May I please Almighty God to
instruct us and bless us as we meditate in his holy word this
evening. Let's turn to the prophecy of
Jeremiah chapter nine, and we'll read verses 23 and 24. Jeremiah
chapter nine, reading verses 23 and 24. Thus saith the Lord, Let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory
in his might. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that
he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which
exercised lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight,
saith the Lord. As I've already said, Jeremiah
lived in a very difficult time when Israel really were walking
contrary to God. They despised the Word of God,
they despised the prophets, and they pursued their own ideas
and their own lusts, and they turned away really from God. And surely as we look around
today, we see the copy of that very situation. And so as Jeremiah
faithfully tells us what the Lord says, and it's good to realize
this is, of course, although Jeremiah has written these words,
it's God speaking through him. And what a blessing tonight if
we realise it is God speaking to you and me through the Holy
Scriptures. And they're not just words of
no value. They're very valuable to the
soul of a believer. And so we have the two situations
in these verses. One, what we should not do. And in verse 24, what we should
do. So it's good to have a comparison
and recognize that God, in his great mercy, has given us such
a clear comparison. And he tells us at the end of
this 24th verse, with regard to those things which He desires
the church to do. He says, for in these things
I delight, saith the Lord. Well, what a mercy and what a
blessing if you and I desire to do those things which delight
the Lord. How very humbling it is to think
that we as sinners of the earth can indeed do anything that delights
Almighty God. And yet we have that statement
here. And so the prophet tells us,
thus saith the Lord. And let's not forget that this
is not the words of mere man. It is the words of the Lord through
Jeremiah. Thus saith the Lord. Let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom. Well, just to run through what
we should not do. Firstly, we see that God does
give wisdom to people and we should be thankful for it and
not just assume it's because of our own acumen or our own
ability but to realise it's what God has granted to us. I'd like to remind people that
some people might think that their own ability has got them
into good positions. Well, may they realise that God
has given them the ability. It's all of His favour. It's
all of His grace. By nature, we don't deserve it
at all. And yet what a mercy if God has
made us wise. And yet he tells us, let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom. We're not to glory in our wisdom. We are to glory in what God's
given us. But it's a very different situation.
And people today can often be very proud of their position
and the knowledge that God has given them. Well, let us realize
that the Lord states here clearly, let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom. and then neither let the mighty
man glory in his might." Well this of course could be physically
and it could be naturally, with natural ability, with our brains,
And people consider they are mighty. And some people are obviously
mighty people that God has raised up. And it's all of his grace
and it's all of his favor. But again, the prophet is very
clear. Neither let the mighty man glory
in his might. We mustn't glory in that which
God has given us as though it's our own. as though it's our own
ability. It's that which God has given
us. And these things are very relevant. It's so easy to be
sidetracked by the devil and start claiming knowledge for
ourselves and ability for ourselves, when in reality it's all that
God has given us. And then he says, let not the
rich man glory in his riches. How many people today glory in
their riches? Well, he tells us here very clearly,
let not the rich man glory in his riches. And we should realise
that riches can come and riches can go very quickly. The Lord's
in control of all these things. You and I are not in control
of them. God is in control of them. People think they're in
control of them, but they're not. It's God who is in control
of them. So let not the rich man glory
in his riches, but in all these things, wisdom, might and riches. It's good if we can recognise
that these are the gift of God. God gives these things. We don't
merit them, we don't deserve them, but it's God that gives
them. And if we recognise that great
truth, then the blessing is that it directs us to the God who's
given them. And if it directs us to the God
who's given them, then we can come into verse 24 and understand
what the Prophet is telling us there. Because verse 24 commences
with that lovely word, but, we had a but this morning, we've
got another but now, and there's many buts in the Word of God,
but, Let him that glorieth glory in this. You see, we're not left
in a vacuum. We're not in a situation where
there's nothing to glory in. God provides the way and shows
us the way. Let him that glorieth glory in
this. And here we have some wonderful
statements. That he understandeth and knoweth
me. Well, what a great blessing tonight. If you and I are blessed with
an understanding of almighty God, an understanding of his
plans, an understanding of his dealings, an understanding of
his grace, an understanding of his love. I wonder tonight, If
we were to just stop and ponder and try and recollect what we
possess and to give us an understanding of these great favours. And so
those are the things that we are to glory in. Let him that
glorieth glory in this. There are things to glory in.
And what a privilege, my friends, for you and me, unworthy, utterly
unworthy sinners of the earth, followed our own nature, followed
our own way. And God has intervened. God has come into our lives. God has come into our heart. And he's shown us where we've
been going wrong. It's a great blessing to have
a God who doesn't leave us, to just wander on through life and
perish in our sins and to fall into hell. What a blessing to
have a God. who gives us this understanding,
not to glory in our wisdom, not to glory in our might, not to
glory in our riches, but to glory in the understanding that God
gives to us about the Lord himself. Oh, it's a wonderful meditation.
It's a wonderful position. to sit, or lie, or stand, or
walk, or whatever it may be, to have a spiritual understanding
of the greatness of God, we will never, never fail to realise
how great God is. The devil doesn't want you and
me to think about that. He wants us to treat God as someone
on the same level as ourselves, someone that we can avoid and
turn away from. But what a mercy, what a blessing
for you and me if God gives us, and has given us, and does give
us, and will give us an understanding a right understanding of the
greatness of God. Let him that glorieth glory in
this, that he understandeth and knoweth me. Well, we can ask
ourselves the question tonight as to whether we understand the
Lord. We understand what he's doing
to us in our life, understand what he has done. He hasn't left
us. He hasn't cast us away as somebody
of no worth. And if that is so, if he hasn't
cast us away, the reason is very clear. It's because He's loved
us with an everlasting love and with loving kindness has drawn
us to Himself. What a mercy! How humbling it
should be if you and I have an understanding of those great
and glorious truths and they apply to ourselves. Surely that's
great reason to desire to glory and glorify our God, giving us
this spiritual understanding. But let him that glorieth glory
in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me. What a mercy if you and I know
the Lord. And how do we know the Lord? Well, the Lord will show us,
if we are his children, that he is the Lord of Lords, that
he is the King of Kings, that he is the great God, and that
he has laid down for us his laws which we are to desire to follow
and to uphold and to not turn away from them. To be blessed,
therefore, with spiritual understanding, to desire to do these things
and to glory in the great truth that God sets before us. See,
none of the Lord's commands are contrary to bringing glory to
himself. All things will bring glory to
him. And so what a mercy of God has
taken us in hand to give us a right understanding with regard to
the Lord himself, his majesty, his holiness. As the creator of all things,
as the one who is the ruler of the universe. This is the great
God. And what a mercy if the Holy
Spirit has given us an understanding. And when that occurs, it makes
us realize how small and how insignificant and how unworthy
we are of any notice and to think that such a God has been so gracious
to bring us into the glorious light and to show us something
of himself and showing us something of himself brings us to know
him and knoweth me. How many people care nothing
for God? What a mercy if you and I have
a care to truly know God, to truly follow God, to truly acknowledge
that He is our Lord and our Master. Well, says Jeremiah, but let
him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth
me. Well, we ought to ask ourselves
the question, has God revealed himself to you and me? Has he revealed himself as the
holy God? Has he revealed himself to us
as the creator of all things? as He revealed Himself to us
as the merciful God, that He hasn't cut us off because of
our sins. We've stood perhaps condemned
at the judgment seat of God and to realize He hasn't dealt with
us as our sins deserve. well we're still on praying ground
because of his goodness because of his mercy and what a blessing
then to have been shown this to have been blessed with it
so we do have a spiritual understanding and then to know him and the
apostle So the prophet goes on to say, and knoweth me that I
am the Lord. Come back to verse 23. Thus saith
the Lord. And now this statement knoweth
me that I am the Lord. Do we realize the God that we
read of in the Bible is the Lord God who is omnipotent, who reigns
eternally, who always has been, no beginning, no end, eternally
the same. This is the great God that you
and I are privileged to have dealings with. And what a mercy,
my friends, if we do have dealings with our God. And by that I mean
this, that we come to Him, we pray to Him, we pray in faith,
believing that we come to the Almighty God, who is able to
do everything for us, to never limit the power of God, What
a mercy then if God has revealed himself unto us in this way. Isn't it humbling? You think
today of the millions and perhaps billions of people who live on
this earth who know not God. Don't know him at all. Don't
know him as the Lord God. Well, what has made you and me
to differ? What's caused there to be a difference
in our life? Well, I believe we read this
as we go on in this verse, that I am the Lord which exercise
loving kindness. It is his loving kindness toward
us. Does that mean anything to us? As the Holy Spirit reveals to
us, not how good we are, but how bad we are. And how we've
offended Almighty God. And how we've turned our back
upon that God. And that God hasn't dealt with
us as we deserve. but because of his loving-kindness. He's shown to us, and through
that loving-kindness, we come to a spiritual understanding
of his great love to such an unworthy sinner. What's the effect? The effect will surely be to
make us stand amazed and give us that desire to truly honour
and glorify God. You see the verses we read previously,
let not the rich man glory in his riches or in his might or
in his wisdom, but Let him that glorieth, glory in this, that
he understandeth, and knoweth that I am the Lord, which exercise
lovingkindness. Well, you must answer before
God. I cannot answer on your behalf. No one can answer on your behalf. You must answer to Almighty God,
the God that made you, the God that created you, the God that's
watched over you, the God that's preserved you, you must answer
to God whether this is true, whether He's given you an understanding,
a spiritual understanding, and that through that you come to
know Him, as that God who has dealt with you in a wonderful
way. That wonderful way is very simply
set forth as He's shown you, yourself, an unworthy sinner
and shown you, Himself, as a glorious Saviour. What a comparison! What an exchange! It's all of his mercy. It's all of his grace. Excuse me. I am the Lord which
exercise loving kindness. Well, what a mercy if you and
I have been brought to come before God, as it were. When no one
else is there, it's just you and God. And God looks into your
heart and God questions you as to whether you're glory in those
things of wisdom and might and riches or whether you're glory
in what God has done for you, in his great love toward you. I wonder if you can answer that
in a positive way. As I've said, no one else can
answer it. You and I stand before a holy God and you and I need
to question our position, whether God has brought us to this situation
where we do desire to glorify God because of his great love
toward us and given us a spiritual understanding? Or if you were
to look into your heart, do you see it unchanged? Do you see
no difference there? Do you see you remain the same
as you always have been, same as you were born? Or can you
come and recognise God's amazing love towards you? that is brought
into your heart, spiritual life. You're able to come and say,
one thing I know, whereas I was blind, but now I see. That's a great blessing. God's
given you an understanding. If you come to that position,
didn't say many things that man in the scriptures didn't say
many things but he was able to confirm that one thing he knew
and perhaps tonight you can grasp that and be able to say yes one
thing I know that whereas I was blind Now I see God has given
me a spiritual understanding. I was in darkness and the light
has shone into my heart. And what light is that? It's
the light of the glorious gospel. And what has it done? It's revealed the Lord Jesus
Christ to you. as the only one that can save
your soul, the only one that can give you the gift of eternal
life. What a blessing. Surely there's
so much reason then to enter into this desire. Let him that
glorieth glory in this. Oh, friends, tonight, may we
all glory in this wonderful revelation which it is spiritual understanding
that through his unmerited favour we do know him whom to know is
life eternal what a great blessing this is what a great blessing
well Jeremiah was spelling it out here to Israel of old They
walked contrary to God. They were still walking contrary
to God. And yet, you see, God was directing
them to the right way, to the grand and glorious truths of
the gospel. And my friends, you and I may
not be any better tonight than those Israelites of old. We may
be walking contrary to God. We may be following our own ideas,
following ourselves. But what a blessing to have this
desire to glorify God because of what is done in our heart,
in our very heart. As already said in prayer, the
last verse in this chapter comes and says, and all the house of
Israel are uncircumcised in their heart. What a blessing. If God
has come and dealt with our heart, touched our heart, made us a
true believer, to believe the truth of God, to believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ, what a mercy that is, what a blessing that
is, we refer to it. This morning, those words of the Philippian
jailer, when he was brought out of prison and he was there standing
before the Apostle Paul, and he came and he asked, you see,
what the position was, what must I do to be saved? It wasn't what the person next
door's got to do. And real religion is just like
that. What must I do to be saved? And the Apostle Paul told him
very clearly, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt
be saved. Wonderful, isn't it? To think
that you and I are privileged to hear the Gospel preached,
the Gospel proclaimed, to read the great and glorious Gospel.
And here was a jailer with no knowledge of God, doing his duty,
until this wonderful occasion when God came. We don't know
exactly how the Holy Spirit worked in his heart. It may have been
when Paul and Silas sang hymns and the prisoners heard him. He may have been one of those
that heard those truths. It may have been, of course,
when The prison gates were opened, and the Apostle Paul told them
what had happened, and cried with a loud voice, Do thyself
no harm, for we are all here. Well, it's a wonderful account,
isn't it? It's a striking account. And it's good to have these striking
accounts, because they set forth the simplicity of the glorious
gospel. And you and I may not be a jailer
in prison, but you and I need to have the same desire. We may come to say as he did,
sirs, what must I do to be saved? I wonder if you've ever come
to God and asked God for that. Have you ever come to him and
said, What must I do? It doesn't matter about anybody
else. What must I do to be saved? And then heard that
great and glorious gospel statement, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Remember that the blessed Saviour,
the second person in the Trinity, The Almighty God came into this
world. Why? To save sinners. He came to pay the price for
their sin. To take away all their sin. Their sin might be washed away.
in his sacred and most glorious and precious blood. Oh, that's
the gospel. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. So coming back to this grand
statement, he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord. Well, has God brought you and
me to that position? that spiritual understanding,
that we do know the Lord. It's not just something we read,
but the Holy Spirit of God has brought it into our hearts, so
that by the grace of God, we come with a great need to be
saved, and a great desire to be saved, and a great prayer
that we might be saved. and to come and hear those glorious
words, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Well, Jeremiah, you see, wrote
these words many, many years before those words that the apostle
spoke to the jailer, but nonetheless, the whole thrust was in these
words. Let him that glorieth the jailer
gloried. He gloried in such an extent
that he was baptized. He believed and he followed the
example and testimony and was baptized. Let him that glorieth
glory in this, the understandeth and knoweth me. Well, what a
mercy tonight if God has given you and me an understanding of
these things. We will be, for the most part,
being brought up to hear the Gospel. But my friends, it's
only as the Holy Spirit of God brings His Word into our hearts
that suddenly the light to the Gospel shines. We never saw it
before. We were blind. And we didn't
care. But what a mercy if God has come
and called us out of the darkness of nature
into the glorious light of the everlasting Gospel and we see
by faith a glorious Saviour, dying to atone for our sins,
something that you and I could never do, however good we might
be, it would never satisfy the law of God, but to think the
law of Jesus Christ. And it is good to think, and
it is good to ponder, to realise that God Himself came down into this earth to
live that glorifying life and to die that sin atoning death,
that most painful death upon the cross at Calvary to take
away our sin. He understandeth and knoweth
me to have Christ revealed to us. We know Him, whom to know
is life eternal, that I am the Lord, which exercise loving kindness,
brings it about in our lives, the loving kindness of the Lord.
judgment and righteousness in the earth. God brings judgment. It's good if he brings judgment
into our hearts so we're judged by God and we fall down guilty. And it makes us cry out in those
glorious words we read in that parable, God, be merciful to
me, a sinner. How suitable they are to an unworthy
person who is condemned by God. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. What did the Lord say? I'll tell
you. That man went down to his house
justified. Yes, justified. What a blessing
if you and I are brought to that place and cry out for mercy. And through that we are justified. We see the judgment of God and
how righteous he is in the earth. And then we come to these last
words. For in these things I delight,
saith the Lord. The Lord loves to see His work
appearing, His work accomplishing that which it went to do. God doesn't fail, and He delights
to see His work. And what a blessing, my friends,
if He's seen that work in your life and my life. And to think that he's delighting
in that work that he sees in such an unworthy sinner as
you and me. In these things I delight, saith
the Lord. Oh, we have such a gracious God,
don't we? Such a merciful God. To think
that that great God delights in an unworthy sinner's conversion. Unworthy sinner's understanding. Unworthy sinner in coming to
the glorious light of the gospel and knoweth the Lord. The true church of God do understand. The true Church of God do know,
the true Church of God do recognise and understand the loving kindness
and the judgement and the righteousness of Almighty God and to think
that Almighty God delights in these things, saith the Lord."
Well, how very clear it was here that the prophet says, he starts,
thus saith the Lord. Yes, he continues, I am the Lord. And he concludes with, I delight,
saith the Lord. Well, may these things really
be true of each one of us so that tonight we may be able to
search out our heart before God and stand before God and rejoice
in his amazing love and mercy to such an unworthy sinner and
recognize that he delights to see his work. Amen.