May the Lord be pleased to bless
us together this morning as we consider his word. Let's turn
to the prophecy of Jeremiah chapter 31 and reading verse 21. The prophecy of Jeremiah chapter
31 and reading verse 21. Set thee up way marks, make thee
high heaps, set thine hearts toward the highway, even the
way which thou wentest, turn again, O Virgin of Israel, turn
again to these thy cities." The Prophet Jeremiah is really
addressing here the people of Ephraim. Ephraim were a part
of the Northern Territory and they were representative of Israel
and in the earlier verses 18 we read, I have surely heard
Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, thou hast chastised me and I
was chastised as a bullock, and accustomed to the yoke, turn
thou me, and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned,
I repented, and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh,
I was ashamed, yea even confounded, because I did bear the reproach
of my youth. So we have here a statement with
regards to Ephraim and we see how Ephraim recognised the situation
that he had been in and to acknowledge that he had been chastised That
means he had been corrected. Now, none of us like being corrected. We all like to think that we've
done everything right and that we are white and not black. We
don't like to be corrected. And we see the description of
Ephraim when he says that He was just like a bullock, unaccustomed
to the yoke. He kicked. He didn't like this
situation. He didn't like being controlled.
That's really what it was. You know when an ox and a yoke
together, well they can't wander off. They have to stay together. And clearly Ephraim was rebellious
about that. He wanted to go away. He wanted
to do his own thing. In fact, it may be that he wanted
to return and to worship idols. We have a reference to this in
the prophecy of Hosea. I know Hosea lived quite a few
years before Jeremiah. But nonetheless, there are several
statements the reference to Ephraim in Hosea, in fact a lot. And
he says, he makes this statement in chapter 4, verse 17. Ephraim is joined to idols. And in a very solemn statement,
let him alone. Well, I'm sure that we don't
want to be found like that. Joined to idols. And that's a
comprehensive statement It doesn't actually itemise what those idols
are, so you're not able to say, well, of course I don't bow down
or I'm not joined to that idol, because it is a comprehensive
statement. Ephraim is joined to idols, let
him alone. Well, may we not be found like
that, that the Lord leaves alone. But, in the last chapter, of
Hosea, we also read about the Lord's gracious dealings with
Ephraim. And this is what he says. He
says, what have I to do any more with idols? There's a complete
change, a different situation. Here he is asking this question. Now, effectively saying, now
I don't want anything to do with idols. What have I to do anymore with
idols? So here we have Ephraim recognising
that he had been like a bullet unaccustomed to the yoke. He
wanted to follow his own way. He wanted to obey and be pleased
with the idols that perhaps he was bowing down to. What a good
thing then. If again in our lives the Lord
is gracious and brings us to this position, which is a total
change around. It's a total reversal. What am
I to do anymore with idols? It means we don't want to engage
in them. That means we don't want to be
involved in them. We don't want to follow them. And having asked that question,
the Lord gives this answer to him. He makes a statement, he
says this, I have heard him firstly, secondly, and observed him. Thirdly, I am like a green fir
tree, and fourthly, from me is thy fruit found. Now, what a
blessing for us, as it was here with Ephraim in this record,
in this position here, that the Lord had heard him. The Lord had heard him. But has
the Lord heard you and me? And that means we come and we
pray to God with a true prayer. That means a prayer from our
heart. That means an honest prayer. Not just a form of traditional
words which we do to satisfy our conscience, but indeed a
prayer, perhaps a prayer like we've sung in our first hymn,
a prayer from the heart for mercy. Because if we have been joined
to idols, we will need the Lord in his mercy to deliver us from
that situation, and you can bless God that if you and I are a child
of God, if you and I are a true believer, we shall be brought
from that position of following idols, bearing down to them,
to a situation where the Lord turns us around. And then we
pray to the Lord for mercy to be delivered from following a
position, a situation like that. And what a mercy if we know the
Lord's heard us. And he's observed us. He's seen
the change. It's evident in our life. We're
a different person. We're now following the Lord. We're now going in his path.
We're now doing his will. I've heard him and observed. We won't go on any more than
that. You can meditate on that at your leisure. But nonetheless,
that's the situation with regards to Ephraim, who was rebellious. And yet, you see, the Lord was
merciful to him. And he says, he was unaccustomed
to the yoke. And he says, turn thou me and
I shall be turned for thou art the Lord my God. Same really
kind of position, wasn't it? He was willing and desiring that God would change
him, that God would turn him round. Now that's a great favour,
isn't it? That means the Lord is working
in our heart. That means we're bowing down
to God's will. So this statement, turn now me,
again it's a personal desire and again a humble belief, I
shall be turned and the confidence, for thou art the Lord my God. And what that really means is,
if we are to pray to God from our heart, it will be in faith
and it will be believing we are praying to the living God. We
are not praying to an idol, We're not praying to a dead God, we're
praying to a living God. And so, for thou art the Lord
my God. Surely after that I was turned.
When he was turned round, when God had answered his prayer,
he repented. What a blessing it is to be given
that gift of repentance. When the Lord has looked upon
us, to then repent of those things that we've done wrongly. The
things we've done in opposition to the Lord God. You know, it's
a great gift, repentance. It's a wonderful blessing to
be given repentance. Because when God gives repentance,
you know, we don't repent of that repentance. And I believe
also, it is so, so true, that when the Lord gives us that desire
and that grace to be turned around, we realize It's the Lord's goodness
toward us. That means he hasn't chucked
us on the rubbish heap where we deserve to be, don't we? That's where we deserve to be,
on the rubbish heap. What a mercy to the Lord as it
left us to be there. He looked upon us in mercy. What has it done? It's turned
us around. What has it done? We've beheld
the goodness of the Lord to such an unworthy sinner. There's nothing more melting
to a hard heart than the goodness of the Lord to realise God hasn't
judged us and dealt with us as our sins deserve. And so, Ephraim was able to recognise
the goodness of the Lord. Shortly after that I was turned,
I repented. Well, my friends, repentance
is a gift of God. We all need it. We all must have
it. But oh, can we tonight, this
morning rather, look into our hearts and find there the Spirit's
work. This is the work of the Spirit. Don't turn away from it, but
grant the Lord might turn us to it, to observe this great
and blessed work. And so, he says, surely after
I was turned, I repented and after I was instructed, you see
the Lord instructed him. What a good thing it is to have
instruction from the Lord. And the Lord speaks into our
hearts. It's divine instruction. And it affects us. We have to
get rid of all the hardness and rebellion and everything else.
We bow down and worship. So, I smote upon my thigh. I was ashamed. Yea, even confounded. Because
I did not bear the reproach of my youth. Well, again, it's a
good thing if we are ashamed of our attitude, ashamed of the
things we've said and done, recognising they weren't from the Spirit
of God. They are from our old nature. They were instituted
by the old devil. But, oh, blessed God, if his
love has been so great that he's caused us to come and to repent. He's Ephraim, my dear son, Is
he a pleasant child? For since I spake against him,
I do earnestly remember him still. Therefore my bowels are troubled
for him. I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord." Look
at the promises of God. They're wonderful, aren't they?
To a rebellious person, to a hard-hearted wretch, to a black sinner. It's the mercy and favour of
the Lord. Is he a pleasant child? We weren't
at one time, were we? We were a pretty unpleasant child.
We may be an unpleasant child today. You may be unpleasant. If you're honest, look at yourself.
Are you a pleasant child or are you an unpleasant child? For since I spoke against him,
I do earnestly remember him still. So the Lord remembers his people.
He doesn't forget them. He doesn't forget them. As it were, you're on a rope.
The Lord's got you on a lease. He lets you go away for a while.
He lets you wander on, as it were, down the broad way. But
you know, you can't go beyond the measure that the Lord allows
you to. You may think you're free, but
you know, a dog on a lease, when he's gone, he's not free, is
he? He keeps on rubbing his neck, doesn't he? He's not free, actually.
My friends, that's how you'll be if you've been wandering away.
You may think you're free, but you'll recognise somehow you've
got this restraining you, not quite allowed to do what you
want to do. Bless God for his mercy. Bless God for his favour. Bless
God for his goodness. Brings you to that place then.
You realise that Lord is dealing with you. And as he says, I will
surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord. And then, we come to this verse. And there's
four things in this verse. The first one is set thee up
waymarks. Waymarks are signposts. Set thee up waymarks. Make thee
high heaps. That means a heap. Make a heap.
Bring stones together. Not just one stone, it doesn't
make a heap, does it? Bring many stones together. Set
thine heart toward the highway. Our heart towards the road, the
narrow way, the highway. that leads to God, even the way
which thou wentest. And turn again, O Virgin of Israel,
turn again to these thy cities, the place of God, the place where
the Lord dwells. And so here we have these gracious
words of the Prophet, speaking this way, and as it were the
word of God, speaking to our hearts this morning. Set thee
up, way-monks, Well, surely there are some signposts that we can
erect. The Lord has been gracious to
us. And if the Lord has dealt with
us, or is dealing with us, the Lord has shown us the right way. And so, here he says, set thee
up way marks. Put some signposts up. Show the
way. Show the right way. Don't go
the wrong way. Go the right way. The right way
is to be turned by the Spirit of God. The right way is to be
corrected. The right way is not to follow
our own inclinations. The right way is to follow the
Lord Jesus Christ. left to ourselves, we follow
a wrong way. Because left to ourselves, we
follow the devil. And what's the devil's way? To
separate us from God. That's what the devil wants.
And you look at your heart carefully, you examine yourself carefully,
and you will find that the devil may have got in and he's separating
you from the things of God. My friends, if we go that way, we're walking away from Christ. We're not walking with Christ. The way of Christ is A holy way. A holy way. Just think of that
for a moment. A holy way. You know what holiness
means, don't you? Holiness is where no sin is. Naturally, we're sinners. But
the grace of God will give us a desire after holiness and holy
things. Holiness and holy things, that
means not worldly things, not fleshly things, it means holy
things. Well, is our desire today for
holy things, or is it for worldly things? Has the devil found a
crack You know, small cracks can become very big cracks. The
devil found a crack and he's making inroads into your life. And he's pretending that this
is okay and that's alright. And you'll find there's a separation. You'll find that there's not
the union and there's not the communion. with the Lord. You'll find your following far
off. You'll find that there's hardness
creeps in. Well, this way mark, erect it,
set it up, so that people can see and recognise that that's
the wrong way. This is the right way. The right
way is to follow Christ in his great and glorious example. And my friends, that is a spiritual
way. The Lord Jesus sat before us
when he was on the earth, that way which directs us to spiritual
liveliness in our souls. You only have to read the 5th,
6th and 7th of Matthew, which we refer to as the Sermon on
the Mount. And that gives us a very, very
clear direction. There are many, many signposts
in that sermon. Many signposts. I don't have
time to go through it this morning, but you can go home and you can
read the Sermon on the Mount and think, is this a waymark? Is this a signpost for me to
erect in my life? Set me up waymarks. It's a necessary
thing for you and me to do in our life. Set me up waymarks.
It's a command really by the Lord and we should desire to
follow it. Don't think when you go home
this morning, well, I heard a sermon, what was it about now, I'm trying
to think. Just remember, it's to set up way marks. It's to
examine whether there are signposts in your life which are directing
in the right way. Directing you to Christ and directing
you in the way that Christ spoke. And then he says, make thee high
heaps. Well, you make a heap in this
way, a heap of stones. It doesn't say just put one or
two pebbles just nicely. It says make a high heap. And
what do you think that refers to? Well, it means that you and
I are to find out in our lives the blessings of the Lord. And
every blessing represents a stone. And so, think in your life, think
of the blessings, think of the favours, take those stones and
put them together. And keep on finding stones. and keep on putting them on the
heap, so that it becomes a high heap. So make the high heaps. It's important that we home in
on this expression, high. It's not a little heap. Don't
just go home and say, well, I think I've got perhaps one or two stones. Search your life. Search your life, right from
your first and early memories. You children, look back in your
life. Can you think of God's mercies
that you received You are able therefore to take stones, memories
of God's mercy and goodness and put them together so that they
become not only a little pile, but a big heap. Because it is
true, we receive mercies countless as the sand. They're new every morning. Mercy
after mercy. And yet you see, our problem
is, we let them lie very often, forgotten in unthankfulness. And worse still, with our praises
die. So it's important to remember
the mercies. Now, this falls into two categories. And it's the mercy of the Lord
for you and me in our natural life. Many, many, many mercies. Many, many mercies in our natural
life. We all have to put together, to pile up. And then, there's the bigger
pile, the higher pile, as it were, the Lord's spiritual mercies. Again, it's good to go back and
to think upon those. You know, the Word of God tells
us, Thou shalt remember all the way the Lord thy God has led
thee. All the way. Israel could look
back, couldn't they? All that journey through the
wilderness, those 40 years. They could remember again and
again the Lord's provision. The Lord's wonderful favour.
Not only did He provide for them in a natural way, with that food. He also brought to their attention
the glory of the ceremonial law which directed them to Christ.
Yes, in the tabernacle that was erected, all the things that
it contained, all the sacrifices. Oh, what reason there was for
Israel to remember. What reason there was for them
to make high heaps. What reason there is for you
and me to make high heaps. And so, if we are given that
grace to walk in this way, to make these way marks and to make
these high heaps, you know, there won't be much room then for negative
position, negative situation. It will give you much cause then
to do what? To praise God. To praise God. To be thankful to Him. that he
hasn't dealt with you. He hasn't, like it's spoken of
Ephraim, let him alone. Let him alone. Great blessing that the Lord
doesn't leave us alone. The Lord comes and deals graciously
with us. And so, let's find many, many
stones to make a high heap, a high heap It's very needful in this day
and age in which we live to make high heaps, because we often
go along day by day, week by week, without perhaps adding
any stones to this heap. And yet we have great cause to
add many stones. And so hear the word of the Lord,
set the upweigh marks, make the high heaps. Then he says, Set
thine heart toward the highway. Our heart, our innermost being,
our real person, our soul. This is what really counts, isn't
it? This is the essential thing. Set thine heart toward the highway. What is the highway? It's the
road that leads to Jesus, and the road that leads to glory. It doesn't say, set your heart
upon the things of the earth. It says, set thine eye toward
the highway, even the way which thou wentest, that right way,
which leads to eternal life. And my friends, if you are in
the highway, what would it mean? In the highway means that we're
running a race. And if we're running a race,
what are we doing? Or what should we be doing? We should be looking
unto Jesus. And what should we be seeing
there? We should be seeing Him. a complete satisfaction. In Christ is all our needs. We're very concerned, aren't
we, so often about our natural needs, our natural life. You young children, young people,
do not forget, the vital thing is to know Christ. The vital
thing is to know Christ. You can have every success in
the world and perish at last. You can have no success in the
world and be saved at last and go to glory. And that for eternity. We always need to weigh up things in the light of eternity. That's
how you and I value things, in the light of eternity. So here
we have this, let thine heart, set thine heart to be found looking
to Jesus, to see what he's done. Where does that direct us? It
cannot fail to direct us to Calvary. to see the Lord Jesus Christ
there, by faith, dying on our behalf, suffering there, shedding
His blood. He cannot but direct us there. And not only then, but to see
Christ risen, risen again, risen from the dead, a victor. Oh, that would cheer your heart.
That's the way. This is the highway. Set thine heart toward the highway. This will be encouraging. This
will put things in the right perspective. It is a highway. It's not a low way. It's a highway. Set thine heart toward the highway. Even the way which thou wentest,
turn again, O Virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities. Think of this as the city of
God. The city of the Lord. And turn
our heart towards the celestial city. Glory at last. Oh, what a blessing. The Lord
comes and gives us that grace. The phrase is here, O Virgin
of Israel. A virgin is someone who is pure. What a blessing to be pure. To be washed in the blood of
the Lamb. To be able to set our hearts
on this way and to turn again once more to serve the Lord in
sincerity and truth. Turn again to these thy cities. Well, we desire to really be
found in this path. My friends, this is the right
way. This is the way. that God sets
before us. It's a way of direction. It's
a way of blessing. It's a way of favour. Or, maybe
then this morning, hear these words, gracious words, wonderful
words, set the upway marks, make thee high heaps, set thine heart
toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest, turn
again, O Virgin of Israel, turn again, to these thy cities, and
it will be because of what the Lord says, yea, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. Amen.