May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
prophecy of Jeremiah, chapter 23, and we'll read verse 29.
Prophecy of Jeremiah, chapter 23, and we'll read verse 29. is not my word like as a fire,
saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces. Jeremiah uses two analogies here
with regards to a fire. He said, is not my word like
as a fire? saith the Lord and the first
thing he says and like a hammer that breaketh a rock in pieces
and of course as a fire and a fire of course needs to be ignited
it can't just start by itself it has to be ignited and also
to break a rock in pieces there has to be a hammer which is moved
by a hand somebody will have to use the hammer to smite it
so we should be mindful of these things and so as we think first
of all of the fire is not my word like as a fire? well first of all I thought we
would turn to that chapter we read in the Gospel of Luke because
there we have a wonderful illustration of the Word of God being as a
fire. Indeed there were those two walking
on the Emmaus Road and they said in verse 32 of that 24th chapter,
one to another, did not our heart burn within us while he taught
with us by the way and while he opened to us the scriptures
it is a very wonderful account and a very blessed account to
realize that Jesus, as we're told, drew near and went with
them. There were these two on the Emmaus
road, we're told to behold two of them, went that same day to
a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem, about three
score furlongs. And we're told, and they talked
together, of all these things which had happened. I suppose
it's fairly obvious to talk about things which have happened, but
here it was a very wonderful and a very special occasion,
because it was the day that Jesus had risen from the dead. And so they spoke of these things,
and while they were speaking and communing together. Jesus
came and drew near and went with them. Well that's a great blessing
for us and what a wonderful thing it is if we know something of
the experience or if we don't know it that we desire something
of this wonderful testimony of our heart burning within us. like a fire in our chest which
is so wonderful and these two are blessed with it and many
of the people of God likewise have been blessed with this wonderful
burning burning sensation, not physical but that which is there
and it's there because of the work of the Spirit within them
it's a wonderful evidence that we possess the life of God in
our souls so it's good that we might be able to trace out whether
we have had that glorious knowledge as these two on the Emmaus Road
had. And it's good to just remember
what they were saying and what they were speaking about. They
weren't speaking about the weather. They weren't speaking about what
they'd been doing the previous day. They spoke about the things
of God. And it's wonderful, therefore,
if God gives us grace to speak about the things of God. We commune
together so that we recognize the importance of such things. Because Jesus said, what manner
of communications are these that ye have one to another as ye
walk and are sad? And the one of them whose name
was Cleopas answered and said unto him, aren't there only a
stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are
come to pass therein these days? And Jesus said, what things?
And they said, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet,
mighty indeed, and word before God and all the people, and how
the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned
to death and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been
he which should have redeemed Israel. Beside all this today
is the third day since these things were done. Well they were
talking and they were able to speak of the things of course
which were very vital and very important because as they said
to Jesus they trusted that Jesus should have been the one that
had redeemed Israel and no doubt they were part of Israel and
they were dependent upon also being redeemed. And then they
move on to the people that had gone to the sepulchre and they
didn't find Jesus. and then that as they came and
said and certain of them which were with us to the sepulchre
and found it even as the woman had said but him they saw not
and then Jesus came and said oh fools and slow of heart to
believe all that the prophets have spoken. Well, that was true
of those people. My friends, how often it's true
of us today. Often, we are slow of heart to
believe all the prophets have spoken, all that the word of
God speaks to us, the word of truth. What a blessing if God
gives us faith and grace to believe the wonderful truths of the Gospel. And so the Lord says, O fools
and slow of heart, perhaps we have to realise that we're no
better really. We're fools and we're slow of
heart to believe the great and glorious truths of the Gospel.
And the Lord then speaks to them. He says, ought not Christ to
suffer these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning
at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all
the scriptures the things concerning himself. What a wonderful sermon
that must have been. What a glorious account it was
for these two to hear. And it's not surprising, is it?
It had a good effect upon them. Well, you know, the Lord still
today does sometimes draw near to his people, not in a physical
way like it was here, but nonetheless, he does draw near and remind
them of the great truths of Scripture. and encourages them to believe
in these things. And so the Lord came and said,
Ought not Christ to suffer these things and to enter into glory?
And then they drew near to the village, where they went. And
he made as though he would have gone further. And they constrained
him, saying, Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the
day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with
them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, He
took bread and blessed it and gave to them. And what was the
effect? And what was the result? And
their eyes were opened. Their spiritual eyes were opened. And they knew Him. And He vanished
out of their sight. And the result they were able
to testify was this. Did not our heart burn within
us? while he taught with us by the
way and while he opened to us the Scriptures. Well it's a blessing
if you and I in measure can enter in to such a great and wonderful
truth as the Lord opens to us spiritually the Scriptures, shows
to us that this same Jesus came into this world and died upon
that cross in order to redeem our souls that we have the gracious
application of such words to our soul and when they are applied
there is also this gracious and wonderful effect of our heart
burning within us the evidence really that God has condescended
to come and to reveal Himself unto us as He does not unto the
world. Well, it's a wonderful blessing.
It's a wonderful favour. And it is something to be sought
after. It is something to be obtained. It is something to realise. It's not just a figment of imagination. It's the blessed work of the
Spirit, and it's the wonderful evidence of the life of God in
the soul. And so, Jeremiah speaks about
this fire. Is not my word like as a fire? Well, that word, to those two,
the word of God was like as a fire. And what a blessing if it is
to us today, like as a fire. A fire gives warmth. A fire is to be known and seen. And what a mercy then if you
and I understand and see the great and glorious truth and
work of Almighty God within our souls. Because here it is, it
is the Word of God. You and I may not have had such
a revelation indeed as those two on that Emmaus Road, but
has there been an occasion when God has spoken a word. Is not my word like as a fire? Spoken to our souls. To look back and say, well, the
Lord did say that to me. And that which the Lord spoke
did have an effect upon me. because God's work and God's
word does have an effect upon us. It's not just like somebody
mumbling along, it is the very word of God. And you can be sure
of this, that when the Lord speaks a word to our hearts, it's very
appropriate because it's something that we needed perhaps we've
been praying for perhaps we've been praying for a long time
and then by God's grace he speaks a word into our very heart and
it's like a fire oh it's something very precious and it's something
very real And the effect is that we know it emanates from our
God. We know it emanates from God.
We may perhaps be surprised at the time, and as we perhaps ponder
it and think over it, can we realize how gracious God has
been to remember you and remember me in our lowest state. yes you see God knows where we
are God knows what we need and perhaps you know sometimes when
we're in a sad state God comes you
see what does a fire do? it warms and a fire also refines
it refines and the hotter the fire it more it refines and when
I say that what I mean is this the fire burns that which is
of no value and gets rid of it and the hotter it is the more
rubbish is consumed it doesn't burn up that which is from God
it doesn't burn up naturally any silver or gold but it is
necessary to refine metals And my friends, it's also necessary
to refine us. And we should be very thankful
if sometimes we may find ourselves in, as it were, the fire, and
we may wonder really what it means. Well, the Lord deals with
his people, remember, in love to their souls. And what a wonderful
blessing that is. We read in the 48th of Isaiah
about this. This is what the Lord tells us
in the 10th verse of that 48th chapter. He says, behold, and
that means we are to take notice of it when the word says behold
it is because something important. He says, I have refined thee,
but not with silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. That's often the way how the
Lord comes. And often how the Lord does. Refine us. Burns up that which
is, we might say, of the flesh. He doesn't burn up that which
He has given us. But He burns up that which does
not emanate from Him. And that's a great mercy, isn't
it? Because we're not left to rely upon a false hope. We are left to rely upon a good
hope. A good hope through His grace. And the evidence that it is His
work. I have refined thee. What a wonderful
thing that is. to know that it's the Lord I
have refined me. It's not what man does. It's
not what man says. That would never satisfy. That
would never be effective. But the Lord's work is because
the Lord knows how to deal with us. He knows how to refine us. But it will be, as we're called
to pass through the furnace of affliction. Remember these words,
I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. We haven't been
chosen walking along some calm pathway. No, we've been chosen
in the furnace of affliction. And the reason for that is, wonderfully,
to bring honour and glory to Almighty God. Zachariah, in his
prophecy, also speaks to us about this furnace. And in the 13th
chapter we read, and in the 9th verse, this is what he tells
us, And I will bring the third part through the fire. That indicates that you and I
have to lose two-thirds of perhaps what we were relying upon. But the blessing is to know that
we do possess something which is real and God-given. He says,
I will. I will bring the third part through
the fire and will refine them as silver is refined and will
try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name and
I will hear them. I will say it is my people and
they shall say the Lord is my God. Well that's worth going
through a time of refining to be blessed with such a positive
outcome as Zachariah tells us here. I will say it is my people
and they shall say the Lord is my God. Well perhaps you understand
what that means to come through the fire and to lose perhaps
some things which you may have been relying upon You may have
been a bit doubtful in your mind perhaps about it, but the time
comes when the Lord doesn't leave us to rely on a false evidence. He doesn't leave us to rely on
something that we've extracted from the Word of God. He leaves
us to rely upon that which He has done for our soul. and that's
a great strength and a great confirmation and a great encouragement
to know that we have a God as we pass on through this world
who doesn't leave us just to wander on aimlessly but deals
with us in love to our souls and what is it? it's a great
and wonderful preparation for our eternal home we won't come
there short We won't come there without the blessing because
that which God leaves us with is His work and His work will
stand every test, every trial and live at last. And so let
us be thankful then that we have a God who is gracious and does
come and does refine us with fire. is not my word, like as
a fire, saith the Lord. Well, God's word is. Perhaps
when the Lord brings us into these situations we may not be
very happy, but you may remember there is that very soul-strengthening
word which says, it is good that I have been afflicted. that God lays us low that he
may bless our soul sometimes it's to bring us to a time to
rest, a time to think a time to meditate because we don't
want to go into anything and come out of it not bettered we
want to be bettered for the experience bettered to realise we have a
God who is dealing with us, and always remember this, in love
to our souls. When we have a view of that,
it puts everything in a right place. We don't then complain,
we don't say, well why is this? We recognise it is the good hand
of God. And that's very humbling, really,
to think the Lord hasn't left us, He hasn't forsaken us, but
in love to our souls, He's brought us to this position, to pass
through the fire. Is not my word like as a fire? Well, let's ponder these words
and remember the importance of them and the relevance of them. Is not my word like as a fire? And then Jeremiah goes on to
say, And like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces. So as I commence by saying, of
course, the hammer has to be held by somebody. Well, we can
be thankful to know that the hammer is held by none other
than Almighty God. And that hammer is used very
wisely and very wonderfully. And what a great favour it is
to realise the Lord is kind and gracious and long-suffering toward
us. Ezekiel knew what this was. Ezekiel is not an easy prophecy
to read, as I expect most of you know. It's very difficult
in many parts, but it does have some beautiful parts in it. And in the 36th chapter, and
from verse 25, we read this. Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will
take away the stony heart out of your flesh. and I will give
you an heart of flesh. Well, Ezekiel tells us that great
truth. It's the only word in the whole
of the Bible which speaks about giving a new heart. And we should
be very thankful, therefore, that there are these isolated
texts in the Word of God to encourage us. And such a truth is therefore
important to realize. We should never skip over chapters
in the Bible, never skip over books in the Bible and think,
well, that's not very interesting, I shan't gain much profit from
that. Because often in these books there are verses here and
there which are of great importance and great encouragement to us.
And surely here is a wonderful statement, made by the Lord through
the prophet Ezekiel, a new heart also will I give you. the old heart was taken away
broken up and instead he gave us a heart
of flesh well perhaps we know that we've had a hard heart perhaps
we have to say we've got a hard heart and we need that heart
to be broken up we need it to be taken away you and I won't
be able to do it Because very often we're fond of our hard
heart. And what a blessing it is when we have a God who saith
the Lord who does this, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock
in pieces. And you see, God does it, remember,
in love to our souls. We may be, perhaps, as this breaking
sequence begins, as the hammer hits and as the hammer, perhaps
as it were, may touch a raw nerve, we're not very happy about it.
We don't want it to be disturbed. We don't want, perhaps, the idols
that we've been worshipping, perhaps, in our heart. The previous
verse which we read says, from all your idols, would I cleanse
you? well sometimes we do have idols
we may not always be aware that we have idols they may be sinful
idols we may not think much about them and yet you see what those
idols do is they separate us between our soul and God as it
were they drive a wedge in between and we don't want them removed
really but you see the Lord in love to our souls doesn't leave
us He doesn't leave us to ourselves He comes and He blesses us and
He gives us this new heart and He takes away the stony heart
and instead of that He gives us A heart of flesh. A heart
of flesh is a soft heart. A heart of flesh is a heart with
a tender conscience. And it's good to know that God
is dealing with us in love to our souls. That's what it is. Well, what a mercy then if God
comes and deals with us in this way. and touches our heart and
doesn't leave us to ourselves. It's a great mercy and it's a
great blessing, you know. Well, there are many words which
the Word of God instructs us in and directs us in. In the
third chapter of Paul's epistle to the Corinthians, he speaks
about this. Coming back to the fire, He says,
and every man's work shall be made manifest. For the day shall
declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire. And the
fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. You see, we may think that we're
doing good works. We may think we're doing that
which is God-honouring and that is going to please God. But the
problem is we may find that pride is mixed with the things that
we're doing. And therefore it's not acceptable.
With God, however, good we may think our motive is. It's good
when God shows to us that we don't have a pure motive as perhaps
we thought we did. And yet we're told every man's
work shall be made manifest. God will reveal it to us. It's
a blessing that we have a God like that, isn't it? He doesn't
leave us in our sinful condition. He doesn't leave us to continue
in our own role, in our own way. but to recognise God's work.
Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare
it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try,
the fire shall test. Every man's work of what sort
it is. If any man's work abide, which
he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. Because that
which God enables us to do, and the fire doesn't burn it up,
it remains. It's that which God has done,
and that which indeed is for the honour and glory of our God.
And we should be therefore very thankful to know that God is
dealing with us in love to our soul. Is not my word like as a fire,
saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces. You see, the Word of God in Zechariah
refers to us, our heart, as an adamant stone. That means a stone
which is almost impossible to break. It's an unusual word,
adamant, but it's there in the Bible, it's for our instruction. And that's what sometimes we're
like. It's really hard. We may feel
we have a really hard heart. And we wonder sometimes how it
will ever be taken away. Well, the Lord knows how. to
deal with us. We don't know how to deal with
ourselves. The Lord knows how to deal with us. And sometimes
it's in a very different way to what we expect. Sometimes
it's like this. The hammer comes down upon us. And it comes down upon us as
we meditate upon the cost of our salvation. Because the reality
is the Lord Jesus Christ bore the punishment instead of us. Yes, we deserved all the ire
of Almighty God. because of the rebellion and
hardness of our heart. But what a blessing if the Holy
Spirit comes and shows us God's Word is like a hammer that breaketh
a rock in pieces. Now sometimes a rock has to be
hammered many times to break it. It doesn't break with the
first blow. Has to be hammered many times. And sometimes that's
the same in our spiritual life. The Lord comes to us perhaps
on many occasions and directs us to Calvary. And many times our heart-heart
rebels. And many times, we don't want
to come to Calvary. We don't want to view the suffering
Saviour. But yet, you see, what a mercy,
if we have the evidence, the Lord continues. Yes, the hammer
strikes, and it strikes again. And my friends, through the mercy
of God, eventually our hard heart is broken down. It's broken down. Yes, it's taken in pieces, it
falls in pieces. And then you see we're made willing
in the day of His power to view by faith the cost of our salvation. Then you see we shall rejoice
in what Christ did, to take away all our sins, to remove them,
to blot them out as a thick cloud. Yes, and to be cast into the
depth of the sea, to be seen no more forever. When God forgives,
it's not partial. And the Lord forgives. The work
is done. The hard heart is broken. We're
blessed with that new heart, that clean heart, that soft heart
that desires indeed to come and be found at Calvary and to enjoy
the blessing there just like Paul did. when he wrote to the
Philippians and said that I might know him and the power of his
resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings and be made
conformable unto his image. Yes, you see, Paul had had all
the rebellion, all the hardness removed. He'd go back to the
Damascus road when he was a rebellious sinner, and yet God had mercy
upon him. And we're thankful today that
we still have a merciful God who doesn't deal with us as our
sins deserve, but comes to us where we are, where we are. I remember he came to Paul. There he was on that Damascus
road. He came to him there. That was Lydia, by the riverside
where prayer was wont to be made. The Lord came to her there. The
Lord knows where we are. He knows all about our life.
He knows our rebellion. He knows the hardness of our
heart by nature. And yet you see, saith the Lord,
and like a hammer that breaketh a rock in pieces. What a kind
and gracious God we have, my friends, who takes us in hand
and leads us indeed to Calvary. Every born-again sinner will
rejoice to be found at Calvary with the hardness of the heart
removed, the soft heart given, and by faith to view the suffering
Saviour. Well, says Jeremiah, is not my
word like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that
breaketh a rock in pieces? Well, tonight, my friends, all
of us need to examine ourselves as we are encouraged to do whether
we are in a faith or not to see whether God's Word has been to
us like a fire or God's Word has been to us like a hammer
to break in pieces all the hardness and rebellion of our heart and
to make us willing in the day of his power that's the effect
of the grace of God made willing do his will, to be made willing
to suffer for his sake, to be blessed then with that union
and communion, and to rejoice in what God has done. Is not
my word then like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer
that breaketh a rock in pieces? Amen.