Oh, what a blessed service we've
had so far. Turn with me, if you will, to
the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 32. If I'm not mistaken, these past
three or four weeks, as we've been reading through the Gospel
of Jeremiah in our daily reading, God the Holy Spirit has blessed
his word to my heart in some remarkable ways. By the time
we get to this 32nd chapter of Jeremiah's prophecy, Jerusalem
had been under siege by the Babylonians for some time. There was no bread
to eat, no water to drink in the streets of Jerusalem. People
were falling like flies, dying one after the other. And God's
prophet Jeremiah was in a dungeon, in a pit, shut up by the king
because he had dared to tell God's people in Jerusalem what
God told him. He had dared speak the truth. as he received it from the Lord
God. False prophets came behind him
and said, Jeremiah, he doesn't know what he's talking about.
He's telling you that the Babylonians are going to come and take you
into captivity for 70 years. They said these things will be
over in just a few days. Don't worry about this. Don't worry
about this. Zedekiah and Jeremiah didn't
know what he's talking about. And Jeremiah kept declaring God's
truth. Zedekiah cast him into the pit
and shut him up in prison. Bad as things were, Jeremiah
knew they were going to get worse. He knew they were going to get
worse. Not only was Jerusalem to remain under Babylonian siege,
but soon, actually just less than a year after this portion
of Jeremiah's prophecy is fulfilled, Babylonians came under Nebuchadnezzar. and took Judah and Jerusalem
into captivity and for 70 years held them in bondage. The land
of Israel was desolate. The streets of Jerusalem were
empty. The temple was cast down. Everything in Jerusalem had been
turned into rubble. But here, just before God sent
Nebuchadnezzar to take Israel into captivity, just a few months
beforehand. God commanded Jeremiah to do
a strange thing. Seems strange to me. He commanded
Jeremiah to buy a piece of property outside Jerusalem. He commanded
him to buy his cousin's field for an inheritance. Now remember,
this is outside Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians
already possessed it. But God commands Jeremiah to
buy this field as a kinsman-redeemer for an inheritance from his cousin
Hananiel. Let's read together beginning
at verse 1. Jeremiah chapter 31, or 32 rather, verse 1. The word that came to Jeremiah
from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah which
was the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar. For then the king of Babylon's
army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut
up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's
house. For Zedekiah, the king of Judah,
had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy and say, Thus
saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand
of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. Zedekiah the king
of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans,
but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of
Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes
shall behold his eyes, and he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon,
And there shall he be until I visit him, saith the Lord. Though you
fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper. And Jeremiah
said, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Behold, Hanameel,
the son of Shalem thine uncle, shall come unto thee, saying,
By thee my field that is in Anathoth. for the right of redemption is
thine to buy it. Hannah Meal, my uncle's son,
came to me in the court of the prison according to the word
of the Lord and said unto me, by my field I pray thee that
is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin, for the
right of inheritance is thine and the redemption is thine.
Buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the
word of the Lord. I bought the field and had a
meal with my uncle's son that was in Anathoth and weighed him
the money, even 17 shekels of silver. And I subscribed the
evidence and sealed it and took witnesses and weighed him the
money in the balances. So I took the evidence of the
purchase both that which was sealed according to the law and
customs, and that which was open. And I gave the evidence of the
purchase unto Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseah,
in the sight of Hananiel, mine uncle's son, and in the presence
of the witnesses that subscribe the book of the purchase, before
all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison. And I charged
Baruch before them, saying, 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 in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. For thus saith the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, Houses and fields and vineyards shall be
possessed again in this land. Now, two things are obvious when
we look at this portion of scripture. First, this passage has something
to do with redemption and the law of the kinsman redeemer that
was given in Leviticus chapter 25. Had Emile came to Jeremiah and said,
the right of redemption is yours. You are the kinsman redeemer.
The redemption belongs to you. Buy this inheritance for yourself. And secondly, not only does this
have something to do with the law of the kinsman redeemer,
the whole history of Israel's Babylonian captivity and her
deliverance out of Babylon by divine design was an allegory,
a picture of God's work of grace in redeeming our souls by Christ
Jesus and saving us by his grace. Now if you want to at your leisure,
I highly suggest that you do. Read Revelation chapter 17, 18,
and 19, and you will find this very same picture given in a
spiritual sense with regard to spiritual or mystical Babylon
and God's church, the true Israel of God, and God bringing us out
of Babylon and finally destroying Babylon and all our enemies by
the hand of his might. My subject this evening is found
in our text, Evidence of the Purchase. evidence of the purchase. As I said in the beginning, this
seems like a strange purchase that Jeremiah was commanded to
make. This land was already in the hand of the Babylonians.
Jeremiah knew that the Babylonians were coming and were going to
take the land in possession for 70 years. Which of you would
buy a piece of ground no matter how cheap you could buy it? If
you knew that it was in the possession of another nation, and you could
not walk on it, you couldn't see it, you couldn't do anything
with it, but you go buy the piece of ground for yourself for an
inheritance while you're in prison. Jeremiah didn't have money to
buy bread, and there was no bread to buy if he had any. He couldn't
go out and walk on the land. He couldn't go out and see the
land. He's shut up in prison. The Babylonians hold the land
he's about to buy, and yet he buys this because God commands
him to buy it. Who but God would command his
prophet to make such a purchase at such a time? Why would God
do so? Verse 15, we're told, For thus
saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Houses and fields
and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land. God said to Jeremiah, and Jeremiah
said to the people, I'm buying this land from my cousin, Hanameel,
at the command of God to be a picture of this thing that's certain.
You will only be in Babylon for a time of 70 years set by God. And when that's over, Babylon
will fall and you're coming back here and God will build his house.
God will save his people. He will gather those whom he
has scattered. This thing was done by Jeremiah
to picture God's redemption and grace in Christ Jesus and the
certainty of it. Now hold your Bibles open on
your lap. I want to show you six or seven things here. First,
as Anathoth was lost to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, we, you
and I, God's elect, you and I who now believe God, those of God's
elect yet to be called by his grace, we were lost to Satan
and to our enemies and shut up to an enemy's hand. We were all
ruined. We lost everything by the sin
and fall of our father Adam. We were in captivity worse than
the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. We were in spiritual
captivity. Spiritual captivity to a Babylon
that deceives the whole world. Spiritual captivity to a Babylon
that deceives all men. Somebody said, well, they were
in false religion before God saved them. You were too. You
might not have known it. We all were. Because all men
by nature worship their own hands and the work of their own hands
and their own ideas about God and build for themselves a refuge
of lives by which they hide from God. And we tend to think as
all other men think about all spiritual, righteous, religious
things with corrupt minds, just as all other men. That was our
nature. We, too, were like this piece
of land held in captivity to the enemy of our souls. You and
I, like the lost land in the hands of Satan, were under the
dominion of the prince. of Babylon, under the dominion
and influence of the prince of darkness. He ruled our lives,
governed our lives, and we were motivated in all things by him,
Satan, that one who would destroy our souls. But God is gracious. God is gracious. The name Hanumel
means God is gracious. Shalom means retribution. God,
who always punishes, said, He's gracious. Anathoth, the land
that Jeremiah was required to purchase, was a land that belonged
to the priest, the Levites, out of the tribe of Benjamin. And,
Merle, the Levites were never allowed to sell their land. Jeremiah, by law, could not purchase
this land from the Levites. But this land, belonging to Hananiel,
was now in possession of the Babylonians. And Jeremiah purchases
this land of the priest for a possession for himself as Christ Jesus has
purchased for you and I the right to priesthood. Here's the second
thing. Look at verses 7 and 8 in chapter
32. The Lord Jesus is our kinsman
redeemer. Look at what we read here. Behold,
Hanameel, the son of Shalem, thine uncle, shall come unto
thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth, for the
right of redemption is thine, to buy it. So Hanameel, mine
uncle's son, came to me in the court of the prison, according
to the word of the Lord, and said unto me, Buy my field, I
pray thee, That is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin,
for the right of inheritance is thine. You're the kinsman-redeemer. You're the one next to me. The
right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption is thine.
Not only is it your privilege to do so, but being the kinsman-redeemer,
it is your responsibility to purchase it. Here's Jeremiah. Now, remember, he's in prison,
and Bobby's busted. He doesn't have anything. He
doesn't have money to buy bread. But the right of redemption is
his. And by law of the kinsman redeemer,
that man who has the right to redeem and is able to redeem
must redeem. And Jeremiah took 17 shekels,
all the money he had, and bought that land, bought that piece
of ground. Buy it for thyself, had Emile
said. Then I knew that this was the
word of the Lord. Like Jeremiah, the Lord Jesus
Christ is our kinsman and our redeemer. He assumed our nature
into union with himself. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. God became a man so that he might
redeem. Being our kinsman, the Lord Jesus
became our Redeemer. He had the right to redeem, and
not only the right to redeem, but as God commanded Jeremiah
to purchase this field, so the Lord Jesus says concerning his
death, this commandment have I received of my Father. So that
as our mediator who volunteered to come and be a Jehovah's servant,
who volunteered to come here to save his people from their
sins, as Jehovah's servant, he's commanded to do so. And our Lord
Jesus Christ has the ability to do so. What does it cost him? Everything he has. Everything
he is. He lays down his life to make
atonement for our souls. Here's the third thing. The son
of God made a lawful purchase of this inheritance for himself. Look at verse 9. Jeremiah said,
and I bought the field of Hadamil, my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth,
and weighed him the money, even 17 shekels of silver. Now, 17 shekels of silver doesn't
seem like much, unless you're a prisoner with nothing else
in a dungeon In a land where you can't get anything even to
eat except you buy it and there's nobody to give you anything 17
shekels of silver is only about four dollars and a quarter About
four dollars and a quarter wasn't much money, but four dollars
and a quarter Could buy you some bread and a little water Jeremiah
bought this field. He bought this specific field
He bought this field for an inheritance and he bought the field for himself.
Now understand again the teaching of scripture with regard to the
death of our Lord Jesus Christ and redemption by his blood.
I had a call last night. Somebody asked me about particular
redemption and I was quick to tell them what I've told you
many times. Nowhere in this book, nowhere in this book Is there
even a hint that Christ died for everybody in the world? Not
any place in it. There's not a single illustration
Not a single type of redemption that suggests that Christ died
for all men Nowhere is the death of Christ explained where there's
a hint that he died for all men. Every text that men use to suggest
that he died for all men has nothing to do with redemption.
Nowhere in this book is there a hint that the Son of God died
for all men. David to suggest that is to imply
and teach that Christ is not God. It's to say he died for
folks who perished anyway. He redeemed folks that he doesn't
have. He purchased folks he doesn't
possess. Such blasphemy cannot be tolerated. Understand then the teaching
of Scripture. Christ bought the field, a specific field, his
church, out of the world. He did not buy all men for Himself. He did not buy all men out from
under the curse of the law. He did not buy all men out from
under the penalty of sin. If He did, all men would be saved. Christ bought His church for
Himself. He redeemed His own, a specific
people. He redeemed His church to be
His inheritance forever. And that field, His church, He
calls his people, his inheritance, his portion forever. He bought
us at the price required by God's law, his own precious blood. Now, fourth, look at verses 10
through 15. Verses 10 through 15. Our dear Savior, holds evidence
of the purchase. And I subscribed the evidence
and sealed it and took witnesses and weighed him the money in
the balances. So I took the evidence of the
purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and
custom and that which was open, the evidence, just like you'd
buy a piece of property and go register the deed down here at
the courthouse. And that which was sealed, that which is open. And I gave the evidence of the
purchase under Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Meosiah,
in the sight of Hananiel, mine uncle's son, and in the presence
of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase before
all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison. And I charged
Barak, I said to Barak before them all, saying, Thus saith
the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Take these evidences,
this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed and the
evidence which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that
they may continue many days. For thus saith the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, Houses and fields and vineyards shall be
possessed again in this land. What a picture of redemption. The field purchased was the church
of the living God by the precious blood of Christ. The deed of
purchase was registered with his own blood, our Savior entering
once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for
us. This was done before witnesses
so that the law and the prophets, all the types of the law and
all the prophecies of the Old Testament, verify that this one
who died, who obtained redemption for us, is himself the Christ
of God, the Redeemer spoken of in the scriptures. And the evidence
of the purchase is both sealed and open. Now notice that Jeremiah,
by divine command, had Baruch to put the evidences, the sealed,
I presume that means a sealed scroll that was sealed up, and
another that was not sealed up, but was sealed publicly by law. He had him to put those in an
earthen vessel. I think I've got something that'll
help with that. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter
4. Look what the Apostle said in verse
7, talking about the gospel of God's grace. But we have this
treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power
may be of God and not of us. The evidence of redemption by
Christ is sealed in the hearts of God's servants in the experience
of grace by God the Holy Spirit. So that that's something that's
private. That's sealed up. Other men can't
see this. It's private. We have the gift
of faith by God the Spirit and by the Spirit all the blessings
of grace are sealed to our hearts, Ephesians 1, 13 and 14. But then
this seal, this evidence of the purchase The gospel of God's
free grace is committed to earthen vessels, that we may proclaim
this redemption accomplished by Christ according to the word
of God to men and women everywhere, making it an open thing for all
men to see. Look here, 2 Corinthians chapter
4, verse 1. Therefore, seeing we have this
ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not. We faint
not. Years ago, somebody sent me some,
a series of messages preached at one of these, you know, conferences
for intellectual preachers. I was out of, I wasn't invited.
But he's, he's bringing in fellas. And the fella did a series of
messages on burnout in the ministry. Burnout in the ministry. The
warning fellas, don't do this, don't, you'll get burned out.
You'll get burned out. Well, you might get burned out
of the grocery business, David. And you may get burned out of
carrying mail. And you may get burned out of
being an engineer. But God's servants don't burn
out of the ministry. As we have received mercy, we
faint not. We continue in the work, but
have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. We, uh... You don't have to guess what
I'm talking about. You don't have to guess what I'm doing.
You folks here and the folks who hear me other places, folks
who hear the messages we send out around the world, nobody
has to guess what Don Fortner believes. You don't have to guess
how I'm going to respond to religious trends. None of you are ever
surprised at things I do. That's on purpose because we
act openly and honestly. Read on. We've renounced the
hidden things of dishonesty. Not walking in craftiness. We
don't have some secret motive or secret agenda. Not handling
the Word of God deceitfully. We don't use the Word of God
to our own advantage. But by manifestation of truth.
Just by showing you the evidences. You want to see the evidence
of what we're talking about? Here it is. Right here. Just
open it up and show it to you. By manifestation of truth. Commending
ourselves to every man's conscience. in the sight of God. For if our
gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost. It's hid to them
that are lost. I just read something today.
One of the men who had great respect for Robert Hawker from
up in London made the trip all the way down to Plymouth to bring
a very learned doctor down to hear Mr. Hawker, he thought the
learned doctor would be impressed and be anxious to hear this very
gifted preacher. And so he brought his friend
down, this man of great letters, and when they left the service,
the learned doctor said to his friend who brought him all the
way down to Plymouth to hear Dr. Hawker, he said, I didn't
understand a word he said. I didn't understand a word he
said. And this friend spoke to Hawker the next morning before
heading back to London. He said, my friend, told him his degrees
and so forth. He said, he said he didn't understand
a word you said. And Hawker said, isn't that surprising?
There were several old women standing around by the wall who
understood every word. Why do you understand? It wasn't
because it wasn't openly proclaimed, but because the God of this world
had blinded the minds of them that believed not. Read what
it says here. If our gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are
lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds
of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel
of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
For we preach not ourselves. Now that might be translated
many ways. We don't preach from our own inspiration. We don't
preach about ourselves. and we don't preach for ourselves.
But your servants, ourself, your servants, but Jesus Christ the
Lord, that's the one we preach from whom we preach and for whom
we preach, and ourselves, your servants, for Jesus' sake. Your
servants. Not men who are ordered around
by you. Not men who are ordered around
by you. Most preachers these days, are like June bugs I used to
play with when I was a kid. Did you all have June bugs where
you came from, Don? You know what we did when I was a kid?
We didn't have electronic games. We had cans and stuff like that.
I'd tie a string around June bug's leg and fly it around.
And the June bug would just fly out with all his might, but he
couldn't fly any further than my string would let him. And
that's how most preachers are handled. They act like they have
great freedom but they're under the thumb of somebody and behave
accordingly. That's not what it means for
me to be your servant. I'm not here to be ordered by
you any more than Jeremiah was ordered by Zedekiah. But rather
I'm here to serve you as Jeremiah faithfully served Zedekiah declaring
the word of the Lord. You see that? Ourselves your
servants. Your servants for Christ's sake.
Now watch this. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Paul says in this seventh chapter
of 2 Corinthians, faithful men are honest men operating from
honest motives for the glory of God and the good of your souls,
and you don't have to guess about them. You don't have to guess
about them. You want to know what somebody
preaches? I used to say, I've said this to some of you, you
ask me about somebody or whether or not they believe anything,
what do you think? I used to say, well, just ask them to send
you the last two or three sermons they preached. I quit doing that.
I quit doing that. You want to know somebody preaching
anything? Bill just asked him for the last sermon he preached.
Just the last one he preached. Don't ask them to send you what
they pick out. If they're deceivers, they'll pick out what you want
to hear. Ask them for the last thing they preach. And I guarantee
you, if he knows the gospel, you'll hear it. I guarantee it. God's servants are open and honest
men. For we have this treasure in
earthen vessels that the excellency may be of God and not of us.
All right. Back to Jeremiah 32. Jeremiah
32. hear the word of God. Just as
surely as the Son of God shed his precious blood at Calvary,
so surely all Israel shall be saved by the grace of God. That's
what's taught in verse 15. Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, houses and fields and vineyards shall be
possessed again in this land. God said, I will bring Israel
out of Babylon back to this land and houses and fields shall be
possessed by my people in the land of promise, just as I swore
to Abraham. It is written, every purpose
of the Lord shall be performed. Here's the fifth thing. The redemption
of our souls is the revelation of the glory of our God and is
for his glory. Look at chapter 32, verse 16.
Hannah Meal told Jeremiah, said, buy this land for yourself. And
the Lord Jesus, our great God and Savior, bought us for himself,
for the praise of his glory, the glory of his grace, the honor
of his name, to make himself a great and a glorious name.
Look at verse 17. Very last part of the verse, Jeremiah
speaks and he says, there is nothing too hard for thee. Verse
18. Thou showest loving kindness
unto thousands. The great, the mighty God, the
Lord of hosts is his name. Look at verse 19. Great in counsel,
mighty in work. Look at verse 20. Which has set
signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day,
and in Israel and among other men, and has made thee a name
as at that day. as at this day, verse 21, and
has brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt
with signs and with wonders and with a strong hand and with a
stretched out arm and with great terror. Now all of this was a
matter of grace. Jeremiah said, you did this for
us in Egypt. You're going to do this for us
in Babylon. You're going to do it because nothing's too hard
for you. And this is a matter of pure, free grace. Because
God, we deserve your punishment. We deserve your judgment. We
deserve that you send us away captive to hell. Send us away
captive to Babylon and to Satan. Look at verse 23. And they came
in and possessed it, but they obeyed not thy voice, neither
walked in thy law. They had done nothing. of all
that thou commandest them to do." What a word. Samuel, God declares
what you and I ought to know and confess all the time. We've
never done one thing right. Not one thing. Your people have done not one
thing you told us to do. Not one word. Not one commandment. Not one oracle. Not one sacrifice. Nothing. Nothing. And if we went
to hell, we fully deserve it. But you promised mercy. Now,
here's the sixth thing. This redemption and grace and
salvation Is a free grace covenant gift and operation of the great
and mighty God the Lord of hosts Is his name look at verse 37
God says behold, I will gather them out of all countries whither
I have driven them in mine anger Verse 37 I will cause them to
dwell safely verse 38 And I they shall be my people And I will
be their God and I will give them one heart and one way that
they may fear me forever. Verse 40. I will make an everlasting
covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do
them good. But I will put my fear in their
hearts and they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice
over them to do them good. Isn't that something? God says
I'll rejoice to do them good. Will plant them in this land
assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul verse
42 so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised
them and Then the Lord says in verse 44. I will cause their
captivity to return skip down to verse 33 chapter 33 verse
2 Thus saith the Lord the Maker thereof, the Lord that
formed it, to establish it, the Lord is his name. Call unto me,
and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things
which thou knowest not. What a word from God. Call me
and I'll answer you. Seek mercy, mercy's yours. I'll
show you great and mighty things that you never imagined. Verse
six. Behold, I will bring it health and cure. I will cure
them and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
Verse 7, I'll build them up. Verse 8, I'll cleanse them from
all their iniquity. I will pardon all their iniquities. Verse 9, it shall be to me a
name of joy, a praise and an honor before all the nations
of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them. Now, here's our Lord Jesus. I
told you this whole thing is a picture of redemption and grace.
Look at verse 14. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have
promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. I
will cause, verse 15, I will cause the branch righteousness
to grow up under David, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness
in the land. In those days shall Judah be
saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name
whereby she shall be called the Lord our righteousness. One more thing. Turn over to
chapter 50. I want you to see this. Jeremiah 50. because of God's purpose, because
of God's covenant, because of God's oath, because of God's
character, because of this purchase made by our Redeemer of His elect. All God's elect shall be saved. All Israel shall be saved. All who were chosen and redeemed
by God our Savior shall be saved by God's omnipotent mercy. Here's
a picture of every saved sinner's experience in conversion. Look
at Isaiah or Jeremiah 50 verse 4. In those days and in that time,
that is when the righteous branch comes and reveals himself, saith
the Lord, the children of Israel shall come and the children of
Judah together, both houses of Israel, all the Israel of God,
all of God's elect going and weeping. weeping with broken
hearts and weeping with joy, they shall go and shall seek
the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion
with their faces thitherward. I'm always encouraged when sinners
write to me or call me, meet me at the door, come by the office,
ask the way to Zion. Sincerely, seeking the Lord.
Because Alan, when somebody asks the way, his face is in the way
already. Their faces are set toward the
Redeemer because they've been called by grace. Verse 5, they
shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying,
come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant
that shall not be forgotten. Skip down to verse 19. Here's complete pardon, complete
forgiveness, complete salvation for needy sinners in Christ who
come asking the way to Zion. I will bring Israel again to
his habitation, and he shall feed on caramel and bation, and
his soul shall be satisfied upon Mount Ephraim. and Gilad. In those days and in that time,
saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for,
and there shall be none. And the sins of Judah, and they
shall not be found, for I will pardon them whom I reserve. I think I have always when reading
this verse of scripture to you, Jeremiah 50 verse 20, I think
I have always mistakenly indicated or somehow implied this is talking
about the day of judgment when God looks for the sins of Israel
and Judah. But read the scriptures in their
context. Merle, this is talking about
the day when sinners come saying, let us make a covenant with the
Lord. Their face is set thitherward,
and they come weeping, asking the way to Zion, and the Lord
reveals Himself to them. And when the sinner is given
the knowledge of faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer, he looks for his sin and can't
find it. His conscience can no longer
condemn. For God says, I pardoned. I pardoned. I had a call from a friend yesterday
up in British Columbia, Vancouver. Hadn't talked to him in nearly
20 years. He doesn't call real often. And he said to me, he
said, I can't find anybody. I can't find anybody up here
who's preaching the gospel of God's grace He said, I'm so utterly
alone without fellowship in the gospel. And we chatted a little
bit, and he said, this I have enjoyed. God called me by His
grace, revealed Christ to me, and made me to know as though
He spoke personally to me. Really and truly made me to know
that Christ died for me. And I've never had reason to
question that. Never had reason to question
that. Christ put away my sins. Christ put away my sins. Completely
pardon me. And when he pardons, he removes. Now, here is Christ, our Savior,
the mighty God. Look at verse 33. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts,
the children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed
together. And all that took them captives
held them fast. They refused to let them go.
Their Redeemer is strong. The Lord of Hosts is his name.
He shall truly plead their cause that he may give rest. And that's evidence of the purchase. Christ pleads our cause with
ourselves and gives us rest with himself. Now, look at verse 5. Here's the reason for it all.
For thus, for Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God of the Lord
of Hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy
One of Israel. They shall come to Zion weeping
with their faces set thitherward, because though they forsook me,
I would not and will not forsake them. Amen.