Turn with me to the book of Jeremiah
again. Jeremiah. I may move back and
forth the next several weeks or even months from the book
of Jeremiah to other things, but Jeremiah chapter nine, turn
there. Jeremiah chapter nine, I want
to read the last few verses. the book of the prophet Jeremiah
chapter 9. I will begin reading in verse 23. Thus saith the Lord. Now all of God's word is vital. Yes, sir. And we should think
of all of his word as being preceded by thus saith the Lord. But that
even heightens it when God himself moves his prophet to say, thus
saith the Lord. Then let our ears perk up. Thus saith the Lord. Let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom. Neither let the mighty man glory
in his might. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches. But let him that glorieth glory
in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the
Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in
the earth. For in these things I delight,
saith the Lord. So God is saying, I delight in
myself. Is that not what he's saying?
I delight in what I do. Now glory in that. Glory in the
fact that you understand and know the one who does that. And then he continues. Behold,
the days come. saith the Lord, that I will punish
all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised. Egypt
and Judah and Edom and the children of Ammon and Moab and all that
are in the utmost corners that dwell in the wilderness for all
those nations are uncircumcised. and all the house of Israel are
uncircumcised in heart. To give this a title, I would
put it this way. Let us glory in God's delight. Let us glory in God's delight. But as I've already stated, God's
delight is himself. So much so that when Paul quotes
from this passage in his epistle to the church that was at Rome
He said let him that glorious glory. Well, he just sums it
up. Let him glory where in the Lord Let him glory in the Lord
But I thought about this first question here concerning this
passage. Why? does God Why does the Lord
warn men not to glory in man's wisdom, in man's might, and in
man's riches? Is not God the one who gifts
men with wisdom as he sees fit? Yes, he is. There are some of
us that are far wiser, whether it be spiritual or whether it
be in natural things, there are some of us that are far wiser
than others. When it comes to the sciences
and when it comes to philanthropy and all of these, there are some
men and women that are endowed with great wisdom by God. Look
at what we have in the advances of the medical field, especially
in our day, compared to just 100 years ago, 200 years. The further you go back, the
worse it gets, David Wright. Think of the wisdom that God's
given to mankind. So why does God warn men not
to glory in man's wisdom? What about might? There are some
mighty men in this world. And there are some mighty people
in this world. There's been some mighty nations in this world.
And some of us enjoy very pleasant freedoms because there is such
might in this world. If it wasn't for that fact, then
we would all be under some tyrant. Correct? Because is it not God
that gives might? Is it not God that sets up the
mighty nations of the world and then tears them down? So why
does God warn men not to glory in man's wisdom and man's might?
What about riches? Did not our sister Hannah pray
and record in one of the books of Samuel that the Lord maketh
poor? the Lord maketh rich. And someone says, well, that
means spiritually. That's true, but it means physical as well. Whatever you got, whether you
consider yourself to be rich or not, whatever you got, God
Almighty gave you. He gave you the strength to put
your hand to the plow and to deal with that thing and to gain
whatever you have in your possession. So why does God warn men not
to glory in man's wisdom and man's might and man's riches?
Why? Why? What's the real reason? Here's why. Because fallen man
is a part of that equation. Yes, sir. Wisdom, might, and
riches are not evil things in and of themselves. As one once
said, they don't have a soul. How can they be evil? The soul
that sinneth, it shall die. It doesn't say the thing that
sinneth, it shall die. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. Why? Because fallen man is a
part of that equation. The old phrase, and it's a wrong
phrase. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. That's not so. That's not so. The only being that has absolute
power is God, and he is not corrupted by it. Men corrupt wisdom. Men corrupt might. Men corrupt
riches. That's the problem. Man, but
even more, fallen man. The reason we're warned about
these things is because we're a part of that equation. It is,
as the prophet here has moved to sum up, it is our uncircumcised
heart that is the problem. When I first read this, I thought,
that's an amazing place to bring in an uncircumcised heart. Then
I realized, no, the problem with man's wisdom, man's might, and
man's riches is man. That's the problem. Pride, selfishness,
and greed flow from the uncircumcised heart. You know what I said?
Pride, that's where you get your wisdom thing. Selfishness, that's
where you get into might and riches. Greed, it flows from
the uncircumcised heart. And that's mine and your heart
by nature. That is the heart of every individual
by nature. Have you ever noticed that in
many occasions, Christ said the heart is deceitfully wicked. He didn't say the hearts of men.
There is one heart in man. We all have by nature the same
heart. It's not talking about the muscle
that pumps the blood. It's talking about that inner
motivation of being. And it's uncircumcised before
God. When our daddy Adam fell in the
garden, we all since then have been born, conceived, yea, and
born with an uncircumcised heart. The uncircumcised heart refuses
to honor God for these things and in these things. When it
comes to wisdom, might, and riches, the uncircumcised heart looks
at itself and says, look what I have gained. Look what I have
done. Look at what I am. That's what
the uncircumcised heart does. And that's my heart and your
heart by nature. The uncircumcised heart refuses
to give God honor in these things and for these things. You see,
it is because of humanity's depraved heart heart singular always remember
somebody says well he's got a good heart no that's the one thing
you don't have by nature is a good heart that's right because depraved
humanity's heart is the seat of these things that's wisdom
might riches and we can go on but these are the three things
that stand out in the forefront of humanity and you know that's
true as well as i do because depravity because Depraved humanity's
heart is the seat of these things, then men distort and defy God's
truth in them. Think about it. The deceitfulness
of riches. Turn to Luke chapter 12. The
deceitfulness of riches. There was a man, and it's recorded
by Luke in Luke chapter 12, And it says in verse 13, and I want
to move right along, and one of the companies said unto him,
Master, speak to my brother that he may divide the inheritance
with me. And of course it says, and he said unto him, Man, who
made me a judge or a divider over you? Now he was. He was. But he was stressing a point
to this man that this man really didn't get. You just want me
to do this something for you, not because you think I have
the authority, not because you think it's within my sovereign
will, you just think I ought to do you this favor because
of you. Look at what he says. And he said unto them, now he's
talking to this man as well, but now he looks at everybody
and think of it, take heed and beware of covetousness. This
man just wanted his brother to share the inheritance. Was that,
Mason, to me, this seems like a simple, normal question. In our Barney age, you know,
the purple dinosaur, more like a pink dinosaur to me, but be
that as it may, it's share, share, share. Well, that's what this
man was saying. Look at what Christ said. He said, take heed
and beware of covetousness for a man's life. This is totally
opposite, though, the way the human uncircumcised heart and
mind thinks. For a man's life consisteth not
in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake
a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich
man brought forth plentifully. Who do you think was in control
of that? Huh? Who do you think sovereignly
decreed that that piece of ground bring forth plentifully? It's
the Lord God of heaven and earth. Do you see it? And he thought
within himself, saying, what shall I do? Because I have no
room where to bestow my fruits. And he said, this will I do.
I will build down, I will pull down my barns, I will build greater,
and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will
say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years,
just retire and take it easy. You know what he said? This man's
whole life was about getting these things, and when he got
them, he still didn't honor and glorify God in it. Did he not? He said, I'm just, I'm going
to seek to praise and honor the God of heaven who has blessed
me with these things. Is that what happens to an uncircumcised
man in heart and ears? No, sir. The very thing that
was his life in the beginning is gonna be the life in his retirement. And whatever your life is in
your beginning and your retirement, that's gonna be your life when
you die. Look at what he says. And I will
say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years.
Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. This man was happy. Everything was going his way,
wasn't it? No. No, no. But God said unto him,
thou fool. Now folks, when we look at a
man like that, we say, boy, there's a man that's persistent. There's
a man that's wise. There's a man that has some might
and some get-go about him. There's a man that's got riches.
He can say, so just lay it up, eat, drink, and be merry. But
God said unto him, thou fool, now look at it, this night thy
soul shall be required of thee. Then who shall these things be
which thou Notice the sarcasm, huh? That's what, which thou
has provided, huh? This is the problem. The uncircumcised
heart always gives glory to itself. Always gives. What about man's
might? Two of the most mighty men on
earth, Nebuchadnezzar and Herod. And they were mighty men. And
in one sense of speaking, Mason, they were very wise men. They
knew how to keep a country together. So much so that one of them,
called Nebuchadnezzar, had this idol built, and he said, everybody
bow down, and everybody did, but three Hebrew boys. That's
some might, is it not? And that's some wisdom when it
comes to this world to get everybody around you to do that. And this
man had everything that a human person could want. And what did
God do? God brought that man low. Didn't
he? Brought him low, made him eat
grass like an ox for, how long was it, seven years, was it?
A long, somebody says, you don't really believe that. Of course
I really believe that. And yet, God restored, after
that period, God restored that man's kingdom and his wisdom,
his understanding, and his might and his riches back to him. Did
he not? But then remember Herod? It's
over in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. You remember
what Herod did? He sat within the palace room
and said, boy, what a man and a kingdom. A man I am and what
a kingdom I have. And you know what? That night,
his body was eaten with worms. God killed him. God killed him. That lets me know that God Almighty
is sovereign and does as he pleases. But one thing about it is true
of both of these men, with an uncircumcised heart, they would
not give God the glory. It takes an act of God before
any man or woman will give God the glory. What about man's wisdom?
Turn to Romans chapter one. Now you want to talk about wisdom.
Here's where human wisdom Human wisdom takes humanity. Here's
where human wisdom, human might, human riches, if you will, in
any area you want to speak of those things, here's where human
wisdom, human might, and human riches takes humanity when it
has the uncircumcised heart as its seat. Look at it, Romans
chapter 1, Paul continuing, says in verse 18, for the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. And in this
world, when men conduct them in unrighteousness, Serious consequences
always follow. It may follow a little later
on, but serious problems follow unrighteousness. And it's been
that way from the get-go. Even in countries which were
totally heathen and knew nothing of the God of heaven, when they
began to conduct themselves in defiance against the God of heaven,
trouble came their way. And that's just the way it is.
And look at what it says. that which may be known of God is
manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them." How? It
doesn't matter right now. I'm not going to take the time
to go into all that. It's true because God says it's true. That's
the point. Four, the invisible things of
him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made. And inside of humanity
is this God-placed thing that says, this thing is set down
and created in order. Someone, something is in charge
of all of this. And a man's conscience bears
witness to that. And when a man says, I don't
believe God even exists, he's trying to defy even his own conscience. I don't have to go around preaching
Santa Claus don't exist. Everybody with any sense ultimately
finds out Santa Claus ain't real. Is that not true? But they have
to convince themselves God don't exist. Why? Because their conscience
tells them better. Now look, clearly seen so that
they are what? Without excuse because that,
now here you go, because that when they knew God, They glorified
him not as God, neither were what? Thankful, but became vain
in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened, professing
themselves to be what? Wise. They became fools. And you know how's that represented? Oh, even more, how's it clearly
manifested? They turn into idolaters. They
turn into idolaters and they turn into immoral beasts where
a man will turn sexually to another man and a woman will turn sexually
to another woman and that's the decay and the rot of our uncircumcised
hearts. Mm-hmm. That's the decay and
the rot of mine and your uncircumcised heart. Glory in these, utter ruin will
be your end. God says so through the prophet
Jeremiah. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, I will punish
all. Do you see it? Circumcised and
uncircumcised. Huh? Because even those that
are religiously circumcised, they're not circumcised down
in here in the heart. You glory in these things and
utter ruin will be your end because you will distort, reject, deny,
mock, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. You will distort, reject,
deny, and mock God's glory and you will be punished by God for
it. And that's just the way it is. That's just the way it is. You will be punished by God for
it, whether you're religious or not. That's what Jeremiah's
saying here. I don't have to go back and keep
reading it over it. That's what he says here. Whether you're
religious or not, whether you're immoral or whether you're immoral. Now, folks, this is amazing,
but there are people in this world that thinks if you're immoral,
God's got to accept you. That's not right. If you got
an uncircumcised heart, you distort even the morality you claim to
hold to. Exactly. Yes, sir. I'll give
you an example. You'll tell men and make laws
that they can't use tobacco, but you'll let them kill their
unborn babies with no problem. Now if that's not distortion
of God's truth, I don't know what is. That is truly gagging
at a gnat and swallowing a camelot. Ah, ah, but here, see it, see
the text? Behold the days come, I will
punish circumcised and uncircumcised. And what's the problem? The problem
is down inside here, the uncircumcised heart. That's the problem. Now,
but here's the place to glory, or rather, the person in whom
to glory. Do you see it? Glory in this.
Now, if God's given you some wisdom, some might, some riches,
folks, compared to some folks in this world, we here today
in this little group have a lot. We have a lot, there were probably
people who would give a right arm or a right hand or something
or lose a right eye or a left eye to have what we have in this
world. Now would they not? To have the ease with which we
live? We always look to the rich, we look to the, we even call
it super rich. You know? Here's the problem
with riches. I don't care how much of them
you got or how little you got, if you trust in them, you're
going to be doomed. That's the whole point. I don't care if
you're just getting a regular every week or every two week
paycheck and you're barely making it by. If you look and glory
in those things, you will die in those things and that will
be your end. And then you'll not have those
things ever, ever, ever again. Here's the place the glory or
as I said the person in whom the glory the circumcised heart
What's that mean? That's a heart that God Almighty's
one given given and then Allowed it is allowed to see God for
who he really is It's that simple now. It's a profound miracle
of God, but it's that simple three things The circumcised
heart has God as its object. You hear what I said? Even Cornelius,
he knew very little. But he knew some things. He knew
God. He knew this God was the God of Israel, of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. He knew that you ought to treat
God's people with respect and dignity and love, did he not?
I am even persuaded that he had messianic knowledge. Because
the angel said your prayer is answered. Yes or no So that whatever
happened was what he was praying for Okay. So now listen to me. I'm going to give you something
here. Be careful. We know God must circumcise the
heart but God never circumcises the heart for circumcision sake
alone A circumcised heart has something else as its object,
not itself, and God is that object. A circumcised, somebody said,
well, I believe they're regenerated, they're starting to come around.
I don't read anywhere in this book where somebody just starts
to come around. Saul of Tarsus is doing this on that donkey
or whatever it was, right? Did he just start to come around?
No, God smacked him off that thing, put him in the dirt. Lydia,
she's one that worshiped God. I think she was probably similar
to Cornelius. What happens? She goes by riverbank,
where she usually goes. This is her practice, where prayer
was want to be made. And God Almighty sends her a
messenger, and as soon as he preaches, it said God opened
her heart so that she, well, she started considering whether
what he was saying was true or not. She said, I think I'll give
this a few weeks to study all these five, six, seven points.
Let's just see how this, I think Lydia's coming around to point
number one. No, it says that God opened Lydia's heart so that
she attended to the things which were spoken by Paul. Cornelius,
when Peter arrived and started preaching, before Peter could
even get through, the Holy Spirit fell on the whole house and they
began to rejoice in who? Jesus Christ. And that's the
second point. The circumcised heart delights
in God's delight. And that's his son. You see,
the most important thing to God the Father in, I say this universe,
but Joe, I think I have to go beyond even what's beyond what
we might think we see. The most important thing to God
the Father is his son. He delights in what exercise,
what loving kindness, where's that found? Where is God's loving
kindness found? in Jesus Christ only. Go back
and read it. Paul said it. He sums it up.
It's a precedent. It's something that you build
everything else on. He said in Romans 8 verse 39,
he says, the love of God, nothing can separate God's people from
the love of God. And then that last phrase, which is in Christ
Jesus, the Lord. God's love is in Christ and only
in Christ. Outside of Christ or without
Christ, as you pointed out once, Joe, is nothing but God's just
hatred and wrath. A universal love of God for all
without exception, universally, is a universal lie. Did you catch
that? I said a universal love of God
for all without exception universally is a universal lie. God's love
is in Christ Jesus. That's the only place God loves
anything because he loves his son supremely. It's that even
before the world was created, Christ was God's, the Father's
delight. Isn't that what Proverbs 8 says?
That's why God, when he spoke audibly, at least twice, recorded
in the New Testament, what did God say? This is my beloved son. Do what? Hear ye him. And on one occasion, it's recorded,
he said, in whom I am well, well pleased. Isn't that something?
The circumcised heart then, thirdly, delights in Jesus Christ. God
Almighty chose us before the world began. That's what Paul
teaches in 2 Thessalonians 2. He says some men, because they
receive not the love of the truth, God's gonna send them strong
delusion that they should believe a lie that they all might be
damned. Why? Because they didn't love the truth. They hate the
truth. At best, they'll take the truth
and then distort it or hold it down and suppress it. They'll
do something other than just bow down to it. circumcised heart
delights in Christ because it says God chose you from the beginning
unto salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth and sanctification of the spirit must always come first
or you will never believe the truth. Never. But let me tell you, he never
sets you apart by spirit. He never circumcises your heart
just for circumcision's sake. He circumcises the heart so that
the message might come and its power and it might call you out
of darkness into light and that you might what? Be called what? Into the very glory of God's
son. To the obtaining of the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You want to see loving kindness,
you want to see judgment, you want to see righteousness, look
to Jesus Christ. That's the only place you'll
find it, in perfection. In perfection. Judgment is centralized
in one individual. Jesus Christ said, a person doesn't
honor me, he doesn't honor the Father. I'm summing it up. You look at it in John 5, verses
17 through 23. You don't honor me, Christ said,
you don't honor my father. Think about it, the son judged
the sin of the elect in himself. Did he not? This book, this whole
of this, Joe, what you was preaching on is teaching that this morning.
The son judged the sin of his people in himself, in himself,
and he offered up himself doing that to the father, and it was
a sweet-smelling savor, and as Joe adequately preached, it will
ever be a sweet-smelling savor. Joe, I believe in eternity. In
the eternal state, Jesus Christ will still be a sweet-smelling
savor unto the father. Everything's there, but the son
will judge the reprobate according to the works. They'll stand before
him. The only being as God that this
reprobate world will ever see with physical eyes, they'll see
it. Even those who are dead, Mason,
will be raised again. And they will stand before a
great white throne, and who shall they see? Jesus Christ the righteous. And they'll be judged according
to their Aren't you glad that God's already judged your works
in the person of his son? Because if he didn't, he would
judge you for your works when you stand before him. There you
go, God's love is in one realm, Jesus Christ. God's judgment
is centralized, one person. Whether it's a judgment to salvation,
or a judgment to your eternal doom. It's all centralized in
one, and righteousness, you remember what Paul said? He said, I love
my brothers and my, I love the Jews, I love Israel. And he said,
I tell you, they have a zeal. They have a zeal of God. They
have a God zeal. But remember what Jeremiah prophesied,
remember? They have a God zeal, but it's
not according to knowledge. For they, going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not what? Submitted themselves. bow down before, have not submitted
themselves under the righteousness of God. Religion that professes
to be Christianity, most of it is not talking. That's not the
same thing as accept Jesus in your heart. Hmm? Is it? That's not the same thing
as walk the aisle, pray the prayer, and Jesus will save you. He said
they have not submitted themselves under the righteousness of God,
but Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes. So who is the righteousness we
submit to? Jesus Christ. I'll sum it up
this way. It's not enough to give God glory
for human wisdom, even your human wisdom. Y'all too. Y'all too. Remember Nebuchadnezzar?
Remember Herod? Y'all too. It's not enough to
give God glory for your might or any riches you think you have.
Not enough. God is honored only when a man
or a woman submits to Jesus Christ. Bows down as I think it's the
second Psalm and kiss the sun. And that's talking about you
put yourself in the dirt and you get a hold of his feet and
you. And people are appalled by that. They're offended by that. Ah, but the person with the circumcised
heart says, oh God the Father, thank you for this privilege
of kissing him in whom you delight. Mason, when we bow down to Jesus
Christ, we honor God. We honor God. When we don't,
we dishonor God, we dishonor Jesus Christ, and we dishonor
our own souls. Maybe to even our own soul's
damnation. Oh God, give me grace to submit
to Christ. Father, Be with Paul as she travels.
And Paul as he takes her to the airport. God be with us. Conquer. Oh God conquer me. My pride. My supposed wisdom and might
and riches. God may we be unable to see these
things for what they are. Your gifts. but yet things that
we often distort, defy. Bow us down to Christ thy Son,
and may you do it, force us to do it, God, willingly, lovingly,
and conscientiously. In Christ's name I pray, amen.