I know what every preacher is
thinking right now. I'm glad I'm not up there having
to follow that. If you will, turn with me to
Jeremiah chapter 32. Jeremiah chapter 32. I just want to read a single
verse of Scripture to you tonight, Jeremiah 32 and verse 14. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, take these evidences, this evidence
of the purchase, both which is sealed and this evidence which
is open. And put them, both of them, in
an earthen vessel that they may continue many days. My text tonight is too long to
read. It covers several chapters in
Jeremiah. And don't you just hate it when
the teacher says, I've got homework for you. When you get home after a while,
you can read chapters 30 through 33. But tonight, let me just
kind of sum things up so you'll know what it is I'm talking about
and where I'm coming from in the message. If I have a right
understanding of these chapters, Israel had been led astray by
Ahab and Zedekiah to defile themselves and to defile their own homes
and their holy city by mixing the worship of other gods with
the worship of the living God. Oh, they dressed it up. They
dressed it up. Made it to be appealing and acceptable
to the public. carried over some things from
the worship of God. They carried over the drink offerings. They maintained the priesthood
and they offered incense. They still put on the priestly
robes. And it all looked legitimate.
But God said it was an abomination to Him. So now the Lord sends to Israel
his prophet, and he delivers to the king God's message. And he tells him that in no uncertain
terms about their ungodly practices and of God's judgments against
them. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon,
would be given free reign over Israel. They could resist all
they wanted to. They could fight if they were
willing. But nevertheless, they'd be taken captive and they'd serve
that king in his kingdom until God felt fit to come and visit
with them and deliver them out of his hand. Now having the testimony
of God's servant, And hearing these things which God's messenger
brought to him, Zedekiah king of Judah was outraged. He was
just outraged. Who do you think you are? I'm the king of Judah. I'm in charge. You're not in charge. I'm in
charge. I run the show. It's my will. It's my decisions
that dictate the future, not the preaching of some common
man. I can almost hear that old king
talking to his counselors in his chambers after all I've done
for him. I gave him a special place in
my kingdom. I gave him the opportunity to
preach. Why even let him lead in prayer at the business meeting? We let Him preside over our weddings
and funerals. Who in the world does He think
He is? Coming down here with that gloom
and doom preaching trying to make me believe that God has
brought a curse upon us and intends for us to bow to
some heathen king. And so in His outrage, He commands
the prophet to be shut up in the inner court of the priest.
And then in the midst of all this confusion, the strangest
thing happened. God tells his prophet to buy
a field. Now this prophet had just come
there and he told the king about God's curse. He said, I've given
this place over to Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar is going to come
down here and he's going to burn your city to the ground. He's
going to burn up your houses. He's going to put a loop around
the king's neck and lead him down to Babylon. This place is
going to be nothing but burn over ash. Now go buy a field. Huh? Go buy a field. That field was something that
evil king was going to have for himself anyway. This was something
that would be burned over with fire. This was something that
by all natural logic stood no chance of ever profiting Jeremiah
in the least. But God told him to do it. God
told him to do it. And he believed God. And the
Lord told him to take certain precautions. He was to do this
redeeming. He was going to buy his cousin's
land by right of redemption. And he was to do this redeeming
in the presence of the proper authorities before witnesses.
Legal documents were to be drawn up showing proper ownership and
then sealed and put in a jar which was buried until such time
as it was to be brought forth and shown as evidence. That's my message to you tonight.
Sealed in a jar. Sealed in a jar. Now this to me is a beautiful
picture of God's elect and their redemption in Christ. God's elect
were born under the influence of an evil king. I'm talking about God's elect
now, I'm not talking about the heathens. They're born under
the influence of an evil king. They come into this world fallen
and depraved. They know nothing about the living
God except what their fathers and mothers teach them and what
they hear from the professing church in this world. That's
all they know about. They know nothing of Satan's
influence over men and especially that over worldly religion. Under
the influence of false religion, old Israel, laid their babies
into the red hot hands of a bronze statue, which served as a furnace. And they laid those babies in
those hot hands of that idol, believing that they were doing
both the baby and God a service. And as surely as those babies
were consumed by that idol, so are the children of our generation
who are placed in the hands of these false prophets. Did you hear what I said? Just
as surely as those babies were consumed in the hands of that
red hot iron, so are these babies of men and women who don't even
go to church, but be sure to get their babies up and put them
on that church bus and send them down to those false prophets. Thousands upon thousands take
their little ones down to some church on the corner, believing
they're doing God a service. And my friend, that's how Satan
works. That's exactly how Satan works. I told our folks the other
day, the reason men and women can't identify with the fall
is because they've never fallen. Have you? I've never fallen. I'm a product of the fall. I
didn't fall. Adam fell. I'm the product of the fall.
All of these things that God talks about, falling men, they're
natural to me. And that's why He says the natural
man. The natural man. He just keeps
telling it. You and I are products of the
fall. We come forth from the wounds taken life. We've never
known anything else. All of our evil ways are natural
to us. Our abominable religious ideas
seem right to us. Used to to me. Listen to the Scriptures. All
man's ways are right in his own eyes. He's ignorant of the false. He can't identify with what you're
telling him. He looks around for some evidence
of what you're telling him, but everything he sees is a testimony
against you. And most men and women, like
ancient Israel, believe they're saved. That king thought he was
saved. He thought, well, I'm God's king.
I'm king over God's chosen people. And yet all the while, they are
by nature the children of wrath, even as others. God's elect are
born into a world which is under the wrath of God. If you've ever
read Ephesians chapter 2, he tells us that you hath equipped
them who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past
you walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, that spirit who now worketh in
the children of disobedience. The whole religious structure
of Israel was corrupt in the days of Ahab and Zedekiah, from
the high priest to the altar boy, from the temple to the table.
It was an abomination, an abomination to God. And so it is today, the
whole religious structure of this world is corrupt. It flourishes
in its numbers, it's active in its ministry, it's overwhelming
in its appearance, but it's an abomination to God. And it's
an abomination and it's practice. This world is under the judgment
of God and they can resist all they want to and they can fight
all they want to and they can will all they want to. But you're
going to keep on serving that evil king until God comes to
visit. Paul said, I'm sold under sin. God said he'd be led captive. He told Zedekiah, you're going
to be led captive into Babylon, and there shall he be until I
visit him. And as God found Israel of old
living and serving other gods, so it is he always finds his
people. That's where he found me. They are by divine judgment.
They are by an evil nature. They are because of the influence
of Satan. And they are because their religious
practice is an abomination to God. Am I getting through to
anybody here? Have you got the picture? Can you see old Israel? Can you
see that king's face when he got the news? Well, in the light of God's judgment
and of their impending doom, He gives us three things concerning
those days, those latter days, when He shall visit. And the
first thing He gives us by way of an Old Testament picture is
that we're commanded to buy into His promised redemption. My brother-in-law
and I were listening to an old Arminian preacher thinning a
yarn about his conversion and calling him into the ministry
one time. And he went on and on and on.
We didn't say anything. And after a while, we got in
the car and left, and we were going down the road. We were
both quiet for a minute. After a few minutes, he turned
around and looked at me, and he said, I ain't buying any of
it, are you? And I said, I'm not either. Now, without a two-hour dissertation,
On Old Testament typology, just let me say that what the prophet
was commanded to buy was not a piece of land, but promised
redemption. What good was the land without
the redemption? He bought the field. Isn't that
what that says there Jeremiah? He bought the field. God said
buy the field. Why would he buy the field? Our
Lord said because he found the treasure in it. Huh? He found the treasure in it and
he bought the whole field. I'm not talking about his cousin's
field. I'm talking about that field
our Lord spoke of over Matthew 13, verse 44. And what is that
field? I believe that field is the Word
of God. He found the treasure in God's
Word. in God's promises, and in particular,
of God's promised redemption in Christ. Jeremiah bought into
the promised redemption of God. And in the midst of God's judgments,
and in the midst of an unbelieving world, in the midst of wholesale
rejection and hostility toward Him, Jeremiah believed God. He believed God. He bought the
field. He said, let God be true in every
man's life. That's hard to say sometimes. What about you? What about me? When I see the utter denial of
the living God in this world, when I look within and see that,
like Paul said, in me dwelleth no good thing. Do I really believe
that God can and will do something in me and for me and with me
for the glory of His glory? In spite of my condition and
in spite of the enemy's destruction and power, in spite of everything
that's happened, do I really believe God will visit His chosen
people in their captivity? There are my ideas. and he put
his money where his mouth was. Jeremiah bought into this thing
of redemption. Alright, here's the second thing.
The evidence of the purchase. Jeremiah was to buy this field
before witnesses. He was to redeem this field before
the proper authorities and before them they were to sign it and
seal it and put it in a jar. Beloved, when Jesus Christ came
into this world and accomplished our redemption, it wasn't done
in a corner. Isn't that what the Bible says?
It's not. It said this thing wasn't done in a corner. This
thing wasn't hidden. This thing was done in the open.
This redemption purchase was made by a man before the whole
world. All of the proper authorities
were there, kings and governors and lawyers and priests. And
everything he did was according to the law of God. So much so
that it was written that by this redemption purchase, he exalted
the law and made it honorable. Our redemption was accomplished
before witnesses, appointed witnesses, chosen witnesses, ordained witnesses. Oh, my soul. But here's what I want you to
see. The evidence of the purchase. All of it. Both that which was
opened and that which was sealed was to be put in an earthen vessel
and buried until such time as the evidence would be called
for. Oh, beloved. The evidence of our redemption
is sealed in the person of Jesus Christ. That earthen vessel sealed,
sealed in Him, preserved in Him. And for a brief space, that earthen
vessel was buried. It was buried. It was buried
in the ground. And then He was raised. And the
evidence taken in the heaven itself. Right in the heavens,
right before God's bar. He brings this evidence. And
He presents it to God. It is the evidence of the transaction
that gives right to claim it. Is that right? Where's the evidence? It ain't in you. I've looked. It's the evidence of our purchased
redemption that gives chosen sinners the right and privilege
to become sons of God. And though we serve under Babylonian
captivity, and though we suffer because of the curse of God on
this world, though we are hindered greatly by the circumstances
of sin, yet we are still heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. And the evidence is sealed in
an earthen vessel where no enemy can put his hands on it ever
again. And having made peace, Paul said,
through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things
unto Himself. By Him, I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometimes
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, Yet now
hath He reconciled, are you listening, in the body of His flesh through
death to present you, listen, holy and unblameable. I might blame me for something
but God won't. Oh my soul, unblameable. and
un-reprovable. Folks always trying to make yourself
better. You're un-reprovable. I told
our folks one time I went up to Washington D.C. and you can
tell by looking at me I'm not the art gallery type but we were
there and I said okay let's go in the art gallery and I went
in there and I was astounded. I looked over there and I saw
those Dutch masters, those paintings. They must have been five feet
long and probably three or four feet tall and they had little
benches you could sit on and look at them. I just sat there
in amazement how any man could take seven or eight little things
of paint and paint something like that on canvas. I was just
amazed. Can you imagine what would happen,
there's this big burly guy standing over here, he's about 6'8", weighed
about 300 pounds, wasn't fat at all. Can you imagine what
would happen if I got my watercolors and run toward that painting?
I'm just going to touch it up. I'm going to just make it a little
bit better. Oh my soul. That's what you do when you try
to make it better. Unreprovable. Unreprovable. If, there's an if on there, if
you continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved
away from the hope of the gospel which you've heard of. One young man in our church under
the conviction of the Holy Spirit called me weeping on the phone.
He said, I just can't find any evidence in myself I said, you're
looking at an empty box. The evidence is in Him. The evidence is in Him. Don't look in here, look up there.
How many times did He tell you that in Scripture? Look unto
Me. Come unto Me. Trust in Me. The evidence is sealed in Christ.
I remember Brother Mahan telling this to me one time. I used to
live in his parking lot. I was the last house on the block.
They've torn that house down now, but I was living there.
He used to come over for lunch on occasion, and he came over
there and he said he was walking down the street and ran into
somebody there in Ashland, I don't know the guy, that he went to
seminary with. An old fellow said, Henry, are
you still saved? It's been a long time since he
said it. Henry said, is Christ still on the throne? The evidence
is in him. It's in him. The evidence of
the purchase is sealed in Christ. Our life, Paul said, is hid with
Christ in God. And when Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory. And
then thirdly, I want you to see that God did this work in a place
already condemned. Why would God do this work in
a place that He Himself had condemned? Because condemnation is not the
final work of God. That's why. I love this reading
in Revelations. After these things, John said,
I saw a new heaven and a new earth after these things. After the judgment and after
the beast and the false prophet who were cast into hell and all
those whose names were not written in the Lamb's book of life. After
all these men had perished in everlasting fire, then John said,
I saw the holy city. coming down out of heaven. Oh,
my soul! Condemnation is not the final
work of God. He said, I heard a great voice
out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and He is going to dwell with them And they're going to
be his people and God himself shall be with them and he's going
to be their God. And when you do your homework,
you'll find that almost word for word with what he told Jeremiah. Almost word for word. I'm going
to gather them out of every nation where I've scattered them. I
scattered them. I'm the one who brought Nebuchadnezzar
up here. He is going to take you captive and you are going
to serve Him in His kingdom until I see fit. But when I come to
visit, I am going to gather them out of everywhere where I have
scattered them and I am going to bring them back to me. The evidence of redemption is
sealed in that risen Christ. And the evidence of the promise,
are you listening, is sealed in here. That's sealed in here. Jeremiah
had the promise in here. In here. The evidence up there. But he sealed the promise in
here. The scripture said we're sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise. And this is the earnest, the
earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession. What Jeremiah had was the promise
of redemption sealed in an earthen vessel. Sealed in him until the
day of Christ. God does business in the hearts
of condemned men. Why does He do that? To show
the glory of His grace. The glory of His grace. You ever
watch... Boy, I'm going to tell on myself
big time now. You ever watch poker? on TV. They have a world series of poker.
I never knew that. And I flipped it on and I said,
what in the world are they doing? They're playing poker. And after
I watched it for a while, it was the final of that game. And so I watched it for a while
and The money went over here and this guy would win it and
then he'd come back and then after a while the money would
come over here for a while and then he'd kind of come back to
even again and that's the way it went for hours. And after
a while, one man got a hand and he knew in his heart that he
had the best hand. Nobody had anything to come up
with what he had in his hand. And there's a big stack of chips
out there in front of him And he took them and pushed them
into the middle of the table, and he said, I'm all in. Jeremiah looked at what God gave
him. He looked at the promise of God,
and he said, I'm all in. I'm all in. And God said, all
right. I'm going to put that evidence
in a jar. And when the time comes, I'm
going to raise it up. And we're going to present it
to the judge. And you can have that which God gave you, and
you'll have a rightful claim to it. Men are always telling
me, well, how do you know that you're elect? How do you know
that you have a right? I've got the evidence. I've got
the evidence. Evidence there, and evidence
here. That's all there is, as far as
I know. May the Lord bless you. Thank you.