If you would, please turn to
Jeremiah chapter 29. Jeremiah chapter 29. And I want
to begin reading in verse 10. For thus saith the Lord, that
after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon, I, will visit you
and perform my good word toward you in causing you to return
to this place. For I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not
of evil to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon
me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto
you. And ye shall seek me and find
me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart, and I
will be found of you, saith the Lord. And I will turn away your
captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations and
from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord. And I will bring you again into
the place which I caused you to be carried away captive. Now a few months ago, Walter
was preaching from Jeremiah and he read this particular passage
and what he was doing, and he did a very good job on it. This
is an actual fact. This is a prophecy given to Jeremiah. They weren't in captivity yet.
It was coming, but they weren't in it yet. And he says, after
70 years, thus saith the Lord. That makes it a fact. Whether
anyone believes it or not, whether anyone knows it or not, it's
a fact. They were going into captivity,
and they were coming out. They went in on the word of God,
and they came out on the word of God. There's no discussion
here. It's a fact of history. I mean,
you can look it up. Most people won't, but you can.
But the Bible is accurate here. And I'll tell you this, whatever
happened to Israel during that 70 years of captivity before
this prophecy came true, God was aware of it. Every single
thing. Nothing happened without the
Lord. He drove them there. That's what the scripture says.
His words say. God put Israel exactly where
he wanted them to be, for his own reason. And he brought them
out the same exact way that he drove them in there, for his
own reason. Nothing was going to change for
Israel until after these 70 years were done. Nothing, nothing. Now that was a prophecy, I said
it's a fact, spoken to Jeremiah by the Lord God of heaven. I'm
not gonna deal with that today, because Walter did. And some months ago, I told him
this when he read it. Some months ago when he read
this and I was reading along, my heart opened up with this.
And I read this, and I know I've read it before, but it just,
glared at me, you know, my head burst open. And so I saw, and I still see,
three particular things in this passage of scripture that I wanna
share, and this is gonna relate to us. I know it's a fact, I
know it happened, but I also know these words relate to us. Because I can tell you this,
from this way God dealt with Israel, we see the way God deals
with all of his children. Just the same as when Exodus
happened. And Moses stood on the side of
the Red Sea and said, stand still and see the salvation of the
Lord. Now Moses didn't part the Red Sea, he just said, look,
stand still and see. And the Lord parted the Red Sea.
And if the Lord didn't part the Red Sea, wasn't anybody going
anywhere. But when God says you go, you go. And when God says
you come, you come. I mean, that's just a thing of
beauty. But I got three things I see in this scripture that
I wanna share today. Number one, when are God's people
saved? Number two, how God's people
are saved? And number three, what happens
to God's people when he saves them? And you can see this right
here. And this goes just as true as
for the Old Testament saints as it does for us, every bit
of it. So the first thing is when are
God's people saved? Well, look at verse 10. For thus
saith the Lord, that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon,
I will visit you and perform my good word towards you in causing
you to return to this place. The question is when are God's
people saved? The answer is in the fullness
of time. In the fullness of time, the
son was given. A child was born, but that son
was given. in the fullness of time. And
we were talking about it this morning. We are justified, believers are
justified in God's sight by his precious blood that was shed
in the fullness of time. When are God's people saved?
God's people are saved in God's own good time. and not before,
and not after. And you can take that as the
reconciliation that Christ wrought 2,000 years ago on the cross,
dying, his blood being shed. And you can also appoint it to
us living here on this earth. These Jews, the children of God,
his chosen nation, They were gonna be in Babylon for 70 years,
and in 70 years, he was going to what? Call them out. He was going to bring them out. Your salvation, when you realize
your salvation, when God comes and grants life to you, In this
world, which he does in time, he's promised it all throughout
the book, it happens in God's own good time. I'm taking that
phrase back. That'll happen in God's own time.
Yes, it will. People say that, but they don't
believe it. I believe it, so I'm gonna start saying it again.
People will look at you, they say, well, it was their time.
No, it's God's time. You know? Sure, it's your time
too, maybe. But it's God's time that matters.
It's God's time. Not a sparrow falls, not without
my father knowing it. No, that's not what he says,
it's true. But he said, not a sparrow falls without my father. And I'm gonna tell you this,
not one believer is saved outside of God's good time. I was walking
around this planet for 23 years, didn't know anything about God,
Jesus Christ, and didn't care. Except for what the Catholic
Church beat into me when I was a kid. That's it. And I didn't pay that close attention
to that. Just to be honest about it. I knew the Trinity because I
had to do this all the time. Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost gets
you shoulders. That's all about, you know. No,
but when it, what did Paul say? In the fullness of time, God,
in the fullness of time, deigned to reveal his son in me, in me. That's true of every child of
God. He said, when God, who knew me in my mother's womb, knew
me before my mother's womb, knew me before the foundation of the
world, But there came a time that he chose to reveal his son
in me. When it pleased God. Mm, I like
that. Because the Lord God Almighty
and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit does everything within
his own certain time. And I can tell you, ready or
not, you'll be ready. He'll see to it. That's what
he's doing here, this whole passage. All of this passage, you don't
see anything that they're gonna do until after what the Lord's
done. You gotta get the horse in front of the cart or the thing
won't work. Starts with God. And it starts
with God's own good time. But what's he say? After that
70 years, I will visit you. You understand? These Jews couldn't
go to him. These Jews couldn't go to him.
We can't go to him. We can't go to him. We wouldn't,
and we couldn't. Now whichever one you wanna focus
on, go right ahead because they're both true. You will not come to me and you
cannot come to me. What's that mean? It means you
won't, you can't. It means you can't, you won't.
Pick the order you want, it doesn't matter. You can't do it. But
in the fullness of time, in God's good time, I will visit you. And I will visit you when I'm
good and ready. That's what God's saying. They
haven't even gone to Babylon yet. He's already talking about,
I'm gonna visit you. Not till after 70 years are done,
when I'm good and ready, I will visit you. Now is that not one
of the greatest lessons you ever heard in your life? This is the
Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. Now we know him
as Jesus Christ, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
that Lord, the creator of all the universe, said, I'll visit
you. Matter of fact, in the fullness
of time, that son was given. That child was born, and Jesus
Christ was on this earth. I'll visit you. I'll visit you. And in the 70 years, after the
70 years is over, when it comes time for God to bring in, to
call one of his sheep and for them to answer, he's got to visit
them. Or it's not gonna happen. You
will never visit him. He's got to visit you. As you understand, we were out
here just the same as the rest of the world, loving darkness
instead of the light. In the place of the light, we
thought the darkness might be light. And I'm saying we because I was
right there. I'll blame you too, but I'm including
myself in this. You can't visit him. You're not
going to visit him. The Lord is going to, and it's
very specific, I'm gonna visit you. I'm not visiting everybody. That's what they want, that's
what they say. Oh, Jesus Christ came to save the whole world
and everybody in it. No, he did not. He came to visit
his people that were driven there by him. You understand what they say?
Sin kicked Adam out of the Garden of Eden. No they didn't, God
did. He drove him out. Set an angel with a sword there
so you can't get back in. Why? Because you'd mess up the
place even more. That's the kind of people we're
descended from. Sinners. Sinners. And if he don't
visit you, guess what kind of people you're gonna die as? You're
gonna die as fallen sinners. Now you're gonna die as sinners
anyway. You might die as saved sinners.
If he visits you, if he visits you. I love that, I do. When are God's people saved?
When he visits them. They were saved when he visited
them in Christ 2,000 years ago. Redemption was performed. But
now we've got the ministry of reconciliation. Be ye reconciled
to God. How you do that? He's gotta visit
you. He's gotta visit you. He's gotta
visit you for redemption. He's gotta visit you to apply
redemption. Thank God he promised to do both. And here it is, described, and
What's he gonna do when he visits? Perform my good word. Wait a minute, wait for it. Towards
you. Towards you. He's not performing his good
word toward everyone. His good word is not for everyone. He chose him. You understand,
they were his people when he drove them into this captivity.
They were his people when he came and got them out of this
captivity. A lot of people wanna hate election.
You just saying people are predestined to go to hell. No, I'm saying
thankfully some of them are not going to hell. Why? Because he's gonna visit them. He's gonna visit them. He's gonna
perform his good word toward them. And here it tells us what his good
word is to these Jews, he said, in causing you to return to this
place. Guess what? The people of God
have a place. Now I know, he's talking about
Israel here. He's gonna bring them back into Israel, Judah. But I'll tell you something right
now, the people of God right now have a place. What did Jesus
Christ say before he left? He says, I go. He was visited. Now he says, I go. But I'm going
to prepare a place. And what did he say about that
place? That place is for you. That place is for you. That place
is for you. That place is for you. If he
visited you, if he visits you, that's your place. What? That where I go, there
ye may be also. We got a place and it's beside
the Lord of glory, Jesus Christ. What did the Apostle Paul say?
I believe it was something like this. To be absent from the body
is to be present with the Lord. And if you're still alive when
he comes, guess what? We get to go up. That's a place. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. And then there's a new heaven
and a new earth coming. Wherein dwelleth righteousness. And what's his name? Jesus Christ,
the righteous. Oh, we've got places to go. And
we got one man to see, the God man. I like that. And how you gonna get there?
He's gonna cause you to return to this place. If he don't cause
it, it's not gonna happen. And that goes from the visit
to everything else beyond. If he doesn't perform his word,
he's not waiting on us to perform his word. A lot of people are
preaching that. Well, you got to fill in the
blank, go right ahead. You got to live it. You got to
not be antinomian. You got to keep the law. You
got to walk right. You got to stay away from movies
and beer. No. The Lord said, I will visit
you and I will perform my word, what? Where, where, where? Toward you. Ah, I like that. Toward you. And it's a good word. It's a
good word. There's a place for the people
of God. It's his place. And he's prepared it. So how
are God's people saved? This is the one that got me,
Walter, when you read this. For I know the thoughts I think,
I think, towards you. Towards you. Saith the Lord. So what are those thoughts? thoughts
of peace, and not of evil, to give you,
to give you an expected end. God, that's good stuff. God's
thoughts aren't our thoughts. You know what you're supposed
to say to that? Thank God. God's thoughts are not our thoughts.
Thank God. Because I don't want God to have
thoughts like I do. Let's just be honest about it,
folks. My mind goes in places I don't even know how it gets
there. And I don't want to know, Mason. I'm trying to get out
of there anyway. But God's thoughts not only are
better, they're good. They're good. Just like his word
is. Just like his deeds are. And
you understand this. Walter, we were talking about
this after services one day, or in between. Walter said it,
it's true. God's thoughts are actions. You know, it says, very plainly,
very plainly, his word, he says, my word shall not return unto
me void. And not only that, it's gonna
accomplish everything I sent it to. Well, I'm here to tell
you this today, his thoughts are exactly the same. God's thoughts
will not return unto him void. They're gonna accomplish exactly
what he has promised and what he wanted and what is his good
pleasure. because God doesn't think one
thing and say another. God doesn't think one thing and
do another. That's what we do. I mean, I'm guilty of it. And sometimes
it saved my mind, to put it plainly. But God doesn't work that way.
His thoughts aren't our thoughts. His thoughts are perfect, holy,
and good, just like his word, what? Toward us. I know the thoughts
that I think towards you. Mm, I like that, I do, because
he says, what? Thoughts of peace and not evil. And guess what? I can tell you
this. If God thinks peace towards you,
you got peace. Even if you're too dumb to know
it. That's the beauty of it. I don't feel I have peace. Well,
if he thinks peace towards you, you got it whether you feel like
it or not. Because you've got Jesus Christ, he's our peace. Paul read it this morning. And
I thought, oh, that's just perfect. And the peace of God which patheth
all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through
Jesus Christ. See, he thinks peace towards
you. He's visited you. And you've got peace. But it's
not the peace of this world. It's the peace of God. And that's
the only peace that matters. And these thoughts, these thoughts
of peace are going to give you the expected end. What about what I do? What about
it? God ain't worried about what
you're gonna do. you're gonna do both his, what he's gonna
put in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. And every sin you commit from
here on now, his son's already paid for. Or you're going to
hell. You understand? One sin will
send you to hell. To offend in one point is to be what? Guilty
of the whole thing. That's what he said. Guess what?
That's true also. But it's also true that the blood
of Christ cleanseth us from all unrighteousness. And we have
an advocate with the Father. Who? Jesus Christ, the righteous. And he can stand at the right
hand, sit at the right hand of the Father. That's one of mine,
I paid for everything that boy's doing right now. I pay for everything
that woman's doing. That woman's gonna do. That man's
gonna do. What I'm going to do. Because
if he didn't pay for all of my sins, I don't have any hope,
I don't have any peace. And that's past, present, future.
And that includes, uh-oh, my thoughts. Thou shalt not covet. Covet ain't taking, covet's thinking. That's the one that got Paul.
I should have not known lust. What's that? That's a thought.
Hadn't been for the law said thou shalt not covet. See it
ain't what we do all the time, it's what we think. And sometimes
it's what we're not thinking and then we're saying. If he didn't pay for all of the
sins, you have no peace. But he did. He did. And he will cleanse us all from
all unrighteousness. We will be washed in the blood
of the land and our robes are gonna be white, whiter than snow. That's what it says, what it
means. When that father came to the prodigal son, put the
best robe on him. You understand? The prodigal
son didn't put a robe on. He was in pigsty clothes. They put the robe on him. You don't supply your own robe.
You can't even clean your own robe. It better be clean when
God gives it to you. And God'll keep it clean. That's
how God's people are saved. Thoughts towards you of peace. to give you an expected end. His thoughts are not our thoughts,
and thank God for it. And what happens to God's people
when he saves them? Okay. Then shall ye call upon me, and
ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
and ye shall seek me and find me, and shall search for me with
all your hearts, when ye seek for me with all your hearts,
and I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away
your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations and
from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord, and
I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to
be carried away captive. That's what happens to God's
people when he saves them. Then shall ye call upon him.
And not before. If he hasn't visited you, you
haven't called upon him. That's the order. And thus saith
the Lord. This is not thus saith Joe, although
Joe's repeating it. I'm not the authority, the scripture
is, and God's the authority of the scripture, and here, I mean,
this is just writing down the words Jeremiah heard. Then shall you call upon me,
then shall you go, then shall you pray unto me, unto me. Now, you might have been calling,
you might have been going, and you might have been praying,
but it wasn't unto me. A lot of that went on. But when
he visits you, and when he thinks thoughts of peace toward you,
then you'll call upon me. That's what God said. Understand,
that's the order. We got so many people trying
to call upon God that God hadn't visited. That's not gonna help. It's not good. It's not scriptural. See, you
call, pray to God, he'll come. No, if he hadn't come, you're
not praying to him. And even if you think you might
be praying to him, he's not gonna hearken. Till he visits you. You know? All of these, that word, that
little word, then shall you call upon me. When? When? After. After what? After God does his work. After
God performs his work. After God thinks his thoughts
towards you, then, then, and only then, shall you call upon
me. Now let's be clear, there's no
one else to call upon. But I love that part, and I will
hearken unto you. I don't hearken unto anybody.
I don't hearken unto everybody. But I'll hearken unto you. After
I've visited you, after I've sent the thoughts of peace towards
you, after I've told you about your expected end, then I'll
hearken unto you. What happens to God's people
when he saves them? They believe. And they trust. They trust him. They call upon
him. They submit themselves to him. Nobody likes to talk about submission
anymore. That's a bad word, you know that. And they pray. And he hearkens. He hears. He listens. for the prayers of his people. He listens to them. I like that. And ye shall seek me and find
me. Wait a minute, there's none seek after God. That's exactly
right. That's exactly right. Until he
visits you. Yeah, you know why? Because after
he visits you, he's gonna put it in you both to will and to
do some seeking. And not only that, you shall
seek me and find me. Ain't that something? How'd that
happen? Well it only happens after he
visits you. And when he thinks thoughts of peace towards you,
to let you know about that expected end, you know why? Because I'll tell you that, he's
right here in his word. And Christ has given us an understanding
to understand the things of God. Didn't our hearts burn within
us when what? He opened unto us the scriptures,
the word of God. Oh, the good word, which he performed
toward us. You will seek and find the Lord,
if he has visited you. That's the order. Therefore, when you shall search
for me with all your heart. Second Corinthians, five, verse
17, I think. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. The new creature in you will
seek after God and find him. You know? I'll create in them
a what? A new heart. A new heart. It wants righteousness. It wants
to know the truth of God. What happens to God's people
when he saves them? Verse 14, and I will be found
of you. God, I love that. And I will
turn away your captivity. I'll gather you from the nations
and from all the places I have driven you, saith the Lord. And
I will bring you again. What do you mean again? I will be found of you, saith the
Lord. into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. You will consciously and conscientiously
seek and find the Lord after he's visited you. And I will
turn away your captivity. And don't kid yourself, you were
captive. You are captive of your own nature.
You are captive of your own sins and you are captive of the adversary. No more. Now our old nature and
our sins still remain. But you're not captive anymore.
We walk in the light as he is in the light. And we have fellowship
one with another. And the blood of Christ cleanses
us from all unrighteousness. Believers walk in him, therefore
believers walk in the light. If he has visited you. And I'll
gather you from all the nations and the places wherein I drove
you. Ephesians 1 verse 9 says this
having made known unto us the mystery of his will According
to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself You
know what those are? Those are God's thoughts Towards
you Ain't that great? Verse 10 that in the dispensation
of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth,
even in him. In whom we have also obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose, there's
God's thoughts again, the purpose of him who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. I will perform my word
unto you. Excuse me, I know I have said
absolutely nothing new today. If you think you heard something
new today, it's because it's new to you. That's what they
try to tell you when they sell you a used car. It's new to you. This is the truth of God. It
ain't never changed. Whether it's in Jeremiah, Isaiah,
or Ephesians. Whether it's in the four gospels
written, the book of Revelations, the gospel is the same. God saves
his people from their sins. I think that song is correct.
It's hard to sing, but I like it. Jesus is our great salvation. Worthy of our best esteem. He hath saved his favorite nation. Christ alone could us redeem. And that's what Jeremiah wrote
down here. Christ alone could us redeem. And he visits his people and
performs his word. And you'll seek him and you'll
find him. And you'll be mighty happy to do it. Our Heavenly
Father, we're thankful again for your time that you've given
us together. Be with Walter as he comes to
bring your word to us. In Christ's name we pray, amen.