Alright, our text for the message
this evening is Jeremiah chapter 25. Jeremiah chapter 25, we'll begin
with verse 15. The title of the message is in
the form of a question. And here's the question. Who
will drink the cup of God's wrath. Who will drink the cup of God's
wrath? Now, I had Brother Joe read this
short Psalm 11 because especially these last few verses sort of
state the whole theme of this message. There in verse 4 of
Psalm 11, the psalmist writes, the Lord is in his holy temple. at all times. You know, that's
a direct reference to the temple of Solomon, but that was a symbolic
place. You can't, you know, the Lord
said you can't contain Him in buildings and things that men
build. The Lord is omnipotent and omniscient
and omnipresent. But He's always in His holy temple.
He never acts or thinks or purposes without holiness. And it says,
the Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold. In other words,
he sees everything. And it says, his eyelids try
the children of men. His eyes behold the children
of men. His eyelids try the children of men. There are different views
of what people have of why did he put eyelids there. I think
the most simple answer that we can give is simply the way we
think today. You know, you've heard the expression,
if something goes by so fast, if you blink, you'll miss it.
Or you go through a town that's so small, they'll say, if you
blink, you'll miss it. Well, when God blinks, He doesn't
miss it. He sees it all. He knows it all. And He tries
the children of men. And He knows the score. He judges
according to truth. He says in verse 5, the Lord
trieth the righteous. That's testing the righteous.
Listen to the verse there. Psalm 11 5. The Lord trieth the
righteous. But the wicked in him that loveth
violence, his soul hateth." God hates the wicked. People tell
you that God doesn't hate anyone. You better read the Bible. I
was telling some men back in the study that years and years
and years ago when talking to a preacher about the things I
was learning in the gospel and the doctrines of grace, and he
wanted to argue with other preachers and I said, well, you've got
one big thing standing in your way with me. And he said, what?
And I said, well, I'm reading the Bible. I'm finally doing
something I've never done before, being raised in religion. I'm
reading the Bible. And I said, that's what you've
got to get by if you're going to promote what you're promoting.
But you see, he says here, the Lord loveth, trieth the righteous. Now that trying there, that testing
there is the chastening of the Lord that proves his love to
his children. Hebrews chapter 12. But the wicked
and him that loveth violence, his soul hated. He says in verse
6, upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone. I
suppose especially this last part of Jeremiah 25 could be
called one of those hell, fire and brimstone messages. That
they tease preachers or make fun of preachers about preaching.
And he is talking about the wrath of God. The cup of God's wrath. But here's what he says, upon
the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone. Those are
all emblems of God's wrath, justice against sin. And in horrible
tempest, this shall be the portion of their cup. They're going to
drink it. And he says, and the reason why
is verse 7 of Psalm 11. Here's the reason why. Because
the righteous Lord, the just Lord, loveth righteousness. And his countenance doth behold
the upright. And that's those who are in Christ. Those who are engulfed and immersed
and infiltrated with the grace of Almighty God in Christ Jesus
our Lord. That's the upright. The only
uprightness that we can claim is our standing in Christ and
the life that he's given us whereby we live in total dependence upon
him. Now with that in mind, let's
go back to Jeremiah 25. He begins with God's judgments
of the nations. You might say it this way, this
is God's declaration of war on all ungodly nations and all people
who reject His way, His will, and pronounce the sentence of
wrath upon them. It's all because of sin. Listen
to it in verse 14 he says he says in verse 14 for many nations
and great kings shall serve them say themselves of them also and
I will recompense them according to their deeds and According
to the works of their own hands Now that's the situation. There's
a standard of judgment What does the Bible say about the deeds
and the works of the hands of men? Well, it always says we've
all sinned and come short of the glory of God. They always
come short. They always measure. They always
do not measure up to make a sinner righteous. There's no deeds or
works that we can do that are good enough to justify us or
cleanse us from our sins. That's why we need Christ. That's
why we need God's mercy and God's grace. So whenever he talks about
in the Bible about judging sinners according to their deeds and
according to the works of their hands. He's talking about his
wrath, his justice coming down upon sinners. He's not talking
about handing out rewards because you've done more than the person
sitting next to you. That's not what he's talking
about at all. Well, how do you know? Well, look at it. Verse
15. Now here it is. He says, For thus saith the Lord
God of Israel unto me, Take the wine cup of this fury, at my
hand and calls all the nations to whom I send thee to drink
it." In other words, you preach the wrath of God to all these
wicked nations. Somebody said, we don't want
to hear a negative message. God told Jeremiah, you go preach
a negative message. And basically it's this, he that
believeth not shall be damned. He says, they shall drink and
be moved and be mad. That word mad there doesn't mean
they'll be angry, it means they'll be reeling, like it says because
of the sword that I will send them and they will be reeling,
they will be in confusion. Like people that are drunk on
wine. In other words, they really at some point, they are not going
to know why this is happening because they think they are righteous.
Man who thinks himself to be righteous, who thinks he doesn't
deserve the wrath of God. You see, at one point, he'll
wonder, what's going on? But then he'll find out. And
that'll be at the judgment. He'll find out. He'll know why.
Because he doesn't measure up. He doesn't have Christ. You see,
that's the only way you can measure up. And me too. That's why our
prayer is, Lord, do not recompense us according to our deeds. Do
not recompense us according to the works of our hands. Oh, that
I may know Him, Christ, and be found in Him. You see? So he
says, they'll be reeling, they'll be confused. Verse 17, he says,
Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand, and made all the nations
to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me. Jeremiah's message,
the message of God. And verse 18 says, to wit, in
other words, I'm going to describe to you exactly how this is going
to happen. And look who it comes to first. What's the first name
there? Jerusalem. Isn't that something? Isn't that something? That's
where the chosen people of God in that temporal covenant were.
It's where the temple of God was. It's where the high priest
was. It's where the sacrifice was.
The city of David, the king, is going to come to Jerusalem.
Judgment is going to begin at the house of God in that way.
That's where His wrath is going to fall first. And then he says,
in the cities of Judah. Now it goes out to all the people
of Judah, not just the leaders in Jerusalem, not just the king
and the priest and the prophets, but the whole nation. You say,
what's he showing here? Is this just God throwing a temper
tantrum? Is this, oh wow, that's the God
of the Old Testament. Well now, the full fulfillment
of this prophecy, now it did happen just in a few years after
this, When Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came through
and destroyed Jerusalem, but they came back 70 years later,
they rebuilt it, the full amount of God's wrath shown upon Jerusalem
and Judah did not really come about until AD 70. New Testament. So if you believe that this is
just God throwing a tantrum or God being mean, well, you know,
some people say, well, I like the loving God of the New Testament,
not the mean God. Listen, he's just as mean in
the New Testament as he was in the Old. He's not being mean,
he's being just. That's what he says. I will recompense
them according to their deeds. I'll give them what they deserve.
See, that's why we pray. Lord, don't give me what I deserve.
Don't ever pray that God will give you what you deserve. Now, you may feel like you've
been slighted by men. or by women. You may feel like
they haven't given you what you deserve. You may feel like your
boss isn't paying you as much as you're worth. You may feel
that way. But when it comes to a relationship
with God, think this way. Psalm 130 and verse 3. Lord,
if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who would stand? If God were to ever judge any
of us, the best of us, based upon our best efforts, what would
we deserve? What would we earn? the cup of
the wrath of God. You say, well, not me. I say,
well, then you're better than the rest of us. You're different
from the rest. You don't need Christ. Why are you here? You
don't need salvation by grace. If you don't deserve hell based
on your best, you don't need salvation by grace. Do you understand
what I'm saying? You see, the righteous Lord loveth
righteousness, and if you don't deserve hell, you're righteous
already. You don't need Christ the Lord
your righteousness. So he says, Jerusalem, Judah,
and the kings thereof, verse 18, the princes thereof, to make
them a desolation and an astonishment. Things that people wonder at.
I remember I used to wonder at things like this, similar things,
and I had no answers until God led me to his word and showed
me Christ. Make you an hissing, something that people hiss at.
And a curse. You see, that's what the wrath
of God is. Christ was made a curse for us. Isn't that right? What
did he do when he was made a curse? He came under the wrath of God
as the substitute and surety of his people. He was made a
curse. And he suffered the full measure
of God's wrath for his sheep, for God's elect, for the church.
He says, as it is this day, verse 19, now he goes to Egypt, Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, and his servants, his princes, all his people,
and all the mingled people. Then he goes out to the other
nations, all the kings of the land of Uz. That's where Job
was from, remember. He says, all the kings of the
land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, Aza, Ekron, remnant
of Ashdod. Edom, Moab, the children of Ammon,
and all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, the kings
of the Isles, which are beyond the sea." You know what he's
doing there, don't you? He's covering the whole earth. There's not
a corner, north, south, east, or west, where this judgment
is not going to fall. It's why the psalmist in in Psalms
11 said, I trust in the Lord, why should my soul say flee to
the mountains? The mountains will do you no
good. Don't flee to the mountains, flee to Christ. Don't flee to
the mountains, they won't help you. You can climb Mount Everest
and stand on the top of it, it will not protect you. Flee to
Christ, He is our mountain. Verse 23, Dedan, Tima, These are all places, and all
that are in the utmost corners. And all the kings of Arabia,
and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,
and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, the kings
of the Medes. That's the nation later on, the
Medes and the Persians. They're going to deliver Israel
from the Babylonian captivity, but they're going to get what
they deserve too. All the kings of the north, far
and near, one with another. They can band together, won't
help them. Form an alliance, won't help you. All the kingdoms
of the world which are upon the face of the earth and the king
of Shishak shall drink after them. Most scholars agree and
I agree that that's another name for Babylon. The very nation
that God uses as an instrument of his justice against Jerusalem
and Judah will get what they deserve eventually, that it'll
be after all the others, he says. And I believe that has a spiritual
significance. Because if you'll notice in the
book of Revelation, when it talks about the defeat of Satan and
the defeat of all the beasts, the great harlot Babylon is the
last to be finally put down. Spiritual Babylon, which stands
for every government, every philosophy, every theology, every religion
that opposes Christ. and the gospel of salvation by
God's grace in him. God is doing this literally.
This is all done literally. All these nations have already
fallen literally, but they have a spiritual lesson here for us
today as we look into the future and see the wrath of God that's
going to be brought down on this world in the second coming of
Christ. He's coming to destroy this world. Now thank God. that
the righteous Lord still loves righteousness. And those who
are found in him will be gathered into his bosom. We'll be safe. We fled from the wrath of God,
not to the mountains, not by alliances, but we fled to Christ. We're hid, as Ron prays, we're
hid in the cleft of the rock. Isn't that right? And that's
what it's all about. You see, this whole thing is
about Him. Even when we talk, even when we preach hellfire
and brimstone, it's all about Christ. I'll show you some more
of that in just a moment. Look here. Verse 27. He says,
Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of
hosts. Now again, that's another way of saying the Lord of a great
army. And what it means is this cannot be stopped. There's nothing
man can do. to defeat God. He's invincible,
the Lord of hosts. The God of Israel, drink ye and
be drunken and spew, that means throw, gets a drunk you throw
up. And he says, and fall and rise
no more. There'll be no more rising here. Because of the sword which I
will send among Now I want you to pay attention to verses 28
and 29 here. Listen to this. He says, and
it shall be if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to
drink. Now here's Jeremiah preaching
the wrath of God. And he says, if they refuse to
take the cup at thine hand. Now that's significant. They
can't refuse to take the cup at God's hand. When God brings
it through, nobody will refuse. Every knee's gonna bow and every
tongue's gonna confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. There's no mistaking
that. But if they refuse to take the
cup at thine hand, then shalt thou say unto them, thus saith
the Lord of hosts, you shall certainly drink. Well, you may
not receive this message now, but there's gonna come a time
that you're gonna drink it. You're gonna drink the cup of
the wrath of God. Verse 29 he says, For lo, I begin
to bring evil on the city, that's disaster, that's justice really
in God's mind, which is called by my name. And should ye be
utterly unpunished, you shall not be unpunished. For I will
call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth. See
it goes out to all the inhabitants of the earth. Now an inhabitant
of the earth in the Bible refers to the unregenerate, the unbeliever,
those upon whom the wrath of God abides, who are so connected
to this earth that they never come to a saving knowledge in
submission to Christ. The book of Revelation speaks
of that. The earth dwellers is one way of putting it. You see,
the Bible teaches us that if we are truly in Christ, by the
grace of God, hidden in the cleft of the rock, If we're washed
in his blood and clothed in his righteousness, what is our home? Not this earth. This earth is
not our home. We're in the world, remember
Christ told his disciples, but we're not of the world. We're
citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, the heavenly Israel, spiritual
Israel. And this world is just a wilderness
that we're pilgrims wandering through whatever time God gives
us here on this earth. But the inhabitants of the earth,
they're the earth dwellers. They're tied to the earth. The
earth's going to be destroyed, and they're going to be destroyed
with it, saith the Lord of hosts. Now, to refuse to drink the cup
at the hand of the prophet is equivalent to a refusal to repent. That's what that means. You know,
to drink the cup of God's wrath, in some ways, is an emblem for
taking sides with God against ourselves. Saying this, again,
Psalm 130 verse 3, Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity,
who would stand? You know, David said, blessed
is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. In other words,
I know what I am. I'm a sinner. I know what I deserve. I deserve nothing but death and
hell. I know what I've earned. The
wages of sin is death. But I know what I desire by the
grace of God. I desire mercy. I desire grace. I desire Christ. You see the
difference? And those who refuse to take
the cup of God's wrath by the hand of the prophet in the preaching
of the truth, the justice and judgment of God, it's the same
as refusing to repent. Remember Christ in Luke chapter
13, He talked about those who were murdered by a Pontius Pilate
at the altar, and he talked about those who were killed by that
disaster when that tower fell, and he asked him this question.
He said, now, how do you assess that situation? And I think about
this quite a bit because it is the issue of repentance. Think
about when some great disaster hits in our world. I think about
when that hurricane came through and tore up New Orleans. And
how many preachers said, well, that was such a wicked city,
and God finally had enough. And Christ asked him that question
in Luke 13. He said, do you suppose that
those who were slain by Pontius Pilate at the altar and those
upon whom, that's God's judgment, that's an act of man against
man, but it's God's judgment. And then that natural disaster,
that tower that fell, he said, suppose ye that those who died
in it, that they were greater sinners than everybody else,
that they were so wicked they deserved it? Well, the natural
man says, well, yes, yes. New Orleans deserved it, but
now Ashland doesn't. We're the buckle on the Bible
belt. We've got religious television
here. Good night, they've got that
everywhere. We've got a church on every street corner here.
They've got that everywhere too. Suppose you, they were greater
sinners than you. And he says, Nay, I tell you,
except you repent, you shall likewise perish. He was talking
to those in Judea, the religious folk. We look at the cup of God's
wrath upon the nations, upon the world. Can we suppose that
they are greater sinners and that God would certainly not
touch us with such such harsh judgments because we're Americans. We're religious. No, no, no. Except you repent,
you will likewise perish. That's what the message is. Oh,
did they get what they deserve? Yes. Well, what if God gave me
a preacher? Standing up here preaching, what
if God gave me what I deserve? I'll tell you what, it'd be that
or worse. Isn't that right? You see, I'm just as much in
need of God's grace and mercy and Christ as the worst sinner
that ever walked the earth. I'm telling you the truth. Just
like, think about that old Pharisee and the publican, the Pharisee.
He thought he deserved the accolades from God, the blessings from
God. That publican deserved wrath. Who went away justified? The
publican who pled for mercy. Not the Pharisee who pled his
works. You see, that's the whole issue.
To drink the cup of God's wrath is a sign of submission to God's
judgment. God, you're right. You're exactly
right. Your judgments are always according
to truth. I can't argue with God, I can't
complain. Just like in Romans 9, it says,
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. Is there injustice with
God? Does that seem unfair to you?
I tell you what, whatever it seems, you can knock it out of
your head and read the book. It says absolutely not. God's
judgments are always according to truth. God's judgments are
always wise. God's judgments are always fair.
And if you don't submit to that, you're refusing to take the cup
and submit to God's judgment. I think about this, too, in light
of our Savior. You know, He took the cup of
God's wrath. And you want to know what? I
want you to listen to me very carefully. He deserved exactly
what He got. Now how? By imputation. That's how. That's exactly right. Listen to his words in John 10.
You don't have to turn there. I'll just read them to you. He's
talking about his sheep. and he said the good shepherd
give his life for the sheep he said in verse 16 other sheep
I have which are not of this fold them also I must bring and
they shall hear my voice there shall be one fold and one shepherd
therefore doth my father love me because I now listen because
I laid down my life that I may take might take it again no man
taketh it from me but I lay it down of myself he did it willingly
I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again.
That's His resurrection. This commandment have I received
of my Father. Here's the sinless, perfect,
righteous Lord of glory who based on His person and His works deserve
nothing but eternal glory. And yet for the sins of His people
for the sins of his people charged, accounted, imputed to him. He
went under the wrath of God justly. Now, was God unjust to punish
his son for the sins of his sheep? No. The righteous Lord loveth
righteousness. God is just in everything He
does. And He punished Christ justly
based on sin imputed. It wasn't sin infused. It wasn't
sin imparted. It wasn't sin imbued. It wasn't
sin that contaminated Him. It was sin imputed that God judged
Him for. And did that justly. It pleased
the Lord to bruise Him. And then over in Matthew chapter
26, our Lord in the garden. In his humanity, he struggled,
remember, with the infirmities of the flesh. Suffering. His suffering began. He sweat
great drops of blood, the Scripture says. And in Matthew 26, there
in verse 39, it says, And he went a little further, and fell
on his face, and prayed, saying, O my father, if it be possible,
let this cup, let that cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as
I will, but as thou wilt, cometh unto his disciples, and findeth
them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What? Could you not watch with
me one hour? He was suffering. And that rightly
so, justly so. Not for sins he committed. Not for sin that contaminated
him. But for sin imputed him. That's how real imputation is. My friend, here's the thing about
it. Turn to Romans chapter 10. And here's something, as the
old guy said, it'll float your boat in the storm. God is just to save us and to
take us into his fellowship and bless us based on righteousness
imputed. The righteousness of God in Christ.
You see, Christ's submission is our salvation. His submission,
His drinking the cup of God's wrath is our salvation. Our submission means repentance
unto life and suffering the reproach of Christ as evidence of life. But think about this. Look at
verse 1 of Romans 10. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, God's
justice, and going about to establish their own righteousness, you
see, there's the deeds, there's the works of their hands. They're
trying to establish their own righteousness. Have not, what? Look at it. Have not what? Submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. He says, for Christ is
the end, the fulfillment, the finishing, the completion, the
perfection of the lawful righteousness to everyone that believes. There
it is. You see, God, when God punished
His Son, He didn't do an injustice there. He did it justly, based
on sin and people. And when God saves His people,
and brings us into His fellowship, sinners now, who deserve wrath
based on their works. But you see, God doesn't recompense
His people according to their deeds and their works. If He
did, we'd all be damned forever. He recompenses us justly based
on the righteousness of Christ imputed. That's how real that
is. Don't tell me that's a legal
fiction. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness
without works. You see the difference there?
Now go back to Jeremiah 25. Now, refusal to submit in the
end will mean destruction. Verse 27, he says, drink and
be drunken. He says in verse 28, and the
last part, you shall certainly drink. And then beginning at
verse 30, he gives the way of judgment. Now listen to him here.
Here's the way of judgment. You see, there's hope. Even in
a message that people would label hellfire and brimstone, there's
hope, isn't there? But that hope is in Christ. He
took my hell. He took my fire. He took my brimstone. That's what He did. How? By the
shedding of His precious blood. And He fulfilled all righteousness
for me. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness.
And let me just show you this. You know that Psalm 116 that
I read? That first part? When it says
in verse 12 there, What shall I render unto the Lord for all
His benefits toward me? Well, I deserved everything of
God. That's not what it says, is it? What shall I render unto
the Lord for all his benefits toward me? Well, look at I will
take the cup of salvation. That means I didn't earn them
and I didn't deserve them. If you take the cup of salvation,
that's the same as submitting to Christ. For all salvation. It's an omission. I don't even
deserve the next breath I draw, let alone the glories of an inheritance
that's incorruptible. Righteousness that cannot be
changed. There's no flaw in the righteousness
that I have. It's the righteousness of God.
There's no chink in that armor. God, when He sees me, He doesn't
see my sin in the sense He doesn't hold them against. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ. I have a right
and title and I have a way to enter into the holiest of all
by the blood of Jesus Christ. Wash me clean from all my sin. You see that? So what shall I
render unto the Lord for all His benefits? I'll take the cup
of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord." And anytime
the Bible talks about calling upon the name of the Lord, it's
not saying just pray. And it's not saying just look
up into the sky and shout, Lord. It means through sacrifice. That's
how you call upon the name of the Lord. That's how Abraham
did it. That's how Noah did it. That's
how Abel did it. He brought the blood of the Lamb.
That's how you call upon the name of the Lord. And then he
said, I'll pay my vows. That means I'll worship Him.
I'll serve Him. Well look here, here's the way
of judgment. Look at verse 30, Jeremiah 25. Therefore prophesy
thou against them all these words and say unto them, the Lord shall
roar from on high and utter his voice from his holy habitation.
He shall mightily roar upon his habitation. He shall give a shout
as they that tread the grapes against all the inhabitants of
the earth. He'll judge them as a conquering king, symbolized
by a roaring lion here. He's gonna roar from on high.
The line of the tribe of Judah, remember? In Revelation, he is
seen in his second coming, coming to conquer and judge the nations.
Every knee is going to bow. Every tongue is going to confess.
And he is going to come like one treading grapes, the grapes
of wrath. You have heard that in the song.
Glory, hallelujah, the grapes of wrath. That is where that
came from, out of Revelation. And from here, he is going to
tread them down like the grapes of wrath. In Isaiah 63, the Lord
talked about he tread the winepress alone. Most people apply that
to salvation. But really what he's talking
about there is judgment. All judgment is submitted to
Christ, committed to Christ. He is the judge. God's going
to judge this world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
and that he hath given assurance unto all men, and that he hath
raised him from the dead. Now he did tread the winepress
of God's wrath for his people, as our substitute, as our surety.
And then look at verse 31, it says, the noise shall come even
to the ends of the earth, for the Lord hath a controversy with
the nations. He will plead with all flesh,
he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.
Now when it says the Lord has a controversy, what it means
is he has a charge against all nations. Like you're standing
before a court, before a judge, and the charges are read. And
then it says, when he will plead with all flesh, that doesn't
mean he's going to beg everybody. You know, preachers today, they
portray Christ as begging everybody to do this or try to do that.
That's not what he's saying. When it says he will plead with
all flesh, it means he will stand as a prosecutor, delivering those
charges. This person is guilty. and deserves the penalty, which
is death. All right? And so the way of
judgment, he's going to come like the conquering king, the
conquering lion and tread the winepress. And he's also going
to do it like an attorney, a prosecuting attorney bringing charges at
the judgment. And he'll bring charges against
the wicked. And what's that say back up in verse 14? He's going
to recompense them according to their deeds. Look at this
person's deeds. Look at this person's works.
And here's the question about the deeds and the works. Now
here's the question. Do they measure up to perfect
righteousness? That's the question. It's not
did you try to do your best. It's not did you give money here,
give money there, or try to be kind. It's this. Do your deeds
or your works, do they measure up to perfect righteousness?
And if they don't, what does the Lord say? You can see an
example of Matthew 7, 21 through 23, when he said, depart from
me ye that work iniquity, inequity, for I never knew you. You say,
well, preacher, what hope do we have? Our only hope is to
be found in Christ, because his deeds, his works, do measure
up. That's right. That's why Jeremiah
said, the Lord our righteousness. That's who Christ is. You see,
our defense is Christ. When we sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. That's it. So he's going to plead. And then
verse 32, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall
go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be
raised up from the coast of the earth. There's the emblem of
the whirlwind. It's the way of judgment. He's
going to come through like a whirlwind. No opportunities then. Hosea
said the same thing. He said, They sown the wind,
they'll reap the whirlwind. That's the wrath of God. And
then look at the final end of God's judgment, verse 33. The slain of the Lord shall be
at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of
the earth. They shall not be lamented, neither gathered nor
buried. They shall be dung upon the ground. What he's talking
about there is complete destruction without pity and without honor. There'll be no honor. Over in
Psalm 116, we saw where it says, precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. That's an honorable death. That's
a death in Christ. That's a passing over, isn't
it? But not here. They'll be like dung up on the
ground, he said. Verse 34, he says, there's no
hope of escape or repair. How ye shepherds and cry and
wallow yourselves in the ashes, you principle of the flock, the
most honorable people. for the days of your slaughter
and of your dispersions are accomplished and you shall fall like a pleasant
vessel, like a prized vase or vessel or piece of pottery that's
worth a lot and you'll fall down and it's broken and what's it
worth now? Nothing. In other words, everything that
man holds dear and valuable will be worth nothing. Verse 35. He says, the shepherds shall
have no way to flee, nor principal of the flock to escape. There'll
be no escape. Without Christ, there's no escape. And then verse
36, here he talks about how there's no protection, there's no peace,
there's no safety. A voice of the cry of the shepherds
and the howling of the principal of the flock shall be heard,
for the Lord has spoiled their pasture. And the peaceable habitations
are cut down. Remember they cry, peace, peace,
when there's no peace. Well, all their refuges and their
safety, that'll be gone. Cut down because of the fierce
anger of the Lord, he hath forsaken his cover as the lion. Just like
a lion that's covered up, camouflaged, waiting for the prey, then God
will be uncovered. He'll forsake all the covers
and he'll jump out like that lion. And it says, for their
land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor and
because of his fierce anger. Well, the bottom line to all
of it is this. There's no way to avoid God's wrath apart from
Christ. Without Him, there's no way to
avoid this desolation and judgment based upon our works. And so,
like John the Baptist told the Pharisees and the Sadducees,
flee from the wrath to come. We must drink the cup of the
blood of Christ. We symbolize that when we take
the Lord's Supper, don't we? If you don't want to drink the
cup of God's wrath, drink the cup of the blood of the Son of
God. That means believe on Him. Submit
to Him and His righteousness as that which alone saves us
and keeps us and will bring us to glory.