Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Have a stand. This morning.
[00:00:02] We're going to go to the Lord in prayer. Let's just pray today. My message today is entitled Are youe Really Listening? How many? Know we have a hard time paying attention, so I'm going to ask God to help us that we're not going to just hear words today. We're not going to just hear another sermon today. We're actually going to hear the voice of God today.
[00:00:21] And when we hear that in our innermost being, it requires a response.
[00:00:26] A lot of times we, you know, we hear something, but we're like James says, we hear it, but we don't act on it. And then we forget all about it, and it's not done anything good for us.
[00:00:39] So, Father, I pray today that yout'd open the eyes of our understanding, that we'd hear your voice, that yout would speak to us collectively, but yout'd also speak to each and every one of us individually. We hear the voice of the Father speaking into our lives, and that we would hear your and we would respond in an obedient fashion. We would do what you asked, and it would bring about the transformation that you're seeking to bring about in our lives. You're in the business of changing us. You love us, but you love us too much to leave us where we're at. You're going to make us more like yourself, because we were designed in your image, and you're in the process of restoring that image in our lives. And so I pray today this would be a big step forward. I pray for those that may not know you, that their hearts would be open to you as they hear of what happens when we don't listen, that we would realize there's a consequence, and we want to avoid those consequences. So, Father, help us to respond to you today. We thank you for that. In Jesus name and God's people said, amen. Amen. You may be seated.
[00:01:49] Now. A number of years ago, Patty and I were in Bible college. And we were taking Patty's sister and her husband to visit his brother. We were living in Seattle, Washington. We were driving across the state of Washington to Spokane.
[00:02:03] And so we dropped them off, spent the night. It's a long drive, five hours, right? So then we're heading back. And I said, let's go to church. So Patty and I went to church. It was a Sunday morning. We found a church. We thought, hey, this will be good.
[00:02:16] And we were driving back to Seattle because school was a Monday morning. College, right? You have to be back to Class and we had a really weird experience. All of a sudden it seemed like the world came to an end, just like right now. And what had happened was Mount St. Helens had erupted. It was May 18, 1980.
[00:02:36] And they had been tracking. A lot of the geologists and seismologists were tracking Mount St. Helens because there had been some earth tremors, some earthquake, little minor earthquakes, but there had been a seismic shift and there was growing a huge bulge in the mountain on the north side. And so they had set up places where they were watching from to make sure that they could give some sort of a warning to the people in the area. So they were taking. It was getting worse. So they were taking people away from. From the mountain. And of course, you know, some people refuse to do anything. There was one guy, his name was Harry Truman. He said, you know, I've lived on this mountain all my life, has never harmed me, therefore I'm not going to do anything.
[00:03:19] He refused to leave. They couldn't get him to leave, you know, so he remained on the mountain. But there were other people that were affected on that morning. As a matter of fact, when the mountain exploded, it literally, people from 15 miles away were actually in danger. And they didn't realize it was going to be that extensive. So 57 people lost their lives that morning. Some of them were actually spotters, you know, they were actually working, watching, and they were radioing and saying, the mountain has now erupted. And the next thing you know, that person was gone. Just boom, they were taken out. Then somebody that was further away from the mountain was watching and saying, we. I've just watched lookout station number such and such totally destroyed. And in another moment, I will be gone, too. And boom, they were gone.
[00:04:11] Wow. Just the suddenness of everything. And so the question is, what should we have learned from this mountain?
[00:04:18] We learned that the destructive force was far greater than anyone could have anticipated. We learned that lives that felt safe would still lost. Isn't that amazing? And how many today we live with a false sense of security.
[00:04:36] As the day of God's judgment is approaching our world, do we recognize that we're one day closer to the end of the world as we know it right now? Now, you see, if you're a child of God, you're a Christian, it is a glorious day. It's a day of redemption. It's called the day of the Lord. Jesus said, when you see all of these problems in the world, you know, famine and earthquakes and wars and rumors of wars and all of these things, he said, lift up Your head. Don't be afraid. Lift up your head. Our focus should not just be on what's happening around us. We should look up and say, listen. Our redemption, our deliverance, our salvation is drawing near. But the day of the Lord is also a day of judgment where injustice will be addressed, where all of the wrongs will be righted by Almighty God. Isn't that an amazing thing? But it will be a terrifying day because a lot of people have ignored God, a lot of people have rebelled against God, a lot of people have done their own thing. And on that day, it will be a very terrifying moment.
[00:05:42] So what happens when God is talking but we're not listening?
[00:05:47] Maybe even more critically, God's warning us of an upcoming danger and judgment, but we're just ignoring what he's saying.
[00:05:54] Do you think that's possible?
[00:05:57] Well, one aspect of God's loving nature is that he warns us when we're deviating from the right path. How many can appreciate that? Now? I don't know if that's ever happened to you, but it's happened to me on more than one occasion. I still remember when I finally surrendered to Jesus. You know, I was hearing the gospel and I, you know, but, you know, struggling. I was brand new. I was up and down. Anybody can experience, you know what I'm talking about. You're all over the map. You're just starting this journey. And I was not doing what I should be doing. And God brought me straight up. I mean, I felt like I was, you know, I was at work one night, I was coming to the end of my shift, and I felt like God was showing me, this is a fork on the road. There was a critical decision that needed to be made, and I had to make a choice.
[00:06:43] And I knew that if I made the wrong choice, it was not going to go well for me. I could already foresee, you know, going down a track that would actually bring about sorrow, pain, and destruction, not only for me, but for many others. And on the other side, there was another road.
[00:06:58] And it was a road that I had to, you know, move away from. What I wanted, what I thought at that moment was the best for my life. I had to make a choice.
[00:07:08] But I knew if I denied myself and chose the path that God was calling me to, that was going to be a better path. And I made that choice that night. It was a very definitive moment. God had been warning me. And I finally said, okay, I'm going to do what you asked me to do. And I want to say this in the book of Romans, it says this about Jesus and about Adam. When he's talking about Adam and comparing him to Jesus, it says, by one man's disobedience, many, you know, we all became sinners. Right? Adam led us into sin in a sense that it opened the door for sin to invade the human family. But it said, by one man's obedience, many became righteous.
[00:07:44] Do you and I realize that when you and I do what God is telling us to do, it does not only affect us in a positive way, but it also brings blessing into many other people's lives? Our obedience doesn't just affect ourselves, it affects many others. And our disobedience in the same way not only affects our lives, but it affects many other people.
[00:08:07] And a lot of times we don't see it that way.
[00:08:09] We don't think that making the right choice is going to make a big difference. But there are people's lives. In the future, when you and I make the right choice, your life is going to touch their lives in a positive way. And on the same scope, you and I, if we make decisions that are disobedient today, there's going to be people out there that would have needed us, but we won't be there for them. It's a pretty significant thought. You think about it that way.
[00:08:35] Well, here we have in the book of Jeremiah, how God finally gets heard.
[00:08:40] God will be heard, folks. I'll tell you that right now. He will get our attention.
[00:08:45] And here in the scope of Jeremiah's earthly ministry, he's been preaching for 23 years during primarily the reign of a good king named Josiah.
[00:08:56] But the people, this is so disheartening to say, didn't listen.
[00:09:01] Even though they had a good leader. They just did their own thing. And finally God has had enough.
[00:09:07] And so we get to this 25th chapter of the book of Jeremiah, where we have kind of a summary of what's been going on for the last 24 chapters. But a new theme is introduced. For the very first time, Tremper Longman says here Jeremiah looks beyond the punishment of his people, and after 70 years, God will punish the tool of his vengeance, the Babylonians themselves, In other words, God.
[00:09:33] We're going to learn here the dangers of ignoring God's warning in our lives and how he ultimately is going to get our attention.
[00:09:42] So I'm going to just say something to us. We can actually, you know, a lot of times as Christians, we always think about what we're doing wrong. I think there's a whole side of The Christian life, what we should be doing, and we're not.
[00:09:54] We're living in a state of neglect or apathy or indifference, and we're just not doing what God's asking us to do. So I think there's more to it than just, well, I'm not doing this bad thing, Pastor. Yeah, but are you doing what God wants you to do? That's just as important, and we need to hear that. And God's going to get our attention.
[00:10:11] So are we currently hearing what God is saying and how are we going to respond to this message? And I think there's four things God wants us to learn about what he expects.
[00:10:23] The first thing I think he wants us to learn is that we need to act on what he says.
[00:10:29] Okay, we need to do what he says or another way of saying it. We need to obey him.
[00:10:35] If we're to avoid terrible consequences in our lives, we need to respond to God.
[00:10:42] And God never warns without ultimately acting on what he says. And even though God's patient, he's very long suffering, he can allow things to happen for a long season. We may think, oh, there's no problem, I'm fine. Nothing's happening, everything's great. But if God's been warning us and we're ignoring that, there will come a moment where the warning ends and the consequences kick in, and that will happen. And by that time, too late.
[00:11:08] It's very drastic, what happens in our life. So let's pick up the story here In Jeremiah, chapter 25, and beginning in verse 1, it says, the word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. This is now the son of Josiah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. For 23 years he's preaching, but God decides, okay, you're not listening. I'm going to raise up an instrument to judge you. I'm raising up the Babylonians. They're going to be my voice to get your attention. How many know discipline is painful?
[00:11:47] We've all experienced it.
[00:11:50] And discipline is designed to correct us.
[00:11:53] And if you've really gone through a time of discipline in your life, you can appreciate that afterwards. It's never fun. How many can say, yeah, I've been disciplined by God, it wasn't fun. But when I look afterwards, I can see it changed me. Something changed inside of me. My attitude changed, the way I think changed, the way the way I behave changed. I'm a different person today because of what God brought me through. That's a very powerful thing. But God will bring us through things. Verse 2. So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem for 23 years, from the 13th year of Josiah, son of Ammon, King of Judah, until this very day, the Lord, the word of the Lord has come to me. And I've spoken it to you again and again. But here's the sermon title, but you have not listened. We're going to get that theme now. It's going to keep showing up. I wasn't really brilliant coming up with a theme because he's going to say this more than once.
[00:12:48] He says, and though the Lord has sent all of his servants, the prophets, to you again and again, you have not, you have not listened or paid any attention.
[00:13:01] You're just ignoring me. How many in this room? You really love being ignored.
[00:13:06] You know, most of you are laughing. You're going, I don't like it. I don't like it when I'm trying to get something across and people are not paying attention. Especially when I'm talking to that person, ignoring me.
[00:13:17] How do you think God feels? He gets a lot of people ignoring him. He says, but I will get your attention. We're going to find that out. God will get our attention eventually.
[00:13:27] Verse 5. And they said, turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices. So God had a very specific message. He was saying, you're doing the wrong things, and I want you to stop doing that. I want you to turn now.
[00:13:40] The New Testament word is repent, but that's what it means, turn.
[00:13:45] You know, repentance is a change of mind. But it's not just, you know, it's not just a mental thing. It's literally an action on our part. We make 180 degree turn. We're turning away from what's wrong and we're moving towards what's right.
[00:14:00] It's a change of behavior. So, you know, you say, well, I've repented. And if you keep doing the same thing, you haven't repented, you're just doing the wrong thing. You just know it's wrong now.
[00:14:11] But you haven't changed anything. Repentance is actually acting on what you know is wrong and doing what's right. It's a turn turn, he says, from your evil ways and your evil practices. And you can stay in the land the Lord gave you and your ancestors forever and ever. Now we. Why was this so important to these people to stay in the land?
[00:14:29] Because the land was the promised Land. The land was the land where God says, I will dwell in this land. The land was where they built the temple where God said, I will dwell in the temple. So to be exiled from the land meant they were being exiled from God. They were being banished from God's presence. And when you're banished from God's presence, when you're separated from God, you are now diminished.
[00:14:54] You are now the blessing of God has been removed from your life. Now you're in a state of emotional poverty, physical poverty, spiritual poverty. You're in a terrible place.
[00:15:06] And God says, I don't want to do that to you.
[00:15:10] Do you realize that sin always is an impediment in our relationship with God? It's a barrier. Our sin separates us from God. Isaiah says, and we know that when we sin against people, we literally create a wedge, a barrier, a problem in that relationship. It's not the same anymore. There's something that's happened. It's not the same relationship. God is now calling us. Listen, he wants relationship with you and with me.
[00:15:38] He says, do not follow other gods to serve and worship them.
[00:15:43] Do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made the gods, right? They're fashioning them.
[00:15:49] Excuse me. Then I will not harm you. Well, wait a minute. God says, I will not harm you. God says, I'm not going to discipline you. This is going to hurt, guys. How many know discipline hurts?
[00:16:00] Hey, when I grew up as a little boy, I'm the runt of the litter in my family. I'll just tell you that right now. I have a brother that's six four. My other brother is six feet. My dad was six feet. He weighed over 200 pounds. He moved furniture.
[00:16:13] He was intimidating. When you're a little boy and your dad is upset with you, that's intimidating. Hey, the neighborhood was intimidated by my dad. I'm just telling you. So when he said, don't mess with this, he meant it. There was going to be repercussions if we cross that line. And guess what? I respected that.
[00:16:32] Anybody else be a little intimidated by getting disciplined when you're a little younger? Maybe your parent was firm and you got it. Anybody else?
[00:16:41] I had the fear of my dad in me, you know, so it was really easy to move along and say, hey, if God says, don't mess with me, don't do this. I go, okay, I'm not going to mess with you, because I already got that lesson.
[00:16:52] It got etched in my mind as a little camper. You know, I figured that out and if you've ever messed with God, you'll find out you'll get disciplined. God will discipline us.
[00:17:03] But then what happened?
[00:17:05] But you did not. What?
[00:17:07] Listen to me, boy. I don't even have to be bright to come up with a theme for this sermon. Jeremiah keeps repeating the same thing over how many think that when God has to keep repeating himself, that there's probably a reason for it? And look what he's telling us. We're not listening now. Does that mean we're not hearing what he's saying? Or does it mean something more significant than that? Actually, another translation says, but you have not obeyed me because Jesus says, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. He's not talking about our physical ears hearing, and therefore we hear the words he's saying. What he's saying is, if you're hearing what I'm saying, you'll do what I'm saying. You'll act on it. That's what he's talking about here. And you have aroused my anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourself.
[00:17:51] So how does this apply to us?
[00:17:56] What is defining how you and I live? See, when you think about it, he's really dealing with idolatry. But, you know, we battle with idolatry in our lives.
[00:18:04] You say, well, what is idolatry, Pastor? It's the motivating principle of your soul.
[00:18:09] It's what's inspiring you. It's what you're pursuing after. It's what you long for. Are we living to please God or are we living to please ourselves? You see, a lot of times as Christians, we can say, I believe in Jesus, but I'm really living to please myself.
[00:18:26] That's idolatry.
[00:18:28] You cannot live to ultimately please yourself.
[00:18:32] I'll say it this way. If you and I live to please God, ultimately we will be pleasing ourselves. If you and I live to please ourselves, we will find out eventually we're not pleased with ourselves. How's that?
[00:18:47] Jesus said that principle, you want to find life, lose it for my sake. If you try to find life in this world, you're going to lose yourself. You're going to lose your soul in the process.
[00:18:56] Do we love Jesus above ourselves or any other person or any other thing?
[00:19:02] How do we know what pleases God except for what he explains to us in His Word?
[00:19:09] Is the teaching from the Bible the guiding force of our decision making? You know, a lot of people say, well, yeah, but I feel like I'm going to do this. You know, we get really Mystical.
[00:19:21] I'm very practical.
[00:19:23] See, I believe in the book of wisdom. I believe in wisdom literature. Read the Book of Proverbs. Quite practical, you know, if you're telling me I'm just doing God's will, but you're in violation of God's word. I go, no, you're not doing God's will. You're just fooling yourself. You're deceived. How's that?
[00:19:39] We got to come back to the word of God. It's very specific. It tells us how to live. It's laying it out. Thy word is a light and a lamp unto my feet. You want to know what God thinks? Find out. This is what he thinks he's telling us.
[00:19:52] That suggests I probably need to spend time in the Bible asking God's spirit to help me to understand it so that I can start living what he's telling me to do.
[00:20:02] C.S. lewis says something wonderful and captures how even good things, the good things are actually designed to lead us to God. But sometimes we can make the good things a substitute for God, which is what an idol is a substitute for God. Lewis says it this way, we see that every created thing is in its degree, an image of God.
[00:20:24] And the ordinate and faithful appreciation of that thing, a clue which truly followed, will lead us back to him. You know, it's like I go out into the nature and I see this beautiful world, and I go, oh, I'm going to start worshiping creation.
[00:20:39] A lot of people are creation worshipers. I'm out in the woods, oh, I'm worshiping what I'm seeing. No, those things are designed to make me go, wow, look at all of this. Only an amazing creator could come up with a variety of birds and insects and everything in this world. I'm just blown away by God's creativity. As a matter of fact, when God's having a conversation with Job, he says to him, hey, Job, you would have never created the ferocious creatures and the wild animals that I did. And I'm going, you bet I wouldn't have either.
[00:21:11] See, God is far more out of the box than we think. How many? Look at the different things that he created. And I go, I'd have never created it that way.
[00:21:20] Isn't that true, giraffe? Where did he get his neck that long? Who came up with that idea? God did.
[00:21:25] I mean, aren't you amazed?
[00:21:28] You know, but some people just start worshiping the creation instead of the Creator. That's what he's talking about here. He goes on to say, we see that created thing, the highest devotion to moral duty, the purest conjugal love, the saint. And the seraph, which is an angel, is no more than an image that every one of them followed for its own sake and isolated from its source, becomes an idol whose service is damnation.
[00:21:52] Well, what's Lewis saying? He's saying the best things in this world. If you make that ahead of God, you've made it an idol.
[00:22:00] The most beautiful people, the most godly people, even an angel. If you put anything ahead of God, you've made that an idol in your life. I've seen Christians make their family their idol. And you know what happens when you do that? You lose your family.
[00:22:14] I've seen people make jobs, ministry. Wow. Listen, the ministry, how much greater can that be? Right? You're serving God, but you make service to God. Your aim becomes an idol. How do you know? Pastor, I've done it.
[00:22:30] God had to correct me painfully.
[00:22:34] What a great correction. It's not an idol. Now. A lot of people go, you know, that's not the main thing. As a matter of fact, John the beloved says this in his concluding remarks. In the first John, chapter 5, verse 20, he says, Listen, keep yourself from idols. He's warning.
[00:22:51] The subtle nature of idolatry, in other words, is doing God's will. The motivating principle of my life, of your life, is knowing him, loving him, obeying him. What my life is all about, Is that what your life is all about? If not, then we need to return to him and come to him for the very first time and discover why God created you and me in the first place. You're not here for you. You're here for God.
[00:23:18] God made you for a purpose.
[00:23:20] Let's find out what it is. You know, people say, well, I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. I say, well, why don't you go talk to the Master? Why don't you go talk to the One who created you in the first place? He knows where you fit.
[00:23:34] Just a thought.
[00:23:35] Move on to the second thing, the consequence of our disobedience and neglect.
[00:23:40] Will we do as God says, or will we ignore and neglect him?
[00:23:44] Do you know, it's interesting. This is the thing that I noticed. Yeah, but I'm not doing anything bad, Pastor. Yeah, but are you doing the right thing?
[00:23:51] See, neglect is a problem because there's not only the sins of commission, the things I do wrong, there's also the things I should be doing right that I'm not doing. Those are Just as deadly. It's called neglect. How many know if you neglect your vehicle, eventually you're going to have car problems?
[00:24:06] How many know if you neglect your body, eventually going to have problems in your body?
[00:24:10] I mean, if you neglect relationships, you're going to have problems in those relationships. Neglect is a very terrible thing, but we don't think of it that way.
[00:24:18] There's always a cost to neglect.
[00:24:20] The first consequence here is conflict and exile.
[00:24:24] It speaks of the separation from God. They were to be banished from the land. We've already talked about that. Therefore, the Lord Almighty says, this is why.
[00:24:34] Why is this going to happen to you?
[00:24:37] Because you've not listened to my words, you haven't obeyed me, you haven't done what I've asked.
[00:24:45] Oh, I tell you, these guys are deaf sometimes. We're deaf, right? When we refuse to act on what he says, Jeremiah goes on to say, I will summon all the people of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Do you think Nebuchadnezzar thought he was the servant of Yahweh?
[00:25:04] Probably not.
[00:25:06] God says, listen, everybody's my servant.
[00:25:10] Whatever I get them, I can get anybody to do what I need them to do. He says, now I'm going to bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations, and I'm going to completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn and an everlasting ruin. Tremper Longman says, from what we know about Nebuchadnezzar, he had no awareness that he was God's servant when he conquered Judah. The language suggests that God can use the most powerful people even when they're not conscious of it.
[00:25:38] What is he saying? He's saying, you know, when people think they're doing their thing, many times it's what God wants done.
[00:25:44] He raises up people go, I don't like what this leader's doing. They're a mess. God goes, yeah, but I've raised them up.
[00:25:50] I'm making them do exactly what I want them to do. Because this is how I'm getting the rest of you guys as a team.
[00:25:57] Woo.
[00:25:59] It's a wake up call, right?
[00:26:03] Well, Nebuchadnezzar was not a nice guy. He was a world conqueror.
[00:26:06] Bad things were happening.
[00:26:08] It was so shocking that Jeremiah's contemporary Habakkuk had a little conversation. God says, habakkuk, I'm going to tell you something that's going to blow your mind.
[00:26:19] What are you going to do? God, he says in chapter one of Habakkuk in verse five, I didn't put these PowerPoints on, I added them this morning. He says, look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed. I'm going to do something in your days that you're not going to believe it even if I told you it.
[00:26:36] I'm raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people who will sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. They're feared, they're dreaded, and they're allotted themselves and, and they promote their own honor. Wow.
[00:26:50] Now poor old Habakkuk goes, wait a minute, God, let's have a little conversation. These guys are terrible. I mean, I know we got problems, but they're really bad. How can you take the really bad people and start hammering some of the people that are better than they are? How many think you can understand the sense of Habakkuk going, I don't get this.
[00:27:10] You know, in other words, he says it this way in verse 13. Your eyes are too pure to look uneven. How can you use those bad guys? You cannot even tolerate the treacherous. Why are you silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
[00:27:24] God says, yeah, well, it's because you guys know better and you haven't been doing what I've been saying. Those guys, well, they're going to get their own desserts later.
[00:27:34] As a matter of fact, Habakkuk continues to complain. He says, is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy? In other words, he just kept destroying nation after nation after nation. God, where are you in this thing? You're allowing these ruthless people to destroy people while the withdrawal of God leads to the loss of joy, gladness and well being. Look at verse 10. I will banish them from the sounds of joy and gladness, the voice of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. What's he saying? I'm going to remove what ordinary life looks like. I'm going to take away the best of life. I'm going to remove the celebrations in life. I'm going to remove what creates joy and gladness in your lives. I'm going to remove the millstone which is speaking of, you know, your, your. Your ability to make a living. I'm going to remove all of that. I'm going to take everything away that you've known as life from you.
[00:28:24] How many go? That's pretty severe.
[00:28:27] Anybody here say that probably get my attention.
[00:28:30] Do you think that God won't do this kind of stuff.
[00:28:35] Of course he will. If we'll not pay attention eventually, if we keep ignoring God over and over and over again, God says, I'll get your attention.
[00:28:44] I'll get your attention.
[00:28:46] This whole country will become a desolate wasteland. These nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. Now, why did God say 70? You know what's really tragic? Israel went into the land. God says, I want you to show a Sabbath rest to the land every seventh year. I don't want you to use, don't plan anything. You're going to have to learn how to trust me. I'll make sure you have food. They didn't do it.
[00:29:09] So for 490 years in the land they just kept doing their own thing. And God finally said, okay, the land is now going to have its rest. That's what Sabbath means. I'm going to give it a rest. And for 70 years the land rested.
[00:29:21] God has a way of making sure things get done as he says.
[00:29:30] You know, we are constantly reminded of the destructive nature of sin and of its addictions.
[00:29:36] We see it destroy marital love, relationships. We see it destroy families, jobs are lost.
[00:29:42] Life becomes solely a fixation. How many people you know you can be addicted not just on narcotics or alcohol. You can be fixated on a high of fame, promotion, accolades, all kinds of other things that are driving our lives.
[00:29:57] But that soon dissipates into emptiness and cravings. We become a slave to whatever we're serving within ourselves. And eventually all meaning to life evaporates before us.
[00:30:09] We're living in a culture today that we are self medicating at a higher level than ever before. And now we've even got permission that we can end our life whenever we can't cope anymore.
[00:30:19] How tragic has this society become? It's a tragic state of affairs. Let me move on to the third is a proper response bringing hope after a time of correction.
[00:30:29] The idea of discipline is to bring about repentance and restoration.
[00:30:34] But when the 70 years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt, declares the Lord. I will make it desolate forever. I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against that all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. Remember, Baruch was his secretary here. He says they themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings. I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands. Folks, we need to understand something. God is paying Attention to what we're doing, we will be repaid according to the work of our hands. You know, a lot of times we do the right thing. We don't see any results from it. But don't be discouraged.
[00:31:12] You know, your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
[00:31:16] How many times people do the wrong things and they don't get punished for it. And they think, oh, I'm getting away with it. No, you're not.
[00:31:22] I will repay, says the Lord.
[00:31:25] There's a day coming, a day of reckoning, a day of justice, a day when all wrongs will be righted. Because we'll be standing before the God whom every person is accountable to, including this nation of Babylon. You know, Walter Bruegerman says something very significant. He said, did God authorize Babylon against Judah? Well, it seems like he did, according to Isaiah. But Babylon, without mercy and with much brutality, overstepped its mandate, and they were far too severe. Babylon is caught, in a sense, in a no win situation, for it's judged by a criteria by which it knew nothing. Babylon did not know that Yahweh, even in judgment on Judah, which he calls my people, myheritage, sets limits on what's to be done as punishment. The very agent of punishment is now in turn to be punished.
[00:32:17] But I like how he says it. This is the hope that Judah has. No nation is immune, not even mighty Babylon, this total world superpower. For Jews in exile, the inclusion of Babylon on the list of judgment is decisive. This nation, which seemed beyond all accountability, is judged. Can we just say right now, if there's a superpower in our world that's evil and they get control of our world, they will be judged. That's what we're hearing here. In that judgment, Judah has a basis for future and a hope. And Philip Reichen reminds us that all of our troubles as believers, trials and disciplined times are all temporary. He says it this way, most of them will not even last 70 years, although some might last a lifetime.
[00:33:04] He says in Peter now, for a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials, but the God of all grace, after you've suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. In other words, God's going to use all these negative things for good.
[00:33:20] Peter shrank sufferings down to a size by placing them next to the yardstick of eternity. I like that statement.
[00:33:28] Paul called his own sufferings a light affliction.
[00:33:32] I've read Paul's list. If that's Light affliction. Don't sign me up for heavy affliction because I don't think I can handle light affliction.
[00:33:40] But what was Paul saying? He says, in light of the blessings of eternity, we'll just look at this life that's going by so fast as light affliction. Thanks to God's overcoming grace. That will only last a little while. Soon Christ will come to take us home for good.
[00:33:58] Wow, is that beautiful.
[00:34:01] The final thing is the judgment to come.
[00:34:04] Do you know we live in a world that hates judgment?
[00:34:08] I mean, we live in a world that doesn't want to have any consequence for bad things.
[00:34:13] Come on, that's not true.
[00:34:15] We don't want to take responsibility. We don't want to have consequences. But you know what? As much as we can reduce the laws and do all kinds of stuff, we. There are always consequences to sins. The nature of the thing, the wages of sin is death. It has been death. It will always be death. Death in the sense that it separates us from God, it separates us from people. We become broken, we become unwhole. If I can use that word, not whole.
[00:34:44] You know, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel said to me. Take from my hand this cup filled to the with the wine of the wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. In other words, God says, hey Jeremiah, I'm concocting a wine and it's the wine of my wrath.
[00:35:03] And when you drink of it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them. In other words, God says, I'm going to. Everyone's going to drink of this cup, the cup of God's wrath towards sin.
[00:35:18] You know, a couple of thoughts are important to consider. You know, the cup is symbolic of God's judgment being poured out and received by those who have disobeyed God and sin.
[00:35:28] So is there any hope for us human beings because we've all sinned and fall short of God's glory? Well, I want you to know Jesus drank that cup and he did it for us.
[00:35:38] I want you to go back with me to Gethsemane. Jesus is now praying. Remember his prayer in Matthew.
[00:35:45] My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.
[00:35:49] Says to his disciples, stay here and keep watch with me.
[00:35:53] Going a little further. He fell with his face to the ground. He prayed. My Father, if it's possible, made this cup. Which cup is he talking about?
[00:36:02] The wrath of God. The cup that I'm preaching on right now from Jeremiah. This cup of the sins of all humanity. This cup filled with the anger of God toward every last sin.
[00:36:15] Jesus says, I have to drink it.
[00:36:17] I have to take on the sin of the world.
[00:36:20] Wow. No wonder he shrank back.
[00:36:23] Can you understand it now yet? Not as I will, but as you will. But you know, the Son and the Father were in agreement to do this from the very beginning.
[00:36:33] You see, when we come to Jesus and we receive him as our Savior, our sins are forgiven because Jesus took the punishment on himself. He took the judgment.
[00:36:43] And what is given in turn is. You and I are given another cup.
[00:36:47] It's the cup of forgiveness, the cup of deliverance, the cup of salvation and the cup of healing. Cup of restoration and renewal. The cup that brings us into a relationship with the Father. A cup that changes our lives and moves us from brokenness and how sin has marred our lives and dehumanized us. And all of a sudden, we become more and more into the image of the Father, Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. How beautiful is that.
[00:37:17] Here we see that this cup is going to be given to everyone. Look at how Jeremiah says it. So he took the cup from the Lord's hand and he made all the nations to whom he sent me drink it.
[00:37:31] Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. I want you to notice the order starts. With whom. The people of God.
[00:37:37] Its kings and its officials. To make them a ruin and an object of whore and a scorn and a curse, as they are today.
[00:37:42] He says, pharaoh, king of Egypt. Now he's moving to the neighbors, his attendants, his officials, and all of his people. And all the foreign people there. And all the kings of Uz, and all the kings of the Philistines, those of Askelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the people left of Ashdod, Edom, Moab and Ammon. All the kings of Tyre and Sidon, the kings of the coastlands and across the sea, Dedan, Tema, Buzz. And all who are in distant places. All the kings of Arabia. And all the kings of the foreign peoples who live in the wilderness. And all the kings of Zimri, Elam and Media.
[00:38:16] What's hitting you here? Nobody's being excluded. Everyone's going to be drinking from this cup, he says. And all the kings of the north, near and far, one after the other. All the kingdoms on the face of the earth.
[00:38:29] Not one kingdom is left untouched. And after all of them, the king of Shishak will drink it, too. Who's the king of Shishak? It's a code name for Babylon, the one who has come to be God's arm of punishment, will eventually himself be punished. Interesting.
[00:38:49] You know, God uses everything.
[00:38:52] Notice where it begins.
[00:38:56] Peter picks up on this theme. I wonder if he gets it from Jeremiah. The spirit of God is revealing it to him. For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household. And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome to those who do not obey the gospel of God? Do you know where judgment is going to start?
[00:39:11] With me. With you? It starts with us.
[00:39:15] God is going to judge the church first.
[00:39:19] Are we getting this picture?
[00:39:21] We should know better. God's going to start with us. Okay, you guys, get your act together.
[00:39:27] Are we hearing it?
[00:39:29] Pastor, get your act together.
[00:39:31] Elders and deacons, get your act together. Staff members, get your act together. You know, members of the church, get your act together. People who call on the name of Jesus, get your act together. You better be listening. You better be doing what God's telling you to do, starting with us.
[00:39:45] And then he says, and if it's hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? They're in trouble now.
[00:39:55] As a matter of fact, we see from Peter and Jeremiah foreshadowing of what is about to ultimately come to our world. God's going to judge people, and then he's going to judge all the people.
[00:40:08] He's going to use instruments. Here we see he's using the instrument of Babylon. You know, as I read the scriptures, I find that God uses Satan as an instance instrument.
[00:40:15] Well, you didn't know that. You say, why does God. Some people, why does God tolerate the devil? Why doesn't he just put him in his place? He's using him.
[00:40:23] I'm teaching in First Corinthians. It's interesting. You know what he said to the man who was caught in incestuous relationship. He says, I want you to put him outside the church so that Satan can destroy his flesh in order for his soul to be saved. It's a very interesting statement. In other words, God says, I'm going to allow Satan to have access into his life so. So he can do damage to him, but ultimately he'll be saved.
[00:40:46] How many know that's a pretty extreme example of discipline? How many say that's extreme? It is extreme.
[00:40:54] And listen to what the book of Revelation says. If you think I'm just making this stuff up, let me show you from Scripture. It says here, when the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations and the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, and to gather them for battle. In number, they are like the sand on the seashore. And. And they marched across the breadth of the Earth and they surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and he devoured them. And the devil who deceived them now was thrown into the lake of fire, of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. And they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever.
[00:41:35] Wow. Satan will be addressed. He will be judged. He will be stopped.
[00:41:43] You know, it's all coming, folks. This is all stuff that's about to happen. We need to hear this.
[00:41:49] We need to understand this stuff, because a lot of times we don't even think about these things. But it's reality.
[00:41:56] Now, prophesy all these words against them and say to them. Now he gets into a poetics passage. That was prose. This is poetry. The Lord will roar from on high. He will thunder from his holy dwelling and roar mightily against his land. What's that mean? God says, I will be heard.
[00:42:12] You're not listening. You'll hear me now. I'm going to allow judgment to come. How many? Know you can't avoid that.
[00:42:19] You think the guys sitting there 14 miles from Mount St. Helens were just, you know, cruising along and thought they were totally safe, and all of a sudden that mountain erupted and boom, they were gone?
[00:42:29] Just that quick.
[00:42:31] They've been warned.
[00:42:33] As human beings, we think we have all the answers. No, we don't.
[00:42:38] We better wake up, because this is going to happen, folks. The Lord will roar from on high. He will thunder from his holy dwelling and roar mightily against the land. He will shout like those who tread the grapes and shout against all who live on the earth. When you're treading grapes, what are you doing to them?
[00:42:54] You're smashing them.
[00:42:58] The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth. For the Lord will bring charges against the nations. He will bring judgment on all mankind and put the wicked to the sword, declares the Lord.
[00:43:09] This is what the Lord Almighty says. Look, disaster spreading from nation to nation. A mighty storm is rising from the ends of the earth.
[00:43:16] Well, what does that tell me? There's a moral standard, and every nation has to measure up. We're all accountable to God.
[00:43:22] Then he goes on.
[00:43:23] At that time, those slain by the Lord will be everywhere, from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or Gathered or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground. What does that mean? The intensity and the extensiveness of this judgment will be so great that death, that will be an inability to mourn the loss of so many people.
[00:43:45] Weep and wail, you shepherds. This is powerful because, you know, a lot of times the leaders lead people into things and then they get off scot free. But not this time.
[00:43:54] Weep and wail, you shepherds. Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For your time to be slaughtered is come and you will fall like the best of the rams.
[00:44:01] The shepherds will have nowhere to flee, the leaders of the flock, no place to escape. Hear the cry of the shepherds, the wailing of the leaders of the flock. For the Lord is destroying their pasture.
[00:44:11] The peaceful meadows will be laid waste because of the fierce anger of the Lord. Like a lion, he will leave his lair and their land will become desolate because of the sword of the oppressor and because of the Lord's fierce anger.
[00:44:23] Pretty strong language.
[00:44:25] It's poetic, but it's strong. What's God saying?
[00:44:29] Listen, I created you for a purpose.
[00:44:34] You and I are accountable to God. It doesn't matter if you believe in him or not. We're all accountable to Him. You can live in denial all you want to, but it's reality.
[00:44:43] Now God has made a way of salvation.
[00:44:46] But if we refuse to accept God's way to be saved, all that's left for us is to drink from the cup, the wrath of God.
[00:44:57] So what does God expect of us?
[00:45:00] We need to act on his warnings in obedience so that we can avoid the consequences of our sin. God expects us to realize that after correction he will restore us.
[00:45:11] But we have to respond and repent.
[00:45:14] Ultimately, God expects that we realize that there is judgment coming.
[00:45:18] And the only way to avoid that cup of wrath is to accept the gift of forgiveness given to us by him who God, as God himself is in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He drank of that cup of wrath for us. So don't tell me God doesn't love us.
[00:45:36] He took our punishment upon Himself. He became our substitute. But if we reject that, there's nothing left for us.
[00:45:44] The question is, you know, we have a choice. There's two cups.
[00:45:49] The cup of God's wrath, the cup of salvation.
[00:45:53] What will we choose?
[00:45:55] It's very simple. We have a choice.
[00:45:58] Will we listen to what he's saying today or will we just continue going on our merry old way?
[00:46:06] Let's stand just with every head bowed this morning I know it's a little sobering when I read the Bible, folks, and I mean, I have read it a lot. If you don't think the theme of judgment is in the Bible and don't tell, oh, that's the Old Testament, Pastor, please read the final book of the Bible in the New Testament.
[00:46:30] This is where we're headed.
[00:46:32] And you know, we have a response today. Let's not just pretend, you know, like, I've had moments in my Christian life, even as a minister of the gospel, God says, I want you to make an alteration here. If you keep going down and you're thinking here, you're in trouble.
[00:46:48] And I have a choice at that moment, I have to choose. I have to decide, okay, am I gonna do what God wants me to do or my own thing?
[00:46:56] Your own thing is gonna lead. My own thing is gonna lead to death.
[00:47:02] God's telling us, choose life.
[00:47:04] He's so good, you know, when we're messing up, he's going to warn us.
[00:47:09] But don't you know, the more you and I resist responding to him, the harder our hearts become, the more we set ourselves up for judgment. It's the way it works.
[00:47:21] Always works that way.
[00:47:23] Maybe you're here today and you're going, wow, I don't know, Jesus, but I can tell you one thing. I don't want to drink from the cup of wrath. I choose the cup of salvation. How does that happen, Pastor?
[00:47:36] You turn your life over to Christ.
[00:47:40] Instead of you being in charge of your life, you surrender your life to him and you allow him to be in charge of your life. You just say, lord Jesus, come into my life. I surrender it to you.
[00:47:52] I ask for forgiveness and I receive you as my savior. I want to drink from the cup of salvation with every head bowed. Is that you this morning? Is God speaking to you today to say, come to me.
[00:48:05] Come to me and drink of my cup of forgiveness?
[00:48:09] Is there one person, maybe on the streaming?
[00:48:13] Yeah. God will see that.
[00:48:15] God will respond. Just let us know, come communicate with us that you've done that. But I want to say to the rest of us, maybe we're children of God here.
[00:48:23] God's been speaking to you this morning. He's been warning you. He's saying, okay, this has to end now.
[00:48:32] This is a moment of choice for you. It's a fork in the road for you. I'm warning you now.
[00:48:38] Embrace me.
[00:48:40] Embrace my way. Deny yourself. Embrace me.
[00:48:44] Because you know what's going to happen. Your obedience is going to prove to be life giving. Not just to yourself, but to so many others.
[00:48:52] But if you refuse the cup of forgiveness today, all that's left is correction and ultimately destruction. If we keep rebelling, that's all that's left. We have a choice.
[00:49:07] It's amazing God does not take that choice away from us.
[00:49:11] So Father, we come to you this morning. We ask you Lord to forgive us where we have failed you, where we have been selfish and self centered, where we've lived to please ourselves when we're defining our lives by our own human desire rather than seeking your face, finding out your design and purpose for our lives and doing your will Lord, I pray that every day as we get up Lord, we cry out to you Lord, your will be done. Your will be done in my life. Your will be done in our lives Father, even as your will is being done perfectly in heaven. Help us Lord to do your will on earth that we might see blessing flow into and through and around our lives. In Jesus name amen. God bless you as you leave this morning.
