Jeremiah chapter 30. I'm going to read the first three
verses and then we'll jump to verse 18. The word that came to Jeremiah
from the Lord saying, thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel saying,
write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a
book. For lo, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel
and Judah saith the Lord, and I will cause them to return to
the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess
it. Now verse 18, thus saith the
Lord, again, he's speaking to Jeremiah, behold, I will bring
again the captivity of Jacob's tents and have mercy on his dwelling
places. And the city shall be built upon
her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner
thereof. And out of them shall proceed
thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry. and I will
multiply them, and they shall not be few. I will also glorify
them, and they shall not be small. Their children also shall be
as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me,
and I will punish all that oppress them. And their nobles shall
be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst
of them, And I will cause him to draw near and he shall approach
unto me. For who is this? For who is this? That engaged his heart to approach
unto me. sayeth the Lord. Now this arrested
my attention like that whatever drop back there gets everybody's
attention. Now you were sleepy Bruce now
are you awake? Okay thank you whoever that was
thank you. So I'm not saying my messages
are riveting but it's it's uh We've just had Christmas and
turkey and all that. So anyway, something that I was
looking at this arrested my attention. And it's in verse 21. It says,
I will cause him, it's a person, to draw near, whoever this person
is, and he shall approach unto me. For who is this? Who is this? That's the question. That's the
question. We see from our text here at
Jeremiah, something great and wonderful is taking place. Now
this is a prophecy. This is a prophecy. Namely, three things are taking
place. If you read the way it's worded,
bring again the captivity of Jacob's tent. The days will come
and I will bring again the captivity of my people. He's talking about
salvation. He's talking about salvation.
That's one thing we must establish whenever you read this book.
You look for Christ and you look for how he's going to save his
people from their sins. And he's also going to judge
those who do not believe. But we see three wonderful things
happening in this text. The salvation of God's people,
the glory of God himself, or God getting glory, And the third
thing is God being the God of his chosen people. We see these
three things in here. But in order to see them more
clearly, a question is asked. We have to
find out who's speaking, what he's saying, and what it all
means. And he's, for who is this? Who
is this person? that he's speaking of in verse
21 it's apparently it's a noble that he's been raised up from
their own people and he's a governor proceed from the midst of them so whoever this is he has to
meet these qualifications and this person God is going to cause
him to draw nigh unto God and he shall approach unto me, God,
for who is this? When he approaches God, he's
fully engaged in heart to approach unto God. Now you can't, nobody
can just approach unto God. You just can't do it. God is
holy, righteous, and pure, and we are not. When Adam fell into
the garden, when he gave that fruit, and the woman ate, and
then gave him to eat, that plummeted every man, woman, boy, and girl. It plummeted them into sin. It
took care of their will. They're not free no more. It's
held captive by bondage of sin. It's called Adam's transgression. It's the first Adam. Well, praise
God, the scripture speaks of a second Adam. But for who is
this? Who is this? This phrasing is
worded several times in the Bible. Let's turn to Acts chapter 8.
Turn to Acts chapter 8. I love this story, Acts chapter
8. And we'll start in verse 26. And the angel of the Lord spake
unto Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south, unto the
way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And when Philip arose, he went
and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a black man, behold, a man of Ethiopia, a
eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians,
who had charge of all her treasure and had come to Jerusalem to
worship. He was returning and he was sitting in his chariot,
reading Isaiah the prophet, not Jeremiah, but Isaiah. And the spirit said to Philip,
go near, join him. And Philip ran verse 30 to him
and heard that he read the prophet Isaiah and said unto, he said
unto this man, understand, What you read, are you understanding
what you're reading? See, that's the issue. We talk
about a lot of things when we, with friends and family, whatever,
we talk about a lot of things, but a lot of those things are
not very meaningful. Not very meaningful at all. Why
don't we bring up the scriptures more? Why don't we pinpoint? This man was reading the scripture,
so Philip had it a little bit easier. He didn't just break
into conversation. He heard, and this Ethiopian
was reading, and Philip said, do you understand what you're
reading? And the man said, how can I, except some man should
guide me. And he desired Philip that he
would come up and join him. So they're talking. And the place
of the scripture, which the Ethiopian read, was this. He was led as
a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb, dumb before her
shears. So he opened out his mouth, and
his humiliation, his judgment, was taken away. And who shall
declare his generation? For his life is taken from the
earth. And the eunuch answered Philip
and said, I pray thee, of whom, who is this? That's what he's
asking. Who is this? Who is the prophet
speaking about? Who is this? It's the same thing
Jeremiah said. Who is this? Is he talking about
himself or some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth
and began at the same scriptures, Isaiah 53, they didn't have the
New Testament, and preached unto him Jesus. That's the question. Of whom
is this man speaking? Who is this? Well, turn to Isaiah
63. We have the similar question
here. Isaiah 63 and verse one. Who is this? There it is right there. Who
is this? Who is this that comes from Edom
with dyed garments from Basra? This is that glorious in his,
it's a person, his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength.
So who is this? It's a person. I that speak in
righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine
fat. I have tried the winepress alone, and the people, there
was none with me, for I will tread them in my anger and trample
them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments,
and I will stain from all my raiment." It's a person. Turn lastly to Luke chapter nine. Luke chapter nine. This man should
have known, but he didn't. Luke chapter 9, the same question
asked, who is this? Luke chapter 9, verses 7, 8,
and 9. Now Herod the Tetrarch heard
of all that was done by him. Talking about a person. And the
Tetrarch was perplexed because that he had just said of some,
because it was said of some that John the Baptist was risen from
the dead. He just beheaded John the Baptist.
And of some, that Elias had appeared, and of others, the one of old
prophets was risen again. And Herod said, John, have I
beheaded? But who is this? Who is this
of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him. Back to our text. Who is this? Well, we must, and I think so
this morning, once for all answer this question, and may the Holy
Spirit open our eyes to see the one and only Redeemer of sinful
men, women, and children. Who is this? That's the first
thought, first point. Who is this? Who is this one
that Jeremiah is speaking about? Is it actual man? He's actually
God? He's one approved of God and
he's approved of all the angels. He certainly is greater than
John the Baptist. He's greater than all the prophets
and he far exceeds the heavenly hosts. Let's go look at our text,
Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse 21. He's noble. He shall be from
of themselves and he's a governor. He shall proceed from the midst
of them. He's one coming from the midst
of them, or turn to Deuteronomy chapter 17. Deuteronomy chapter
17. And look with me at verse five,
and then we'll look at Deuteronomy 18. Deuteronomy 17, verse five. Then shalt thou bring forth that
man. This is who this is speaking
of. a man, that man or that woman which has committed, did I get
this right? Yep, Deuteronomy 17, five. Well, let's just go to 18. I
got the wrong text. 18, I know this, hopefully this
is right, 18, 18. I will raise, God speaking, them
up a prophet from among their brethren. like unto thee, and
will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them
all that I shall command him." He's speaking about a man. He's
speaking about the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who
he's speaking of. God makes choice of this one.
God sets him up from among his brethren. So as it says in Deuteronomy,
from among the brethren, he must be bone of our bone, flesh of
our flesh. He must be tempted in all points
like we, but without sin. That way he can, Adam represented
us. When he fell, he plummeted the
whole human race into sin. This man must be born of a woman. Maiden liked sinful flesh but
was no sin found in him. So he could represent us. Human kind. But he also must
be divine. So he could represent God and
man. They could meet in no other. No other person. There's one
name given among men. whereby we must be the man Christ
Jesus. This is who it is. This is none
other than Jesus the Christ, the son of God, the son of man,
sent to honor the father while saving his people from their
sins. This is he whom Isaiah 63 one
speaks of. Who is this? This one from Basra. In all the scriptures, all the
scriptures do indeed testify of his humanity, of his deity,
of his willingness and ability to reclaim the captives from
our spiritual prison. In Genesis chapter 3, he's called
the seed of woman. In Genesis 28, he's called Jacob's
Ladder. In Genesis 6, he's the very Ark
of God. And all those who were in the
Ark were safe from the rain or the wrath of God. Those outside
of it perished. In Job, he's the one among a
thousand. In Micah chapter 2, he's called
the Sovereign Breaker. Well, what's that mean? Well,
he breaks the power of canceled sin. That's his name. These are all the names of Christ.
In Malachi chapter four, he's the son, S-U-N. Yes, that's how
it's spelled. The son of righteousness. And
you can think about when you wake, the sun's out now, it's
just cloudy. You look at that sun, you can
think of the Redeemer. Shines, gives you warmth, gives
you light to see where you're going. Gives you help, it grows
plants, all these things that the sun does. And it's like I
said many times, we're the moon. We have that no light, but we
are to reflect Him. What is a believer? He's a moon.
By itself, cold, dusty, dry, dead, but when it's in proper
position, if I want to word that, we reflect the Son of God. On and on we could go in the
scriptures, there's so many places. Henry Mahan has a little book,
it's with Old Testament eyes, Christ in the Old Testament,
and I would recommend that. That's what I'm supposed
to do when I get up here. I'm supposed to find Christ in
the text and preach Him, because you'll be benefited by that.
If you're a believer, you'll be benefited. You'll reflect
more of Christ. If you're lost, It's by hearing
Christ that you'll be saved. And then you'll say, I want to
be, baptize me. I want to do this because the
love of Christ constrains me. Husbands and wives, why are you,
why do you stay together? You got that little paper, pretty
poor, it's going to be a poor relationship because you love
one another. Always. No, he always loves us. We don't always love him, but
he will never let us go. So this is who this is speaking
of. This, this, who is this? Who is this that engages his
heart to approach, that engages his heart to approach unto me?
It sounds like it's a man. It is. Christ became a man. And
yet he had to live perfectly, honored the law, honored the
ordinances, the truth, honored God. Only God can honor God. That's why he's rightfully called
in Isaiah 9, the wonderful counselor, the everlasting father, the mighty
God. This is who Jeremiah is referring
to. Second thought, what is he going
to do? So we have identified who this
is. What is he going to do? He's going to redeem. Look again
in our text. I will cause Him, God will cause
this person to draw nigh, to approach. To do what? To be the mediator. The mediator
between you, me and our sinful self and God. We cannot approach. He's a consuming fire. He is
a pure eyes to behold iniquity and not do anything about it.
He did. laid his wrath due us on the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he did. I'll turn
to Isaiah 63. We'll just look at it in this
text before we go back to looking at it in Jeremiah. But look at
Isaiah 63. Look at how it's worded here.
Who is this? It comes from Edom. With dyed
garments. The garments are dyed red. The
blood of Christ. Cleanses us from all sins died
red in blood Righteousness had righteousness given righteousness
accepted How by trotting the winepress which is God's wrath
for us on for our account? This that is glorious in apparel
traveling in the greatness of his strength I that speak in
righteousness and Mighty to save. Only He's mighty to save. Nobody, no person, no man, no
woman, no boy can save. Only Christ the Lord. Well, turn back to our text in
Jeremiah 31. I love how this is worded. We've
already noticed that this governor shall proceed from the midst
of them. In Deuteronomy, we've showed that. I will cause him See this cannot
fail this these I wills. I love them in the scriptures.
I wills of God He cannot fail. So this is guaranteed. I will
God will I my Jehovah God will cause this person Christ to draw
near and He shall approach unto me For who is this that engaged
his heart and to approach unto me. That's what got my attention.
Who is this that engaged His heart to approach unto me? By God's own drawing of His Son,
He engages for us. Christ comes unto the Father
honoring all that He is. Christ engages, and that word
is intermix, on the sinner's behalf, doing for us what we
could not do for ourselves. Christ does in heart that shows
his willingness. He voluntarily took our place
as he was martyred for us. He was slain so we could go free. The price of our redemption was
higher than heaven itself. And I haven't used this quote
in a long time, but I absolutely love it. Nothing was ever so
free that cost so much. That is, it cost God His only,
darling, beloved Son. The only begotten Son must die.
That's what He did. That's what He did. Melinda and
I were talking this morning, and you try to make it personal,
We got one grandson, one adorable, cute, we have one grandson. Would we willingly offer him
for a vagabond, for a Hitler, for
somebody who, you name the name, somebody wicked in history, whatever,
would we offer him I wouldn't. There's no way. Poor example. But that's what
God did for sinners who conditions, not really, but He, the Holy
Spirit, will cause you to own up to what we've done. If Christ died for you, you'll
say, I put Christ on the cross. You're not going to be pointing
and putting the responsibility on somebody else. No, you're
going to say, I did it. I did it. Just for being myself. Well, I'm not that bad. You don't
look at yourself as God looks at you. I don't look at myself
as God looks at me. We are horrible. Oh, that's not going to do the
kids any good. That's not very good child psychology. I don't
care. They need to hear the truth. And if they only hear the truth
here, one, shame on the parents who should be teaching them.
But this is what we do. We're, you know, we're a family
and you, you know, you're at the warts and you know, the blemishes
of each one of your children and your spouse. Well, you know
that, but you still will not turn them away. Why? Many waters, says the scripture,
cannot quench love. This is the love that we're talking
about. It's outside of us. And the only reason, says John,
that we love him is because he first loved us. Oh my, this redemption,
this salvation was stamped and approved and accepted and verified
by the Lord. How do I know that? Look at verse
21 again. The last three words, saith the
Lord. That to me, that shows a stamp
of approval, verification, of what has taken place, what he's
been talking about, God approves. Why would he? Because God initiated. In Hebrews chapter 7 it said
he did this once, once for all, not many times, every time you
come in here, we take the Lord's Supper, that's not, that's just
do this in remembrance of Christ. Christ did it once, one time
in history. Everything goes back to that
time. The prophets look forward to it. The New Testament was
going on. We speak of it as not having
been there. Everything in history is pointing
to that one act. He died once, forever, and sanctified
those for whom he came to save. And, in closing, and, and, verse
22, and, and, And the result is, you shall be my
people and I'll be your God. You see, not like today and not
like yesterday and not like with anything with man, what God says,
it will be accomplished. His will shall be accomplished
because of all the above, all the preceding verses, Ye, yes
ye, favored, chosen, elected of God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit, shall, not may be, ye shall be my people,
not may be, but positively, without exception, be God's people. Sinners, transgressors, though
we are in him, we are now the children of God. And, if that
wasn't enough, he will be our God. in forgiveness, in pity,
in love, and in truth. Sinners come unto him and seek
him that you may have life. To do this, says 2 Timothy, is
to be wise unto salvation. Seek Him. That's a good thing.
That's a needful thing. Otherwise, you and I are not
wise if we don't seek Him, but we're foolish unto eternal damnation. Look and live. Trust in Him. Worship Him. He And he alone
is approved of God. Do not try to go out and do anything,
try to gain favor. That's what Cain tried to do.
Just take what God has given, that sacrifice, which is Christ. I can't do anything but sin.
Please, for Christ's sake, save me. Jeremy, would you close this
please?