Divine Chastisements and God's Dealings

With the Lord's help, I'd like to draw your attention to three verses in that chapter that we read together, although we are going to, with the Lord's help, to look at the whole of the chapter firstly, but particularly to base our thoughts from verse 10 to verse 12, where we read, For thus saith

the Lord, that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good work 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 you call upon me and he shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you what a mercy it is

that the prophet Jeremiah set out what exactly was going to happen to the children of Israel in that period of being exiled exile from the promised land we have at the beginning of this book the words of Jeremiah and it tells us the time that he was prophesying the word of God came to him also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah and until the end of the 11th year of Zedekiah so it's a long period of time that the prophet spoke to the children of Israel warning them time and time again the warnings had come to

the tribes that were gathered together in the Northern Kingdom and the two tribes that were there in the Southern Kingdom they saw exactly what had happened to the children of Israel in the Northern Kingdom how that they were

taken into exile and that they were in exile and they never returned from that exile but because of the Lord's mercies to his people they propped the exile of the children of Israel in the southern kingdom they were in exile for 70 years and then they were returned there was a blessing there for

them but they were still a people that were regardless of the ways of God and they walked in the ways of the false gods that were there roundabout in the nations and they brought them into the city of Jerusalem and other places and set up places for false worship. and the Lord through Jeremiah kept bringing before them the promises of God and the warnings of Almighty God but they would not listen to Jeremiah they listened to their own selves they listened to what they thought and the Lord dealt with them accordingly and this book of of Jeremiah speaks of all that which Jeremiah spoke and those things that happened to him his persecution of the kings that fought against him but there was

an exile of the upper echelons of society they were taken to Babylon but others were left behind then there was a second exile for others and only the poor of Judah were left in the city to look after the land and the prophets of the age they went with the royal household and the higher people in society and they prophesied that they would be there just a few months perhaps a couple of years but they would come back to the promised land and everything

would be fine because the Lord God is a God of love and a God of mercy. Does that remind you of many of the clerics of today? Do what you want, live how you like, because God is a God of love. and after this life you will enter heaven but of course Jeremiah has sent this letter that is recorded for us

in this 29th chapter he warned them again and he told them that the prophets of that day were false prophets and they were not telling the truth and what is needed today is men to proclaim the gospel we do not have true preachers and ministers these days we have a handful in this country of men who will preach the gospel faithfully and we trust that that preaching will be faithful and profitable but we look at the nation round about us and we see the corruption of this nation we see the wickedness of this nation and the clerics of today

say well God will look after us God is a God of mercy is a God of love and therefore everything will be alright in the end but that's not so God is a God of justice God is a holy God and he cannot look upon sin and he punishes sin and you know in your own life and experience that you've been dealt with by the Lord how he has shown you your sinfulness and your wickedness and I speak to myself also that we have been through those periods where we have known our sinful ways but the Lord has chastised us and he brings us back to himself

so Jeremiah writes this letter and he warns the children of Israel and he encourages the children of Israel to do certain things in this chapter there are a number of things that he says first of all he says that they are to rest and build on the plain of Babylon build ye houses and dwell in them and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them take ye wives in other words settle in settle in you are the slaves of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors but settle in and settle down because this is

the Lord's chastisement of his people and he will bring chastisement upon his people doesn't the apostle Paul speak of of the Lord chastising his people and he says whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth if ye endure chastening God dealeth with you as sons for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not but if he be without chastisement whereof all are partakers then are ye bastards and not sons furthermore we are fathers only so it goes on no chastening for the present seemeth to be

joyous but grievous but nevertheless he says nevertheless if the Lord is dealing with you if the Lord is dealing with you he says afterward that it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby and so Jeremiah says to the whole nation from the king that was on his throne in Jerusalem to the most humble of society he says settle settle down where you are and

accept God's providential dealings with you because he is teaching you the way in which you will walk what a mercy it is that the Lord just doesn't cast us off why doesn't he cast us off? because he loves his people he has loved his people from time immaterial way back he has loved his people in time and he's loved them in the future in the glory of heaven when each one of us will be taken to be with him what a mercy it is so in our situation in our lives we

should be settled not running from one place of worship to another and I'm going to listen to various orators and so on as many people do we come into a fellowship and if we are a child of God we seek membership of the church and we join that church and we have the fellowship

of that church that is the order of the way that the people of God should act Jeremiah first of all says build ye houses and dwell in them and plant the gardens and eat the fruits of them and seek the peace of the city again this is an injunction for the Lord's people they are to seek the peace of the city of course Jeremiah was talking about those cities that were given over to idolatry and lust and what have you but he says you've got to take the the opportunity of being able to speak a word in season as

from the Lord what a blessing it is isn't it? if you are sitting down at the bus stop waiting for the bus to come and someone sits at the side of you and they start talking to you it is moderately easy to be able to talk to them and speak a word in season as from the Lord and seek the peace

of the city and point out the wickedness of this world you see the thing is the majority of the citizens of this country they have no idea of right and wrong We have politicians going into Parliament seeking to

bring these measures in to allow suicide. the one who is in charge of the day of our death is Almighty God it is not the nurses it is not the doctors it is not the person that is suffering it is Almighty God I remember when my first wife was in hospital in the next

ward she had a cousin and I went in to see her and she was talking about things and about matters as to whether she would go home or whether she'd stay in hospital until treatment was given and she certainly had no thought of death and I said to her it's like this the Almighty

has a calendar and a watch and on that calendar is written our name it was written there for myself 1947 that I would be born on a certain day and there is a certain day in the future in the Lord's calendar when it says Jim North and they were called to heaven called to glory and that is for everyone there is that date where almighty God settles that time and we are to seek peace for those are our neighbours and our friends I must hasten on and then the second thing that Jeremiah says is that they are to do

away with false prophets and to seek a godly ministry verse 8 for thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel let not your prophets and your diviners that be in the midst of you, deceive you neither hearken to your dreams which ye have dreamed and so it goes on to say that he has not sent them in vain and

the opposite of seeking ungodly prophets the opposite of that is to seek a godly ministry we should be thankful for those who are our pastors and our ministers that sense of God remember how the psalmist speaks in one of the psalms I just can't find it but he speaks about they that sow in tears shall reap in joy and we are thankful to God and we should be thankful to God that the Lord raises up ministers for us to teach us in the things of God so he says that we should seek a godly ministry and we are thankful that we have our friend Mr Sant as the pastor here and also at Hedgend that he is one that ministers faithfully we were at the prayer meeting last Tuesday and Mr Sant spoke quite clearly and it was such a wonderful word that he gave and we thank God for such men as these that labour in the Gospel and then the third thing that Jeremiah says is that there is a promise there is a promise, verse 10, for thus saith the Lord that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you and perform my good work there is a promise in the gospel there is always a promise there is that promise of the goodness of almighty God and we walk in

those ways and then in verse 15 he says that you have to do away with these false prophets and then to hear the word of the Lord verse 20 hear ye therefore the word of the Lord all ye

of the captivity whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon and so they were there for for 70 years. Daniel speaks of those 70 years. In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus of the seed of the Medes which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books

the number of the years where of the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in desolations of Jerusalem and then there was that return we read of course that return in Ezra and in Nehemiah and also the prophets of the restoration of the last three books of the Old Testament but it is these verses from verse 10 onwards that I want

us with the Lord's help to consider time is hasting on and I am sorry that I was late this morning The train set off on time but it kept slowing up and it made me late. I would have been here had the train been according to the timetable. That's an aside. but he says

these things verse 11 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 there are four things to mention in this verse and that is first of all we recognise the knowledge of Almighty God first of all the knowledge of Almighty God for I know the thoughts that I think toward you and the Lord commences this sentence with these words for I know for I know there are many men these days who boast themselves with all kinds of knowledge and they say I know

this and they're looking through their telescopes way back through to the outer echelons of the solar system and they say, well we've seen these pictures and we know how the world came into being they think they know and they come out and tell us the world, the solar system started with a big bang and that's how it all started but in order for there to be a big bang or an explosion there has to be three things there has to be oxygen there has to be matter combustible matter and there has to be a spark and when they can tell us where the oxygen came from where they can tell us the combustible matter came from and when they can tell us where the spark came from I'll believe them but of course they can't tell us that but we do know don't we? we do know where all those things came if it was a big bang or whatever but we know

this in the beginning God Elohim the trium God in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and the earth was without form God knows God knows all things and we are thankful that our God is not bounded by the borders of a country it's not bound by the borders of an area but our God is almighty he knows all things and we bow at his feet and he brought this world into being and he brought man into being and all the animals that are there he says I know and what a mercy it is that in our daily lives he knows where we are he knows our situation he knows everything about us there is that lovely chapter in Romans the 8th chapter of Romans where the Apostle Paul speaks about the goodness of God and he says and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are called according to his purpose and then he goes on to speak about these things he speaks about his foreknowledge he speaks about his predestination he speaks about the calling of the saints he speaks about the justification of the saints and he speaks about the glorification of of the child of God and then he asks this question what shall we say then to these things if

God before us who can be against us? we are in the hands of God we are in the hands of God you see the Lord Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd and he keeps his sheep John chapter 10 tells us about the sheep that are caught in the flock and he says that the shepherd of that era in which the Lord Jesus Christ was enduring in his incarnation they had a small flock and the Lord has a small flock the world has a multitude of different tribes and peoples but in those tribes and people there is a little flock there is a little flock that the Lord has he holds them and he has known each one from eternity past and he came to this earth he was found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross he gave his life a ransom for

many he knows and he has his thoughts towards his people he knows us because of his providential mercies God knows us because he is the shepherd he knows us because he has kept them and the Lord Jesus Christ prays you will remember in that 17th chapter of John's Gospel that he says keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one as we

are and he says none of them is lost isn't that a wonderful word of assurance? that all our doubts and fears None of them is lost. Everyone is brought. Just as it says in Exodus, that not one hoof shall be left behind concerning the children of Israel. And it's the same with the people of God. Not one is lost. just as

the woman who lost the silver coin of her wedding headdress she scarred the house out until she found it not one silver coin was lost likewise the sheep of the shepherd that was lost he went out and found

it not one was lost and every elect sinner every elect rebel they are brought to be with the Lord Jesus Christ we sang that hymn this morning I didn't choose the hymn Kent speaks of the period of God there is a period known to God when

all his sheep, redeemed by blood, shall leave the hateful ways of sin, turn to the fold and enter in. Glory to God, he says, they now shall rove beyond the limits of his love. fenced with Jehovah's shells and wills firm as the everlasting hills the appointed time rolls on apace not to propose but call by grace to change the heart, renew the will and turn the feet to Zion's hill everyone is brought in safe to the Lord's people and then he speaks about the thoughts I know the thoughts that I think they speak of stability Again, we're stable in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're fixed in the Lord Jesus Christ. remember the ending of the Sermon on the Mount how the Lord Jesus speaks about the wise man who built his house upon a rock upon a sure foundation likewise the psalmist speaks about being fixed he says in Psalm 14 I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined unto me and heard my cry he brought me up also

to a horrible pit the horrible pit that Jeremiah was speaking of is that pit of Babylonia they were there in a pit of anxiety of rebellion of slavery they were in the pit and David says he brought me up also out of a horrible pit out of the mighty clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings and after 70 years they were brought out of that pit and they were brought back to

Jerusalem and likewise the people of God the people of God they are bound in sin but our God in Christ he brings us out of that sin and we walk in that narrow path not the broad road that leads to the lost eternity but that narrow path that ever leads upwards and ever takes us to heaven thou shalt guide me with thy counsel says the psalmist and after that thou shalt receive me to glory so the Lord has his thoughts upon us he keeps us walking with him looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith and then he speaks about the thoughts of peace we have a fallen nature we hide from God but he has thoughts of peace towards his people everyone they know the peace of God

we referred already to the 8th chapter of Romans that last end of the chapter it speaks about our not being capable of being separated from almighty God because he has thoughts of peace oh we deserve the wrath of God we deserve to be punished and we deserve to hear those words of almighty God

depart for I never knew you Robert the child of God doesn't hear those words he hears the words come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you it's a prepared kingdom because the Lord Jesus Christ prepared it remember in John 14 he says I go to prepare a place and that place is heaven and that place is prepared in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ

his life was not taken from him he didn't die because he was nailed to the cross he died because he took upon himself the sin and the guilt and punishment of the sins of his church, of his people and he gave his life, he yielded his life so that you and I, so that sinners might be brought in and everyone of the election of grace are brought in that way. And so finally there is the Lord's blessing for I know the thoughts that I think towards you saith the Lord thoughts of peace and not of ego to give you an expected end what's our expectation? our expectation is to see and be with the Lord Jesus Christ we have that hope Paul is writing to Timothy an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandments of God our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ which is our hope the first verse of that first epistle of Timothy which is our hope, he is our hope we know that he is there in heaven praying for every one of his people holding them before his father's throne and one by one they are gathered in until the church is complete and then will come the end

what a mercy it is! we haven't time to go on to consider what happened in the history of Jeremiah and after that letter was written but we do know that the children of Israel came back and they came back and they rebuilt Jerusalem, they rebuilt the

temple. That's all done for us. It's all done in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our saviour, He is our surety, He is our covenant keeper and He is the one and only saviour of sinners. God grant that we might each one know something of that blessing of Almighty God.

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Divine Chastisements and God's Dealings

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