May I please God to bless us
together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let's turn to the
prophecy of Jeremiah and chapter 10 and we'll read verses 23 and
24. The prophecy of Jeremiah chapter
nine and 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 exercise lovingkindness,
judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these things
I delight, saith the Lord. Jeremiah lived in a very difficult
day. a more difficult day than we
live in at the moment in our country. And yet we can see there
are those similarities. And we can see that Jeremiah
being a true prophet of the Lord, and he didn't balk at bringing
before the people the truth of God, the word that the Lord had
commanded him to speak. And so we're thankful that we
have such an account for us today to encourage us. And as we read
down that ninth chapter, we will see how Jeremiah points out the
many, many situations for which the people of Judah had fallen
into. It was indeed a very sad, sad
time. And although Jeremiah was very
faithful in what he spoke, as indeed were under the prophets,
it didn't really have any lasting effect. And as we know, eventually,
of course, Nebuchadnezzar was allowed to come and to conquer
Judah, and they were taken away, captured many, many miles away
to Babylon. So it was a very sad time in
the history of Judah. We look at ourselves today as
a nation, perhaps look at ourselves individually, and see how there
is the same situation really, which has developed the moment
not to the same extent. But we're thankful indeed that
we have such words as this to encourage us. Because as we come
to this 23rd verse, the Lord speaks through Jeremiah and speaks
to us today about those things wherein we should not glory. And then in verse 24 he tells
us in those things wherein we should glory. and it's a good
thing therefore if we are concerned to glory in those things which
are right and not to glory in those things which indeed are
wrong. It's good therefore to be found
walking in that right way. Well first of all let's look
at verse 23 and we have these three conditions, let not First
of all, wise men glory in their wisdom. Secondly, mighty man
glory in his might. And thirdly, the rich man glory
in his riches. Well, he picks up three very
relevant conditions, and surely relevant conditions in the age
in which we live today. And we might think World Courses
only applies to people and older people, but it may also apply
sometimes to our younger people. And I would encourage our young
people today to recognize these words that Jeremiah speaks as
he comes and says, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. You know, it's very easy to be
very proud perhaps of our natural success in life. And we can sometimes
become very, as you might say, beheaded because of the things
that we've been able to achieve. But the word tells us here, let
not the wise man glory in his wisdom. And just to point out
one of the reasons for this, you see all of us, as we're born
into this world, it's the Lord God who gives us that wisdom,
who gives us the mind, who gives us the ability. And therefore
it's good to thank God for these things. but to not recognize
that it's our wisdom, it's the wisdom that God has given to
us. that will bring a very different
perspective. And if the Lord does graciously
enable us to see that the wisdom that we have God has given us,
then you see we won't glory in our wisdom, we shall then glory
in the wisdom that God has given us. And that puts a very different
complexion upon the situation, because the result therefore
is we don't glory in what we've done, we glory in what God has
done. And really it's the similar truth
with regard to the other aspects in this verse, where we neither
let the mighty man glory in his might, The Lord does raise up
people to be strong and to be gracious and to be wonderfully
blessed, but it's good you see when people recognize that this
gift, which it is, emanates from God. and therefore the desire
is that they glorify God and thank him for the gift that they
have received and not to think well it's their ability and it's
their strength which has enabled them to do this and therefore
we are told neither let the mighty man glory in his might no to
glory in what God has granted to us And then similarly the
last one, let not the rich man glory in his riches. You see sometimes people think
that well riches are evil and wrong. Well the word of God tells
us this with regards to money. It's not money itself, it's the
love of money which is the problem. So you see God gives gifts and
riches to some. We can go in the Word of God
and we can think of Abraham, a very wealthy man, a very godly
man, but nonetheless that he was blessed indeed of his God. And so as we see this condition,
let not the rich man grow in his riches. Again, not to grow
in our abilities, that God has enabled us to have perhaps richest
in this life is only because of what God has given to us. Always remember that everything
you and I possess, including our minds, including our ability,
comes from God. It's not something we developed,
it's that which God has given to us. And if the Lord blesses
us in this way, then you see it will be for his glory. And so let us heed the exhortation
of these words to us this morning, that we are not to glory in our
wisdom, we're not to glory in our might, we're not to glory
in our riches, but we are to glory in what God has done for
us. and what God has blessed us with. But then coming on to
this 24th verse, which is really a very gracious and wonderful
expression of God's mercy toward us, because we're told then,
but, having gone through the other three cases, the Lord now
says, but, Let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth,
and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which exercise lovingkindness,
judgment, righteousness, and righteousness in the earth. For
in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Well, it's good to
have these things that God delights in. We might ask perhaps, well,
what is it actually to glory? What is it to glory? Well, really
it is to exalt with triumph and it is to boast. Well, you see,
you and I shouldn't boast of what we've done, but we can boast
of what God has done. And David in the 34th Psalm,
in the second verse, he tells us, some trust in my soul shall
make her boast in the Lord rather, my soul shall make her boast
in the Lord, the humble shall hear thereof and be glad. So what a blessing for us today
as we go through this 24th verse, our desire and our concern is
to boast in the Lord, boast in his work toward us, because that
will then bring forth glory to our God. And never forget, our
lives on this earth are for the glory of God. If we are his children,
his people, we are not on this earth to wander around pleasing
ourselves. We are on this earth to serve
the Lord, just like Jeremiah was in his day and age. And so we're told, but let him
that glory is glory in this, but he understandeth and knoweth
me. Now this is a wonderful favour,
if God gives us a right understanding of who God is and the blessed
knowledge of himself. This is the gift of God, this
is a wonderful favour. And if the Holy Spirit therefore
gives us an understanding of what God is. And what is God?
God is high and lifted up, just like Isaiah said. He saw the
Lord high and lifted up. God is holy. God is righteous. God is perfect. God makes no
mistakes. God is the creator of all things. God is the almighty God, the
ruler of the universe, the one who created all things. This
is the true God. Now it would be a blessing for
us today if the Holy Spirit has therefore given us an understanding
of the greatness of our God in these things, that he understandeth
and knoweth me. that he understandeth and knoweth
me. What a mercy then therefore if
we understand the greatness of our God in these things and also
if we understand the great and glorious plan of salvation. See mankind for the most part
has no understanding, has no comprehension of the greatness
of these things. but to think, and it's good to
think of what God has done and give us an understanding of that
great plan of salvation. And the great plan of salvation
has this end, to redeem us from all our sins, to prepare us for
our heavenly home in glory. This is to have an understanding
of God's work to and for his people. What a wonderful blessing
then this morning if the Lord has revealed to us this spiritual
understanding and therefore What is the result? Well, it's really
as the Lord says of himself, in these things I did light,
saith the Lord. So when the Lord gives us a spiritual
understanding, it may not be very pleasant to begin with,
because the Lord always deals with our sin and brings us down
to that position where we have to confess that we are guilty. Indeed, we are sinners of the
earth. We have offended the Holy God. In me, that is in my flesh,
dwelleth no good thing, said the apostle Paul. And these are
painful lessons to learn. An understanding of the holiness
of God as he looks upon us as unholy sinners of the earth,
but then to realize the Lord has made a way, a way of redemption,
a way to redeem us, a way to bring us back to God. What a
wonderful, wonderful blessing this is. And so may we have some
understanding of this great truth this morning, but let him that
glory Glory in this. Well, do we glory in the great
truth of God? Do we have some understanding
of what it really means? It's not just something which
is theoretical because it leads us into all truth as it is in
Jesus. But let him that glorieth glory
in this. that he understandeth. Well,
we must all look into our hearts, mustn't we? All of us this morning,
to see whether the Lord has given us this gracious understanding. Look around us in the world today,
how few there are that have this understanding. How few there
are, even so-called Christians don't have a true understanding
of what the Word of God teaches and instructs us in. But what
a mercy as the Holy Spirit has come and given us an understanding. And so as Jeremiah says, that
he understandeth. Do we praise God and do we bless
God for that great, wonderful favour? And is the effect in
our hearts today to exhort for triumph, to boast of what God
has done? We have great reason so to do,
if the Lord has given us a right understanding. but let him that
gloryeth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth
me. That's a great mercy if you and
I spiritually know God. All God's people know God. There are no strangers in heaven. There's no one comes to glory
without knowing the Lord. And therefore today, how important
it is for us to be able to trace out in our lives that by the
grace of God, and there is the grace of God, and what that means
is a free unmerited favour. There was nothing in us that
deserves this favour and this blessing. but it's all through
the grace of God and knoweth me. Well, if you and I know God,
if you and I know God, we'll know him as the great God of
heaven and earth, the one who rules all things, the one who
has made us, the one who has watched over us, And blessed
be God, if we can trace out his hand, the work of the Holy Spirit,
in our hearts, in our souls, to show to us who we are, what
we are, what we deserve. We won't be able to say, well,
I think I deserve a place in heaven. When the Holy Spirit
works in the hearts, there's the opposite. We realize we don't deserve a
place in heaven. We realize that we are sinners
of the earth and we don't deserve any favor because we've offended
God, because we've turned our back upon God, because we've
sinned, we follow the evil one. We follow the plans of the devil.
We listen to his voice. Therefore, we have no right to
a place in glory. But what a blessing, what a wonderful
favour it is if we know the Lord. We know the Lord as that one
who came into this world to save our souls. True religion is personal. You and I cannot get to heaven on our parent's religion. We
cannot get to heaven on our friend's religion. True religion is a
personal relationship between our soul and God. And what a
blessing it is. Therefore, if the Holy Spirit
grants us this blessed knowledge that he and it knows me that
we by God's grace know the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God,
the second person in the Trinity who came into this world, this
sinful world, to save our souls from spending eternity in hell. Well mercy, mercy is welcome
news indeed to those who guilty stand and all
of God's people will stand guilty before our holy God. You and
I won't be able to Just brush off, as it were, our sins and
just ignore them. We need to have the wonderful
evidence that the Lord Jesus came into this world for this
great purpose, to save our souls, to save my soul. It will come
personally. You will need to know the Lord
Jesus Christ did come for that great reason, to save your soul.
and take away all your sin, so that then you have the wonderful
evidence of these words, that he understandeth and knoweth
me, that we know the Lord, that he has dealt with our sins. Now washed away through and by
his great and glorious shed blood that was shed on Calvary so many,
many years ago. This is the center really of
true religion. And it's not that which is of
the flesh, it's that which is of the spirit, because it touches
our heart. That's the real difference. It's
that which touches the heart. I spoke last week and I wasn't
here at home on the on that great occasion, recording the second
of Acts on that wonderful day of Pentecost. And the effect
of the people was this, they were pricked in their hearts. It wasn't just a theoretical
knowledge of these things, the Holy Spirit touched their hearts. What a mercy therefore, if you
and I have the evidence that the Holy Spirit has touched our
hearts, gripped our hearts, to direct us to the great and glorious
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's just what Peter did on
that occasion, wasn't it? Under the influence of the Holy
Spirit, they were directed to the suffering Saviour. They were
directed to the crucified Savior. And they were directed to recognize
that it was because of their sins, they crucified the Lord
of life and glory. And so we have this wonderful
statement before us this morning, that he understandeth and knoweth
me, that I am the Lord, none less. The Lord God. The Lord
God. None the less, the creator of
the universe. So often people today have small
views of God. They don't realise how great,
how powerful he is. You and I are just mere small
sinful specks on the earth. and yet how condescending it
is, how the evidence of this great God has been mindful of
us and touched our hearts and caused us to have the evidence
indeed that we know the Lord. We know him as our saviour, the
one who has saved us from all our sins and the one who has
gone into glory. to repair a place for us. And so Jeremiah comes on in this
verse and says, he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the
Lord, which exercise loving kindness. Loving kindness to such people,
might say, well, what was there in me to merit esteem? Nothing at all was there, no
good in ourselves, We were born in sin and shaped in iniquity. There was nothing worthy in ourselves
of any notice. Yet what a blessing it was, if
the Lord has indeed loved us. And in this same prophecy, of
course, we have the wonderful truths of this word spoken in
the 31st chapter, where Jeremiah tells us, The Lord hath appeared
of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with everlasting
love, and therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. That's a great
verse, isn't it? You see, it's God's love. God's
love to such unworthy sinners. What a mercy today, if when we
think of these words, I am the Lord, which exercise loving kindness,
that means he shows to us his loving kindness to warn us. That's a wonderful experience. And that's a wonderful blessing.
And it really is a necessary blessing, because we do need
to know that we are loved of God. To have these words spoken,
as Jeremiah says, saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, a love from eternity, a love to eternity. To hear such a statement
is really too hard for us to naturally comprehend. To think
that you and I were loved before the world was created. To think that you and I were
loved before we were born. To think that you and I were
loved when we were truly evil and sinners of the earth, and
yet God still loved us with this everlasting love. See, when the
word speaks like that, it means what it says. It's everlasting. That means it cannot be removed,
it cannot be taken from us. And so what a great truth this
is. I the Lord, I am the Lord, which
exercise loving kindness, shows us the loving kindness of the
Lord with everlasting love. And therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. This again is a a tremendous
testimony, tremendous evidence of God's love toward us, when
he draws us to himself. Mankind naturally is not drawn
to God, he's at enmity with God. And as you and I both look back
in our lives, perhaps even today, we may be at enmity with God,
against God, fighting against God. See we're in that condition
until the Lord comes in this great and glorious way and draws us, draws us to himself. What does that mean? It means
this, there's a wonderful attraction in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not the attraction of the
things of this world, but it's the attraction of the love of
Christ. Yes, that love of Christ is rich
and free. fixed on his own eternally. What a mercy then to experience,
because it is experienced by the true Church of God. It's not just a fact in history,
it's not just a theoretical statement, it is that which the Holy Spirit
applies to our hearts, which enables us to rejoice truly in
what God has done for us. in granting us this wonderful
blessing which exercise loving-kindness. Well this morning I hope we can
trace that in our lives and if you can't and be honest to God
don't pretend, you don't have to pretend to God, you can be
very honest to God because God knows all about you. He knows you inside out, in fact
He knows you better than you know yourselves. So you see,
you can come to the Lord and you can tell him exactly how
you are, how you feel. And if you don't know this wonderful
blessing of this exercise of loving kindness in your hearts,
this great drawing power by the Holy Spirit towards the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ, do earnestly pray to him. he tells us you
will be inquired of by the house of israel to do these things
for them so therefore don't be afraid to come in whatever condition
you are because we have so many encouragements in the word of
god the lord himself said come unto me all your labor and are
heavy laden and i will give you rest Rest in the knowledge that
Christ is your Saviour. Rest in the knowledge that he
has loved you with everlasting love
and with the knowledge that he graciously draws you to himself. This is the work of the Spirit. This is the blessed work of the
Spirit. It's a very wonderful work of
the Spirit. It's a very humbling work of
the Spirit to recognize that the Lord has indeed looked upon
us and has not dealt with us as our sins deserve. Then he
says, our Lord will exercise judgment. God is a just God. God is not unjust in his dealings. Some people think, well, you
know, if I'm sent to hell, then you see God isn't just. Well,
he is. Because all of us deserve, through our sins, remember, the
soul that sinneth it shall die. We're all under the curse. We
all deserve to be sent to hell. We all deserve the judgment of
God. to come on us in that way. I am the Lord which exercise
judgment. Well, it will be a blessing for
you and me if the Holy Spirit has come and convinced us of
our guilt before a holy God and has enabled us to flee to Christ
as that refuge for sinners The gospel most known is found in
the merits of Jesus alone. What a blessing that is. If the Holy Spirit has enabled
us to flee to Christ as we realize we're under the just condemnation,
we're under the judgment of God, because God is just. None of
us are going to say, well, God is unjust and sending me to hell.
No, we're all in that condition. We all deserve it. What a mercy
if we come in with those words, which the Lord spoke in the 15th
of John, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and
ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and
that your fruit should remain because people on this earth
not to just please themselves but to bring forth fruit to the
honor and glory of almighty God. And so he says I am the law which
executes loving-kindness judgment and righteousness. Righteousness. We are not righteous ourselves
are we? We're unrighteous. you see as
the Lord graciously comes and justifies us through his death
as he's taken away our sins he's made us just we were unjust justified
us and as we're justified us then we receive this great and
glorious gift of his righteousness yes what a mercy what a blessing
that is and it's spelled out really So wonderfully is that
robe of his righteousness, it's pure, and it's wonderful to receive. It's that which the Lord gives
us, it's imputed to us, it's placed upon us. What a mercy
then this morning if we have the evidence that Christ has
loved us. We never asked him that because
he has. Then you see we receive this
great and glorious righteousness. His righteousness. We haven't
got any ourselves. All our righteousness is as filthy
rags. Don't think you have anything
which is of any value. The only value you have is what
Christ has done for you. not what you've done yourself,
what Christ has done for you. There's your righteousness and
what a great blessing it is to be under that. and righteousness. So I the Lord which exercise
loving kindness judgment and righteousness in the earth. Then
the Lord says for in these things I delight saith the Lord. These
are the things which are pleasing to God and you know why? Because
it's his grace and glorious work being revealed. What a mercy
it is then for us this morning if we have the evidence of this
work of God his work, his glorious work, his wonderful work, because
if you and I possess his work in our souls we are possessors
of the great and glorious gift of eternal life and therefore
by his grace one day when we leave this earth when time for
us is no more we should go to be with Christ as the Apostle
Paul says which is far better. Now what a mercy for us, as we're
on this earth, the Holy Spirit shows to us that the things of
glory are much better, far better than the things of this time.
And as the Holy Spirit grants this revelation to our hearts,
then what is the effect? The effect is this, but let him
that gloryeth, glory in this. So this morning, I hope we may
be able to glory in what God has done. Glory in his great work in our
hearts and praise him for all these things that he has done. In the Corinthians, when the
apostle wrote to the Corinthians in the first chapter, he speaks
about mankind and he tells us this and such were some of you
previously gives a long list of all the evils and sinfulnesses
which exist and such were some of you but ye are washed but
ye are sanctified that means made holy but you are justified
now in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. So what must we say? Surely we must say very simply,
to God be the glory of the great things he has done. Amen.