scripture say that
He was possessed by the Father in the beginning, the Scripture
says, of His way before His works of old? He who was set up from
everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was? Yes, Almighty
God knew Jeremiah before Almighty God formed him in the belly.
But our blessed Savior is pictured here. He is the eternal God. Incarnate. In the beginning. I think about that. In the beginning. Eternal. No beginning. In the beginning of His works.
In the beginning of the creation. In the beginning. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1.14 says, and the Word
was made flesh. But the Word always was. In the
beginning was the Word. So here we see Jeremiah, a spokesman
of God, who spoke for a while. Now we read his words right here. But these are the words of God.
Jeremiah was for time a vessel. of God's speaking. But the Lord
Jesus Christ, He is the eternal Word of God. He is the one who
is the brightness of His glory, God's glory, the express image
of His person. So Jeremiah, he knew He knew
God's Word by revelation. That's what the Scripture says. Verse 4, chapter 1, in the Word
of the Lord came unto me. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
the eternal Word. Almighty God sets forth in verse
9 of chapter 1, then the Lord put forth His hand and touched
my mouth, and the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words
in thy mouth. But likewise, here is the picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the obedient servant of Jehovah,
who in Himself, God Almighty, The omniscient God of all glory,
who humbled Himself. Here, Jeremiah was given the
Word of God. But speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is God's humble servant. The Scripture says, the Lord
speaking, He said, He that sent Me is true. And I speak to the
world those things which I have heard of Him. God Almighty. God omniscient, God omnipotent,
God omnipresent, humble Himself, made Himself of no reputation,
and received the words that He spoke according to His words
from His Father, and only said those things that He heard His
Father say. What humility! How can we enter into that truth?
Now, Jeremiah ministered in a time of great rebellion against God. Now, there's three, there's more
than three, but the three primary prophets that prophesied during
the time of the captivity, the 70 years that they were in captivity
in Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. And we're going to consider what
Jeremiah's message was in just a few minutes and why he was
hated for it, hated for that message. But Jeremiah started
prophesying. God called him prior to Nebuchadnezzar
coming down and capturing Jerusalem. And then right on into the captivity. Now Ezekiel, Lord willing that
we'll study next time, actually started prophesying during the
captivity and also Daniel. But this man right here, Jeremiah,
he was a prophet. God raised up and taught and
prophesied, setting forth exactly what the Lord was going to do
with Israel. And the Lord called him and declared
to Jeremiah that his message was going to be one of power.
Jeremiah 5.14. If you want to turn to these,
I'm going to try to just go through this. As I said, there's 52 chapters.
in the book of Jeremiah. It's hard to preach 52 chapters.
I pray the Spirit of God give us direction to get the spirit
of this blessed book. But in Jeremiah 5.14, the Scripture
says, Wherefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye
speak this word, behold, I will make thy words in thy mouth fire. And this people would, and it
shall devour them." Now, again, I want you to look and see what
a beautiful, glorious picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Him
who is the Word of God, that Word that is quick and powerful
and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing asunder, the
Scripture says, to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. Powerfully accomplishing God's
will, God's Word. Heaven and earth is going to
pass away, but he said, my Word is not going to pass away. Call
Jeremiah, he said, I've given you my Word, I'm going to make
my word in your mouth to be fire. And I'm going to make this people
wood. And the word, my word in your
mouth, is going to devour them. That word that goeth out of God's
mouth, it shall not return unto Him void. It shall accomplish
that which He purposed. which He pleases. When men speak
of the Lord and they speak in such a way as if He's attempting
to do something, you know better than that. Almighty God speaks
and it is. He sets forth that which He purposes
and it's done. Let there be light. He created,
He spoke. All things that He did, He did
by His Word. Now, the message of Jeremiah,
there's the call of Jeremiah. The message of Jeremiah actually
was a message of mercy and grace to God's people, to Israel. Now,
he's speaking to the nation of Israel. And you know that the
nation of Israel is actually a type, it's a picture of spiritual
Israel. So whenever we see what's going
on with natural Israel in this book, understand that this is
an illustration. It sets forth God's elect, how
God deals with them, how God's merciful and compassionate, even
in their chastisements. Mercy graced. His message was
one of mercy. Grace, but it sounded to that
dead ear like something that was so far-fetched that many
of them saw Jeremiah as a false prophet and accused him of it. And the false prophets, the ones
that were speaking, peace, peace, and there was no peace. God had
called Jeremiah and gave Jeremiah the message. Now let's look at
Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 11 to 17. Here is the message of
Jeremiah. And through the book, it's continuing
to unfold through the book. But here's where the message
of Jeremiah was set forth. Jeremiah 1.11, Moreover, the
word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest
thou? And he said, I see a rod of an
almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou
hast well seen, for I will hasten my word to perform it. And the
word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What
seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot, and the face
thereof is toward the north. Then the Lord said unto me, Out
of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants
of the land, For lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms
of the north, saith the Lord, and they shall come, and they
shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates
of Jerusalem, and against all walls thereof round about, and
against all the cities of Judah. And I will utter my judgments
against them, touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken
Me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worship the works
of their own hands. Thou therefore gird up thy loins,
and rise, and speak unto them all that I command thee. Be not
dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them."
That is, except I break you in pieces. You go and you tell them
what I've said and you be faithful in it or I'm going to deal with
you. Now, Jeremiah's message was to foretell, to foretell
the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans because
of their sin and idolatry. Now, the Lord told Jeremiah that
Israel was ripening for ruin. And the Lord asked him, he said,
Jeremiah, what do you see? He said, I see the rod of an
almond tree. I see a switch. I see a branch. You know, remember, some of you
older guys, women too, I'm sure, you know when mom or dad say,
go get me a switch. Get a good one. What do you see? I see a rod
of an almond tree. It was a rod of correction. A
rod of affliction and chastisement from a tree that buds and blossoms
before other trees. And the Lord said, I'm going
to take and correct Israel. I'm going to hasten to correct
My people. Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth. When correction is not swift,
man's heart is lifted up. Pride. He thinks I've gotten
away with something. You allow a child to get away
with something. Boy, I can remember my dad. I don't think I ever remember
a second chance, mom. Do you? I don't think I did.
If my dad said, If I tell you again, I'm going to wear you
out. Write it down. Buddy, he meant
it. And I'm telling you, it didn't
take me many times. Obviously, it was enough. But
I can tell you this, he meant it. I'm going to hasten. I'm going to hasten to correct
my people. I am not going to let my people
rebel against me. and go all in their rebellion. What do you see, Jeremiah? I
see a rod of an almond tree. What else do you see, Jeremiah?
He said, I see a seething pot, a boiling pot, whose contents
symbolized the disaster and ruin which the families of the kingdoms
of the north was going to bring and pour out upon Judah for their
rebellion against God. What do you see? I see a rod
of correction. And I see a boiling pot that's
going to boil over. And Almighty God is going to
deal with Israel. Well, Jeremiah faithfully warned
the people. In Jeremiah chapter 10 and verse
10, Jeremiah 10.10, the scripture says, but the Lord is the true
God. He is the living God and everlasting
King. At His wrath, the earth shall
tremble and the nation shall not be able to abide His indignation
faithfully. As a picture of the faithful
and true witness, Jeremiah pronounced Israel's destruction Through
another example, through an example of a broken vase, I want you
to turn to chapter 19. We'll come back to this portion.
But turn to chapter 19, verse 1, and then we'll look at verse
10 and 11. But this is how the Lord said,
this is what's going to happen to you. Jeremiah 19, verse 1,
Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and
take of the ancients, of the people, And of the ancients,
of the priests, verse 10 and 11, it says, Then shalt thou
break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
and shall say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Even
so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a
potter's vessel that cannot be made whole again, and they shall
bury them in Topheth. till there be no place to bury. The Lord prophesied that God
Almighty was going to break that nation, Israel, so that it would
not be as it once was, as it once had been, but thanks be
unto God. God has left a remnant. God has left a people. Because
of your rebellion, I'm going to break you. But God has a people. And He's going to show mercy.
Well, here was the message from Jeremiah. This would be about
like if somebody came to this country and they said, well,
this country has been a mighty country over 200 years now. But this Constitution is not
going to stand. that has been established in
the ways that this country has run and the legislative and executive
branches and judicial branches is not going to stand anymore.
God is going to break this country like you take a piece of pottery
and it's going to smash it. And that's what's going to be
the end of it. And it's going to be a country that's going
to come down, and this is going to be the country it's going
to be. And all of a sudden, God's people will say, well, that just
very well may be. But the people will stand up
and say, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. This
is a God-fearing country. This is a Christian country.
God's people will say, I'll tell you this, but for the grace of
God, this country wouldn't be here right now. This is what's
happening right here. Jeremiah came and said, God's
going to break this nation. You mean to tell me, Jeremiah,
this country that Almighty God established, raised up Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, made that everlasting covenant with them? Oh, with
those, the objects of God's mercy? God's never going to forsake
them. Never! But so many placed all of their
faith, all of their hope in just being of the lineage of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. God said, because of your rebellion,
I'm going to break this nation. But Jeremiah told him what God
had said related that message. And he said, there's going to
be a nation that's going to come from the north. And God raised
up a man named Nebuchadnezzar to execute wrath upon Judah. And God called Nebuchadnezzar. Look at chapter 25 and verse
9. Jeremiah 25.9. It was Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar, you remember,
was the one that he built Babylon, stood out on the porch one night
and looked around and said, look at this great Babylon that I
built. It's what I did. And while the
words were yet in his mouth, God took his mind away from him.
Left him out years out in the field, grazing like an animal. Hair all matted together like
eagle's feather, the Scripture says. Who is that old man out
there? That's Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar. The one that raised up that Nebuchadnezzar. Look at Jeremiah 25, verse 9. Behold, I will send and take
all the families of the north, saith the Lord. And Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this
land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these
nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make
them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolation." This
is what God Almighty told Jeremiah. You go tell the people. This
is the message. This is the message of Almighty
God. But Jeremiah, faithful to deliver God's message, was hated. Can you imagine what men thought
about a word like that? I mean, what about love and peace? But here again, remember, this
message was a message of grace and mercy. You'll see it. But
to those that did not have an ear to hear, This is utter ridiculousness. I can't believe. They were hating
Jeremiah. And the world hates God. He hates God's right to do with
His own as He will. And likewise, men hate God's
service. But the reason they hate God's
service, this is the reason why. I want you to turn to John 15,
18. John 15, 18. I was thinking about when we were
looking at the faith of Isaiah last time. And when Isaiah set
forth that Almighty God was going to just say to the people, he
said, I want you to go preach to these people. And he said,
you preach to them. And he said, they're not going
to believe you. They're not going to believe you. I closed their
ears. When it says that God closed
their ears, He just didn't give them new ears to hear. Men are
doing exactly what they want to do. If God hardens Pharaoh's
heart, it's just God left him to himself. All souls are mine. The souls of all men and women
are God's, and He does as He will with His own. So if God
Almighty hardens a man, leaves a man to himself, whose fault
is it? I had someone call me the other
day and said, I've got a question for you. I said, if Almighty
God has elected, chosen to show mercy, to some. Does that mean that God Almighty
has elected or chosen some to damnation?" I said, no. Don't
you lay that on God's feet. What you're saying right there
is, whose fault is it that a man goes to hell? Are you going to
say that God Almighty ordained men? No. God left them to themselves. If a man is saved by the grace
of God, it is by God's grace and God's mercy. If a man finds
himself in hell, it's because God Almighty let that man do
exactly what that man wanted to do. God is not the author
of sin. Almighty God has purpose to show
mercy. Therefore, He has mercy on whomsoever,
compassion on whomsoever He will. And if He leaves a man to himself,
if six men are struggling down a river, if six men are out there
trying to stay afloat, and someone goes out there and is able, humanly
speaking, is able to save two, got two of them out, did He condemn
the other four to death? Almighty God has mercy. But why,
why was Jeremiah hated for the message that he preached? John
15, verse 18. These things I command you that
you love one another. That's verse 17, I'm sorry. If
the world hates you, you know that it hated me before. It hated you. Now let me ask
you something, Pat. If God sends a preacher, and
that preacher is faithful to God's message, faithful to God's
gospel, faithful to the Word of God, and proclaims exactly
what Almighty God has to say, and he's hated and despised for
the message that he preaches, who is the first one that's hated? It's Almighty God. Isn't that
right, Carl? They hated me before they hated
you. Men and women that hate the gospel
of God's grace hate God according to God's Word, according to God's
message. They hated me before they hated
you. Well, Jeremiah was faithful. He preached exactly what God
told him. You go tell the people that I'm
going to break this country. I'm going to break this nation.
This nation is going to be broken like you'd break a piece of pottery.
And I'm going to send Nebuchadnezzar from the north, and he's going
to come down. And he's going to take you prisoner." Well,
Jeremiah was imprisoned. But from prison, he faithfully
continued to preach God's message. Look at chapter 20, Jeremiah
20, verse 1 to 6. Now, they've hated him, called
him a false prophet. Now, they've thrown him in jail.
Jeremiah 20, verse 1. Now, Pasher, the son of Emmer,
the priest who was also chief governor in the house of the
Lord. Boy, I'm telling you, here's a high-ranking official, religious
man. He was the son of Emmer, the
priest who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord. Heard
that Jeremiah prophesied these things. Then Paschur smoked Jeremiah
the prophet and put him in the stocks that were in the high
gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord. And it
came to pass on the morrow that Paschur brought forth Jeremiah
out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him,
The Lord hath not called thy name Paschur. Paschur means liberation. God hadn't called you passion.
God hadn't called you liberation. But megor misabib, that means
fear roundabout. For thus saith the Lord, Behold,
I will make thee a terror to thyself and to all thy friends,
and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eye
shall behold it, and I will give all Judah into the hand of the
king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon,
shall slay them with the sword. Moreover, I will deliver all
the strength of this city, and all the labors thereof, and all
the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the
kings of Judah, will I give to the hand of the enemies, which
shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon. And
thou, pastor, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into
captivity, and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt
die, and shalt be buried there, thou and all thy friends, to
whom thou hast prophesied lies." The judgment of God upon those
that I said a while ago can continue to cry, peace, peace, and there's
no peace. Here was Jeremiah. Hated. Despised. Telling the people,
God's going to send a captor. God's going to send Nebuchadnezzar.
Submit to him. Give yourself to him. Stay there. Now he's going in jail. Captive,
yes. But again, do we not see the
precious Redeemer who willingly placed Himself in the impotent
hands of evil men that He might faithfully, in the shedding of
His own blood, proclaim God's message of mercy in the redemption
of His people. Here was Jeremiah, captive, but
he was but a type of the Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself
over to the hands of those evil men, accomplishing all the while
the will and purpose of Almighty God. And you see how, what mercy,
what grace when the Lord would give Himself over. Well, Jeremiah
experienced the weight of men's rebellion and hatred. And then in Jeremiah 20 verse
9, here's the pressure. Here's what he said. 20 verse 9, Then I said, I will
not make mention of him, or speak any more in his name. But his
word was in my heart, as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and
I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." Jeremiah
said, this hatred, this rebellion, I'm just not going to preach
anymore. But I couldn't. Almighty God
mercifully keeps His people. But for the grace of God, How
many of all of us? How many would have quit but
for the grace of God? All of us. We'd all left. We'd
all forsaken Him. But it is God Almighty and His
power that keeps His people. Here is Jeremiah again as a type
of Christ who sorrowed over his people. The Lord Jesus Christ
looked at Jerusalem. Jerusalem. Jerusalem. how I would
have taken you unto Myself. As a hen takes you, you wouldn't
come. You would not come. Whose fault was that? The Lord's? You're going to lay that at the
Lord's feet? Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 9.1,
O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears. Let me ask you this, you that
know the Lord. Does it break your heart for
those that you know? Those in your family? Those in
your family? Those that you grew up with?
I was talking to my mother the other day. I was thinking about
years ago. Here I was when I was in college.
There in art school. All these people I ran around
with. Had all kinds of fun. We just
had a ball. And I think to myself, Here I
am, these many years later. I would have never, never thought
that I would have been standing in a pulpit where Almighty God
had faithfully raised up the Gospel. And God Almighty would
grant me the grace to stand in a place and proclaim the unsearchable
riches of God's grace. But I think back on those people
that I knew. How many of them know the Lord?
I don't know. For all I know, none. I don't know any of them. Some that I went to school with
that just... One night when I was talking
to them after the Lord had revealed Himself to me, I'm telling you,
one of the most... I mean, truly a friend. I mean, truly a friend that cussed
me for everything that I was worth or he was worth or somebody
was worth. Called me everything but a milk cow. And told me,
he said, I know you. I know you. You're right. You're right. And
here's Jeremiah. Knowing that he's got to preach
what God has told him to preach, and seeing the rebellion in that
nation, and it grieved him. All that my head were waters,
my eyes a fountain of tears. He compared himself. in chapter
11, verse 19, to an animal brought to the slaughter. Those were
the words that were recorded. Look at that. Jeremiah 11, verse
19. Here under the inspiration. Now
remember, this is the Word of God. God's speaking these words.
But here's what Jeremiah said concerning himself, but he's
a picture of Christ. 11, verse 9, it says, And the
Lord said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah.
I'm sorry, 19. I read 19. like a lamb or an ox that is
brought to the slaughter. And I knew not that they had
devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the
fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the
living, that his name may be no more remembered. I was a lamb
brought to the slaughter." That is the scripture. It was also
spoken concerning the Lord. In Isaiah 53, in verse 7, I'll
read this for you. Isaiah 53, 7. The Scripture says,
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth.
He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before
a shearer's dung. He opened not His mouth. Jeremiah
prophesied the Word of Almighty God speaking of Christ as being
the fountain of living water. The shepherd, in chapter 31,
verse 10, that gathers his flock. He spoke of the righteous branch
in chapter 23, verse 5. And the Lord our righteousness,
23, verse 6. The Redeemer, whose name is the
Lord of Hosts, in chapter 50, verse 34. Jeremiah preached Christ. He preached Christ and Him crucified,
spoke of the Redeemer, the Lamb slain, the Lamb, the Lord our
righteousness. And he set forth and proclaimed
the absolute certainty of salvation to God's chosen nation. Look
at Jeremiah 31, verse 7 and 8. Jeremiah 31, 7 and 8, For thus
saith the Lord, Sing with gladness for Jacob. And shout among the chief of
the nations, publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy
people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from
the north country, and gather them from the coast of the earth,
and with them the blind and the lame, the women with child, and
her that travaileth with child together. A great country shall
return thither." Almighty God is going to take this nation,
put them in captivity, keep them, sustain them, protect them. from all of the others of this
world. Put them under a powerful man,
Nebuchadnezzar. Why did He do it? For their good
and His glory when He was going to bring them out of captivity. So here is the message He preached. He preached Nebuchadnezzar is
going to come down and submit to Him. Submit to His rule. But that message was hated. But
that hatred is but the same attitude that men have toward the gospel
of God's free grace. When this gospel is preached,
Hebrew Jeremiah said, you're going to be a captive people.
They said, captive people. I don't like that message. But
let me ask you this. When the gospel is preached,
and God blesses that message, to the hearts of His people in
regenerating grace. Do we not agree with Almighty
God that here we are captive in this body, this body of death? When Paul said, O wretched man
that I am, I see in me, that is in my flesh, that dwells no
good thing And the natural man says, I'm free. I'm not in bondage. I don't have an old nature, an
old dictating nature that tries to raise its ugly head against
me. And the believer says, I tell
you what, I agree with it. I see it. I know. But God was
merciful. Oh, the mercy of God to take
those people and put those people there in bondage. Let me show
you that. Chapter 29, verse 4 to 14. Look here. 29, 4 to 14. Now here again,
we're summing up. We're coming to this end of this
message of the faith of Jeremiah. God called this preacher. He
called a prophet. He said, I want you to tell the
people I'm going to destroy this nation. I'm going to break them. I'm going to save the remnant.
I've got a remnant in there and I'm going to keep them, protect
them. And the way I'm going to protect them, His ways are not
our ways. Well, you say, well, couldn't
God have done it? God Almighty does as He will. Who are the potsherds of this
world that strive against God? Was it right that God Almighty
put the nation of Israel in bondage in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar? Was it right? Yes, it was right. Why was it right? Because God
did it. That was God's way. Now here's
why He did it. Chapter 29, verse 4 to 14, Thus
saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel unto all that
are carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away
from Jerusalem unto Babylon. Build your houses and dwell in
them. Plant gardens. Eat the fruit
of them. Take your wives and beget sons
and daughters. Take wives for your sons. Give
your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters,
that they may increase there. and not diminished, and seek
the peace of the city, whether I have caused you to be carried
away captives. Pray unto the Lord for it. For
in the peace thereof shall ye have peace." Now, you know what
he's saying. He said, I'm going to put you
in Babylon. I'm going to put you in captivity. And he said,
I want you to go there and just build your house, marry, have
kids, raise your garden, and you pray for those people. You
pray for Nebuchadnezzar. You pray for those Babylonians.
Because that mighty nation that I raised up for one purpose.
To protect you. To keep you safe from everybody
else. And you pray for them. And you
pray for their peace. Because in their peace you have
peace. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
let not your prophets and your diviners that be in the midst
of you deceive you. Neither hearken to your dreams
which ye cause to be dreamed, for they prophesy falsely unto
you in my name. I have not sent them, saith the
Lord. But thus saith the Lord, that
after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you
and perform my good word toward you in causing you to return
to this place. For I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, not
of evil, to give you an expected end, or an end of expectation. Then shall you call upon Me,
and you shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you.
And you shall seek Me and find Me when you shall search for
Me with all your heart, and I will be found of you, saith the Lord,
and I will turn away your captivity. And I will gather you from all
nations and from all the places where I have driven you, saith
the Lord, and I will bring you again. into the place which I
caused you to be carried away captive." God's people are in
this world. They're not of it, but they're
in it. But I can tell you this, in this
world, in all of the things that go with it, the hatred that it
has toward God's people, the resentment that this world has
toward God, God's message, God's messengers, God's preachers.
Here's a fact. God Almighty has not forsaken
His people. He absolutely is saving His own,
fulfilling His everlasting covenant to do them good. The Lord has
established this earth for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the good of His people in the hearing of the gospel through
preachers that He sends. He will raise up nations and
will use those nations to lovingly chasten His own and then judge
those nations for touching His anointed. And here's the reason. Jeremiah 3.14. He said, because
I'm married to you. Because I'm married to you. This
is the reason I do these things. You're mine. I'm yours. I'm going to chasten you. Now,
this chastisement is going to be grievous for the moment. And you're going to see it. And
they think it to be something that's hard. But the Lord says,
Whom I love, I chasten. My friend, everything that God's
people are going through, they're going through for the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ and for their good. And as Brother Scott
said so many times, he said, after I heard that good news,
he said, I never did hear any bad news anymore. Lord, bless
these words to our heart for Christ's sake.