Now let's get the picture from
this scripture I read. The enemy had surrounded Jerusalem,
completely surrounded it. They were a powerful enemy, the Chaldeans. And God had sent
the message to the king of Judah, Zedekiah, by his servant, Jeremiah,
that the city would fall, that the Chaldeans would conquer the
city, that they would come in and burn the city. It says that
on further in the same chapter, that they would destroy the city,
that they would lead away the people into captivity, and that
they would lead away the king. King Zedekiah would be taken
down into Babylon as a personal captive of Nebuchadnezzar, the
king of Babylon. And the Lord said, prophesy this
to the king of Judah, and Jeremiah did. And when he reported this
to the king of Judah, Zedekiah, the king put him in jail. He
said, how dare you prophesy that way to me? And he put Jeremiah
in jail. Now down there in the jail, the
Lord came back to Jeremiah again, and he said, Jeremiah, He said,
your nephew is going to come to you, and I don't know just
exactly how fair the nephew was being, but he said, your nephew
is going to come to you and offer to sell you a plot of land. Now
he said, when he comes to you and offers to sell you this land,
you buy it. Seventeen shekels of silver,
you buy it. But be sure that when you buy
this land that you get all of the necessary papers filled out
just right. and have all these papers witnessed
in front of several witnesses, and then have it put in an earthen
pot and sealed away somewhere. Put it away in a good, safe place
by the land, and have it witnessed, have everything written out,
pay for it, get a deed of transfer, and then hide it somewhere in
a good place, because God says, I'm bringing Israel back to this
land someday, and I want you to show your faith in me and
in my power." And Jeremiah went on and said, "'Is there anything
too hard for God?' Now that's the most foolish thing that a
man can do. When an enemy has the city surrounded
and they're about to take it, the last thing you want to do
is buy land. Any thinking person knows that
that's the most foolish thing that a man could possibly do.
is when a city is about to fall, and the king and all the armies
are about to be led away in captivity, and the city laid waste and burned,
and the people turned into slaves, the last thing you want to do
is buy a piece of property. But God told Jeremiah to buy
the property and pay for it, and get a deed of transfer, have
it legally signed, sealed, and witnessed, because he said, we're
coming back. Now this appeared to the world
to be a foolish thing, buying land in a doomed city. But Jeremiah knew something,
and here's my message to you tonight. Jeremiah knew something
that the world didn't know. He tells us in verse 15, For
thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Houses and
fields and vineyards are going to be possessed again in this
land. And then in verse 37, when the
Lord speaks to him, he says, Behold, I will gather my people
out of all countries, whether I have driven them in mine anger,
and in my fury, and in great wrath, and I will bring them
again into this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely, and
they shall be my people, and I'll be their God. They're coming
back. Now by faith, Noah being warned
of God of things not seen. By faith, Noah built a ship on
dry land. While the world, who didn't understand
what he was doing, while the world mocked and laughed and
ridiculed, Noah built his ship, believing God. By faith, Abraham,
to whom God had given one son and had promised Abraham that
that son would be his heir, and through that son that he would
bless all nations. Abraham, while his servant, stood
by in amazement. Abraham led that boy, that only
son, that only heir, to an altar on top of Mount Moriah to offer
him as a sacrifice to God. He believed God. By faith Moses
While the world mocked and laughed and ridiculed and wondered why
he turned his back on the riches of Egypt, refused to be called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter. It was foolishness to the world,
but Moses believed God. By faith, Joshua. While the people
of Jericho stood around the wall and looked down at him and laughed,
and mocked and ridiculed. By faith, Joshua marched around
those walls seven days, blowing trumpets and beating on pipe
hands. It was foolishness, utter, absolute,
ridiculous foolishness to the world. But Joshua believed God. By faith, Israel put blood on
the door and on the side posts, on the and waited for God to
march through Egypt in death, believing that the blood on the
outside of that door would keep them from the death of the firstborn,
from the punishing judgment of God. All of this contrary to
human reason. All of it contrary to human wisdom. All of it utter, absolute foolishness. And here a man who is supposed
to be the wisest man in the kingdom. who himself had stood in front
of the king and he said, the enemy's got you surrounded. And
you may fight, but you're not going to subdue the enemy. They're
going to subdue you. God has said so. The enemy's
coming in here and taking this city. The city's going to fall. And the king of Babylon is going
to take you captive, and you're going down into Babylon and stay
there till God releases you. You're going to be a prisoner.
And this city is going to be utterly, absolutely destroyed. Now sell me that plot over there.
Why, that's utter, absolute foolishness. Whoever heard of a man who himself
has prophesied the doom and captivity and destruction of a city, turning
around and putting all the money he has into a plot of land right
in the middle of that city. Well, to the world that is utter,
absolute foolishness. And I want to show you how our
actions to the world are just as foolish as Jeremiah's. Now turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
1. But we know something the world
doesn't know. Jeremiah knew something that
the world didn't know, that the king of Judah didn't know, that
the king of Babylon didn't know, that the people of Judah didn't
know. God had told Jeremiah, he said, you buy the land because
you're going to live on it. I'm coming back, God said. And
houses are going to spring up, and vineyards are going to spring
up, and trees are going to spring up. And this nation's going to
blossom like a rose, and you're going to dwell on that land.
Buy it now with faith in God. Now then, in 1 Corinthians chapter
1, let me make this statement. Salvation in a crucified Christ. Faith in a crucified Christ. Redemption in the blood of a
crucified Christ. is to the world foolishness. As Barnard used to say, for us
to put all our eggs in one basket and that basket be crucified
on a Roman cross is utter foolishness to the world. That's what the
world says about it. Paul says that in 1 Corinthians
1 17, Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not
with wisdom of word, lest the cross of Christ should be made
of noneffect. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish, or are perishing, foolishness." That's
foolishness. But unto us who are being saved,
it is the wisdom and the power of God. Jeremiah, don't buy that.
Don't spend your money. Keep your money and take it with
you down to Babylon. And put your money down there
in Babylon where things are popping and things are progressing. Don't
buy land here in this doomed city. It's a waste of money. Put your money where it will
do you some good. It is written, verse 19, I will destroy the
wisdom of the wise. I will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise, God said? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? Where is Babylon today? Where
is Israel? For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews
require sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach
Christ crucified by your land in a doomed city. Put your investment
in a crucified Christ. Put all your hopes in a city
surrounded by the enemy and soon to be overrun. Put all your hope
in a cross where a man died under the curse of sin. We put Christ
crucified under the Jews, a stumbling block under the Greeks. Sheer
nonsense. That's what that word foolishness
is there. Sheer nonsense. 2,000 years ago, there was a little
boy born to a poor Jewish woman. She said that this boy was conceived
in her womb by the Holy Spirit. And this couple, Joseph and Mary,
were so poor that that little boy was born in a stable surrounded
by horses and cows. and bested by poor shepherds.
And when he reached twelve years of age, he lived in an obscure
village and worked in a carpenter's shop. And he never crossed the
border of his own country. He was never a traveler in the
foreign country. And he had no formal training,
and he had no education. And his friends were just as
poor as he was and uninfluential. And they called them publicans
and sinners. And he never owned a piece of
property. And he never held a public office. And he never wrote a
book. And he never owned a house. And
he never had any children. And he was never accepted by
the religious leaders. He was condemned by them. He
was despised and rejected of all men. He was a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. He was betrayed and sold out
by his own followers for thirty pieces of silver, the price of
a slave. He was tried in the court for
blasphemy, and it wasn't any trouble to find all kind of false
witnesses to bring charges against him. He was found guilty, and
he was nailed to a cross between two thieves. And because he was
so poor, he was buried in a borrowed tomb. And all over the world,
people who are supposed to otherwise have good sense say that this
crucified man is their Lord and their Savior. That's the reason
it's sheer nonsense to the Greeks. That's the reason it's foolishness. Roth used to say nobody but a
Christian or a fool would believe that story. Paul, the apostle,
called it the offense of the cross. And when you stand back and look
at that man on that cross, just a man, they say, but a man. But
Pilate said, the man. And God said he's the man, the
God-man. When you look at that man, all
the world sees as a helpless man. We see a submissive Savior. All the world sees is a defeated
Reformer. We see a high priest offering
himself as the Lamb of God for our sins. The world looks at
him and sees a helpless man. They said, come on down from
the cross and we'll believe you. He stayed on the cross and we
believed him. If he'd come down from the cross, he would have
saved himself, but he couldn't have saved us. What held him
to the cross? They thought the nails held him
there. We know our sins held him there. They thought human
weakness held him there. We know submission to God's will
held him there. They thought he stayed there
because he couldn't come down. He stayed there because he could
come down. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I lay it down of myself. But the world doesn't see that.
Like Jeremiah buying that doomed piece of land all the world saw
was doom and foolishness, Jeremiah saw the wisdom of God. Ashamed
of Jesus? Yes, I may. I may, when I have
no guilt to wash away, no tear to wipe, no good to crave, no
fear to quell, no soul to save. Until then, Nor is my boasting
vain, till then I'll boast a Saviour slain, And oh, may this my glory
be, that He's not ashamed of me." That dying thief on the
cross bought a lot in a doomed city. For that dying thief turned
to the Master, and he said, Lord, You're not going to stay dead.
You're coming into a kingdom. He saw what the world didn't
see. He saw beyond the cross. He saw beyond the blood. He saw
beyond the suffering. He saw beyond the defeat. He
saw the victory. And he said, Lord, when you come
into your kingdom, remember me. That dying thief rejoiced to
see that fountain in his day, and there may I though vile as
he, but thank God not blind, wash all my sins away. I see
it right here. Jeremiah, God said, by the land. The city is doomed, the city
is going to be destroyed, but I'm coming back. And when I look
at the cross, I see defeat, and I see surrender, and I see human
weakness, and I see the victory of Satan. But I see beyond that
cross that all of it brings to pass the victory of God and the
redemption of all his people. Christ had to go down in order
to come up. He humbled himself and became
obedient even to the death of the cross, wherefore God hath
highly exalted him. You don't come out in the light
till you walk through the valley of the shadow. You don't rise
till you've been brought down. You're not filled until you're
emptied. Now, here's the second thing that I'm banking on. 1 Corinthians 15. Let's look
over there a minute. I bought some land in a doomed
city, another block of land. On the Word of God, I've staked
my hope on that crucified man, haven't you? I bought a lot in
a doomed city. The world looks that way. We're
through with him, but you haven't got started with him yet. That's
what God said. Well, we'll wipe away Jerusalem
and burn it to the ground. We're through with those Jews.
You haven't even started yet. God said, buy some land. I'm
coming back. I'm coming back. And then look
at this, 1 Corinthians 15. Some man will say, now let me
say this first. One of our loved ones died, and
that body is put in a casket. And even just moments after they
breathe their last, you can touch their skin, and it's cold, and
it's hard, and it's lifeless. And then you put them in that
casket, and already death has begun to take away the beauty.
It's gone. There's no way somebody comes
by and says, don't they look natural? No, they don't look
natural. They look dead. Just face it. That's all there
is to it. They're dead. And the worms are already eating,
and they eat from within. And if you don't, I asked an
undertaker one time, I said, now how long can you keep a body?
He said, indefinitely, but not out the cemetery. I'd have to
keep him right down here in the morgue, and I'd have to shoot
that embalming fluid to him every few days. The only way in the
world that I could keep that body is to keep working with
it over and over and over and over again. If I just had left
it laying in there, it would fade away, it would be destroyed.
All right, we take our loved ones, we put them in a casket,
we take them out to the cemetery, we put them in the ground, and
there's no way in this world you can keep that water out of
that grave. You can seal it, you can do anything you want
to. Now, this is a fact. No way in the world you can keep it
out. And there's no way in the world you can keep that body
from going back to the dust from which it came. God said it's
going back to the dust. And it's going to be destroyed,
it's going to rot, it's going to decay, it's going back to
the dust. You can seal it, you can pack
it, you can protect it, you can do all these things, you can
put it in a drawer and slide it in a mausoleum, but God says
it's going back to the dust. But I bought me a lot in that
dust city, and I believe with all my heart that that body's
coming back. That's what he said. All right,
verse 35. But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? And
with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest
is not quickened, except it die." God said, You've got sense enough
to know when you go out and plant a grain of corn, that you don't
plant the whole area. You don't plant the stalk. You
don't plant the leaf. What you plant is not what comes
up. You plant a seed, you plant a
grain of wheat, and you don't see what comes up until after
that you plant it down. In other words, you don't take
a whole stalk of corn and go lay it in the ground and get
the same thing up that you put down. You take a grain and put
it in the ground, just a part and put it in the ground, and
what comes from that grain is a full-grown stalk, something
different, something more wonderful, something more beautiful. That
which thou sowest is not quick until it die, and that which
thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be." You
don't sow what shall be. You're going to get a hundred
times more up than you put down. You hear what he's saying? When
you put something in the ground, something a lot better comes
up. You put one grain of corn and, boy, you get a whole stock.
And that which you sow is only a part of what you're going to
receive back again. You sow bare grain, maybe wheat,
maybe some other grain. But God gives it a body as it's
pleased Him, and to every seed His own body. Now all flesh is
not the same flesh. There's one kind of flesh of
men, another flesh of beasts, another of fish, another of birds.
And then there are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. And there's the glory of the
heaven is one, and the glory of the earth is another. There's
one glory of the sun, another of the moon, another of the stars,
and one star different from another star in glory. So also is the
resurrection of the dead. Now this body right here, you
don't see what God's going to raise. Just like if I take a
grain of corn and go out and plant it, you don't see what
God's going to bring forth. God's going to bring corn. But
boy, I tell you, I'm going to put that one little seed in the
ground, and it's going to decay and rot and die and germinate,
and then something wonderful, full of life, is coming from
it. And God said, you're going to take this old, scarred, marred,
wrinkled, dying, dead, corrupt body and put it in the ground,
and boy, stand back. Because one of these days, He
said, that which you sow in corruption is going to be raised in incorruption. And that which you sow in dishonor
and in no way will you make it anything else. The flesh is the
flesh and it's dishonor, but God's going to raise it in glory.
And that which you sow in weakness is going to be raised in power.
It'll be sown a natural body, a fleshly body, a weak body,
a corruptible body, a mortal body. It's going to be raised
a spiritual body. just like the Lord Jesus Christ. It's going to bear its same identity,
it's going to bear its same identity, but that is, it's going to be
a spiritual body. There is a natural body, there
is a spiritual body. As it is written, the first man,
Adam, was made a living soul, but the last Adam, Christ, was
made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which
is spiritual, that is, Adam was the man that singing came first,
and afterwards that which is spiritual. And the first man
is of the earth, earthy, that's Adam. The second man is the Lord
from heaven. And I first of all had a natural
body, and after I die and I'm dead, I'm going to have a spiritual
body. And as I have borne, verse 49, as I have borne the image
of the earthly Adam, I'm going to bear the image of the heavenly
Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, brother, I bought me a lot
in that city. You look up here, and you see this old body, and
she's doomed. Already I got two gray hairs,
you know, already. It's already getting stiff and
gray. Used to be curly and black, and now it's stiff and gray.
And my teeth are rotting, and I can't see, and I can't hear,
and I'm getting to where I drove back from Georgia yesterday and
got home last night, and I couldn't hardly walk. My joints was so
stiff, and my body's dying. It's weak and frail and dying,
and some of these days already got a place to put it at Rose
Hill, and you lay it out there and let it rot. But boy, I hope
you're out there on resurrection morning, because you're going
to see a sight like of which you've never seen before. I believe
all of you are going to experience it too. We're coming out of that
grave just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I bought that lot. You bought a lot in that city?
Jeremiah? The world looks at that body
and, oh, he's gone, he's dead, don't let him rot, seal him up
good, oh, let him rot, because God is going to bring him out
of there one of these days, oh, just like Christ. That's right,
the world sees foolishness in that. Boy, I know good and well
every time I go out there to that cemetery, I'm just looking
forward to the day when the Lord Jesus splits that sky open and
comes down here and takes all of my loved ones out of the ground,
and you too, and me too. Now then, the third thing. Turn
to the book of Acts. And I bought my lot in that city
the world says is gone. It's doomed. You're foolish. No, I'm not foolish either. You
lay not up for yourselves treasures on this earth where moss and
rust and corrupt and thieves break through and steal. You
buy you a lot in that city the world says is doomed, but God
says, I'm going to visit that city. You sow that body and I'm
going to visit it and bring it forward. Now here's another thing.
People out there in the world, they can't see this fellowship
here you have. this church fellowship, your
faithfulness and your giving and your sacrifice, and coming
here to study the Word of God, and going way over here in what
they call the Old Testament that's for somebody else, and searching
the Scriptures and preaching. It all seemed like foolishness
to the world. They say the church is full of
hypocrites. They say, In Acts 2, verse 41, these people
here, they bought a lot in that city. Then they that gladly received
his word were baptized, and the same day there were added to
them about 3,000 souls. And they continued steadfastly
in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread
and prayer. And fear came on every soul,
and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles, and all
that believed were together, and they had all things common.
And they sold their possessions and their goods, and they gave
to every man, to all men as every man had a need. And they continued
daily, not once a year, daily with one accord in the temple.
breaking bread from house to house. They ate their meat with
gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor
with all the people. And the Lord added to the church
daily, such as should be said. Now the people of the church
are not perfect. We have our differences. The
tares grow with the wheat. Strong believers are often tested. and tried, and they suffer oftentimes
more than unbelievers. Let me read you something over
here in Psalm 73. You think because a man's a Christian,
he believes on Christ, and he's saved, and he goes to church
every Sunday and pays his tithes and helps the missionaries and
prays for the sick, and you think he's going to escape trial? He
may have more trial than anybody else. He may have more trial
and more burden than anybody else. It says here in Psalm 73,
verse 12, Behold, these are the ungodly, they prosper in the
world, they increase in riches. David said, Well, I've cleansed
my heart in vain, I've washed my hands in innocency, all day
long I've been plagued and chastened every morning. If I say I'll
speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation
of thy children. When I thought to know what's
going on, what's wrong, it was too painful for me until I went
to the house of God. And God showed me something down
there. He showed me that trial was for my good. And the reason
these people over here, these unbelievers, didn't have any
trial is that God had set their feet in slippery places, and
they were prepared for destruction and prepared for damnation, and
their foot would slide in due time, and he said, I quit looking
at the present prosperity and started looking at their future
failure. God showed me that. But with
all its imperfections, Christ said, I'll build my church on
this rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
With all its imperfections, the church is still Christ's only
institution on this earth. The only one. And Christ is going
to be glorified in it, and through it, and with it, and I want to
be identified with it. And all over the country they
may forecast the doom of the church, but God has never left
himself without a witness. And somewhere in some town there's
going to be a church of the Lord Jesus Christ preaching the gospel
until Christ comes back. That's right. Every one of these
epistles, you look at them. Paul wrote in the book of Thessalonians,
Thessalonica, the Thessalonians, he said, I'm writing to the church
of the Thessalonians. Over here in II Thessalonians,
Paul and Silvanus under the church of the Thessalonians. Over here
in the book of Philippians, he's writing to the church at Philippi. Over here in II Corinthians and
I Corinthians, Paul sent them writing to the church at Corinth.
Yeah, there's a lot wrong with it, but it's still God's church.
And you better be identified with it. You better purchase
a lot in that city. It may be shaken. It may be weak. It may look like it's failing.
It may look like it's compromising. It may look like it's doomed.
But God never will desert His church. He said, the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it. He's given to the church
the gospel. He's given to the church the
ordinances. He's given to the church the
Holy Spirit. And it cannot fail. It cannot
fail, and it may look like it's getting awful weak. Well, brother,
that's what the world said about Jerusalem, too. They said, don't
buy a lot here. It's gone, Jeremiah. You know
that better than anybody. I know it's gone, he said, but
I want a lot because it's coming back. Now turn to the book of
2 Peter, and let me show you one more thing. The second coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ is foolishness to this world. It says in 2 Peter
3, look at it, this second epistle, Beloved, I write to you, in both
which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, that you
may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the Holy
Prophet, and of the commandments of us, the apostles of the Lord
and Savior, knowing this first, that there shall come in the
last days scoffers and mockers walking after their own lust
and saying, where is the promise of his coming? Talk about the
second coming of the Lord. When's he coming? Where is the
promise of his coming? Since the fathers fell asleep,
everything continues as they were from the beginning of creation. Where is the promise of his coming? This they willingly are ignorant
of. that by the word of God the heavens
were of old, the earth standing out of the water and in the water,
whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished. But the heavens and the earth
which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved under
fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day
is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as
one day. And the Lord's not slack concerning
His prophets, as some men count slackness. It may look like it,
but He's longsuffering to us, and He's not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day
of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works
that are therein shall be burned up." He's coming back. Who is
this same Jesus? When? At an hour you think not. What for? To catch away his own,
to judge the world, to establish a new heaven and a new earth,
to reign forever with his beloved, and to pronounce judgment upon
every rebel and every unbeliever. He's coming back. But it's been
a long time since he left, I know that. Jeremiah, the Lord said,
you buy that land, but you better put it in an earthen pot. You
be sure you got some witness. Be sure you got it all signed
and sealed and paid for, and you hide it, because it's going
to be a long time. But I'm coming back. I'm coming
back. And don't you give up hope. That's
your land, and you're going to possess it. And I bought me a
lot in that city, too. The Lord's coming back. I believe
that. Our Father, take the message
and strengthen our weak faith. We pray, our Father, that we
may have more confidence and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ
and in His Word. Help us to believe. We pray with
a sin tour, and, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. As we sang
a while ago, as Ronnie led us, turn your eyes on Jesus. Look
full in His wonderful face, and the things of this world will
grow strangely dim in the light of His wonderful grace. turn
our eyes on Christ, out of ourselves, away from our frail surroundings,
the weaknesses of the flesh, that have put no confidence in
ourselves or in any flesh, but all of it in Christ who cannot
fail, who will not fail. And though it seems to be so
dark around us, and we don't have all the answers, yet give
us faith enough to buy the lot, to sell what we have and purchase
that one pearl of great price, putting all of our confidence
and trust and hope in Him who cannot fail. For His namesake
we pray. Amen. Turn to 512. 512. Stand with me, please. Someday the silver cord will
break, And I no more as now shall sing, But, O, the joy when I
shall wake Within the palace of the King. And I shall see Him face to face
And tell the story saved by grace And I shall see Him face to face
and tell the story saved by grace.