Alright brethren, let's go back
there to Jeremiah 33. Let's read this one more time,
verse 23. Moreover the word of the Lord
came to Jeremiah, saying, Considerest thou not what this people have
spoken? saying the two families which
the Lord hath chosen, he hath even cast them off. Thus they
have despised my people that they should be no more a nation
before them. Now, at this time, remember from
our last message, Babylon had besieged Jerusalem and the children
of Israel and the children of Judah were captives, they were
starving, they were diseased, they were without strength, they
were cast down, totally cast down. And God's question to Jeremiah
here is, is, considerest thou not what this people have spoken?
They said, the two families which the Lord hath chosen, elected,
He hath even cast them off. Now who was saying that? Who
was saying that God had cast off His chosen people? Well,
the reprobate among the children of Israel and the children of
Judah, those unbelievers that would not believe God, of course
they were saying it. The reprobate always blames God. But also, God's elect among them
who were cast down. and overtaken in unbelief because
of Babylon. You know, I was talking to Brother
Paul last weekend about how the church will most likely be persecuted
and maybe not in the distant future. And Paul said that'll
be a good thing because that'll separate the true worshippers
from the false. And you had some here that beheld
themselves captives and so it troubled them. And they were
overtaken in unbelief. They believed God but they were
just stumbling in unbelief. And they said God's cast off
his people. Now who are these two families
that God chose? Well in the verse right before
this the Lord says it's the house of David and the house of Levi. But then prior to that he says
Judah and Israel. But when it's speaking of the
house of David, and the house of Levi, and the house of Judah,
and the house of Israel. The key is, it's those God chose. That's who we're talking about
here. It's those God chose, those he elected unto salvation. Remember what Paul said in Romans
11? He said, God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. those he foreordained to eternal
life, God never cast them away. It's not as though the word of
God hath taken none effect, for they are not all God's Israel,
which are of Israel. Neither because they are the
natural children of Abraham are they all children of God. It's only those God chose, only
those God ordained to eternal life by His sovereign, electing,
adopting, redeeming, regenerating grace. That is who His people
are. And he had some there amongst
the house of David, and amongst the house of Levi, and amongst
the house of Judah, and amongst the house of Israel. He had some
elect there. But he also had some among the
Gentiles. So I titled this, Considerest
Thou Not? And here's my main point to you. When we experience God's chastening
hand, when we become troubled like Israel was, In order to
not be cast down, in order to not make such statements as this,
that God's cast away those He chose, in order not to do that,
there are four things we need to consider. Four things. First of all, consider that God
our Father formed His church and He has established it. He
formed his church and he has established it. Look back up
at verse 1. Moreover, the word of the Lord
came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up
in the court of the prison, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the maker
thereof. The Lord that formed it, to establish
it, the Lord is his name. The Lord is the maker of his
church. He's the maker of His church.
The Lord formed it. And Christ Jesus established
His church forever by His precious blood. It's established. In Isaiah 54, 5, after that great
chapter, Isaiah 53, that declares Christ's victory. Right after
declaring Christ's victory, we read in Isaiah 54, verse 5, thy
maker is thy husband. The Lord of hosts is His name,
and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Our Maker and our
Redeemer are the same. The Lord Jesus Christ, the God
of the whole earth, shall He be called. So our place, brethren,
is not to murmur against God's providence. Our place is to come
to God in submission and cry for mercy. That's our place. And look what God says here in
verse 3. Call unto me, and I will answer thee. Show thee, and I
will show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.
So rather than murmur, we come to God and ask for his mercy. Ask him to give us wisdom and
understanding. Now secondly, when we're chastened
by God, consider it's for our good. Consider that it's for
our good. He says there in verse 4, For
thus saith the Lord the God of Israel concerning the houses
of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah,
which are thrown down by the mounts and by the sword. They
come to fight with the Chaldeans. Those of Israel and Judah, some
of them went out to try to fight the Babylonians, the Chaldeans.
but it's to fill them with the dead bodies of men. Listen now,
God speaking, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury. And for all whose wickedness
I have hid my face from this city. You remember what Peter
said? He said, God resisteth the proud
and giveth grace to the humble. The reprobate goes out when he
encounters providence like this and is troubling. He tries to
fight his own battle and fight his way out of it. But doing
so, he is fighting against God's providence. And so he brings
down on himself the anger and the fury of Holy God. And God will judge him. God will judge him. I have slain
them in mine anger and in my fury, God said. And he said,
I did it because of their wickedness. What was their wickedness? They
didn't look to God to deliver them. They tried to do it by
their own hand. God warned them. He said, don't
go. They went anyway. We can't fight our battles with
our own hand. God brings you to a place I've
been here many times where you just have no strength. You can't make anything happen.
You just have to cast your care on God. Trust Him. But look at
this now. God's elect are just like those
reprobate in our flesh. But by God's grace, by the same
trial, by the exact same trial by which He's judging the reprobate,
God is curing and delivering his elect. Look here in verse
6. Behold, I will bring it health
and cure. I will cure them and will reveal
unto them the abundance of peace and truth. Grace and truth came
by who? Christ Jesus. It's the same word
here, peace and truth. Grace and truth came by the Lord
Jesus Christ. And God cures His people of the
disease of sin. That's what we're talking about.
Christ arose with healing in His wings. You know what the
word healing means in many places in Scripture? Remission of sins. The Son of Righteousness arose
with remission of sins for His people. And he says, verse 7,
and I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of
Israel to return and will build them as at the first. What did
Christ do? He let captivity captive. And he says, and I will cleanse
them from all their iniquity. whereby they've sinned against
me and I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have
sinned and whereby they have transgressed against me. Brethren, it's only God's elect,
it's only those in Christ that God cures of all our sins. This can't speak of anybody else
but God's chosen people because that's the only ones He cures
of all our sins. John Gill said, he said, mention
being made of the return of the captivity of Israel as well as
that of Judah shows that this prophecy does not relate to the
return of the Jews from their 70 years captivity in Babylon,
but is to be understood spiritually of a release of the mystical
and spiritual Israel of God from the captivity of sin, Satan,
and the law by the Messiah. That's what we're talking about
here. God says, I'll build them as at the first, at the beginning
of the latter days. God hath in these last days spoken
to us by his son. When Christ came, his first advent,
the beginning of the latter days began. And that's when he began
working this work right here. I'll build them as at the first
times of the gospel. That's when the temple of the
Lord was built by Christ. That's when Christ became the
foundation of his people, of his church, and of the apostles. That's when the church was built
up a habitation of God through the Holy Spirit. When Christ
came the first time. Now notice this about this passage.
This is all of grace. Because we've sinned against
God. Any time we sin, be it against
our fellow man or a brother or sister, we sin against God. We sin against God. I wish we
could enter into just how vile and wicked our sin is to God. But this is amazing grace. God's
love never diminishes toward His people. Never. And so, God
forgives His people entirely of our sin. By His great forgiveness
of our many sins, by forgiving us of our sins, God makes a name
unto His people. He says there in verse 9, and
it shall be to me a name of joy, a name of praise, and a name
of honor. Where's that name? It's in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where God's name is. And
he says, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear
all the good that I do unto them, and they shall fear and tremble. for all the goodness and for
all the prosperity that I procure unto the church. It's God's forgiveness,
it's God's goodness that leads his people to repentance and
makes us fear God. It's his goodness, it's his forgiveness
that brings us to repentance and makes us fear God. He said,
Lord, if you marked iniquities, who could stand? If the Lord
began marking your iniquities, you want to remember sins? You
want to remember, you want to bring up sin? What if the Lord
marked yours? But there's forgiveness with
thee that thou mayest be feared. God said, and they're not only
going to fear me, they're going to tremble. Apostle Paul said,
I was with you in fear and in much trembling. Why? Because this name is so important. Because this word is so important
to declare. That's why. Now brethren, I'm
preaching to myself because I fail in this. But Christ teaches us
to be children like our Father. In forgiving one another's sins
without limit. He said if a brother comes to
you, seven times in a day and ask forgiveness, you forgive
him. Seventy times seven without limit. And he also teaches us
to love with fervent love. That first love, fervent love. He says, above all things have
fervent charity among yourselves. For charity shall cover the multitude
of sin. Love will cover the multitude
of sin. We're sinners. We're sinners. And we're going to hurt one another
at times. That's going to happen. That's not an excuse. That's
just a fact. Expect it. But don't be disappointed
by it. Because it's going to happen.
It's going to happen. But consider how God says to
you and me, I remember your sins no more. The very God who we
sinned against says, I remember your sins no more. If we'll be children like our
Father, then we need to learn to love fervently and to forgive
and to forget our offending brethren. Well preacher, I don't know if
I can do that. Well let me give you something that will help
you. You think on how abominable your sins are against God. You sit and think on that sometime.
I guarantee you it will be worse than whatever your brother or
your sister has done to you. I guarantee you. And then think about God's abundant
mercy, and how His fervent love has never changed towards you,
and how He's forgiven you of all those sins that you sinned
against Him. See, that's how a broken and
a contrite heart is made. That's how a broken and a contrite
heart is made. And the scripture says, a broken
and a contrite spirit, the Lord will not despise. You come to
Him with a broken and a contrite heart, the Lord won't hold you
in contempt. The Lord won't scorn you. The
Lord won't despise you. He won't do that. And so brethren, if a brother
or sister comes to us and they have a broken and a contrite
heart, be like our Father. If we confess our sins, He's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
of all iniquity. If a brother or sister comes
with a broken, contrite heart, don't despise them. Forgive them
and love them fervently. Now thirdly, consider when you
come into trial, consider that God shall return joy to His He's
going to return joy to His people. Look here in verse 10. Thus saith
the Lord, again there shall be heard in this place which you
say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in
the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are
desolate without man and without inhabitant and without beast.
the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the
bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. You remember when
Christ walked this earth? When He walked those streets
that they're talking about right here, when He walked, He said,
how can they mourn when the bridegroom's with them? He's the bridegroom. And He, the voice of the bridegroom
came, and the voice of the bride. And he says here, the voice of
them that shall say, praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is
good, for his mercy endureth forever. And of them that shall
bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. Who's
going to do that? Those God has sanctified and
taught the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who praised the Lord and
offered thanksgiving. Look at this, for our cause to
return the captivity of the land is at the first, saith the Lord.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, again in this place which is
desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities
thereof, shall be a habitation of shepherds, causing their flocks
to lie down. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That's where he began.
And he's the chief shepherd. And he sends forth his under-shepherds,
and they make the flock lie down in green pasture. Look at this. In the cities of the mountains,
in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and
in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem,
and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the
hands of him. Not them, under the hands of
him. Christ our chief shepherd that
telleth, that counteth his elect, saith the Lord. They would bring
a sheep, you know, into the sheepfold and they would hold out a rod
and they would count those sheep as they came into the sheepfold
to make sure there was none missing. That's the image here. Christ
our chief shepherd who counts his sheep, makes sure he hadn't
lost one. And the Lord said, That's going
to happen in Jerusalem. That's going to happen in the
land of Judah and the land of Benjamin. And it began when the
Lord Jesus Christ came the first time. Most people think that
Christ is going to return and He's going to restore Israel
in the end of the latter days. He did it at the beginning of
the latter days. Didn't He say, I'm not sent to
the lost sheep of the house of Israel? Isn't that who he started
calling out first? It was the fulfilling of this
very scripture right here. God tells us that in the next
passage. Look, verse 14. Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which
I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of
Judah. In those days and at that time. He's telling us what time
it's going to happen. Will I cause the branch of righteousness
to grow up unto David? It's at the time that Christ,
the branch of righteousness, sprang up as a root out of the
dry ground, as the branch of righteousness. That's when this
prophecy is fulfilled. In those days shall Judah be
saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely, and this is the name
wherewith she shall be called the Lord our righteousness. That's when Christ came. He performed
this good thing God promised right here in our text. He first
gathered His lost sheep from among the Jews, and then He sent
forth Paul and He began gathering out His elect from among the
Gentiles. He went to the cross and He executed
judgment and righteousness, just like God said He would. And because
He brought His people to believe on Him, therefore through faith,
All the regenerated church is called the Lord Our Righteousness. We wear His name. We're one with
Him. We're one with Him. So remember
that when you come into trial. Remember, God's going to return
joy to His people. It's just a matter of time. And
then lastly, when you think God has cast you off, believer, Consider
this. God's covenant cannot be broken. God's covenant cannot be broken. Look at verse 17. For thus saith
the Lord, David, this is a covenant God made with David, David shall
never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel.
Neither shall the priests, the Levites, want a man before me
to offer burnt offerings and to kindle meat offerings and
to do sacrifice continually. Who's he talking about? Christ
is our eternal King upon the throne of David right now. That's
who He is. And He's our High Priest after
the order of Melchizedek without beginning of days and without
ending of days. Eternal. our eternal King, our
eternal High Priest, and by His precious blood, what's He made
us? He's made us kings and priests
unto God. He says, unto Him that loved
us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made
us kings and priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory
and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Therefore there shall never
be wanting a king upon David's throne. God promised David that. And David believed God. He understood
who God was talking about. David said, Thee, Lord, said
to my Lord. Remember that? Thee, Lord, said
to my Lord. Sit thou at my right hand till
I make thine enemies thy footstool. Sit here on David's throne. David
understood that. He understood And nor shall a
priest be wanted to offer sacrifices. Everybody that God saves, you
know what we are? We're Levites. We're of the house
of Levi. We're God's priests. That's the
only way you can offer a sacrifice of praise to God, is to be made
a priest unto God. And we've been made priests by
Christ our High Priest. And therefore, brethren, God's
covenant to us is as sure as God's covenant with the climate. God's covenant to us is as sure
as God's covenant with the climate. Look here in verse 19. And the
word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord,
If ye can break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the
night, that there should not be day and night in their season,
then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant,
that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne. And
with the Levites, the priests, my ministers, As the host of
heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured,
so will I multiply the seed of David, my servant, and the Levites
that minister unto me. Moreover, the word of the Lord
came to Jeremiah, saying, Considerest thou not what this people have
spoken, saying, The two families which the Lord hath chosen, he
hath even cast them off? Thus they have despised my people,
that they should be no more a nation before them. Thus saith the Lord,
If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not
appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, all the moon and the
stars that make the tides and that make the seasons change.
God said, if I hadn't appointed them, then will I cast away the
seed of Jacob and David, my servant, so that I will not take any of
his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captivity
return and have mercy on them. You see, God's covenant of the
days and the night and the seasons shall never change. It shall
never change. Mark it down. Mark it down. It will never change. Why? Because
God uses the seasons and day and night to remind His elect
of God's everlasting covenant of grace. That's why. It'll never
change. It'll never change. Christ made
God's elect Israel a holy nation. A holy nation. Therefore, in
Christ our surety, from the foundation of the world, we have never ceased
to exist, and we shall never cease to exist. Lord said to Jeremiah, they despise
my people, so that my nation would not exist before them.
That will never happen. God's holy nation has always
existed before God. Listen to this, you're a chosen
generation, you're a royal priesthood, a holy nation. A holy nation. What does that mean? You're the
nation of God separated from every other nation in this earth.
Above every other nation in this earth. God's holy nation, the
one nation for whom God is sustaining and sparing the rest of the nations. When He's finished calling all
His people into this holy nation, that's it. That's it. But who's this seed of Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob and David? Who's this seed He's talking
about? Well, first of all, it's Christ. It's Christ. And second of all, it's all His
elect who rest in Christ by faith. Turn over to Galatians 3 and
look at this. If your Bible's right there where
it says seed, if your Bible says offspring or if it says children,
get you a Bible that says seed. That's very important. Get you
a King James Bible. Look here in Galatians 3.16.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not
unto seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed which
is Christ. See all the covenant, everlasting
covenant of grace can't be broken because it was first made to
Christ. And Christ fulfilled, Christ fulfilled God's end of
the covenant and he fulfilled his elect people's end of the
covenant. He fulfilled it for us. If God's not leaving us with
anything to do to fulfill the covenant, Christ fulfilled it
all. Now look down here at verse 29. And if you be Christ, if
you're believing on Christ, resting in Christ, then are ye Abraham's
seed. You're his elect, you're heirs
according to the promise. That's what we're hearing in
our text, the promise of God. But what about Gentiles? Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on the
tree, that the blessings of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
faith. He has some elect Gentiles too,
that are the seed of Abraham, the seed of God. And therefore,
brethren, God promises us this. Listen to this. This is from
Genesis 8, 22. Listen. He told Noah this when Noah came out
of the ark. God made this covenant promise. While the earth remaineth,
seed time and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter
and day and night shall not cease. Shall not. That's God's word. If it ceased, God would be a
liar. That ain't going to happen. It's
not going to happen. Brethren, when you see the sun
go down, you see the moon come up, when you feel the change
of the seasons, just remember God's covenant of grace is everlasting. He'll never change His covenant
towards His people. You see, God's people had sinned
in Israel and in Judah. And God sent these Babylonians
to correct them, to chasten them, like a faithful father does. And while they sinned just like
the reprobate did, because God chose His people by grace, nothing
could change God from being gracious to them. From loving them, and
forgiving them, and bringing them back, and teaching them,
and correcting them from their sin. Nothing. So when you're
cast down and you're in the middle of that chastening, sometimes
it feels like God's forgotten you. But just remember, God's
covenant never changes toward His people. He hasn't forgot
His people. The last words King David said,
he said, although my house be not so with God, yet he hath
made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure,
For this is all my salvation. You know what David's saying?
He's saying all my eggs are in this one basket. God who cannot
lie. has promised me in an everlasting
covenant and he's ordered it and he's made it sure in Christ
and that's all my salvation. That's it. Next time somebody
asks you what's your hope, that'd be a good thing to read them.
This is all my salvation right here. God has made with me an
everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure. How do
you know it's ordered in all things and sure? For all the
promises of God are in Christ, yea, and in Him, Amen, unto the
glory of God by us, every single promise. Therefore God commands
us, brethren, listen, He says, never cease loving one another
fervently, and never cease forgiving one another. Do you know how
badly we need each other? We're a small little flock. We
need each other to have this gospel. And nothing that ever
happens between us, no matter how I'm offended, nothing is
worth forsaking the gospel of Christ. Nothing. We need this
more than we need our bread, everyday bread. We have to have
the gospel. This is how God keeps His people
fervently loving one another. That's how a multitude of sins
are covered. Remember when you had that first
love? Remember that? Your first love
for your spouse? They did a lot of things wrong,
did a lot of things dumb, but you didn't even notice it, did
you? You didn't pay it any attention. Why, fervent love covers a multitude
of sin. It's so in the house of God amongst
brethren. And remember now, the blood of
Christ is too precious. It's too precious for God to
lose one of His people. Let me end with this. If thou
hast my discharge procured, and freely in my place endured the
whole of wrath divine, payment God will not twice demand, First
at my bleeding surety's hand, and then again at mine. It'll
never happen. He won't lose one. Amen.