Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Why don't we stand this morning?
[00:00:02] Stand together. Great.
[00:00:04] We're gonna pray this morning. I believe that God wants to set people free. How many believe that's true? And probably one of the greatest areas in our lives are the areas that we're afraid of, fears in our lives. And we're gonna talk about that today. I'm gonna talk about how to be free from fear. Anybody up for that? Okay. And I'll talk about how it shapes our lives and how God wants to liberate us so we can walk instead of being full of fear, full of love. That's what displaces fear. The Bible says this. Let's pray today. Let's just open our hearts to God, say, lord, I want to hear from you, Father, I want to hear from you. I want to hear your voice. I want you to speak into my inner being, Father, I want you to identify things in my soul that you want to free me from. I pray today that you want to impart to me your divine presence in such a marvelous way. Your spirit. It says the result of your spirit is love. Lord, we know that love is what casts out fear. And I pray today that you would give us a warmth.
[00:01:13] Just If I could say it this way, Lord, could you just wrap your arms around everyone that's hearing my voice right now and squeeze them and give them such a loving hug that all apprehensions and fears would dissipate, that they would know, Lord, that you love us, all of us, so much, that you love us so much that you are going to lead us by those beautiful green pastures. They're going to lead us in steps of righteousness. You're going to provide grace and favor, compassion and mercy in our lives. And, Father, I just pray whatever that need is in our life, whatever that element that seems to be capturing our thoughts and our minds and seems to be tormenting us, I pray today that you would bring down those strongholds in Jesus mighty name. And God's people said, amen. Amen. You may be seated. We're going to turn back to the book of Jeremiah, and we're going to cover a lot of verses today because I'm going to look at a narrative passage, and we're going to go from chapter 41, verse 16, all the way to chapter 43, verse 7. You know, I know it's a big swath of scripture, but it's the full story here. I have to find a place to stop. But this kind of brings out this amazing idea of how to overcome fear from shaping your life. I think a lot of people's lives have been shaped by the fears that are driving their lives. We're going to look at this this morning very closely, and I think there are many reasons why people disobey God, but I think one of the main reasons is fear. It could be that maybe the fear is we're afraid to fail. God's asking us to do something, and we're afraid that if we do that, we won't succeed. Can I just encourage us a little bit? This morning, Moses did not want to lead the people out of bondage into the promised land. Moses really did not feel adequate for the task. There was a little bit of insecurity in Moses that I'm not able to communicate. Right. I mean, how many of you read the stories? Gideon? I could just keep going down the line. We're going to look at some of these stories. But, you know, fear is one reason why people, I think, don't embrace God's purposes for their life. Maybe we're concerned about what other people think. Well, that's a huge thing. You know, we don't think we are concerned about it, but just try going against the current and you'll find out it takes a lot of courage to go against where a lot of people that you feel that you want their approval, and all of a sudden you're going against what they approve. How many know that takes a lot of courage to do something like that? And so fear keeps us from maybe doing the right thing. We just got to go along with something we know is wrong because we're just afraid to stand up or do anything. Or possibly maybe we're concerned about the negative things that would happen to us. We think, you know, if I really give my life to God, fully surrender, I'm losing control of my life, and I'm really putting my life in God's hands and he might do something or take me somewhere that I don't really want to go. Folks, I just want to alleviate that fear. God will never take you ultimately where you don't want to go. You may initially not think you want to go there, but once you get into where God wants you to be, you will discover a joy and a grace that you've never known before. It's an amazing thing that starts happening when we are flowing with God's purposes in our lives. And I think while we all have instinctual.
[00:04:51] Well, yeah, we all have instinctual desires to protect our life, fear can also be a paralyzing element that keeps us from experiencing God's purpose for our life. So, you know, I just say this fear is a powerful motivator and it, you know, in moving us many times into action, but it may not be the right action.
[00:05:13] So while most people are walking by what they see, what they know and what they understand, which is really walking by sight, God asks us to do something very different.
[00:05:28] He wants us to walk by faith. He wants us to walk by trust. He wants us to walk by doing what he's asking us to do, despite the possibility that it's a little fearful for us.
[00:05:41] And many times those fears keep us from doing what we think God is asking us to do. So when we overcome our fears, we can face the giants in our lives like David did his Goliath. If you know the story of David and Goliath, very familiar story, 1 Samuel 17. Why is it that David was able to deal with a giant and nobody else could? It's a great question. Now some of you might say, well, that's because God chose David. Well, that's part of the answer. And I think that would be right. And I wouldn't dispute that. But I think I have maybe a little different understanding, maybe more of the underlying motivation. I think what happens is when those soldiers saw the giant, what did they do was look to themselves.
[00:06:28] And when they looked at themselves, they said, I'm no match for this problem. I'm no match for this giant. And they were afraid. It was, you know, this giant really intimidated people.
[00:06:40] So what did David do differently? I don't believe David looked at the giant the same way. I think when David came on the scene, what he saw was not.
[00:06:51] What he did see was he didn't focus on himself. There's one of our biggest problems. We tend to deal with our problems by looking at ourselves and saying, how can I handle this? Isn't that kind of our first recourse? And it usually gets us into trouble. David looked to God. David said to himself, this giant is defying God and this giant is in major trouble.
[00:07:17] That's how David saw it. And David thought, it doesn't matter who comes against him, the giant is actually going to be fighting God and God's going to use whatever agent he wants to deal with the giant. So the focus on David was not on himself. His focus was on God. What the giant was saying, how the giant was defying God and he knew the giant was in trouble. He knew God was going to judge him and deal with him because he was railing against God and God's armies. So, you know, David says, why are you guys all uptight? I can use anybody to take out this giant. And so David volunteered, and he went out with what he had was a little slingshot. And we know the rest of the story. David probably was thinking, he's so big, I can't miss, right? You know, other people are looking, he's so big, I'm terrified. David goes, he's so big. How can I miss this guy? So David won and took out his giant. And I think in our lives right now, when I talk about giants, I'm talking about the things in our lives that are beyond us, the challenges that are beyond us, the things that are paralyzing us, the things that are crippling us. Those are the giants God wants to take out in our lives. And the only way that can happen is if we address the fear that's paralyzing us.
[00:08:37] It's interesting that Joshua, Moses successor, struggled with the issue of fear and leading God's people into the promised land. Now, how many think it would be a big job to kind of fall behind Moses shadow and be Moses assistant for all of those years? And then all of a sudden, Moses is gone and Joshua is given the responsibility.
[00:08:57] I know what happened. Joshua said, I can't do it. You say, how do you know that? Because I read the Bible. And then chapter one, the book of Joshua. God has to talk to Joshua to encourage him to lead the people into the promised land. And notice what he says here. First of all, God told Joshua, have I not commanded you? This is an issue of obedience. Joshua, I've told you what I want you to do. Just go do it. Number one in our lives, if God is asking us to do something, God will help us.
[00:09:29] Number two, it says, be strong and courageous. Now, how many know God's not going to tell you to be strong and courageous if you're struggling, you know, if you've already. You're not struggling with that, he's not going to say that. But obviously, Joshua did not feel up to the task. He did not feel strong. He felt inadequate. You know, he needed courage to handle these 2 million people. He saw what Moses had dealt with for 40 years. He knew this was not going to be a cakewalk. He says, do not be afraid. Oh, that tells me right now fear was reigning inside of Joshua. There was a lot of fear inside and trepidation in his life. And also, Joshua was discouraged.
[00:10:08] You say, how do you know? Because God said, don't be discouraged. You know, some of you right now in your situation, you're afraid and you're discouraged.
[00:10:20] And God wants you to hear this. Do not be afraid. Why? Listen to what God said to Joshua. He said, I'm with you.
[00:10:29] He said, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. The next verse says, as I was with Moses, so I will be with with you, Joshua, and you. And I need to hear this. God says, if I'm asking you to do something, I'm with you. And if God be for us, the scripture says, who can be against us?
[00:10:53] All hell could come against us. You know, you ever see those little cartoons or, you know, shows where, you know, the little person is confronting his greatest fears? Maybe there's a bully in front of him, but he already knows. Like, there's this, you know, his big brother's behind him. So he's, you know, he's kind of standing there going, come on, just take me on. He's got backup, right? And the other people are quaking in fear. The moment that person moves, everybody else shifts, and all of a sudden they're ready to take him on, and he's going, uh, oh, something happened.
[00:11:26] Looks around, right? Where's the backup?
[00:11:30] I want you to know God's not going to forsake you. You got back up so you can move forward. You don't have to be afraid to address these things in your life because God is with you in that situation.
[00:11:47] So what happens when we give in to fear? Well, once again, we're going to find out because we're in the book of Jeremiah. And God's message for the people was to follow a course of action in which they were afraid to take.
[00:12:01] So what will they do? How will they respond? Well, that's great. That's 2,700 years ago. You go, how does that apply to me today? Well, kids, I think the bigger question, the greater and more pressing question is how will we do and how will we respond to the fears that keep us from fulfilling God's will and purposes for our lives? How many go? That's way more practical.
[00:12:24] That's the question you and I have to ask ourselves. What's keeping me from doing what God wants me to do?
[00:12:32] And a lot of times it's fear. I'm afraid. I'm afraid to trust God. I'm afraid to move forward. I'm afraid of this. I'm afraid of that.
[00:12:40] Let's take a look at the story, because I think there's some things we need to address in order to overcome fear from shaping our lives.
[00:12:49] You know, I don't want fear to be the defining thing in my life.
[00:12:53] Scripture says God's not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and of a sound mind. So let's take a look. We're going to look at two of them. Two things we need to address to overcome fear in shaping our lives. First of all, we need to identify what we're fearful of.
[00:13:07] What's keeping me from doing. What's keeping you from doing what we know is the right thing to do? Where's this fear coming from? Here in our text, we discover that there was an assassination. The Judean governor appointed by the Babylonians had been assassinated. And the people were terrified because they were concerned about reprisal. I mean, that was a legitimate fear, folks, okay? Most of our fears have some basis of legitimacy inside of it, but we're losing sight of something. Just like those soldiers on the battlefield lost sight of God. We can end up losing sight of God in our situation.
[00:13:48] So instinctually, they wanted to run away as far as possible from the potential threat. So whenever threatened, fear is actually a normal human response to the problem. How many know that's true? It's instinctual. But how do we respond to the crisis and move past our fear? It's critical for healthy resolutions in the challenges or giants that you and I are faced with.
[00:14:14] So let's take a look at the story. Jeremiah, chapter 41. Beginning in verse 16, it says, Then Jehonahan, the son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led away all the people of Mizpah who had survived, whom Jehonahan had recovered from Ishmael, son of Netanyahu, after Ishmael had assassinated Gedaliah, the son of Ahiakam, the soldiers, women, children and court officials, he had recovered from Gibeon.
[00:14:40] And they went on stopping at Giruth Kenham, near Bethlehem, on their way to Egypt. Very important statement. They were in a direction.
[00:14:51] What were they doing?
[00:14:53] They were in Mizpah, which is about 10 miles north of Jerusalem. They had gone further to the north and to the east. They had recovered these captives that had been abducted. They brought them back. But now they're heading in a direction. They're heading south. They're heading towards Egypt.
[00:15:13] It says, why were they doing this? To escape the Babylonians. For they were what?
[00:15:20] They were afraid of them.
[00:15:22] Fear was moving them. Fear was motivating them. Fear was directing their steps. They were not walking by feet. They were walking by what?
[00:15:32] They were walking by fear.
[00:15:34] Every step they took further away was a step Driven, motivated by fear.
[00:15:42] Nobody could dispute that. We can see it. It's written right there. They were afraid of them because Ishmael, the son of Netaniah, had killed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikim, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.
[00:15:58] Now the question is, was flight the best response is running away or facing situations that are difficult? Which is a better response? That's the question. You know, one of the things you've got to learn about life is running from your problems. Don't solve them.
[00:16:17] You have to face them. You got to address them. The best response would be to inquire of God and then respond according to God's will. What does God want me to do in this situation? That's the right response that we need to have.
[00:16:35] Now, how can we determine God's will? That's a great question. We're going to be practical today because a lot of times we go, yeah, I know that's a good answer, Pastor, but what is God's will for my situation?
[00:16:47] You know, what might we begin and where might we begin in understanding what God thinks of the matter? And the Bible is certainly God's revealed will in shaping how we should address issues.
[00:17:01] Though it may not always say specific things like, you know, should I buy a red car versus a blue car? Do you think God's really concerned about red or blue vehicles? The color?
[00:17:11] I don't think so. Okay. You know, so a lot of little details. I don't think God's concerned about that. You and I might be concerned about that, but God is not that concerned about that stuff. But what he is concerned about that the Bible gives us a clarity of who God is and what his principles are. Now let me give you an example why this is so critical. So let's say you get to know a person extremely well.
[00:17:38] Okay. You know this person really well, and after a while you get an idea of how they handle things, what happens when they're not there, you're there, the situation occurs, and you're saying to yourself, well, I know how. How so and so would handle this. You ever had those thoughts in your mind? Yeah, I know exactly what they would do.
[00:17:57] Why? Because you know the person. And you see, when we get into the word of God and start spending time, a lot of time in the word of God, we get to know who God is and we get an idea what God thinks like and what God is concerned about. And we get an idea how God handles things, and it begins to shape how you and I Begin to think and how you and I are going to begin to handle things.
[00:18:20] So, you know, a lot of times we're looking in the Bible for a specific word from God. Can I just help us a little bit? This cherry picking method is the worst thing possible.
[00:18:31] You know what I'm talking about? Just flipping. I need a word from God. Oop, oop, oop, oop. No, no, no, no. That's not how you do it. You spend every day in Scripture getting to know God, getting to know what he's like, understanding how he does things. So that when you and I are faced with similar situations, with certain understanding of the kind of values that God has, we begin to understand what we should be doing in those situations.
[00:19:02] Give me an example, Pastor. Someone offends you, how does God handle it? He forgives them. How should I handle it? I should forgive them, right? Boom. Just like that. How do I know to do that? Because God does it.
[00:19:17] Have you discovered something about God? He's pretty loving. How many have figured out God's pretty loving, but yet God. You know, I'm going to say something, but love isn't just letting people do anything they want. We're going to find out. If you aren't disciplining your children, for example, as a parent, you're not loving them.
[00:19:38] You're not loving them. You may think you are. You're neglecting them because God disciplines those he loves. Wow.
[00:19:47] So if you are being disciplined by God, you should say, hooray, I'm one of his kids. He's not letting me get away with anything.
[00:19:56] You ever grow up in a home where your parents didn't let you get away with anything?
[00:20:00] That was a good set of parents. You know what? They were keeping you from becoming a wretched person.
[00:20:08] There's a lot of kids out here, they're just let loose and to do anything they want to. You cannot let kids just do what they want to do because they are inexperienced and they don't have wisdom.
[00:20:23] Come on.
[00:20:24] They need parental authority and they need parental experience and wisdom. You know, a lot of times, you know, only when you get older do you start going, oh, yeah, I didn't like it at the time. And I love the classic line when my parent came in and said, this is going to hurt me more than you and the kid's thinking, right?
[00:20:44] But when you really understand discipline and we're going to talk about that, you'll find out that's true and we're going to see it in the scriptures.
[00:20:52] So the question is, then what is God's will, where we're looking at it, the principles he's revealing to us. And when in doubt, how many have ever been in doubt, what to do?
[00:21:04] Slow down, don't speed up, Seek God and patiently wait until God reveals through his word or circumstances or other, through other godly, mature people to speak into our current situation.
[00:21:18] Take a look. Abraham got a little ahead of God. And what happened? God promised him a son. It wasn't happening. So he took a cultural means of having a servant girl become a surrogate mother for his wife and himself to have a child. And they had an Ishmael.
[00:21:36] And if you know anything about the current history, we have an Ishmael. And it's created a lot of problems for a long time. And so anytime we get ahead of God and do our own thing, we're creating problems that are a lot bigger than just being patient and waiting. We're living in a culture. We're not very patient. Right? That's true. So, you know, we wait.
[00:21:57] I've been waiting on one prayer for about 27 years. You go, pastor, don't you know when God says, no, I don't believe. So I believe God says, wait. And I've been waiting. And you know what? I don't want to have an Ishmael. So I'm not moving forward until God moves forward. And when God moves forward, everything's going to work because it's not me doing it, it's God doing it. How many know when God does it? He does it really good.
[00:22:21] Yeah, we got to wait for God. Boy, it sure teaches you patience, though.
[00:22:27] So Robert Davison says something very interesting about their frame of mind. He says, however much the people claim that they were truly seeking God's guidance, they're really only wanting God to confirm and to give his blessings to what they had already decided for themselves. Wow.
[00:22:48] Once we understand what the fear is, which was really the fear of reprisal, right? The fear of the Babylonians. The fear that, you know, somebody from our group went out and killed the governor that was appointed by the Babylonians. Even though we don't agree with that, we're going to all suffer because of that. They were afraid. They ran away. That's identifying the problem. The question is, what's the right response? You can always identify the reason why you're afraid. Eventually you can narrow it down, and then you go, well, but what is the right response? Should I just be responding out of fear?
[00:23:23] No, I don't think so. Because God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of power, love, and of a sound mind. I don't want to make decisions based on fear. I want to make decisions based on faith. My trust in God, my. I want to make decisions in obedience to what God has to say. So let's move on to the second point, and that is to seek God for direction and then respond obediently to his will.
[00:23:55] So the second way that we need to overcome fear from shaping our lives is we need to be in touch with God. We need to know what God wants us to do, and we need to do what God's telling us to do.
[00:24:05] How am I going to face the giants in my life? How am I going to face the fears in my life? How can I defeat, live in defeat and fear for the rest of my life? How many people don't want to live in fear and defeat for the rest of your life? I don't want to live there. I want to live in faith. I want to live in hope. I want to live in victory. I want to live in obedience. That's where I want to live. So what did these guys do? Well, they started out good. They inquired of God. Good thing. The only problem was I want you to know when they did it. That was a little problematic, but at least they're doing the right thing. The leaders are approaching God's prophet Jeremiah to determine what God would say to be the right course of action.
[00:24:46] I want to applaud them. This is what we should be doing at this point. This is what we should be doing. Let's look at chapter 42. Then all the army officers, including Johanna son of Korea, and Zephaniah the son of Hoshea, and all the people, from the least to the greatest approach, Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, please hear our petition and pray to the Lord your God. That's an important word. Why did they call him your God? That tells me maybe they didn't have a relationship with God. Maybe they just assumed, you know. Well, Jeremiah certainly had one, because everything he said over 40 years has happened.
[00:25:23] Obviously you know Jehovah, but we certainly don't know him, your God. Interesting.
[00:25:29] He says, pray to the Lord your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left. Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do. That's good. That's a good prayer. God, what should we be doing?
[00:25:48] I've heard you, replied Jeremiah the prophet, I will certainly pray to the Lord your God. As you've requested, I'll tell you everything the Lord says and I will keep nothing back from you. I'm going to give you the whole counsel of God would to God. Every preacher would do that. Don't hold anything back. Just say the whole counsel of God. That's what he's trying to tell them. Then they said to Jeremiah, may the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. In other words, they're saying, we're swearing by Almighty God that whatever you tell us to do, we're going to do it. Whatever God tells you to tell us, we're going to do it. They're putting themselves in an interesting place. Then they make the next statement, which is very fascinating, whether it is favorable or unfavorable. Rather, we like it or not.
[00:26:35] Because sometimes God tells you something. I don't like that, you know, can we try again? It doesn't work that way. We will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the Lord our God. In other words, rather what we want to hear or not from God, we'll just do what he tells us to do. It sounds so good, and that's the way we should be. It's kind of refreshing to hear this, a desire to hear from God, do whatever he tells us to do, no matter what he says, even if we're a little bit afraid of doing what he's telling us to do, even though it's a little bit difficult to do it right.
[00:27:15] Can I tell you, God is not going to leave us in a comfort zone to grow us as people. He's going to push us outside our comfort zones. That's part of the life to grow.
[00:27:28] If you're going to become godly, if you're going to become like him, you and I have to keep growing.
[00:27:35] So if you want a life of ease, convenience, no hassle, no problem, being a Christian is not for you.
[00:27:48] I'm telling you the truth.
[00:27:51] I've read the Bible in the world, you're going to have trouble.
[00:27:55] And you know, I'm going to say this, but if you're not serving God, you're going to have trouble, too. Big difference is we have God helping us. The people who are not serving God, they don't have that help. So for me, I'd rather be hanging with God, going through all of the stuff he's allowing me to go through and growing in the process and actually seeing a purpose in the things that I think have no purpose, but the ultimate purpose is to deepen my life and become more like him. I go, that's a pretty good purpose. He's shaping my character and making me what I wasn't.
[00:28:29] You know, isn't this beautiful? When you're a Christian, what God is actually doing is moving you from what you once were to what you will become. And you're in this journey with God and you're becoming something other than you once were. I like this process, actually. The longer you go with it, you go, I'm starting to like myself more over time.
[00:28:47] That's kind of a nice thing, right? Shouldn't we love ourselves so we can love others? Of course, now.
[00:28:55] But you know the problem a lot of people is they want God's blessings on their terms.
[00:29:02] There's a lot of Christians. I'm serving God, but really what they're saying is I'm serving myself and I'm asking God to help me to do what I want.
[00:29:12] They're not saying God's will be done. They're saying, my will be done. Thank you very much, God, would you please make sure my will gets done?
[00:29:19] We don't say it that blatantly, but a lot of times isn't that what we really want, My will? We want God to help me to fulfill my will.
[00:29:31] And that's not what I read in Scripture.
[00:29:34] I have to be crucified with Christ. It's not about me at all. It's about him. I'm actually here for him. Not me for he's not here for me. I'm here for him. Let's flip that. The moment you flip it, it changes everything in your life, I can guarantee you.
[00:29:48] So when God challenges them and disciplines them for their waywardness and their disobedience, what do they do? They're going to just continue in their rebellion.
[00:29:58] That's what happens. Rowland Harrison says it this way. The survivors had still not learned the lesson of implicit trust in God. Imp in all areas of life, self interest had predominated once again. And now their concern is merely to know if God will approve of their plan to migrate to Egypt. Oh, there's so many people going, I already know what I'm going to do. Let's ask God. I just want God to say, yep, boom, you can go. I like the way Philip Reichen says about this. He says, the trouble is too many people do not start asking those questions until they're halfway to Egypt.
[00:30:32] They only Pretend to want to know God's will for their lives. What they really want is for God to put his rubber stamp of approval on their plans. They've already made. Yes, go for it.
[00:30:43] Come on. Let's be honest.
[00:30:45] I think he's right. I think he's hitting it on the head here. Jeremiah seeks God for a message for the people and the people's response.
[00:30:53] Really? Sorry. God's response is twofold. First of all, a promise and then a warning. And it just depends on their response. And first of all, he promises a blessing.
[00:31:02] Ten days later, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. Now, you know, if I was going to create a stage play of this whole scene at this moment, after they had told Jeremiah, and he goes off stage and he's just, like, gone. Meanwhile, you have to remember what's going on here. These are refugees fleeing from an army that could bring reprisal. How many know that if you're motivated by fear to go into Egypt and you've asked the prophet to pray and he's not showing up, and time is of the essence. How many know that? These guys are probably very agitated. I would say they're scared out of their minds, and they're thinking to themselves, why can't God answer, like, right now?
[00:31:49] And how many of us, when we're in crisis, that's what we're saying. God, please get me out of this mess right now. I need deliverance. And, you know, God just seems to be on a whole different frequency.
[00:32:00] Day one, day two, day three, day four. Hey, these guys are freaking right out.
[00:32:10] Day 10. So I thought to myself, why 10 days? You know, sometimes you got to pause. You got to ask yourself some questions. Why did God take 10 days to answer these guys?
[00:32:20] Doesn't God know the answer?
[00:32:23] I think he's doing it on purpose. What? Yeah. Actually, when you think of 10, you know, 10 is kind of a symbolic number in the Bible. Think of it. The Ten Commandments. Hmm. You know, it speaks of God's law, his authority, his order, his responsibility, his judgment. It's basically saying, I'm in charge here.
[00:32:48] Because these guys are acting like they're in charge, but they're not in charge. They are panicking. I can see that.
[00:32:55] And we've all been there. And, you know, most of us, when we're waiting on God, it's really hard to wait. How many say that's true? How many have ever felt like God's blown past your timetable?
[00:33:06] I got my hand up, still way past my timetable, and I'm starting To learn, you know, God is on a whole different timetable.
[00:33:15] And I know I jokingly say I have to remind God once in a while. I go, hey, look, listen, Lord, I know you're eternal, but I have a. You know, the Runway is coming to an end here eventually. So in other words, time is a big deal to me. I know you're relaxed about it, but I'm a little more concerned about it. I'm just letting you know I have this conversation, but it doesn't do any good because God's going to do it, when he's going to do it, how he's going to do it. You know, he's just relaxed about it. And I'm starting to realize, just relax. Do you know God can move so fast that when he starts moving, you go, hey, hey, wait, wait, wait a minute. I can't hardly keep up, you know, I've been waiting so long, and now we're going, and it's like, wow, are we ever going? I didn't know we were taking a 7:47 on this trip. You know, we're like, we're really moving. I can't even keep up to this.
[00:34:07] So this is what he says. So he calls together Johanan, the son of Korea, and all the army officers are with him and all the people, from the least to the greatest, and he says to them, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says. If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not uproot you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you. Who made the disaster come on the nation. God brought Babylon into the nation because they had violated their covenant. And God says, that's why I'm uprooting you. But now I've changed my mind. If you stay in the land, I'm going to do good to you. I'm going to put you back in the land. I'm going to bless you. I gave you that land. Beautiful things. He said, just do what I'm doing. Then he says this. Do not be afraid, because we're talking about fear. These guys are fearful of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you. Hey, listen, if God is with you, you don't have to be afraid of anything.
[00:35:07] If God is with you, no fear.
[00:35:12] No fear. Is that beautiful? How many here in this room? You go, I got fear. God is with you. No fear.
[00:35:20] Relax, relax.
[00:35:24] Just relax in his loving arms. He's going to take you through. He says, I'm with you and I will save you. Whoo. I will deliver you may. Man, I'm excited. I'm going to deliver you from their hands. As a matter of fact, I'm going to show you compassion so that he, the King of Babylon, will have compassion on you and restore you to him. I'm going to take the guy that you're afraid of, is going to kill you and destroy you. I'm going to change him, twirl him around, and by the time you get back to the land, he is going to bless you.
[00:35:53] How many know it takes faith to believe that message?
[00:35:57] These guys are still camped where? In fear.
[00:36:00] And when you're camped in fear, you don't hear the message of faith. When you're camped in fear, you're not trusting God. You're going to build your whole life's decisions based on fear rather than faith. That's scary stuff.
[00:36:16] It really is.
[00:36:19] Here we see that God is speaking to their fears and explaining that what they are afraid of will not materialize. They simply need to trust God. He's going to show them all the beautiful compassion, restore them. The issue is, will we believe God's word or allow our fears to determine and shape our future?
[00:36:39] Well, that's not just a question for them. That's a question for me. That's a question for you.
[00:36:44] What's going to determine your future? Fear or faith? One or the other.
[00:36:51] You know, obedience is the key to God's blessing in our life. Tremper Longman says, in many ways, the form of response follows a typical covenant structure. When God was making, you know, all these kings, when they made covenants with people, and when God made a covenant with his people, this is what he's talking about, covenant structure. God is giving the people instruction or law, backed by sanctions, rewards and punishments. The fact that the people have called on God as witness to this transaction further suggests this idea, this covenant identification. In this light, we might remember that the destruction of Jerusalem took place because Judah had broken the law of the covenant and so received the penalty or the curses. And now the remnant of Judah will have another chance. In other words, God says, okay, you messed up the first time. I'm giving you another chance. How many are so glad that God is a God of the second chance?
[00:37:45] I made a mistake the first time. God. God said, okay, I'm going to give you another opportunity.
[00:37:51] Maybe you're here today and you're saying yeah, my life is driven by fear. I'm making wrong choices. God says, I'm going to give you another chance. Aren't you glad for that? I love God. He's amazing. You know, Jonah ran away from God in his calling. And God says, I'm going to give you another chance. And while he was floating around the belly of the fish, you know, that's the discipline that kind of changes your thinking a little bit. You know, God says, and then the word of the Jonah repented. And the Bible says, and the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.
[00:38:25] Lord, just keep talking to me. Don't shut me out. I want to hear what you got to say.
[00:38:31] Jonah's calling them to face their fears and to trust God.
[00:38:36] Tremper Longman says the heart and longing of God is in this message. He says, we are not to think that God came to believe that he made a mistake in the judgment of the exile, but we are to recognize that God loves his people so much that it hurts him to have to judge them. And he's looking passionately for an opportunity to restore them.
[00:38:58] Listen to me, parents.
[00:39:01] You love your kids, you want to bless them, but they're doing something dumb. They're doing something that's naughty and not nice.
[00:39:12] You're not going to go give them the blessing. You're going, no, I got to withhold that now because if I do that, that's just going to encourage them to continue to have bad behavior.
[00:39:22] Come on. Do you know sometimes God has to withhold his blessings in our lives because our behavior is bad?
[00:39:30] He says, I want to bless you guys. I want to do more good for you, but I'm watching what you're doing and if I just keep blessing you now, it's not going to go good. You're just going to act as if, you know, it doesn't matter how I live, I can do anything I want. But God will be there. Sloppy grace, you know, God will always give me what I want. Woo hoo. You know, come on. There's a lot of Christians that think like that. Wrong thoughts, change them. God warns. He warns because of disobedience. He's warning for disobedience. Look at throughout the book of Jeremiah, we see warnings of judgment and disaster if God's people persist in disobedience. In other words, there's a consequence to sin. And Jeremiah now communicates the warning. However, if you say, we will not stay in the land and so disobey the Lord your God, and if you say no we will go and live in Egypt where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or. Or be hungry for bread.
[00:40:26] The trumpet means warning for war. And then hear the word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says. If you are determined to go to Egypt and you go and settle there, then the sword you fear will overtake you there. The famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.
[00:40:46] Wow.
[00:40:47] So the thing you think you're running away from, you're actually running to how many go? That's true. In our lives, we've been running from our problems, and we just seem to be running to them. God says, stop.
[00:41:01] Change your mind. Run to me. I'll change the situation.
[00:41:08] Indeed, all of you who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague. And not one of them will survive or escape the disaster that I will bring on them. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says. As my anger and wrath have been poured out on those who live in Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured out on you. If you go to Egypt, you will be a curse and an object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach, and you will never see this place again.
[00:41:37] You know, safety is not found in Egypt, but in God.
[00:41:44] Safety is not found in us doing our own thing, but in God. As a matter of fact, we often look to the human equation rather than put our full confidence in God. We're always looking to the government or some other person or some bailout or something, and we look to ourselves to provide solutions apart from God and walking in his own counsel.
[00:42:07] You know, sometimes God's word are in direct contradiction to what our sinful, human, fearful nature thinks. How many say that's true?
[00:42:16] It was a critical junction. It was a moment of truth. What they were now about to decide would be unalterable. They were now shooting their lives in a certain direction that they could never return from. Wow. This is a big decision, guys. They're at a crossroad and a big one.
[00:42:36] There would be no turning back. And their destiny was now before them. Their decision to reject God's word was like them going from the frying pan into the fire.
[00:42:46] And I think one of the deadliest sins in the lives of people, even God's people, is leaning on our own understanding rather than trusting in God to protect and to provide for us.
[00:42:57] Because when you're leaning on your own understanding, you're playing God rather than trust God.
[00:43:04] It's a form of idolatry. We don't think of it that way. But I got to ask the question, Paul, are you smarter than God? No.
[00:43:14] Paul, do you know more about what the future holds than God? Absolutely not.
[00:43:19] And you can put your name in there, right?
[00:43:23] You're not smarter than God. So why are you trusting in your own mental acumen rather than saying, hey, God knows all things. I'm going to trust him.
[00:43:32] Walter Brueggemann explains how decisions often have irreversible consequences. No doubt the remnant community, or any remnant community. And he imagines its displacement as temporary. They go, you know, this is just a temporary decision. How many times have I heard people say, well, I'm going to just defer this decision? And they think that by at that moment deferring that they'll have another opportunity. That's presumption.
[00:43:56] That's presumption. You can't presume that when God is talking to you, that's the moment you got to act. It says there will come a time, sooner or later when there will be a return to the homeland. At least in their thinking, that's what was going, going to happen.
[00:44:11] But the prophetic oracle rejects such a hope because Jeremiah tells it very plainly, you're going to die in Egypt. This remnant, if it leaves the land, will never come back. The present moment is the only change for life, only chance for life in the land. And that chance is forfeited. And there will be no other opportunity, no other chance.
[00:44:31] So when God speaks, to not hear, listen and obey brings us into an alienation from God, a loss of blessings in our life. If God gives life, then to reject God and His word means that we are embracing the path of death and destruction.
[00:44:46] Because if you take God, that's life. If you reject God, you get the opposite. Jeremiah's additional remarks are insightful. He says, here, remnant of Judah, the Lord has told you, do not go to Egypt. Be sure of this. I warn you today that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, pray to the Lord our God for us and tell us everything he says, and we will do it. I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the Lord your God in all that he sent me to tell you. So now be sure of this. You will die by the sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to settle. And Jeremiah had finished telling the people all the words of the Lord their God, everything the Lord had sent him to tell them. Remember, he said, I'll tell you everything he did.
[00:45:29] You know, it's interesting.
[00:45:33] What Jeremiah is doing, as Roland Harrison says, is he's exposing the duplicity of their pretended consultation for guidance when their minds had already been made up, they'd already decided. So this is what happens when you get told something you don't want to hear, right? How do you respond to, yeah, but you're wrong. This is not what you wanted to hear. You get this accusatory and disobedient response.
[00:46:00] So when we hear a message we don't like, often the response is negative, including name calling and blaming.
[00:46:08] That's what we do. Well, watch what happens here. Azariah, son of Hoshaniah, and Johanan, son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men. I circle the word arrogant because this is really arrogant to argue God's word. Don't you think when you're putting your word above God's word, that's a little arrogant on our part? And all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, you're lying.
[00:46:32] Well, hey, wait a minute. You guys told me, even if it's favorable or unfavorable, in other words, if I like it or not, I'm just going to tell you. Just tell us what God wants you to say. And when Jeremiah comes back and says, this is what God said, they go, no, you're lying.
[00:46:45] I don't want to hear this message.
[00:46:49] They're basically saying, jeremiah, you're a false prophet. Yeah, after 40 years of prophesying, I don't think he's a false prophet. Everything he said has happened. He said, the Lord our God has not sent you to say you must not go to Egypt to settle there. But Baruch son of Neriah, is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon. Well, who's Baruch? Well, that's just Jeremiah's recording secretary. I don't think Baruch is inciting Nehemiah against these people. So Jehonahan son of Korea and all the army officers and all the people, you can underline this, disobeyed the Lord's command to stay in the land of Judah. Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered. They also led away all those whom Nebuzaradan, commander of the imperial guard, had left at Gadaliah, son of Ahiakim, the son of Shaphan, the Men, the women, the children, the king's daughters.
[00:47:47] And they took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah along with them. Well, you know what happened. They took them into Egypt. But it's interesting how he said it. They took Jeremiah. I don't think Jeremiah said, I want to go to Egypt. I think Jeremiah knew that's what, that's where the problems are. I want to stay in the land. They didn't. He didn't have options now. And you know, it's really interesting, when people are living in sin, options diminish in a hurry. Jeremiah was trying to do the right thing and he even got swept up by these guys.
[00:48:18] So Walter Brueggemann brings out the irony in this episode when he says they arrived at Taphenes. Well, it says here, in disobedience to the Lord, they arrived at Taphenes. Of course they did. That's where they had been headed. That's where they were resolved to go. That is where they wanted to go, even against the counsel of the prophet. That is where they went to be out of reach. From the Babylonians, which historically Babylon conquered Egypt. The culmination of this confrontation is indeed ironic. Johanan and his companions imagined that they had escaped the threat Jeremiah had made clear. They had the chosen poorly in pursuit of life, they had chosen death. According to the prophet, they were closed off forever to their homeland. They ended up where the the story of Israel began. The nation was born in Egypt and they were made slaves. And they were living in bondage back. And so back into a bondage they misread as freedom. Isn't that an amazing statement?
[00:49:21] They were free. They were in the promised land. And now they turn their back on everything God says and they go back into bondage.
[00:49:29] How tragic. What a tragic story. You know what? Fear can drive us to make what we think is the safe course of action. It's what we see in the moment, but it's leading us away from God who can save us. Fear leads us into bondage, not freedom.
[00:49:50] We need to see what's motivating our lives. Is it fear that's driving our decision making? Is it fear that's keeping us from following God's word and and blessings in our lives? God's love drives out all fear. And when we know God and his amazing love, we can be free from fear and able to walk empowered by God, to live a courageous life. Let's stand.
[00:50:19] So what are we going to do this morning, Pastor? We're going to say, hey, I do not want to walk in fear.
[00:50:26] I do not want to walk leaning to my own understanding.
[00:50:31] I want to walk with God. I want to trust God. I want to walk in love.
[00:50:38] It's very powerful, walking in love. It means you're walking like God and you're going to do what God does.
[00:50:44] Someone does something bad to you, you forgive them. That's what God does.
[00:50:49] You know, you do good to them. You pray for them. You behave like God in these situations. You don't let your fears define you and shape you for the rest of your life.
[00:50:59] I think too many people are living in fear. But here's my encouragement this morning.
[00:51:05] You can do this every morning. I get up, I say, lord, fill me with your spirit.
[00:51:11] Fill me with your spirit. I'll tell you why.
[00:51:14] The result of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The fruit of the spirit is what?
[00:51:20] What's the fruit of the spirit?
[00:51:22] What is the fruit of the spirit?
[00:51:26] Love.
[00:51:27] The fruit. It's singular. The fruit of the spirit is love. And love is manifested by being patient and kind and gentle and have self control. Amen. Joy. Peace. Okay, listen to me now.
[00:51:42] If you're full of love, there's no room for fear.
[00:51:48] Fear is displaced by love.
[00:51:52] Love kicks out fear.
[00:51:56] How many go, I don't want any fear in my life.
[00:51:59] I want God to kick that out of there. I want my life to be full of his divine love.
[00:52:04] Anybody up for that? So we're going to open our hearts today. Only you can decide. You say, you know what? These are the things that I've been fearful. They're actually shaping me and I don't even realize it. They're even shaping my decisions.
[00:52:20] Right now. We're gonna ask God's spirit to come and fill us with his divine love.
[00:52:28] Perfect love casts out fear.
[00:52:32] So let's just lift our hands, say, lord, I want you. The Holy Spirit is God. I want you. I want you to come right now and fill my heart.
[00:52:42] That's your prayer? That's my prayer, Lord, I pray it every day. Father, come and fill my heart with your presence. Come and fill my heart with your spirit. Come and fill my heart with your love. I pray there'll be no operating space for fear. It just won't function in my life. That when you tell me to do something, even though initially I may feel fearful, I won't give in to that spirit. I will wage a battle until love conquers it. And I will do exactly what you're asking me to do because I know that your love is really walking in that love. Is walking in faith, it's walking with you. It's just powerful and it keeps me to walk in obedience. And that's where the blessing of God is flowing. It's in that place of obedience. God's compassion, God's planting God's establishment in our hearts. Lord, we just thank you for that today. Would you fill us today in a special way? Would we leave this place today, Father, sensing a greater touch of your presence in our soul May we sense Lord that love is conquering all my fears. I pray today that when we're being attacked maybe Monday morning, Tuesday morning and fear wants to raise its ugly head we say no more, no more to fear. I'm ruled by love. I'm ruled by almighty God my hope, my faith, my confidence, my trust is in you Lord. I'm ruled by your divine love and I thank you for that. In Jesus name amen. God bless you as you leave this morning.
