You all can be turning to Jeremiah
chapter 9. Jeremiah chapter 9. And while you're turning, I will
say a few things. You know, the Word of God has
nothing good to say about man or mankind. There is none good, no, not one. The heart of man is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Our God knows it. How about you? All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. In Isaiah chapter 23, verse 9,
it says, the Lord of hosts has purposed it to stain the pride
of all glory and to bring into contempt all the honorable of
the earth. Who do we honor? Some say they
honor God. But they honor Him with their
lips, but their hearts are far from Him. We honor our pastors
and teachers, fathers and mothers, those who protect us, soldiers,
policemen, doctors, kings and presidents. We all hold certain
men in high esteem. We render honor to whom honor
is due. If you will now, turn to our
text in Jeremiah chapter 9, and we'll begin in verse 23 and 24. That'll be our text. 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. Our Lord is speaking here, because
it says, thus saith the Lord. Who is speaking? The Lord God,
who spoke everything into existence. Who is the voice of the Lord?
Christ. In Genesis chapter 1, it said,
and God said, let there be light. In Isaiah 45, verse 18, it says,
For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God himself
that formed the earth and made it, he hath established it, he created it
not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited I am the Lord, and there is none
else. Who is speaking? Our Lord Jesus
Christ is speaking. For in Colossians chapter 1,
it says, for by him were all things
created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and
Invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers, all things were created by him and for him. In our text, it starts out with,
thus saith the Lord. And at the end of verse 24, it
says, for in these things I delect For in these things I delight,
saith the Lord." He says it twice. If God said it, it is absolute
truth. If God said it, we must bow to
it. So back in verse 23, it says,
Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Neither
let the mighty man glory in his strength. Let not the rich man
glory in his riches. Mankind, we all like the glory
in many things. We glory in our wisdom, what
we know. We glory in our talents, what
we can do. Some of us can play music. Some
of us can draw. Some of us can work on cars.
You know, we all have different talents and we, by nature, get
proud that we can do these things. We glory in our strength and
our beauty. We glory in our wealth, what
we have. We glory in our possessions.
We might glory in a new dress or in a new truck. We all glory. Men also glory in their sin and their
shame. We're so proud. We're going to
do what we want to do. Nobody's going to stop us, and
we don't care who sees us. You know that's just the way
it is. That's what we are. That's how we were. That's mankind. We're proud of our place, face,
race, and grace. Man glories in his religion. They glory in their good works,
their free will, their decision, their sanctification, but not
in Christ alone. And we know, we've heard this
story about the two men who went up into the temple to pray. One
was a Pharisee, the other was a publican. Pharisee was proud. He was self-righteous. He said,
I thank thee, oh God, that I'm not like this man, like this
publican. I do all these things. I don't
do what he does. I don't drink. I don't cuss.
And I don't chew. And I don't hang around with
those who do. But the publican. He wouldn't
even lift up his eyes toward heaven. He said, God, be merciful
to me, the sinner, the chief of sinners. Are we not all guilty of looking,
of highly esteeming ourselves and looking down on others? We
think we know a little bit more than somebody. Somebody looks
different than us, so we look down on us. They don't have the
same color skin. They're a Democrat or they're
a Republican. We look down our noses on other
people thinking we're better than them. There's none good,
no not one. So why do we glory in what we
are? What do we have that we have
not received? Everything we have has been given
to us The color of our skin has been given to us. We had no choice
in it. Our Lord said, I will have mercy
and not sacrifice. It's not what we do that saves
us, but His mercy saves us. For I am come not to call the
self-righteous, but sinners to repentance. Come now. Come now, folks. Let us reason
together. What have we got to be proud
about? For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that's not of ourselves.
It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For who maketh thee to differ
from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? For by grace we're saved. And why do we glory in that we
did not receive it, but we figured this out? Before the Lord saved me, I was
religious. And I got introduced to the doctrines
of grace. And I became proud that I knew
these things. And I looked down my noses on
those who didn't know these things. Oh boy. We don't figure this out. It
has to be revealed. Let him that glorieth glory in
this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord. This is true wisdom. This is
true knowledge. Hath not God made foolishness
the wisdom of this world? The world by wisdom doesn't know
God. that we got our science and our
philosophy, but it doesn't point us to Christ. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. In John 17, verse 3, it says,
And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only
true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. To know God is
to know that He is God. I am the Lord, that is my name,
and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise
to graven images. Ye are my Witnesses, saith the
Lord, and my servant, whom I have chosen, that you may know and
believe me and understand that I am he. Before me there was
no God formed, neither shall there be after me. Our God is
God. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God. and there is none else. I am
God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Yea, I have
spoken it. I will bring it to pass. I have
purposed it. I will also do it. Our God does what He pleases. For of Him and through Him and
to Him are all things. To whom be glory forever. Amen. Back in Jeremiah 9.24,
but let him that Glorieth, glory in this, that
he understandeth and know me, that I am the Lord, which exercise
loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For
in these things I do delight. Whatever God pleases, he does. Our God delights to show mercy. Who is a God like unto thee who
pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant
of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever,
because he delighteth in mercy. Our Lord delights in judgment
also. How can a holy God pardon sin
and passed by the transgression of his people. He laid all the
sins of his people on his son and judged all of their sins
in their surety, in their substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom
he is well pleased. All of God's people who are sinners
have been judged and justified through the Lord Jesus Christ. Our God delights in righteousness, the righteousness of His dear
Son. The Lord is well pleased for
His righteousness sake. He will magnify the law and make
it honorable. We all know what exercise is. We exercise our minds, we exercise
our bodies. We exercise, we work out. You know, lose weight, gain muscle,
lower our blood pressure. 1 Timothy 4, 8, 4, bodily exercise
profiteth little. but godliness is profitable unto
all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that
which is to come. Worship is a spiritual exercise. We sing praise to our God. We
read his word. We pray. We listen. We strive
to listen to a man, to who proclaims the glory of God in the face
of Christ Jesus. I'm looking out here and I see
some of you striving to listen to me. I fully understand where
you're coming from because I strive every service to try to hear,
to try to enter in. Lord, show me by glory. Show
me, help me to hear this. Help me to worship you. Our Lord Jesus Christ exercises
and shows loving kindness. Turn to the book of Luke, chapter
10. We'll get you to do a little
exercising here tonight. This is good exercise. Turn it
and learn it. Read it and eat it. I need a lot of exercise in these
matters. In Luke chapter 10, it says,
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying,
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? The lawyer was tempting him to
see if he could trap him My little machine here makes
everything rattle. That's not my knees this time. Although, we all tempt God. We all question
God. We all question His Word, His
authority. We tempt God by our sin. When do we ever not sin? For
altogether is an unclean thing. All of our righteousness is as
filthy rags. When do we ever not tempt God?
I tempt Him. Well, we won't go there. Our Lord said unto him, What
is written in the law? How do you read this? And the
lawyer answering said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and
with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. A lot of exercise
there, isn't it? And Christ said unto him, thou
hast answered right. Do this, and thou shalt live. But he, willing, to justify himself,
said unto Jesus, and who is my neighbor? He left out the most
important part. Did this lawyer believe that
he loved God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength? Can
anybody be so foolish? He asked our Lord, well, who
is my neighbor? Who can I love? Who should I
love? You know, the Pharisees hated
the Samaritans. They considered them half-breeds. It's kind of like the white man
looking on the black man, or looking on the Asian man, or
anybody that's different from us, we look down our noses. In verse 30, and Jesus answering
said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and
fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment and wounded
him and departed, leaving him half dead. All men by nature
are dead in trespasses and sins. He has to make us alive. And by chance, there came down
a certain priest that way. And when he saw him, he passed
by on the other side. And likewise, a Levite, when
he was at the place, came and looked on him and passed by on
the other side. No one wanted to help this man.
He came down. He was religious. He came from
Jerusalem. He came down. We all got to be
brought down. Religion didn't want to look
upon him. And the Levites, he couldn't
save him. But a certain Samaritan, as he
journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion
on him. You know, like I said, the Samaritans
were despised by the Jews and considered them to be half-breeds.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was despised and rejected of men because he
said he was God. He's the God-man. So the Samaritan found this man
fallen, robbed of his glory, robbed of his riches, robbed
of his raiment. And so the Samaritan, he went
to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine and set
him on his own beast and brought him to the inn and took care
of him. From the sole of the foot, even
unto the head, there is no soundness in it. But wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores, they have not been closed, neither bound
up, neither mollified with ointment. The pouring in of the oil and
of the wine is the preaching of the gospel. Christ and him
crucified. The Holy Spirit takes the things
of Christ and reveals them to us. The blood of our substitute
is applied to our hearts and mind. The Samaritan put the man on
his beast. God puts his people in Christ
and they rest on him. God brings his people to the
church. Christ's people are the church. And on the morrow when he departed,
he took out two pence and gave them to the host and said unto
him, take care of him and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come
again, I will repay thee. Christ will pay every price we
owe. past, present, and future. Our God shall supply all of your
need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. This Samaritan showed mercy. Our Lord Jesus Christ shows mercy
to sinners. In Philippians 2, it says, if
there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of
love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
fulfill ye my joy that ye be like minded, having the same
love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done
through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let
each esteem other better than themselves. Do we esteem others
better than ourselves? Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the
likeness of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. And wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. Let's go back to Jeremiah chapter
9. But let him that gloryeth, glory in this, that
he understand and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise
lovingkindness, judgment, righteousness in the earth. For in these things
I delight, saith the Lord. In John 16, verse 8, it says,
and when God, the Holy Spirit, is come, he will reprove the
world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. For we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone
may receive the things done in his body according to all that
he hath done, whether it be good or bad. All our works for salvation
is bad. We are all as an unclean thing. We're a filthy rag is what we are. We will be judged according to
our merits or according to the merits of our substitute, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? In thy name have we not cast
out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful
works? And our Lord will then profess
unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. God judged his people in Christ. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. In Romans 8, There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. For Christ Jesus hath made us
free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could
not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, there's nothing wrong
with the law. It's perfect, holy. righteous,
but we're weak in the flesh. We can't fulfill the righteousness
of the law. No matter how we try, our righteousness
is a filthy rag. It's impossible. It's impossible. For what the law could not do
and that he was weak through the flesh, God sending his own
son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin
in the flesh, his flesh. That the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit,
the things of Christ." Do we glory in Christ alone for our
salvation or do we glory in our flesh? What we've done, what
we do, our own strength, our own wisdom, our own work, our
own feelings, Feelings come, feelings go, feelings are deceiving. My only warrant is the Word of
God. Nothing else is worth believing. Our God exercises righteousness. In Psalm 15 it says, Lord, who
shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly and
worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart. Our Lord
Jesus Christ worked out a perfect righteousness for his people. He magnified the law and he made
it honorable. Yes. I was going to start this timer,
but I didn't. I always forget. But I hope. I pray the Lord. The Lord always causes us to
triumph. If we preach Christ, we're going
to triumph. His words shall not return void.
Let those hear. If there's those here that hear,
great. If there's some here who are
not listening to this and don't care, so be it. It's not up to
me anyways. The Lord has to do the work. So in closing, I just want to
quote a couple of scriptures here. In Isaiah 63, verse 7. I will mention the lovingkindness
of the Lord and the praises of the Lord according to all that
he hath bestowed on us and the great goodness toward the house
of Israel which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies
and according to the multitude of his lovingkindness. Isaiah
63, 9. In all their affliction he was
afflicted. And the angel of His presence
saved them. In His love and in His pity,
He redeemed them, and He bared them, and He carried them all
the days of old. Salvation is of the Lord. So what do we glory in? Are we glorying in
ourselves? Who we are, what we do, what
we are. Do we glory in the Lord Jesus
Christ? Are we trusting in ourselves
or are we trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ? I kind of lost my place here.
What else is new? I need to lose my place. I need
to lose my place in the community. I need to lose my
place in my honor and my esteem. We need to honor the Lord Jesus
Christ. For ye see your calling, brethren,
not many wise men, not many noble, are called. God has chosen the
weak things of the world, the base things of the world, things
that are not. I'm not a preacher, but I can
tell you about Christ. So in Galatians chapter 6, it
says this, but God forbid that I should glory. saving the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto
me, and I unto the world. Make it so. Make it so with us.