May God be pleased to bless his
word to our souls this evening. As we consider it together, let
us turn to the prophecy of Jeremiah chapter 37 and we'll read verse
17. The prophecy of Jeremiah chapter
37 and reading verse 17. Then Zedekiah the king sent and
took him out. And the king asked him secretly
in his house and said is there any word from the Lord? And Jeremiah
said there is. For said he thou shalt be delivered
into the hand of the king of Babylon. As we read an account like this
of King Zedekiah, we should clearly understand that the grace of
God is not hereditary. By that I mean, the grace of
God does not necessarily pass from one generation to the next,
from one set of parents to their children. Josiah was a very gracious
and godly king. And yet we see here Zedekiah
was not a godly king. He was an ungodly king. He was
an evil king. And although therefore he had
had the example of his father, that example had not done him
any good. And so we must each realize that
we cannot rely on our parent religion, on our grandparent
religion, We need a religion ourselves. We need God to speak
to our hearts and to encourage us that we are amongst the children
of God, those whom God has loved with an everlasting love. And
so how necessary it is as we read the word of God to see again
and again that the grace of God is not hereditary. Some people
sadly think Now, just because they go to chapel and follow
their parents' example, good and right as that may be, but
that is all they need. Well, that's good in itself,
but it is not saving. And my friends, we all need far
more than that. We need a personal religion,
a personal knowledge that the Lord Jesus Christ had died for
us. just as words of introduction,
just to make very clear these great and important issues, so
that we do not settle down and depend upon the religion of our
fathers. And I say that not pointing a
finger at anyone here tonight, but because there have been those
who worshipped in this place, who have not known the Lord,
who had godly parents but had no effect and come week by week
and week even as well and yet had no true spiritual benefit. So we see the vital necessity
of having a blessed God-given relationship with God ourselves. Well now, Zedekiah was one of
those sad characters who had a godly father about that grace
of God did not come into his life. And so we read here together
some of the words and the prophecies that Jeremiah was able to provide
and give to Judah and King Zedekiah. And how we observe that they
did not want to believe what Jeremiah spoke to them. He did
not suit their ideals. He did not suit their plans.
And therefore they did not take heed to the words that Jeremiah
spoke. And yet Jeremiah was a very faithful
prophet. He spoke precisely the words
that God gave him to speak. Now then, this account gives
us the picture of Judah being besieged by the Chaldeans. And we see there was some relief
from this situation by the Egyptian army coming against them. And therefore there was that
relief for the time being. But we notice what Jeremiah said
Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, thus shall ye say
to the King of Judah, that sent you unto me to inquire of me,
Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall
return to Egypt into their own land, and the Chaldeans shall
come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn
it with fire. And he says, deceive not yourselves,
saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us, for they shall
not depart. And it may be when, there may
be a situation in your life, I know not, that may be similar
to this, that you may think, well now, there's some relief
from this situation. This difficulty, this problem,
this trial, has been taken away. And therefore I can relax. and
not believe then that that which I thought was going to occur,
will occur. Well if God has spoken, if God
has stated a situation, we should not think that it will not come
to pass. Although perhaps for the moment
it may appear to have receded, yet let us not look to an outward
appearance. Let us remember the word of the
Lord. Because what God has spoken will
come to pass. Therefore let us not deceive
ourselves. For though he is smitten, he
goes on to emphasize this point, for though he is smitten the
whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there
remain but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up
every man in his tent and burn this city with fire." So although
there might be that situation to believe, well there's no reason
to fear now, these things have gone away. No, the promises,
the word of God has spoken, come to pass. And so it came to pass
that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem
for Pharaoh's army, then Jeremiah went forth himself and endeavoured
to move out of the city. He knew what was going to take
place. He spoke against them. He prophesied. He knew what was
going to occur. And Jeremiah attempted to go
out into Benjamin. And we see then that he was apprehended
by one of the captains. We may have had a grudge against
him because it may have been that Hananiah which was referred
to earlier in this book who spoke against the things of God. And he then brought a false accusation
against Jeremiah. And again we should not be surprised
in our life if there are false accusations brought against us.
Now this is very painful. when people judge us wrongly. Jeremiah here was judged totally
wrongly. And he said, that's not true,
it's false. It's a false accusation. Sometimes
we may respond in that way and say, well that's not true. That's
a false accusation. And yet you see, he was taken
and The enemies of the Lord believed the false accusation and you
see how painful that is when we are right and correct to have
to bear a false accusation and especially as it was in Jeremiah's
time he was put in a miserable prison and there he was left
there for many days What a painful experience. What a painful thing
it may be for you and I. And maybe those things perhaps,
it may not be in a real physical way that you and I are taken
and arrested and put in a prison, but it may be perhaps in a spiritual
way. Not a physical way, but a way
which affects our heart and mind. Those wrong accusations. And
as it were, Put in prison. And it seems then we've forgotten,
we're left there. How difficult that is. Don't
forget there are other examples in the Word of God where people
have been wrongly apprehended. Don't forget Paul and Silas when
they did God's bidding in Philippi and went into prison. And so
therefore don't be surprised. And sometimes such accounts as
this in the Word of God are recorded for us to be an encouragement
when we find ourselves in what appears to be an impossible and
very unjust position. Well may that situation be an
encouragement to realize that there was a good man Jeremiah,
a gracious man, had to suffer, had to endure hardship and we're
told aren't we to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote that to
his son Timothy, to endure hardness. And this was hardness, wasn't
it? Sometimes we're called today to endure hardness. And therefore,
as we may consider these things to realize, well, it's in the
purposes of God, these things. Now, we therefore should be then
pray for a submissive spirit under such adversity. Well, Jeremiah was put in a prison. And there he was for many days.
And then we come and we read, then Zedekiah the king sent and
took him out. And the king asked him secretly
in his house and said, is there any word from the Lord? Jeremiah
said, there is. For so he thou shalt be delivered
into the hand of the king of Babylon. Well surely Zedekiah
wasn't looking for a word like that. He was looking for some
word that might describe a deliverance. But no, Jeremiah was faithful. Remember he had come out of prison.
And surely he knew that Zedekiah wanted to hear something pleasant.
But he was faithful in adversity. And again, that's a good situation
to remember. To be faithful when there appears
to be a deliverance, when there appears to be a better situation
developing, and then we're faced with a difficult question. And to answer it faithfully and
honestly, May not be the first thing that comes into our mind.
But we see here that Jeremiah was faithful in that which he
spoke. Now Zedekiah obviously asked
Jeremiah secretly. He didn't want to steal a people.
But he was speaking to this prisoner. And therefore he was speaking
to him in a secret way. And what did he ask? He said,
Is there any word from the Lord? Now that's a very relevant question,
isn't it? Because it's so easy for us in
our lives to come and say, is there a word from the Lord? Is there a word from the Lord?
Now, I'm not speaking against asking a question like that.
But I'm not speaking against it. When The Lord has spoken. The Lord has spoken to Zedekiah
and Judah. They clearly knew what the Lord's
word was to them. And now, Zedekiah has come and
asking on the surface what might appear to be a very genuine and
real desire for that which was right. Is there any word from
the Lord? Well, we have to be very careful,
don't we? With regard to our spiritual
lives. Because God may have spoken.
And if we are honest in our searching, we will observe that God has
spoken. But it may be that we don't really
want to take on board that which God has spoken. Because, you
see, God had told Judah they would come and surrender really
to the Chaldeans. That wasn't something which was
very appealing to them. They weren't willing to believe
that that would produce any deliverance. And therefore they were not believing
the word of the Lord. And so now we see here as Ezekiel
really asking for something which was not going to be forthcoming. And in fact, Jeremiah reiterated
the truth of God's word to them. If they remained as they were,
then the outcome was that they would be delivered into the hand
of the King of Babylon. So, we see a very A clear statement
here. And we see a very clear picture
here as to how we today should also come to the Lord and not
ask for things which are not in accordance with the will of
God when it has been revealed to us. See really, Zedekiah was
ducking the issue. He didn't want to believe that
which Jeremiah had previously prophesied to them, and therefore
he wanted something different. And he came in this way. Well,
it wasn't right. And we need to be very careful
in our lives that we don't come in this way, a way which we think
may be right. And we may be tempted to come.
Prayer sometimes can be, and I use this word carefully, very
glib. You know, when we are, as it
were, walking contrary to God, and Zedekiah was walking contrary
to God, we might come in that way and ask a prayer, pray a
prayer, which is not in accordance with God's will. And if we were
to examine ourselves more carefully, we would know that God had directed
us, but we didn't want to walk in that direction. And therefore
we were coming again and really saying, well Lord, I want another
word, a different word. I don't like the word which I've
had, I want a different word. I want something that suits me,
something that may encourage me to stay where I am in this
place in Jerusalem and not have to submit to the Chaldeans. No,
I want another word. Well, you see, we have to be
very careful, don't we, that we do ask that which is in accordance
with God's will. Now, Zedekiah was clearly not
asking that which was in accordance with God's will. There was this
word given, it was repeated really, what would happen. And so Jeremiah
was very faithful in the statement that he made on this occasion. And so as we think of these things
and try and relate them really more to our spiritual needs in
the day and age in which we live. We know the Apostle Paul was
directed in his life to do the will of God. There he was on
that Damascus road. He thought he was doing God's
service. He thought he was pleasing God. In actual fact he was walking
very contrary to God. But God in his great mercy shone
into the heart of Paul on that road. With that light above,
the brightness of the midday sun, And it had such an effect
upon the apostle. He knew the Lord spoke. The Lord spoke to him. And then
he said, Lord, what would that have me to do? He was willing
to do God's will. His will had been taken away. His desire was now that his will
might be submissive to the will of his God. And so Paul rather
was very able to write those epistles that he did. And when
he wrote to the Corinthians, we read in the second chapter
of the last verse, For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that
he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. Now the apostle, as I've often
remarked, was an honest man. He didn't have a mock humility
in his religion. He was able to speak very plainly
and very clearly, and he was able therefore to come with words
like this, but we have the mind of Christ. Now what a wonderful
thing that will be in our spiritual life, if we are able to come
to that position and acknowledge that by the grace of God, He
has given to us that right discernment. The Apostle says, for who has
known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him. And there's
that question, who has known the mind of the Lord? Now Zedekiah
did not know the mind of the Lord. But I believe if we are
the true children of God, that the mind of the Lord is revealed
to us through the pages of the word of God. And it may be that
we are asking for a direction when we do not need a direction. I'm just reminded of that case
in the life of Joseph Philpott, you may remember. He lived a
long time ago now, in the 19th century, and he was a very able
scholar, educated at Oxford University, and became a clergyman in the
Church of England And he served the Church of England for a time.
And then he realised that the things that he was having to
do there, he could not always agree with. Some things he felt
were wrong. Therefore he prayed that God
would give him a word to come out of the Church of England.
And he prayed for that for some time. And there was no word given
to him. And then as he pondered it, he
realised that in fact, he did not need a word. Because the word of God told
him what he should do. He didn't need any special word. And so he received that grace
to obey the word of God, as recorded in the word of God, and to leave
the Church of England to come and to preach the Gospel in a
non-conformist way. Well, that's an example. And
what did he have? He had the mind of Christ. He
knew what was right. And so for us today, to think
of that, we may be tempted sometimes to think, well I must have a
word from the Lord. We need to examine ourselves
very carefully and we need to examine the Word of God. We need
to study the Word of God because there may be that very clear
Word which describes what we must do, what we should do. And we've been, as it were, not
obeying the Word of God. We've really concluded that we're
some special person that needs some special word. My friends,
the Word of God doesn't encourage us in that at all. We should
realise that we have the Word of God and we should study the
Word of God and search the Word of God. We are to search the
Scriptures. Those in the Word of God, those
Bereans, they search the Scriptures. to see whether these things were
so. And that's the God-honouring way to search for direction in
our spiritual lives. As the Lord is leading us, as
the Lord is perhaps correcting us, as the Lord is instructing
us, what do we want to do? We want to see whether our life
is aligned with the Word of God. We should not therefore look
for some special extra word that we think we need. Well here we
have the example of the Apostle. For who has known the mind of
the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of
Christ. Now that isn't to say that there
are those occasions when we do need direction. You know the
King David in his life, when he was in battle, sometimes the
picture before him wasn't clear and he asked the Lord, shall
we pursue? Shall we attack this enemy? And
the Lord said sometimes pursue and sometimes he should not pursue. And he was gracious in that particular
situation. But we should not apply that
situation to a general situation, especially with regard to our
spiritual lives. As we have spelt out in the word
of God very clearly God's gracious instruction to his people, as
the Apostle says, but we have the mind of Christ. What a blessing
it is then to have such a God who is gracious and directs us
in these things. And then when the Apostle also
wrote to the church at Ephesus, he wrote there and he tells us
this, He says, see then that ye walk
circumspectly. What does that mean? That means
in accordance with the Word of God. Circumspectly. Not as fools,
but as wise. Because if we do not walk in
accordance with the Word of God, we're foolish, aren't we? And
we can be described as fools, but as wise. Those who do follow
the word of God. Then he says, redeeming the time
because the days are evil. What a true word that is today.
How evil the days are and perhaps in your life and my life we find
that there have been many days, perhaps years, that the locusts
have eaten, have been wasted years, wasted time, Perhaps today
we are to come before God and confess the many things that
we have been involved in, engaged in, which have been wasted, perhaps
years, probably amounted up to wasted years. What a blessing
then if we have a word like this which tells us to be found redeeming
the time Because the days are evil, that means using the time
which the Lord has given us to spend it wisely. We sang together
that line, or those two lines, which says, while our days on
earth are lengthened, may we give them all to Thee. What a
good prayer that was. I hope you sang it and agreed
with it. I hope you thought, well, that's
a good prayer. So what I want to do, while my
days on earth are lengthened, may I give them all to thee,
recognising that we've given many days of our lives to the
devil, redeeming their time because the days are evil. Wherefore,
be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
This is so needful for us that we're not unwise. We may have
been unwise. I'm sure we've all been unwise.
We have to confess we've been unwise. We hang our head in shame
that we've been unwise. But may the Lord give us understanding
what the will of the Lord is. And that means the will of the
Lord which is revealed to us in His Word. what the will of
the Lord is, that we might have a right understanding. Now, one thing is very clear. If we are amongst those who fear
the Lord, we shall be concerned to obey the will of our God,
to do His will, to follow His way, and to have a true understanding
of the great cost of our salvation. So this is the understanding,
the spiritual understanding that you and I need to know and to
be led into, to be directed into what the Saviour has done. What He has procured for us,
that great and wonderful gift of eternal life. Now my friends,
this is to be revealed. This is to be understood. And
so as we see Zedekiah speaking in this way and asking in this
secret way, is there any word from the Lord? My friends, there
is a word from the Lord. And the word of the Lord is described
to us in the word of God. And that word demonstrates to
us and shows to us Our need of a Saviour. Our great need of
a Saviour. Our need to be forgiven. Our
need to be washed in the blood of the Lamb. My friends, the
Word of God describes it from beginning to end. This great
and glorious work which was revealed in the time and through the work
of the Saviour. That great work which was prophesied
in Genesis. and was continually set forth
in the Old Testament. And now perhaps we may be seeking
some special word from the Lord to encourage us. My friends,
the encouragement is in the Word of God, as we may trace it out. And we realise now, especially
we think of that Passover night, there was that commandment of
all Israel to take that lamb slain. And what are we to do
today? We are to look to the Saviour. Look unto me, or the ends of
the earth, and be ye saved. For I am God and there is none
else. The Word of God is very clear
if you and I are needy sinners. Help us in and of ourselves.
We are to look to the Saviour. That One who graciously says,
I am the way, the truth and the life and our life comes through
his death what he's done in dying for us to take away all our sins
what he endured we cannot tell what a blessing to have faith
to believe that he endured the wrath of God, that He endured
hell itself for us, that we might be blessed with eternal life. And so as you and I may come
to the Word of God, and as the Lord may shine upon His Word,
it may shine into our hearts that we may be able to believe,
that we may receive that living faith to believe the testimony,
the Word of God, God's covenants, ordered in all things and sure,
His sworn conditional promises, which are set forth in the Word
of God, and are revealed in that new covenant, the New Testament
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as we see the glory of
his life and his death and then his resurrection and then his
ascension and to believe today that he sits in glory to intercede
for us as we may come to him that he may reveal himself unto
us as it is not unto the world And my friends, that blessed
and glorious revelation will be through His Word. Through
His Word. Plead that your eyes may be opened. You may receive the light of
the everlasting Gospel. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
has said, I am the light of the world. In Him is light. There is no darkness at all.
When you look outside of the Saviour, My friends, it's dark,
but as we receive grace to look to the Saviour, all the wonderful
light that shines as we see light in His light, and there revealed
to us, to our faith, is that great and glorious plan that
was spoken of and was considered, and in the time past and eternity
past, and is revealed in our gospel day, or let us thank God
for the revelation of the gospel. And so may we be encouraged to
seek unto the Lord. You know, the Lord says, seek
and ye shall find. Yes, to seek unto the Lord, we
will not be turned back. We may think perhaps we're not
receiving any light. We are to press on. Press on
against storm and wind and tide. And remember, that to God the
darkness and the light are both the same. We may think we're
walking in darkness and we have no light. We'll be encouraged
then by what Isaiah said in the 50th of Isaiah when he spoke
in this way and he says, Who is among you that feareth the
Lord? that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh
in darkness, and hath no light, let him trust in the name of
the Lord, and stay upon his guard. That's encouragement. That's
encouragement. You see, to trust in the Lord,
not trust in yourself. Don't trust in your own feelings.
Trust in the Lord. Trust in the revealed Word of
God, the spoken Word of God. Trust in what God has said. That's
a firm foundation. May we be encouraged then tonight
to be found walking in that right way and to be very aware of the
subtleties of Satan who may try and direct us in a way which is not in accordance with
the word of God. And remember, the foolish question
of Zedekiah, when God had already spoken as to that which was to
come to pass. Remember then, when he foolishly
asked, is there any word from the Lord? And he knew what the
word of the Lord was. And Jeremiah answered, there
is. And he said, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the
king of Babylon. Well sadly of course that came
to pass. We know that Zedekiah died in
prison in Babylon. Zedekiah had his eyes put out.
He had to witness all his ten sons being slain before him and
then his eyes were put out. What a sad end there was for
Zedekiah. And yet Zedekiah had been told
what was to happen, and he turned his back upon the truth of God. My friends today, may we have
grace not to turn our back upon the word of the Lord, but may
we indeed follow that which God has spoken and have that blessed
answer of a good conscience. Amen.