Now, Jeremiah chapter 50 and
chapter 51 make up one literary unit, both of which describe,
first of all, the fall of Babylon, both the capital of Babylon and
the nation, the whole empire, the Babylonian empire as a whole. And then secondly, They also
describe the restoration of God's people, Judah and Jerusalem. However, if we only see in these
verses the temporary or the temporal and the physical destruction
of the Babylonian nation and empire along with the temporary
and temporal and physical restoration of the Jews back to the physical
land of Judah and the city of Jerusalem. If that's all we see
in these, then we'll miss the main point of these prophecies.
Babylon, for example, has such an important significance in
redemptive history and in an understanding of the scriptures.
Babylon is both a literal, physical empire, kingdom, nation. There
was a literal nation, Babylon. This time headed up by a man
named Nebuchadnezzar. And it's an evil, evil nation. But Babylon is also an evil spiritual
empire. It's an emblem, it's a metaphor,
it's a type. In scripture, Babylon symbolizes
the whole system of the world in opposition to God and His
Christ. That's what Babylon symbolizes. And obviously you know that from
the book of Revelation when it mentions the great harlot, the
great whore Babylon. It's the man's worldly system
organized in opposition to God. It can be religious, it can be
economic, whatever form it takes. And it's mainly in religious
form. You remember how the name Babel came about in the book
of Genesis chapter 11? We talk about the Tower of Babel,
Genesis 11. Babel, originally the term Babel
meant gate of God. You see the EL on the end of
that? That's El, that's God. El Shaddai, we say. Well, Babel
literally meant the gate of God. And you know what happened, it's
recorded in Genesis 11 about Babel, man trying to open his
own way, his attempts to open the gate and get to God by his
works and his efforts. And you know how the Lord confounded
them and confused their language, so the term Babel has come down
to mean just that, confusion. We speak of somebody babbling
on, and that's what that means, gibberish. So Babel has a spiritual
significance. This Babylon here, back in Genesis
50, this physical Babylon is the capital city of a place called
Shinar, is the capital city of Shinar, later to be called Chaldea. That's why he says the word of
the Lord, verse one, the word that the Lord spake against Babylon
and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. Babylon
is dealt with again in the end times and as I've mentioned before
in revelation revelation 17 revelation 18 mentioned in revelation 14
where Babylon the great symbolizes Any anti-god religious system
that controls the world in the end time? Prior to the second
coming of Christ we can read about this and let me just read
you some scripture revelation 14 verse 8 Babylon is fallen
is fallen that great city Because she made all nations drink of
the wine of the wrath of her fornication. They're speaking
of spiritual fornication. And that's idolatry. That has
to do with sinners seeking to approach God in any other way,
by any other means other than the grace of God in Christ. Now
that's what it is. Any religion, any system, any
philosophy, any idea, any opinion, that would encourage sinners
to seek salvation from God based on anything or anyone other than
Christ and Him crucified. You can put it in the category
of Babylon. And in Revelation 14, there it
says it's fallen. Well, we're reading about its
fall back here in Jeremiah 50 and Jeremiah 51. You say, well,
it's already fallen. Well, that physical nation did,
but that spiritual evil empire is still here. Babylon is right
here, in this world, right now. It's that evil spiritual empire
of religion and philosophy that is opposed to God's way of salvation
by His Son. Christ said, I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Sometimes it even takes on the
form of Christianity, calls itself Christian. But what I'm telling
you is to understand this, you need to understand that it represents
any confusion that would encourage a sinner to come to God without
Christ, the true Christ, and by His blood and righteousness.
In Revelation 17 and verse 5, it speaks of the great whore
who had her forehead, upon her forehead was a name written,
and you remember what the name was? Mystery Babylon. Mystery
meaning that nobody really understands or knows or recognizes Babylon
unless God reveals it. It's a mystery. Mystery Babylon,
the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. And then in Revelation 18 it
speaks of Babylon's fall, spiritual Babylon. So even though when
we look at these passages in Jeremiah 50 and Jeremiah 51,
even though God used the literal nation of Babylon to punish his
chosen people. Let's understand that it has
a prophetic significance that is very vital to our understanding
of these verses and of the scripture. Now, we're going to see how this
nation, this empire, this city is going to be destroyed for
their sin and their idolatry. And that's what it's about. And
what we have here is a prophecy of the destruction of the great
whore in the end times, spiritual Babylon. Now, another emblem
here, another literal physical people and a spiritual type is
Jerusalem. Now, Jerusalem, most certainly,
no one I don't think would deny that Jerusalem has significance
in redemptive history. Not only a physical city and
the one in which our Lord concluded his earthly ministry and his
redemptive work for his people, In scripture, Jerusalem signifies
God's people and God's way of salvation in and by the Lord
Jesus Christ in a spiritual way. And we can see that. Now, Jerusalem
really isn't mentioned by name here in our text until chapter
51, and it speaks of Jerusalem. But what I'm going to do is I'm
gonna divide this up, chapter 50 and chapter 51, and so preach
two messages from it, and both of them are entitled Babylon
Versus Jerusalem, this is part one Babylon Versus Jerusalem
because they're in opposition They're in opposition. We read
in that psalm psalm 137 about the people of God in Babylon
and how they are downcast and they cannot Sing they cannot
rejoice and they mentioned Jerusalem. They mentioned Zion. Those are
all emblems of the of the work of God in Christ, the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the people of God saved by grace
in Christ. They said, if I forget Jerusalem,
oh, I can't forget Jerusalem. But Jerusalem has a spiritual
significance. And I want you to look over at
Galatians chapter 4 with me. I'll show you a couple of places
in the New Testament. We won't go to all of them. But
listen to this. Jerusalem, spiritual Jerusalem
is the kingdom of God. It's the kingdom of God. It's
the spiritual kingdom of Christ. We're citizens of the heavenly
Jerusalem. And spiritual Jerusalem is even
set in opposition to Sinai and the Old Covenant. And to understand
that, you have to understand that that Old Covenant given
by God, why was it given? Why was it given? Well, you remember
Paul in 2 Corinthians 3, he called it a ministration of condemnation,
a ministration of the letter, a ministration of death. And
why was that? Because it was a law given to
expose man's sin and the reality that we cannot be saved by our
efforts to keep the law. Our law keeping won't save us.
It's not good enough. It won't make us righteous. And
therefore it's a ministration of death and condemnation. And
then the law has no power to change the heart. That's why
it's called a ministration of the letter. It's a law written
on stone, written with paper and ink. It's not written on
the heart. And so understand that. But look here in Galatians
chapter 4, look at verse 24. He's talking about these things
which are an allegory. He's talking about Hagar. You
remember Hagar, the mother, the bond woman, the mother of Ishmael. And then Sarah was the mother
of Isaac, the son of promise. And these things, verse 24, are
an allegory. For these are the two covenants,
the one from the Mount Sinai. Now what covenant was made on
Sinai? That's the old covenant. That's the law of Moses. That's
the Ten Commandments, the ceremonial law, that earthly priesthood,
everything about it, which gendereth to bondage. In other words, it
holds a sinner under bondage. Because it cannot save you. It
cannot deliver you from sin. And it cannot free you up to
see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It doesn't have
that power. It's the ministration of the letter, ministration of
condemnation, ministration of death. And he says in verse 25,
for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem
which now is. That's physical Jerusalem. What's
he saying by that? He's saying physical Jerusalem,
which now is in his time, is under the bondage of the law.
Why? Because they, it's like what
Brother Joe read over here in Jeremiah 50. They've forgotten
their resting place. They've forgotten Christ. They've
forgotten the Messiah. That resting place there literally
means a place to lie down in. Remember in Psalm 23, He maketh
me to lie down in green pastures. Well, they've missed Christ.
They've seen the Law of Moses, but they've missed Christ. They've
missed the types and the pictures and the shadows that bring a
sinner to Christ begging for mercy. And so that's what Jerusalem
which now is, Galatians 4.25, and is in bondage with her children.
But now look at verse 26. But Jerusalem which is above. Now what's he talking about?
Understand this. This is basic interpretation
of scripture now. He's not talking about Jerusalem
up there. That's not what he's saying.
He's not talking about space or somewhere beyond the moon.
He's not talking about in heaven up there. Jerusalem which is
above speaks of a heavenly Jerusalem, a spiritual Jerusalem where we
dwell in Christ right now. He's not talking about geography. So he says Jerusalem which is
above is free. We're set free. How are we set
free? Two ways we're set free. We're
justified before God based on the imputed righteousness of
Christ, and we're liberated by the power of the Holy Spirit
who's given us life to look to Christ. That's how we're set
free. And he says, which is the mother
of us all. Salvation by the grace of God. And then let me show you one
more. Turn to Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12. Here he's talking
about the threatenings of the law when it was first given. How Moses came down out of that
mound. The glory of God, the effulgence
of God shone forth in a physical way. There was a physical manifestation
that the children of Israel could not look upon. And how the mountain
quaked. And there was lightnings and
thunders, you see. Those are all emblems of the
wrath of God against sin. And it was given with that law
to show that any sinner who seeks salvation by the law, all they've
got to look forward to is the wrath of God. Quaking, fear,
legal fear, all right? But he says in verse 22 of Hebrews
12, He says, but ye, now who are the ye there? That's the
believers. That's the sinner saved by the grace of God. That's
the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ye are come unto Mount
Zion. Remember in our Psalm, Psalm
137, I think about Zion. That's an emblem of the church.
You come to Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem. Now you notice that? He says,
if you're a believer, If you're a sinner saved by grace, it says
you are come to Mount Zion. You are come to the heavenly
Jerusalem. You're not waiting for it. I
know the book of Revelation in Revelation chapter 21 speaks
of the heavenly Jerusalem coming down. But that's a metaphor for
Christ and his church coming and we're gonna meet in the air.
That's what he says. That's what people call the rapture.
And what that is, be caught up. Christ is gonna gather his church
unto himself. And that is a sense in which
the heavenly Jerusalem comes down. But he says, right here,
that if you're in Christ, you already are come to the heavenly
Jerusalem. You're there now. You see, you're
not a citizen of this world. You're a citizen of the heavenly
Jerusalem. You're a citizen of the kingdom of God. Our conversation
is in heaven. Philippians chapter three, what
is that? Verse 21, I think. And that means that our citizenship
right now is in heaven. And he says, and to an innumerable
company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn,
which are written in heaven, and to God, the judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the
mediator of the new covenant. Now, Jesus Christ, now listen
to me, this is another thing that'll help you understand what
we're gonna look at in Jeremiah 50. Jesus Christ was no mediator
in the Old Covenant. He didn't have a right to be
a mediator in the Old Covenant. Why? He was born of the tribe
of Judah. To be a mediator in the Old Covenant, you had to
be born of Aaron, the tribe of Levi, you see. Now Moses was
a mediator. He was born of the tribe of Levi.
His brother was Aaron. But he was a mediator in a different
way even than what Aaron was. But Jesus of Nazareth had no
right to be a mediator of the old covenant. So he's not, what's
he talking about? He says, to Jesus, the mediator
of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh
better things than that of Abel. Abel's blood crying out for vengeance,
Christ's blood crying out for the justification and the reconciliation
of all his people. Because he took the vengeance.
He took the justice. We get the mercy and the grace,
don't we? All right, now go back to Jeremiah
50. You see, this prophecy shows
God's wrath upon Babylon, but it also assures us that God's
chosen people, however, will be saved out of Babylon. You
know, when God saved you, he saved you out of Babylon. Saved
me out of Babylon, that's right. Because Babylon is any system,
any way of thinking, that is not wrapped up and centered around
and founded upon Christ and him crucified and risen. And God's
people will be preserved and kept safe in Jerusalem, but mainly
spiritual. That's what he's talking about.
Under final glory while Babylon perishes. Look at it again, verse
one, the word that the Lord spake against Babylon. against the
land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. What's God doing
here? Verse two, declare ye among the
nations and publish, set up a standard. That's a war standard. That's
like an army coming in. This is God's declaration of
war against Babylon. Physical Babylon, prophetically
spiritual Babylon. See what I'm saying? There was
a real war. There was blood shed, there were
steel, or I don't say steel, there were swords that were yielded,
spears and arrows that were thrown and shot. But this is prophecy
too. Jeremiah's a prophet of God,
he's speaking of future things too. And that's standard, you
see. And he says, what's gonna happen
here? He says, well, publish and conceal it not, say Babylon
is taken, Baal is confounded, that was an idol. Merodach, that
was an idol, is broken in pieces. Her idols are confounded. Her
images are broken in pieces. For out of the north, there cometh
up a nation against her. Who's that? That's the Medes
and the Persians. They would destroy her because of her idolatry.
And they come up, and they make her land desolate, and none shall
dwell therein. They shall remove, they shall
depart, both man and beast. The Medes and the Persians. Now
one issue that we might need to deal with here is this. You
know, it may not seem fair to many people for God to punish
this nation Babylon for their treatment of Judah because weren't
they instruments of God to judge Judah? Weren't they? Well sure they were. He says
that. In fact, Wasn't a big part of Jeremiah's message all through
his prophecy? You all submit unto Babylon as
unto the Lord and don't fight against it. So does it seem fair
that God would punish them for something that He calls them
to do? Well, here's a prime example.
I want you to listen to this very carefully. Here's a prime
example of what God says back in Isaiah. Chapter 55, beginning
at verse 8, and here's what he says, he says, my thoughts are
not your thoughts. He says, neither are your ways
my ways, saith the Lord. He says in verse 9, for as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. God works in mysterious
ways, doesn't he? committed no sin here God committed
no injustice here and Paul wrote it this way in Romans 11 33 he
said oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God how unsearchable are his judgments and His ways past finding
out for who hath known the mind of the Lord or who hath been
his counselor You ever said well God. I wish you wouldn't do it
this way and Or you ought not do it that way. I told somebody,
I said, you know, I always prayed that when the winter comes, that
if God's going to let snow, let it snow on Monday or Thursday.
But you know, you want to know something I got, let me, let
me let you in on something. You may not know. I'm not God's
counselor. I'm not his advisor. He doesn't
listen to me in that way. He hears my prayers, but I'm
just, I'm just, I'm just one of one of the preachers. I'm
just one of his children. That's it. And that's what he's
saying here. Who had been his counselor? Or
who hath first given to him and it shall be recompensed unto
him again. You know what that's saying? That's saying salvation
is by grace. God doesn't give to you because you gave to him. He gives to you out of his sovereign
will. He told Moses, I'll be merciful
to whom I'll be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious. For of him and through him and to him are all things
to whom be glory forever. I know this, whatever God is
doing here in history, and whatever he does today, Psalm 145 verse
17 puts it this way, the Lord is righteous in all his ways
and holy in all his works, whatever he does. Deuteronomy 32 and verse
four, listen, he is the rock, God is, His work is perfect for
all His ways are judgment or justice, a God of truth and without
iniquity, just and right is He. That's what the book says. God
always works and judges according to truth. And I believe the matter
is covered. Why did God punish Babylon even
though He used them as an instrument of His justice and judgment against
Judah? Well, he tells us, look over
at verse nine of Jeremiah 50. He says, for lo, I will raise
up and calls to come against Babylon, an assembly of great
nations from the North country. They shall set themselves in
array against her from fence she shall be taken. Their errors
shall be as the mighty expert, which is that that's the destroyer.
Literally, you may have that in your concordance. None shall
return in vain, the Chaldeans shall be in spoil, and all that
spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord. Here it is, verse
11. Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O ye destroyers
of mine heritage, because you are grown fat as the heifer at
grass and bellow as bulls. Your mother shall be sore confounded.
She that bear you shall be ashamed. Behold, the hindermost of the
nation shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert." In
other words, from the front to the back, it's all gonna be desolate.
Verse 13, because of the wrath of the Lord, it shall not be
inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate. Everyone that goeth
by Babylon shall be astonished and hiss at all her plagues. Put yourselves in a ray against
Babylon round about. All ye that bend the bow, shoot
at her, spare no errors. Why? For she hath sinned against
the Lord. That's why. She has sinned against
the Lord. Verse 15, shout against her roundabout. She has given her hand, her foundations
are fallen, her walls are thrown down for it is the vengeance
of the Lord, justice of God. Take vengeance upon her as she
hath done due unto her. She's just reaping what she sowed.
God is not mocked. As she had done to God's people
due unto her. Now you say, well, That baffles
my mind even then, does me too. But I'll tell you how old Joseph
answered it. And it was back in Genesis 50. Here Joseph was
unjustly, sinfully, selfishly, jealously sold into slavery and
put in Egypt by his evil, conniving, unbelieving brothers. And you
know the story, we won't go into all that tonight. Later on, here's
Joseph second in command of Pharaoh by the power and providence of
God. And they're standing before him and they're trembling. Because they know what they deserve.
They know what they did. They know that Joseph would be
completely within his rights to snuff them out of existence.
And what's Joseph say? In verse 19 of Genesis 50, Joseph
said unto them, fear not, for am I in the place of God? What he's saying there is, I
am in the place of God. Am I not where God put me? This
is where I'm supposed to be. Well, they got up and they just
started jumping for joy and clambered and said, well, boys, we just
did the will of the Lord. Now look at verse 20 of Genesis 50.
But as for you, you thought evil against me. Your motive, your
mind, and your thought was not to glorify God and to do the
will of God. Your motive, your thought, your
mind was sinful, evil, jealousy. But God meant it for good. To
bring it to pass as it is this day to save much people alive.
Here's your answer. All things work together for
good to them that love God. You know that passage there in
Romans, it doesn't say all things are good. It says all things
work together for good to them that love God, who are the called
according to its purpose. Now go back to Jeremiah 50, rather. Now, go back to verse four. There's sort of an interlude
here in these pronouncements of judgment. And listen to what
he says, now God declares war on Babylon. Babylon's gonna be
destroyed for their evil. But he says in verse four, in
those days, now listen to this, in those days and in that time,
saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and
the children of Judah. Now there's the northern kingdom,
which had already been destroyed and dispersed by the Assyrian
empire years before this. And then the children of Judah,
these are the ones in Babylon now. Together, he says. They're gonna be together, not
separated, not a divided kingdom. And they're going to come and
they're going to be going and weeping. Those are emblems of
repentance. Reflections and evidences of
a repentant heart. They shall go and seek the Lord
their God. There's faith. And he's talking
about faith in Christ. And he says, they shall ask the
way to Zion. I want salvation. That's what
that's talking about. With their faces thitherward,
their faces set towards Zion. That means that that's the desire
of their heart. They set their face toward it.
They're not like Lot's wife. They're not walking out of Sodom
while looking back. They are not leaving Babylon
looking back saying, boy, you know, I wish I had taken that
thing with me. Or, you know, there is some good
in that back there. No, their faces are set featherward
towards Zion. And they are saying, come and
let us join ourselves to the Lord. That is Jehovah. That is
salvation. In a perpetual covenant that
shall not be forgotten. I have had people ask about that.
A perpetual covenant. Now we know that old covenant
had a beginning and had an end. It was temporal and temporary.
So how could he talk about a perpetual covenant? He's not talking about
the old covenant here. He's talking about the new covenant.
And listen, verse 6 he says, A perpetual covenant that shall
not be forgotten. Now, somebody says, well now,
there's a limited fulfillment of this when the people, when
the Medes and the Persians destroyed the literal nation of Babylon
and the physical nation of Judah began to go back to Jerusalem
and rebuild the walls and rebuild the temple. And there is a partial
fulfillment of prophecy there. It's a fulfillment of a physical
prophecy, but it only goes so far. Because I want to tell you
something, those people soon forgot the covenant, even those
who went back. If you don't believe me, read
the Minor Prophets, those during the return. All they did was
point out the sin and the rebellion of the people. You've forgotten
what you come back here for. You've got to rebuild this temple.
This is all about God. It's all about Christ. It's not
about you. You remember what they did when they were rebuilding
the city of Jerusalem? They stopped and they began to
rebuild lavish houses for themselves. And that's what they did. They
sent the prophets to tell them, look, this is not about you.
This is about Christ. You wouldn't have this. You wouldn't
be here if it weren't for God. They forgot it. The perpetual
covenant that shall not be forgotten is the new covenant in Christ. And I'll tell you what, if you're
part of that covenant, the only reason you and I don't forget
is because of the grace of God. Isn't that right? The power of
God in Christ and the Holy Spirit who indwells us. Verse six, he
says, my people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused
them to go astray. They've turned them away on the
mountains. They've gone from mountain to hill. They've forgotten
their resting place. They forgot where to lie down.
Let me tell you where to lie down. Lie down in Christ. Lie
down in the green pastures of His Word. They've forgotten where
to lie down, where to rest. Christ is our rest. Christ is
our Sabbath. You see what I'm saying? He did all the work. All my righteousness
is Christ. All my redemption is Christ.
See that? We lie down in Christ. He's our
Sabbath. And it says in verse seven, all
that found them have devoured them and their adversaries said,
we offend not because they've sinned against the Lord. Well,
that's true. But you see their adversaries, Babylon, they punished those in Judah because of their
sins. But what they forgot is they're sinners too. God used them as an instrument
of judgment, but they deserve judgment too. And it says, they've
sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, even the
Lord, the hope of their fathers, remove out of the midst of Babylon
and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans and be as the
he goats before the flocks. That means lead the people to
Christ, point to Christ. You see, these are all new covenant
blessings, all conditioned on Christ, the Lord, our righteousness.
Jeremiah had already written about that. And so then, beginning at verse
nine, he continues on with the destruction of Babylon. Because,
because, because. This is why. She sinned against
the Lord. She's reaping what she sows. But look down at verse 19. Well,
the first 17, he says, Israel is a scattered sheep, the nation. The lines have driven him away.
First, the king of Assyria had devoured him. That's who destroyed
the northern kingdom. And last, this Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, had broken his bones. Therefore, thus saith
the Lord of hosts, who cannot be defeated now, the God of Israel,
behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I
punished the king of Assyria. And look at verse 19 and 20.
Now you're going to like this. He says, I will bring Israel
again to his habitation, bring him home. And he shall feed on
Carmel and Bashan and his soul shall be satisfied upon Mount
Ephraim and Gilead. These, you know, these are all
places in the Northern kingdom. So he's talking about God's people
being restored. And look at verse 20. Now, who
are these people? Verse 20, in those days and in that time,
Now that indicates he's speaking of the future, and I believe
the messianic future. He says, saith the Lord, the
iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be what? None. And the sins of Judah,
they shall not be what? Found, for I will pardon them
whom I reserve. In that day, now whatever day
he's talking about, The iniquity of Israel will be sought for
and there'll be none. In that day, the sins of Judah,
but they won't be found. Now, if he's talking about their
return, their physical return out of Babylon to the physical
land of Judah, Judea, how could this verse apply at all? Because
God sent prophet after prophet to tell them what? Of their sins. Their sins were found. Their
iniquity was there and God told them. They had missed the purpose
of it. What's he talking about? He's
talking about the amazing grace of God for his elect people out
of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation in Christ. How else
could it be said that our iniquities are sought for and there's none
and cannot be found. But as we stand in Christ washed
in his blood and clothed in his righteousness. That's amazing
grace. You see the mention of all these
places show this is not the return of Judah from the physical captivity
that's being prophesied here. That did happen and it is prophesied
in other places. But this is the future conversion
of God's elect among the Jews and the Gentiles. All Israel
shall be saved by the grace of God in Christ. They're going
to find no iniquity. How? Well, it's not that we're
going to be wholly free from all sin in the sense that there'll
be no sin in us, none committed by us, or that sin is no longer
sin. God's not going to lower his
standard. But they won't be found upon us. They won't be charged
to us. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity. That's how they won't be found.
That's how there'll be none. Our record in heaven is wiped
clean by the blood of the Lamb. We're justified. We're righteous.
They've been removed by Christ. And that's what he's speaking
of here in the future. Christ has made an end of sin, Daniel
said. He's finished the transgression.
He's brought in everlasting righteousness. And there's no condemnation to
them who are in Christ Jesus. Punishment cannot be inflicted
upon us for our sins in a judicial legal way. And the law and the
justice of God cannot find sin accounted, charged to us because
they were charged to Christ. He was made sin. Christ who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
And what's it all based on? Well, what's he say there in
verse 20? He said, I will pardon them whom I reserve. How does
God pardon sin? Well, what's the first thing
he taught Adam and Eve about how he pardoned sin? He took
an animal, killed the animal, and made coats of skin. That's
a picture of the pardon of sin in the blood of an animal. that
remnant according to the election of grace whom God chose in Christ,
preserved in Him, reserved for Him, for His glory, for His honor. These are pardoned freely, forgiven
freely for Christ's sake. But it costs Christ His life,
the blood of the Lamb. And being pardoned, no sin is
imputed, charged, or counted to us. All is removed from us. As far as the east is from the
west, the Bible says. Covered out of the sight of God,
hid from the eye of his justice. Blotted out as a debt book. There's
no debt. Jesus paid it all. All the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow. Cast behind his back, it says.
Thrown out into the depths of the sea, entirely forgotten.
He said, I'll remember them no more. You don't think God sees
our sins? Sure He does. But He won't remember
them in what sense? He does not count them to us. He does not lay them to our charge.
He charged them to Christ. And He sees us as righteous.
You know, think about it this way too, on the other side of
this. Whenever you seek to do anything
to please God, whenever I seek to do anything to please God,
do you reckon God sees the shortcomings that I have. I guarantee he does. Yet he counts me righteous, but
not based upon my efforts to please him. How does he count
me righteous? Well, he said it. This is my
beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him? In Christ. Well, the rest of this chapter
continues God's judgment against Babylon. He says in verse 21,
go up against the land of Merathium, even against it, against the
inhabitants of Peacod. And he goes on, over in verse
24 he says, I've laid a snare for thee, thou art also taken,
O Babylon. Thou wast not aware, thou art
found and also caught, because thou hast striven against the
Lord. He says in verse 25, this is the work of the Lord, of host,
in the land of, this is God's judgment. Down in verse 28, he
tells Jeremiah to write this down, and it's going to be declared
to the people of God, the voice of them that flee and escape
out of the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance
of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple. What he's talking
about there is that the worst thing the Babylonians did was
destroy the temple, and they did. He says in verse 29, call
together the archers, Against Babylon, all ye that bend the
bow, camp against it round about, let none thereof escape. Recompense
her according to her work. Now, my friend, that's the covenant
of works right there. Give her according to her works.
Well, that's what the covenant of works is. And that's why no
sinner can be saved by their works. No flesh shall be justified
in God's sight by the deeds of the law. According all that she
hath done do unto her for she hath been proud against the Lord
against the Holy One of Israel That's what pride is when a sinner
comes before God seeking salvation or any part of it based on their
works That's pride and it's a sin against the Holy One of Israel. It's a sin against Christ Paul
said it this way another way of putting a new testimony of
putting that is Galatians 2 and verse what 20? 21 I think where it says, if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. That's the same
way as saying that. And so in verse 31, he says,
behold, I'm against thee. He's against thee. You know what? I thought about this. The Bible
says, if God be for us, who can be against us? How do I know
if God's for me? I'll tell you exactly how you
can know. It's not rocket science. It's just simply a sinner seeking
mercy in Christ. You plead Christ, you can know
God's for you, because he's for his son. He's honored in his
son. You plead Christ in him alone,
God's for you. So if God be for us, who can
be against us? But if God's against us, it doesn't matter who else
is for us. We're doomed if God's against
us. And so he talks about the sword
of Israel. Look at verse 33. He says, thus saith the Lord
of hosts, the children of Israel and the children of Judah were
oppressed together. All them that took captives held them
fast. They refused to let them go. But look at verse 34. Here's
our hope now. Their redeemer is strong. You see, it's not our strength.
It's our redeemer. The Lord of hosts is his name.
He can't be defeated. He can't be stopped. None can
stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? He shall save
his people from their sins. That's why I was going to preach
on that this morning. I bet you'll hear it next Sunday. He shall
save his people from their sins. He's able to deliver them to
the uttermost, save them to the uttermost. For he shall thoroughly
plead their cause. There's Christ, our advocate,
pleading our cause. What is our cause? It's the salvation
of sinners by the grace of God in Christ to the praise of the
glory of his grace. Christ our advocate. What does
he plead? He pleads the merits of his obedience
unto death, his righteousness, that he may give rest to the
land. See, remember they'd forgotten where to lie down? Now he gives
us rest and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. And then the rest
of the chapter here in chapter 50 talks about the sword of God's
wrath. The sword, the only way for any
sinner to avoid that sword of God's wrath is to be found in
Christ. And that's the only way, isn't
it? All right, we'll pick up with chapter 51 next time. Let's
sing a couple of verses of hymn number 332. My Jesus, I love
thee.