All right, let's open our Bibles
back to Jeremiah chapter 8. Jeremiah chapter 8. Now, I began
this past Sunday evening on this subject, five serious questions. Jeremiah in preaching his message,
the word of God to this people, Jerusalem, the nation Judah,
warning them, forewarning them of the judgment of God against
their sin. He shows them the reason that
the judgment of God is falling upon them in several ways, different
ways. Same message. And He shows them
in different ways, in many times, the only remedy for a sinner
to escape the eternal wrath of God, eternal damnation. Here
in chapter 8, he does it by posing five questions. Five questions. And I dealt with the first question
last time. Look at verse 4 of Jeremiah. Here's the first question. He
says, "...Moreover, thou shalt say unto them..." This is God
commissioning, commanding, and empowering Jeremiah to preach
the Word. Thus saith the Lord, shall they
fall and not arise? Shall he turn away and not return?
And here's the first question. Why then is this people of Jerusalem
slidden back by perpetual backsliding? And there's that term backsliding. emphasize that you need to understand
that he's not talking about what people today see as backsliding
Christians. He's talking to unbelievers here.
He's talking to those who he calls an evil family. It's the way he described them.
He's talking to those who are walking in darkness, who have
forsaken the fountain of living waters, and who have hewed out
cisterns, broken cisterns that will not hold water. Unbelief.
And this question, this first question you remember, is a question
that reveals and speaks to the utter sin and depravity of man,
fallen in Adam, dead in sin. That's what we all are by nature.
Perpetual backsliding. This is a way of life. This is
the tenor of life. And exposes them as unbelievers,
as rebellious, as stubborn and self-righteous. Why have they
backslidden with a perpetual backsliding? Look at verse 5.
They hold fast to see. They hold on to deception like
it's their very life. They refuse to return stiff-necked
and uncircumcised in heart and ears. That's what Stephen called
his generation. And then he goes on, he says
in verse 6, I hearkened and heard, but they spake not a right. No
man repented him of his wickedness. They will not repent. What have
I done? No man will even question. What
have I done in light of sin? That's what he's talking about.
It's kind of like the opposite of the publican in Luke 18. Lord,
be merciful to me, the sinner. And he says, everyone turn to
his own course as the horse rusheth into the battle. They're not
timid about it. But this is man in religion. Did you see that
fiasco today? I mean, they weren't timid about
it. They rushed into it like this proverbial horse here, rushing
into battle. Not following Christ, but following
a man. Not following the truth and the
grace of God, but following self-righteous, religious works, religion. That's all it is. And he makes
the point here that verse 7, that man is worse than the animals. Isaiah made that statement over
in Isaiah 1. Look at verse 7, he says, Yea,
the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times, the turtle
and the crane, the swallow observe the time of their coming, but
my people No, not the judgment of the Lord. They don't know
the gospel. I wanted to emphasize that last time, how the gospel
is the revelation of the righteousness of God. And that's the judgment
of the Lord against all sin. And you won't see that anywhere
else in more graphic detail and and in the depths of it then
on the cross of Christ who suffered for our sins charged to him suffered
unto death now verse 8 let's see if we can get a little further
into this verse 8 poses the second question these five serious questions
questions of life and death Why do we backslide in this sense?
Because we're sinners, we're depraved, we're fallen. That's
why we need salvation by grace. Here's the second one, verse
8. How do you say we are wise? And the law of the Lord is with
us. How do you say we are wise? That's this rebellious people.
And the law of the Lord is with us. This question here speaks
to the pride of man. Thinking himself to be wise,
He is a fool. The Bible says that in so many
verses. Men by nature are wise in their
own conceits. Let me just read you a couple
of verses. Proverbs 26 and verse 12 says
this, Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more
hope of a fool than of him. Thinks himself to be wise, but
in reality he's foolish. Proverbs 28, 11. Listen to this.
The rich man is wise in his own conceit, but the poor that hath
understanding searcheth him out. And then that passage in Romans
chapter 1, where it talks about those who held the truth in unrighteousness. It says they profess themselves
to be... professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools. Listen to what he says here.
He says in verse 8, Lo, certainly in vain made he it, the pen of
the scribes is in vain. In other words, all of man's
concoctions and ideas, even his religion, which he thinks is
man's wisdom, is really in vain. He said the pen of the scribes
is in vain. What they write down, their books.
You ever been to a religious bookstore lately? It's mostly
a bunch of foolishness. People just say, well, you're
just trying to be critical. Listen, it's more psychology. It's the power of positive thinking.
It's that kind of stuff. It's not the Word of God. It's
not the preaching of the cross. Look at verse 9. He says, the
wise men are ashamed. They are dismayed and taken. And here's the connection you
need to see here. The reason their wisdom is foolishness. Now, and that phrase up there,
they said in verse 8, the law of the Lord is with us. In other
words, we're not condemned. What they're saying there is
we're justified. The law of the Lord is on our side. The law
of the Lord will pronounce us righteous. Well, it's not true.
That's in vain, he said. That's a boast of your own pride
and self-righteousness. And the reason that it is, is
look, verse 9, they have rejected the word of the Lord. and what
wisdom is in them. They've rejected what God gave
them. All of the Word that was given
them, all of the testimony that was given them through Moses
on Mount Sinai, they've rejected it. And so, look at verse 10. He says, Therefore will I give
their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall
inherit them. For everyone from the least even
unto the greatest is given to covetousness. That's the covetousness
that Paul spoke of in Colossians chapter 3. I believe it's verse
5. He called it the covetousness which is idolatry. In other words,
it's such a desire for something that it leads a person to worship
someone or something other than God. And he says, from the prophet,
even unto the priest, everyone dealeth falsely. And then he
repeats what he said over in Jeremiah chapter 6 in another
message. Listen, verse 11. He says, for
they've healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly,
saying, peace, peace, when there is no peace. That's the equivalent
of Satan's message in the garden. Thou shalt not surely die. It's
a false peace. He says in verse 12, were they
ashamed when they committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed,
neither could they blush, therefore shall they fall among them that
fall. In the time of their visitation,
that's when God's wrath comes through, they shall be cast down,
saith the Lord. Now what he's showing forth here
is this, that man's wisdom in these areas of a relationship
with God of the law of God is absolute foolishness. Foolishness. And why is that? Because wisdom
comes only from God. And the wisdom of God is only
communicated to sinful man by revelation through His Word in
the power of the Holy Spirit. Look back at the passage that
I read in our scripture reading, 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Now
this passage here I'm sure is very familiar to most of you,
if not all of you. But this is exactly what Jeremiah
is saying right here. Here's the preaching of the cross
in verse 18. What is that? That's the preaching
of Christ. That's the preaching of the God-man
and his death on the cross to save us from our sins. That's
the gospel, the message of the gospel. It's the gospel of the
blood. It's the gospel that reveals the righteousness of God, the
judgment and the justice of God, thrown down upon God the Son
incarnate, God in human flesh, for the sins of His people laid
to His charge. And this is the gospel of God's
grace, salvation by grace. Think about it. In the obedience
unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ, Every condition, requirement,
stipulation of the law of God, of the covenant of grace was
met and fulfilled forever and ever in Christ, by Christ. And we didn't have anything to
do with it except we, except He represented us. He was our
surety. He was our substitute. He was
our Lamb, the Lamb of God, sacrificed. UNDER THE CURSE OF THE LAW FOR
US. AND THEREBY HE SAVED HIS PEOPLE
FROM THEIR SINS AND YOU AND I DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT AND
WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING FOR IT TO ATTAIN IT OR MAINTAIN
IT, CHRIST DID IT ALL. NOW THAT PREACHING TO THEM WHO
ARE PERISHING, AND WHO ARE THEY? THOSE THAT JEREMIAH HAS DESCRIBED
HERE, IT'S ALL MEN AND WOMEN BY NATURE, IS FOOLISHNESS. But unto us which are saved or
who are being saved, it's the power of God. There's power there.
The gospel is the power, the dynamite of God unto salvation
to everyone that believe it. It's the power of God. And then
he puts it in this perspective, verse 19 of 1 Corinthians 1.
It's written. Now that's the word of God. And
he said, I'll destroy the wisdom of the wise. He said, He said,
I will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Now that's man
by nature. That's man in his conceits. That's
man that Jeremiah described back here. How do you say we're wise?
And the law of the Lord is with us. And so he says in verse 20
of first Corinthians one, where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer, the debater
of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? They think they're wise, but
they're fools. And so he describes it. Verse 21, For after that,
in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Preaching
like Jeremiah's preaching. It pleased God by what men call
foolishness. The foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jews,
they're religious, they require sign. Greeks, they're philosophers,
they seek after wisdom. Verse 23, But we preach Christ
crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called,
or are being called, are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the power of God and the wisdom of God. Now that's what's going
on back here in Jeremiah chapter 8. Think about this. Christ made
this statement. He said, I thank thee, O Father,
thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent. That's
men by nature who are wise and prudent in their own conceits,
and you've revealed them unto babes. And they say this. Look back
here, Jeremiah. They say the law of the Lord
is with us. We're not judged guilty and condemned. That's
what he's saying. We're not sinners. That's pride. That's self-righteousness. You
see, that's man's foolishness. It's righteousness by works.
You see, God's wisdom is righteousness in Christ. God is both just and
justifier in Christ. Man's wisdom is righteousness
by his works, his efforts, something he does or something God does
in him. But whatever it is, it's foolishness
and it's the line pens of the scribes that have made it into
a lie. What do they say? Well, they say the law of the
Lord is with us. It's kind of like what Isaiah
said to his generation when he described them. He said, when
the overflowing scourge comes through, it will not touch us.
When God's wrath certainly doesn't abide on us, we have a righteousness
that answers the demands of God's law and justice. We know so because
we made it. Well, that's foolishness. You
see, The Scripture says, if God be for us, who can be against
us? But God is not for anyone outside of Christ. How can we
say the law of the Lord is ever with us and not against us? Only by pleading the righteousness
of God in Christ. ONLY BY PLEADING THE BLOOD OF
THE LAMB. ONLY BY APPEARING AT GOD'S BAR
OF JUSTICE IN CHRIST. THAT'S THE ONLY WAY. WHO SHALL
LAY ANYTHING TO THE CHARGE OF GOD'S ELECT? THIS IS GOD'S WISDOM
NOW. YOU KNOW THIS ISN'T MAN'S WISDOM.
THIS IS GOD'S WISDOM. WHO SHALL LAY ANYTHING TO THE
CHARGE OF GOD'S ELECT? IT'S GOD THAT JUSTIFIETH. WHO
CAN CONDEMN US? IT'S CHRIST THAT DOES. THE LAW
OF THE LORD CANNOT CONDEMN A CHILD OF GOD. The law of the Lord cannot
charge or pronounce guilty one for whom the Lamb of God gave
His life on that cross. You believe that? You know why
we believe it? Because the Word of God tells
us. That's not something you feel,
and other men can't tell you that, but God's Word does. See, they rejected the Word of
the Lord. Those who are wise in their own eyes will be put
to shame, disappointed, and captured by the enemy. And the problem
is they've rejected the word of the Lord. Isaiah said it,
to the law and to the testimony, in Isaiah 8.20, if they speak
not according to this word, there's no light in them. The Scriptures
are able to make thee wise unto salvation. Christ said, Search
the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life.
They are they which testify of me. You want to find righteousness? What does the Word of God say?
Look to Christ. You want to find forgiveness?
What does the Word of God say? Look to Christ. You want to find
blessedness and acceptance before a holy God? Fellowship with God,
what does the Word of God say? Look to Christ. It'll never tell
you to look to yourself or to your friends, your family, your
church, your denomination, your religious efforts, or your works. It'll always tell you to look
to Christ alone. That's the simplicity that's
in Christ. Men, in their foolishness, will
try to complicate that and confuse it and contaminate it and come
out on the other side saying, we're wise, the law of the Lord
is with us. Do you know, now think about
this, if you seek to come before God in any capacity for any reason
without the one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
That is utter foolishness. That is utter condemnation. It's rejection. That's the whole
point of this. And so he tells them there that
everything they hold dear, he talks about their wives will
be given to others, their fields will be given to others. What
he's saying there is everything that men hold dear and value
will be taken away from them and given to the enemy because
of their covetousness. And yet they say, peace, peace,
when there is no peace. There is no peace with God outside
of Christ. For He is our peace, Paul wrote
in Ephesians 2.14. Christ is our peace. Christ is
the one who abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law
of commandments contained in ordinances. There's no peace
with God without the cross. Paul wrote in Colossians 1 and
verse 20 that Christ made peace through the blood of His cross
by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. There's no peace
without righteousness. Turn to Isaiah chapter 32 with
me. Listen to this passage. You see,
any claim of peace apart from Christ Any claim of peace apart
from the cross, any claim of peace apart from righteousness
is a false claim. And that's what this is leading
up to. But look at Isaiah 32. Here's a prophecy of Christ,
the King. Verse 1. He says, He says, Behold,
a king shall reign in righteousness, justice, and princes shall rule
in judgment, and a man shall be as a hiding place from the
wind. This is the God-man. He says, and a covert from the
tempest as rivers of water in a dry place as the shadow of
a great rock in a weary land. And then he describes the kingdom
of Christ. And look down at verse 17 of
Isaiah 32. Listen to this. This is the work
of the king. The king who will reign in righteousness. And it says, and the work of
righteousness shall be peace. And the effect of righteousness,
quietness, a settledness, and assurance forever. You see, that's
where our assurance is. It's not in ourselves. Most people,
when they look for assurance, the reason they don't find it
is they're looking in the wrong place. They're looking within
themselves to find out, well, have I done enough here or do
I have enough faith or have I measured up? Listen, look to Christ. for assurance. And verse 18 it
says, and my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation and
in sure dwellings and in quiet resting places. There's no peace
without Christ, no peace without his cross, no peace without righteousness. Look back at Jeremiah and look
down at verse 13 now. Here's the third question. And
it kind of builds, you know, it kind of shows you how sin
leads to more sin. He starts out talking about their
backsliding, their perpetual backsliding. Why? They hold fast
deceit. That's the darkness of sin and
ignorance. Just like the Jews who were ignorant
of God's righteousness and going about to establish Him one of
their own and they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
of God. And then he talks about how they self-righteously and
in pride claim wisdom and claim that the law of the Lord is with
them. Without Christ, the law of the Lord is not with any sinner.
It's against us, isn't it, without Christ? And now he comes to the
third question. Look at verse 13. He said, I
will surely consume them, saith the Lord. There shall be no grapes
on the vine, nor figs on the fig trees, and the leaves shall
fade. And the things that I have given them shall pass away from
them. And here's the third question,
verse 14. Why do we sit still? Now, danger's coming. The enemy's coming. The wrath
of God is coming, and yet you sit there like you're in perfect,
perfect safety. And that question speaks to man's
false refuge and false sense of security. That's what it is. He thinks he's fine. One old
writer, I can't remember who it was, I read this years ago
and I wish I had written it down and put his name there, but I
can't remember who it was. But listen to this and think
about it. You have to kind of think about it a little bit.
He said this, he said, we all think we're saved before we're
saved until we're saved. And that's pretty much common
to most of us in some way or another. Why do we sit still? Because we think everything's
okay. That's what man by nature does. Somebody says, well, I'll
wait till later. I'll do this later. I'll talk
about the gospel or talk about eternal life. Why do you sit
still? Because you think you're okay.
Here's judgment coming upon the land. He says, even your crops,
the grapes and the figs, they're going to stop growing, and they
did. And he says, everything that
I've given you is going to pass away. Why do you sit still? Look at verse 14. He says, why
do we sit still? Assemble yourselves and let us
enter into the defense cities and let us be silent there. Now
this is Jeremiah preaching to, for the Lord our God had put
us to silence and given us water of gall to drink because we sinned
against the Lord. And these people, they ask this
question of themselves and seek to flee to their defense cities
and hide and wait in silence. It says in verse 15, we look
for peace, but no good came. This is going to be their plight. And for a time of health, and
behold, trouble, that health there is salvation. The snorting
of his horses were heard from Dan, that's to the north. The
whole land trembled at the sound of the name of his strong ones,
for they are come and have devoured the land and all that is in it,
the city and those that dwell therein. You see, all this is
reading like past tense, but it hadn't happened yet, but it's
going to. Verse 17, for behold I will send serpents, cockatrices,
that's an adder. He says among you poisonous snakes,
that's among you which will not be charmed and they shall bite
you, saith the Lord. Kindly reminds you of the book
of Numbers, doesn't it? When God sent poisonous serpents
among the people. they were bit and they were dying
and he told Moses, he said, he said, fashion a serpent of brass
and put it on a pole and hold it up and tell the people, look
and live. Why are you sitting still? Why
do you think you're safe? And another way of asking that
question is this, what is your ground of hope and assurance
and peace and safety? Because my friend, if it's anything
but Christ and him crucified, I'll tell you right now, it's
a false security. There is no assurance, no proper
assurance, no godly assurance, no real assurance, no real safety
and peace, no refuge except false refuge outside of Christ. Under the blood of Jesus, we
sing that chorus, safe in the shepherd's fold. under the blood
of Jesus, save while the ages roll." You notice there he said
that all these things in verse 13 are going to pass away? You
know, thank God that His salvation, the salvation that He freely
provides for His people by His grace in Christ, His kingdom,
His mercy, will never, never pass away. His word will never
pass away, Peter said. Isaiah said it. Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away, he said.
His mercy endures forever. His grace is forever and ever.
His forgiveness is forever and ever. His righteousness is forever
and ever. For He's able to save to the
uttermost them that come unto the Father by Him. He's able
to keep that which we've committed unto Him against that day. He
is our eternal High Priest. And in glory we'll sing the song
of the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb that was slain. And that forever
and ever, a kingdom that will never pass away, Why do people
sit still under a false refuge of religion? It's because they
don't know any better. It's because of pride and self-righteousness. All of this for nothing. But
I'll tell you one thing. You know there is a good way
to sit still. There is a good way, we might
say it this way, of standing still. In fact, go back to Exodus
chapter 12. Or Exodus chapter 14, I'm sorry. And look at verse 13. Here Moses,
the prophet of God, commands the people to stand still. But it's not the same as in the
book of Jeremiah. Those were standing still or
sitting still because of their false security, based on their
self-righteousness and their pride and even their rebellion. But here the people of God were
scurrying forth in unbelief and complaining and doubts. And look
at what Moses says in verse 13 of Exodus 14. Moses said unto
the people, Fear ye not. What were they fearing? They
were fearing the Egyptians. fearing Pharaoh. He says, fear
ye not, stand still. Stand still on what? Stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show you
today. For the Egyptians whom you've
seen today, you shall see them again no more forever. The Lord
shall fight for you and you shall hold your peace. Now that's a
good standing still. To what? To see the salvation
of the Lord. You remember I told you back
in Genesis 49, 18, the first time the word salvation was used
there, which is Yeshua, translated to Joshua, to Jesus. This is
the same word. In fact, this is the second time
it's used in the Old Testament. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. O Simeon picked up the Christ
child and he said Lord thy servant is now ready to depart for mine
eyes have seen thy salvation stand still and see Christ that's
what he said stand still and see his blood that blood that's
powerful enough and precious enough to save us from all our
sins. Stand still and see His righteousness
as your only hope and your only ground. Stand still upon the
rock Christ Jesus and be immovable. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ has made us free and don't be entangled yet again with that
yoke of bondage that will only provide a false peace and a false
refuge. Think about it. Let's go back
to Jeremiah. Let me go on to verse 18. And this is the fourth question. Then I want to deal with the
last question in a message all of its own. So, this will be
the last one tonight. But here's the fourth question.
Verse 18, he says in Jeremiah, When I would comfort myself against
sorrow, my heart is faint in me. Now this is Jeremiah the
prophet. He's sorrowing for the people. What a sad condition. And he says, Behold the voice
of the cry of the daughter of my people, because of them that
dwell in a far country. Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not
her king in her? Now this people, they were going
to be alienated from their own land. And what that meant is
they're going to be alienated from God. Because God's Shekinah
glory dwelt above the mercy seat. But what happened here? Look
at it. Verse, here's the fourth question. Why have they provoked
me to anger with their graven images and with strange vanities? Why have they provoked God to
anger with their idolatry and with strange vanities? That's
thoughts, ideas, doctrines that are foreign to the glory of God
in Christ, the gospel. This question speaks to the sinner's
idolatry, unbelief, and the fact, as Romans 3.18 says, there's
no fear of God before our eyes. That's us by nature. Idolatry. And what it shows us is this.
Now this is Jerusalem. This is Judah. This is Israel. All right? The descendants. Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, Joseph, all of them. These are the people. These are the descendants of
the people whom God chose in Abraham and led out of Egypt
into the wilderness and through the wilderness and into the promised
land and gave them the law and the priesthood, the tabernacle.
This is the people now. And yet, they are idolaters.
and they are they have aligned themselves with strange vanities.
Why? Why? Well, it's all been said. It's because they hold fast deceit. They refuse to return. They imagine
themselves wise in their own conceits. They have a false refuge,
a false assurance. And what does this teach us?
It teaches us this, that unless we know the glory and the truth
of the person and finished work of Christ. All our religion,
all of our imaginations, all of our doctrines, whatever they
are, are nothing but a hodgepodge of idolatry. That's it. You cannot worship God. You cannot
pray unto God. You cannot serve God. without Christ. Is that right? He is the way, the truth, the
life. No man can cometh unto the Father
but by Him. There is none other name given
among men whereby we must be saved. There is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. And without
Him, I don't care how beautiful it appears, how much money it
took to build it, or how long, or how much blood shed, I don't
care how ceremonial, sincere, or zealous it is, without Christ,
to be ignorant of God's righteousness, which is Christ who is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone, it's nothing but
idolatry. And so he says, verse 20, the
harvest is passed, the summer is ended, and we're not saved. Why? Because there's no salvation
without Christ. That's what he says. Now we'll
deal with that last question in verse 22 in the next message. Is there no bombing Gilead?