WEBVTT 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:08.480 Thank you, John. You got a busy morning back 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:12.179 there, haven't you? Playing in the orchestra 00:00:12.179 --> 00:00:17.980 and singing for us, thank you very much. We humans 00:00:17.980 --> 00:00:23.660 cannot escape the reality that our view of ourselves 00:00:23.660 --> 00:00:30.920 and our world is forged at its most essential 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:35.009 level by our understanding of God. we cannot 00:00:35.009 --> 00:00:40.869 escape God even if we don't believe in God. Whether 00:00:40.869 --> 00:00:44.689 one denies God's existence or believes that God 00:00:44.689 --> 00:00:49.450 is an it, some impersonal force, or that God 00:00:49.450 --> 00:00:53.329 is everything and in everyone, or if one believes 00:00:53.329 --> 00:00:56.149 that God is the personal and infinite sovereign 00:00:56.149 --> 00:01:02.079 which the Bible reveals to us, What one accepts 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:08.459 as true about God will inevitably shape one's 00:01:08.459 --> 00:01:11.980 thinking and actions more than any other single 00:01:11.980 --> 00:01:17.239 factor in his life. We interpret life's circumstances 00:01:17.239 --> 00:01:23.680 by what we think about God. Our view of God becomes 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:29.909 like lenses, like glasses. Our view of God either 00:01:29.909 --> 00:01:33.310 helps us see what's happening in our lives correctly, 00:01:34.650 --> 00:01:41.629 or that view will distort and confuse us. This 00:01:41.629 --> 00:01:43.930 morning, if we put all of the glasses that are 00:01:43.930 --> 00:01:46.370 being worn in this auditorium up here on the 00:01:46.370 --> 00:01:49.150 stage, and then each of us just picked one out 00:01:49.150 --> 00:01:50.989 and put them on our eyes, it wouldn't help us 00:01:50.989 --> 00:01:54.549 a whole lot, would it? Because we know how sensitive 00:01:54.549 --> 00:01:57.450 our eyes are to these corrective lenses. Likewise, 00:01:58.060 --> 00:02:02.379 Likewise, our view of God is like a lens over 00:02:02.379 --> 00:02:09.020 our minds. And how we see life, how we see our 00:02:09.020 --> 00:02:11.860 circumstances, depends upon whether those lenses 00:02:11.860 --> 00:02:16.860 are properly fitted to us or not. Therefore, 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:19.199 it's important that we develop a biblical view 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:22.439 of God, and that's going to be part of our undertaking 00:02:22.439 --> 00:02:25.699 this summer as we study in Jeremiah chapter 32 00:02:25.699 --> 00:02:30.699 this conversation between God and this prophet, 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:37.939 Jeremiah. The circumstances of Jeremiah's life 00:02:37.939 --> 00:02:42.639 were anything but pleasant. For the most part, 00:02:42.699 --> 00:02:47.580 they were pretty miserable. The nation of Judah 00:02:47.580 --> 00:02:50.740 in which he lived was collapsing under the weight 00:02:50.740 --> 00:02:54.860 of its sin and the pressure of the judgment of 00:02:54.860 --> 00:03:00.479 God against that nation. Jeremiah was the son 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:04.259 of a priest whose name was Hilkiah, and he grew 00:03:04.259 --> 00:03:06.780 up in a little village just two miles north of 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:11.340 Jerusalem called Anathoth. He was called as a 00:03:11.340 --> 00:03:17.819 prophet in the year 627 B .C. He was a very young 00:03:17.819 --> 00:03:22.860 man at that point. In his lifetime, Jeremiah 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:28.379 witnessed the death of Josiah. who was the last 00:03:28.379 --> 00:03:34.599 of the godly and good kings of Judah. Josiah 00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:39.039 died in 609 BC through a terrible mistake that 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:43.759 he made, really, in going out against Pharaoh 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:47.060 Niko of Egypt, who was moving north with his 00:03:47.060 --> 00:03:52.000 troops across Palestine to try to counter Babylon, 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:55.379 which was moving in from the east. This was a 00:03:55.379 --> 00:03:57.919 time when world powers were grappling for who 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:00.900 was going to be the strongest. And Palestine, 00:04:01.020 --> 00:04:03.560 as is often the case, was caught as part of the 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:07.919 crossroads there of these great powers. And as 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:11.439 Pharaoh Nicco came north with his troops, Josiah, 00:04:11.580 --> 00:04:13.419 against the word of the Lord, went out against 00:04:13.419 --> 00:04:17.800 him and was killed in battle. Following him, 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:22.829 there was a succession of godless kings. Josiah's 00:04:22.829 --> 00:04:27.170 descendants, tragically, who ruled over the nation 00:04:27.170 --> 00:04:30.930 of Judah. And they persecuted Jeremiah the prophet 00:04:30.930 --> 00:04:35.610 because his messages from God were against them. 00:04:38.389 --> 00:04:41.050 He told them the Babylon, which was becoming 00:04:41.050 --> 00:04:43.490 great and moving from the east and the north, 00:04:44.430 --> 00:04:50.019 would invade and conquer their nation. He advised 00:04:50.019 --> 00:04:53.399 the people of Judah to cooperate with the Babylonians. 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:58.959 It would be easier for them to cooperate than 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:05.759 to resist what God had purposed. But that very 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:08.600 word from God seemed to be against the national 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:14.480 interest. It was treasonous. And because of that 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:20.000 message from God, Jeremiah was scorned. and persecuted 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:23.920 by the leaders of the nation. His life was one 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:28.720 of conflict. He lived in the midst of terrifying 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:33.680 turmoil. He lived in a time of political and 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:38.439 national upheaval as the nation of Judah in particular 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:44.060 went into captivity to Babylon. Because of the 00:05:44.060 --> 00:05:48.079 tears that he shed, he is sometimes called the 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:53.810 weeping prophet. Jeremiah was threatened in his 00:05:53.810 --> 00:05:59.170 hometown. He was tried for his life by the religious 00:05:59.170 --> 00:06:05.209 leaders in Jerusalem. He was put in stocks. He 00:06:05.209 --> 00:06:10.509 was forced to flee from King Jehoiakim. He was 00:06:10.509 --> 00:06:13.449 publicly humiliated by a false prophet whose 00:06:13.449 --> 00:06:17.379 name was Hananiah. and then was confined for 00:06:17.379 --> 00:06:23.180 a period of time in a cistern. His life circumstances 00:06:23.180 --> 00:06:27.439 were anything but pleasant. And this morning, 00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:29.740 as we talk about Jeremiah, there's going to be 00:06:29.740 --> 00:06:31.720 some of us who will be able to identify with 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:35.699 the misery of this man. We may not have spent 00:06:35.699 --> 00:06:37.660 last night in the cistern, but we spent last 00:06:37.660 --> 00:06:40.920 night in the doghouse of one kind or another. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:45.720 and you're facing suffering and misery in your 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:47.620 life and you don't really understand it all and 00:06:47.620 --> 00:06:51.959 you don't deserve it all as was true of Jeremiah. 00:06:54.220 --> 00:06:57.040 What I hope to help you with today and then through 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:01.339 the summer is to check your glasses, to check 00:07:01.339 --> 00:07:07.819 your lenses, to check your view of God so that 00:07:07.819 --> 00:07:11.199 then you can know that God is all you need truly. 00:07:11.500 --> 00:07:14.600 in the midst of your miserable circumstances 00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:19.000 at present. I want you to know that His grace 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:21.779 is able to sustain you and to keep you and encourage 00:07:21.779 --> 00:07:27.060 you in the center of His will. You can entrust 00:07:27.060 --> 00:07:32.839 yourself to Him. Now, as I've said, the focus 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:35.079 of our study through the summer is going to be 00:07:35.079 --> 00:07:39.329 Jeremiah chapter 32. where we have Jeremiah's 00:07:39.329 --> 00:07:42.889 prayer along with God's response to Jeremiah. 00:07:45.029 --> 00:07:47.569 Now for most of us, Jeremiah 32 is just another 00:07:47.569 --> 00:07:50.029 chapter in a big book, so let's think about the 00:07:50.029 --> 00:07:53.629 context of Jeremiah for a moment. The book of 00:07:53.629 --> 00:07:56.350 Jeremiah covers a period of almost 50 years. 00:07:57.209 --> 00:08:00.269 As I've said, Jeremiah was called to be a prophet 00:08:00.269 --> 00:08:06.019 in 627 B .C. And about the last thing recorded 00:08:06.019 --> 00:08:10.040 in his book happened about 580. That's almost 00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:14.279 50 years period of time. The book of Jeremiah 00:08:14.279 --> 00:08:19.319 is not a chronological account of his life. It 00:08:19.319 --> 00:08:22.720 is rather a record of his prophecies. And along 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:26.600 with those prophecies, some narrative as it fits 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:30.600 in with his life. But it's not chronologically 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:35.350 arranged. It's more thematically arranged. Let 00:08:35.350 --> 00:08:37.289 me suggest to you an outline for the book. If 00:08:37.289 --> 00:08:39.330 you don't have one in a study Bible that you 00:08:39.330 --> 00:08:43.269 carry, maybe you ought to jot this down in the 00:08:43.269 --> 00:08:48.889 side of your page. Chapter one of Jeremiah is 00:08:48.889 --> 00:08:54.210 his call to ministry. Beginning in chapter two 00:08:54.210 --> 00:08:57.250 and then through verse, or rather chapter 25, 00:08:57.490 --> 00:09:00.750 chapter two through verse chapter 25, we have 00:09:00.750 --> 00:09:05.590 Jeremiah's prophecies to Judah, focusing primarily 00:09:05.590 --> 00:09:08.590 upon the nation where he lived to whom he was 00:09:08.590 --> 00:09:14.490 called primarily to minister. In chapters 26 00:09:14.490 --> 00:09:18.429 to 29, we have Jeremiah's conflicts, some of 00:09:18.429 --> 00:09:23.490 the troubles that came to him. In chapter 30 00:09:23.490 --> 00:09:26.889 through 33, we have the promise of restoration. 00:09:27.909 --> 00:09:30.269 In the midst of God saying He's going to send 00:09:30.269 --> 00:09:34.389 judgment upon His people, He also promises that 00:09:34.389 --> 00:09:37.690 one day He will restore them. And so we have 00:09:37.690 --> 00:09:41.210 a few chapters dedicated to that, chapter 30 00:09:41.210 --> 00:09:47.509 through 33. Chapters 34 through 45 deal with 00:09:47.509 --> 00:09:51.870 the fall of Jerusalem. When Babylon finally did 00:09:51.870 --> 00:09:57.110 come and destroyed the nation, took off captives, 00:09:57.810 --> 00:10:02.950 to Babylon. It tells us how Jeremiah was able 00:10:02.950 --> 00:10:08.289 to escape that. Then in chapters 46 to 51 we 00:10:08.289 --> 00:10:11.090 have Jeremiah's prophecies against the surrounding 00:10:11.090 --> 00:10:15.730 nations. We have a lot of chapters devoted to 00:10:15.730 --> 00:10:17.509 Judah, but now at the end of the book we have 00:10:17.509 --> 00:10:22.309 his prophecies to the surrounding nations. And 00:10:22.309 --> 00:10:25.830 then in chapter 52 there's a closing with an 00:10:25.830 --> 00:10:28.879 historical epilogue. Just telling us about some 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:30.639 of the things that happened right there at the 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:37.539 end of Jeremiah's lifetime. Now chapter 32 obviously 00:10:37.539 --> 00:10:40.360 fits into those few chapters in the middle of 00:10:40.360 --> 00:10:44.700 the book that deal with the restoration that 00:10:44.700 --> 00:10:48.580 God has promised to his people. And in chapter 00:10:48.580 --> 00:10:51.299 32 what we really have is an illustration of 00:10:51.299 --> 00:10:55.000 what God is going to do in restoring his people. 00:10:56.110 --> 00:11:00.149 What God is about to do in restoring them is 00:11:00.149 --> 00:11:05.710 a complete act of grace on His part. It is not 00:11:05.710 --> 00:11:08.190 something they deserve. It is something that 00:11:08.190 --> 00:11:12.850 He does out of His faithfulness to them and out 00:11:12.850 --> 00:11:19.889 of His desire to be kind to His people. In chapter 00:11:19.889 --> 00:11:24.450 32 in verses 1 through 15 we have an illustration 00:11:24.889 --> 00:11:31.710 of God's grace. Jeremiah tells us about Jerusalem 00:11:31.710 --> 00:11:36.250 being under siege by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian 00:11:36.250 --> 00:11:41.590 army. Jeremiah himself is under arrest by the 00:11:41.590 --> 00:11:46.230 king. So he's not free to move about. The king 00:11:46.230 --> 00:11:49.710 of Judah has arrested him, but the city is also 00:11:49.710 --> 00:11:53.509 under arrest, in a sense, in that Nebuchadnezzar 00:11:53.509 --> 00:11:57.000 and his army have surrounded the city, it's under 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:04.279 siege. It is about to fall. And in the midst 00:12:04.279 --> 00:12:09.720 of this, God told Jeremiah to redeem a piece 00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:16.039 of property belonging to his uncle. Let's read 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:20.700 a little bit about this in Jeremiah 32. Let's 00:12:20.700 --> 00:12:24.470 begin in verse 3. Zedekiah king of Judah had 00:12:24.470 --> 00:12:29.509 shut him up, that is Jeremiah, saying, Why do 00:12:29.509 --> 00:12:32.509 you prophesy, saying, Thus says the Lord, Behold, 00:12:32.549 --> 00:12:34.570 I am about to give this city into the hand of 00:12:34.570 --> 00:12:37.889 the king of Babylon, and he will take it. And 00:12:37.889 --> 00:12:40.490 Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of 00:12:40.490 --> 00:12:42.549 the hand of the Chaldeans, but he shall surely 00:12:42.549 --> 00:12:44.529 be given into the hand of the king of Babylon. 00:12:45.350 --> 00:12:47.690 And he shall speak with him face to face, and 00:12:47.690 --> 00:12:50.289 see him eye to eye, and he shall take Zedekiah 00:12:50.289 --> 00:12:52.990 to Babylon, he shall be there until I visit him, 00:12:53.250 --> 00:12:56.509 declares the Lord. If you fight against the Chaldeans, 00:12:56.830 --> 00:13:00.269 you shall not succeed." Do you see what Zedekiah 00:13:00.269 --> 00:13:04.409 is doing? He's quoting the sermon that he had 00:13:04.409 --> 00:13:09.070 heard from Jeremiah. He says, why do you say 00:13:09.070 --> 00:13:13.950 this? Why do you preach this message? And so 00:13:13.950 --> 00:13:17.909 he put him into prison. Down to verse 6, Jeremiah 00:13:17.909 --> 00:13:21.519 said, The word of the Lord came to me. This is 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:37.620 what God said to him. You need to be a little 00:13:37.620 --> 00:13:40.320 familiar with the Old Testament law regarding 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:43.720 redemption. If a person in a family got into 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:47.899 financial trouble and his land was under obligation 00:13:47.899 --> 00:13:53.480 because of that. The debt was due. There was 00:13:53.480 --> 00:13:55.659 a provision made that that person could sell 00:13:55.659 --> 00:13:58.039 his property to someone else from the family 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:02.159 and then take that money and pay off the obligation. 00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:06.379 The purpose of this was so that the land would 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:11.480 stay in families and would not eventually parceled 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:14.419 out to people who had gotten it through bad loans. 00:14:16.050 --> 00:14:19.429 And so here we have Jeremiah's uncle who apparently 00:14:19.429 --> 00:14:24.929 owed a great deal of money on this land. So Jeremiah 00:14:24.929 --> 00:14:27.870 is given the right of redemption. He says, you 00:14:27.870 --> 00:14:29.970 can buy this land. Now notice where it's at. 00:14:31.029 --> 00:14:33.789 It's in Anathoth. Anathoth is two miles north 00:14:33.789 --> 00:14:37.529 of Jerusalem. Guess what is between Jerusalem 00:14:37.529 --> 00:14:44.909 and Anathoth? A whole army of Babylonians. They've 00:14:44.909 --> 00:14:50.950 already taken Anathoth. And now Jeremiah has 00:14:50.950 --> 00:14:53.129 the opportunity to buy some real estate there. 00:14:54.210 --> 00:14:59.970 This is not the time for real estate deals. And 00:14:59.970 --> 00:15:02.909 yet the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, buy 00:15:02.909 --> 00:15:08.710 the property. So why is that? Well, he buys it 00:15:08.710 --> 00:15:10.710 so it can stay in the family. That's part of 00:15:10.710 --> 00:15:16.480 it. But there's also an illustration here. God 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:19.139 wanted Jeremiah to buy the land so that there 00:15:19.139 --> 00:15:22.360 would be an illustration to the people that someday 00:15:22.360 --> 00:15:26.139 land was going to be valuable again to them. 00:15:27.460 --> 00:15:29.679 And there would again be the buying and the selling 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:34.100 of land. That the land was going to be restored 00:15:34.100 --> 00:15:39.600 someday. Jeremiah goes through the process of 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:41.620 buying it, and there's the signing and the sealing 00:15:41.620 --> 00:15:46.200 of deeds, and so on. And then Jeremiah has the 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:49.620 deeds sealed up in a clay jar. See, that doesn't 00:15:49.620 --> 00:15:51.740 sound very secure. Well, that was about the best 00:15:51.740 --> 00:15:54.720 they had then. They didn't have these Kmart things 00:15:54.720 --> 00:15:57.820 you can get that are fireproof, you know. So 00:15:57.820 --> 00:16:00.460 they put them in clay jars. In fact, there are 00:16:00.460 --> 00:16:02.820 still documents being discovered today that are 00:16:02.820 --> 00:16:08.940 preserved after 2 ,000 years in clay jars. And 00:16:08.940 --> 00:16:13.460 so it was preserved for the future. God was about 00:16:13.460 --> 00:16:16.299 to punish the nation for its sin against Him. 00:16:17.019 --> 00:16:22.139 And yet He would act to keep His promises. Act 00:16:22.139 --> 00:16:27.159 in grace. You see the illustration here? God 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:29.879 is going to keep His promises even though the 00:16:29.879 --> 00:16:32.659 people don't deserve it. And so He illustrates 00:16:32.659 --> 00:16:35.399 His grace by having Jeremiah buy this land that 00:16:35.399 --> 00:16:39.919 was really worthless. because someday God was 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:44.799 going to make it worth something again. And so 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:47.460 in verse 16 it says, and I had given the deed 00:16:47.460 --> 00:16:51.980 of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah. Remember 00:16:51.980 --> 00:16:53.779 that Sunday that I brought the magazine with 00:16:53.779 --> 00:16:59.000 the fingerprint on the seal? This is that Baruch, 00:17:00.460 --> 00:17:02.799 whose fingerprint is probably on that seal that 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:05.710 I showed you. It's a clay seal. It had been sealed 00:17:05.710 --> 00:17:09.410 up and Baruch, who was the secretary or the assistant 00:17:09.410 --> 00:17:14.650 for Jeremiah, took the deeds. And then Jeremiah 00:17:14.650 --> 00:17:19.710 says, I prayed to the Lord, saying, Ah, Lord 00:17:19.710 --> 00:17:24.630 God, behold, thou hast made the heavens and the 00:17:24.630 --> 00:17:27.930 earth by thy great power and by thine outstretched 00:17:27.930 --> 00:17:34.059 arm. Nothing is too difficult for thee. who show 00:17:34.059 --> 00:17:39.579 us loving kindness to thousands. Now we're going 00:17:39.579 --> 00:17:41.539 to stop at that point in the prayer this morning, 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:44.140 but that covers the theme we want to talk about, 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:50.140 which is the greatness of God's grace. We have 00:17:50.140 --> 00:17:52.380 seen God's grace illustrated. Now we're going 00:17:52.380 --> 00:17:55.019 to see in this prayer God's grace proclaimed 00:17:55.019 --> 00:17:59.599 by Jeremiah in the prayer. The God of Judah is 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:02.319 here identified as the creator of the universe. 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:06.920 We have a little insight here into Jeremiah's 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:09.240 theology. In fact, his prayer is a marvelous 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:13.079 statement of theology. But he begins at the beginning. 00:18:13.140 --> 00:18:17.640 He begins at Genesis by saying, you have made 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:21.839 the heavens and the earth. Which is a way of 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:26.279 saying, God, you have made the universe. Everything 00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:30.940 that is, you have formed it. You have fashioned 00:18:30.940 --> 00:18:34.980 it. Now that was an important statement. I want 00:18:34.980 --> 00:18:37.380 you to go back to chapter 10 of Jeremiah where 00:18:37.380 --> 00:18:41.480 a similar statement is made. Where Jeremiah again 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:50.339 calls God the Creator. In Jeremiah 10, Jeremiah 00:18:50.339 --> 00:18:55.279 is attacking the false gods that God's people 00:18:55.279 --> 00:18:59.680 had followed. They had gone after the idols of 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:05.319 the nations. And so Jeremiah is showing how weak 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:09.579 these gods are. He says in verse 5, for example, 00:19:09.819 --> 00:19:14.019 like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, are they? 00:19:14.740 --> 00:19:17.900 You ever seen a scarecrow out in a pumpkin field? 00:19:18.579 --> 00:19:22.319 A corn field? Just standing there, stark, unmoving? 00:19:23.160 --> 00:19:26.339 See, that's what their gods are like. Like scarecrows. 00:19:27.079 --> 00:19:30.200 They cannot speak, they must be carried, because 00:19:30.200 --> 00:19:33.089 they cannot walk. You see, he's mocking them. 00:19:33.890 --> 00:19:37.210 He says, do not fear them. They can do no harm, 00:19:37.289 --> 00:19:40.170 nor can they do any good for that matter. They're 00:19:40.170 --> 00:19:43.750 meaningless. And then he says, there is none 00:19:43.750 --> 00:19:47.670 like thee, O Lord. Thou art great, and a great 00:19:47.670 --> 00:19:52.269 is thy name in might. Who would not fear thee, 00:19:52.809 --> 00:19:55.329 O King of the nations? And he goes on to praise 00:19:55.329 --> 00:19:59.670 God. Then in verse 11, thus you shall say to 00:19:59.670 --> 00:20:04.319 them, The gods that did not make the heavens 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:07.980 and the earth shall perish from the earth and 00:20:07.980 --> 00:20:13.279 from under the heavens. It is He who made the 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:15.940 earth by His power, who established the world 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:19.500 by His wisdom, and by His understanding He has 00:20:19.500 --> 00:20:24.779 stretched out the heavens. So Jeremiah is in 00:20:24.779 --> 00:20:28.799 this book contrasting the God of Judah who made 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:34.049 the universe. to the pitiful gods of the nations. 00:20:36.930 --> 00:20:40.789 And the sad, tragic thing is that God's own people 00:20:40.789 --> 00:20:44.410 had turned from the God who had made the universe 00:20:44.410 --> 00:20:47.390 to follow these gods who were like scarecrows 00:20:47.390 --> 00:20:52.990 in a cucumber field. Now before we condemn them 00:20:52.990 --> 00:20:55.269 too quickly, we have to look at our own lives 00:20:55.269 --> 00:20:58.049 and see what scarecrows we might have today that 00:20:58.049 --> 00:21:02.660 we follow and that we worship. instead of the 00:21:02.660 --> 00:21:10.000 Maker of the heavens and the earth. Jeremiah 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.099 reminds the people of God that it is their God 00:21:14.099 --> 00:21:18.039 who made the heavens and the earth. And he mocks 00:21:18.039 --> 00:21:21.240 the false idols. And he says regarding their 00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:25.440 God that nothing, Lord, is too difficult for 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:28.440 you. We'll sing a chorus about this text, don't 00:21:28.440 --> 00:21:33.599 we? Nothing is too difficult for thee." The word 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:38.140 difficult here means too wonderful. The idea 00:21:38.140 --> 00:21:44.119 is nothing is beyond the bounds for you. Nothing 00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:50.480 is too extraordinary. He's saying you can imagine 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:53.880 as far as you can and then there's God beyond 00:21:53.880 --> 00:22:01.740 that. What do you think God can do? Whatever 00:22:01.740 --> 00:22:04.400 you think God can do, He can do more than that. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:08.799 In your wildest imagination, what can you imagine 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:12.420 God doing? Well, God can do more than that. Paul 00:22:12.420 --> 00:22:16.299 joins with this in Ephesians chapter 3. He is 00:22:16.299 --> 00:22:19.099 able to do exceeding, abundantly beyond all that 00:22:19.099 --> 00:22:25.160 we ask or even think. He's able. Nothing is too 00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:30.019 difficult for God. Nothing. the very first time 00:22:30.019 --> 00:22:32.160 this phrase is used in the Bibles in Genesis 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:36.220 chapter 18, where the Lord said to Abraham, why 00:22:36.220 --> 00:22:39.680 did Sarah laugh, saying, shall I indeed bear 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:44.259 a child when I am so old? Is anything too difficult 00:22:44.259 --> 00:22:49.559 for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return 00:22:49.559 --> 00:22:53.640 to you, at this time next year, and Sarah shall 00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:59.740 have a son. God can even cause a womb that has 00:22:59.740 --> 00:23:04.759 been closed to be opened in the old age to bear 00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:12.640 a son. Nothing is too difficult for God. Not 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:18.440 even the expression of grace to people who do 00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:23.099 not deserve it. Notice how that ties together 00:23:23.099 --> 00:23:29.839 in Jeremiah's prayer. loving kindness to thousands. 00:23:33.539 --> 00:23:37.160 God is even able to express kindness toward those 00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:41.519 who are undeserving of His kindness. This word 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:44.819 loving kindness is not easy to translate into 00:23:44.819 --> 00:23:49.259 the English. It's used plenty of times in the 00:23:49.259 --> 00:23:52.880 Old Testament, in fact 250 times. And Jeremiah 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:57.470 uses it five times. But it's not easy to translate 00:23:57.470 --> 00:24:01.690 into the English because of its meaning. Probably 00:24:01.690 --> 00:24:04.950 this word loving kindness is about as close as 00:24:04.950 --> 00:24:09.509 you can get to it. But it means also faithful 00:24:09.509 --> 00:24:14.150 love that acts in the best interests of the one 00:24:14.150 --> 00:24:17.650 that's loved. Even if that one that's loved is 00:24:17.650 --> 00:24:22.549 pitiful and unworthy and undeserving, it acts 00:24:22.549 --> 00:24:26.680 in the best interests. This word loving kindness 00:24:26.680 --> 00:24:32.740 is closely associated with the covenants of God. 00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:35.640 Turn back to Exodus chapter 20 for a moment and 00:24:35.640 --> 00:24:38.859 notice how it's used when the Ten Commandments 00:24:38.859 --> 00:24:43.319 are given to Israel. Exodus chapter 20 verse 00:24:43.319 --> 00:24:50.599 5. God says you shall not make yourself an idol 00:24:50.599 --> 00:24:52.819 and in verse 5 He says you shall not worship 00:24:52.819 --> 00:24:57.769 them or serve them. For I the Lord your God am 00:24:57.769 --> 00:25:00.549 a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers 00:25:00.549 --> 00:25:03.109 on the children on the third and fourth generations 00:25:03.109 --> 00:25:08.789 of those who hate me but showing loving kindness 00:25:08.789 --> 00:25:13.930 to thousands Notice that same phrase in Jeremiah 00:25:13.930 --> 00:25:17.450 Jeremiah may well have brought that phrase from 00:25:17.450 --> 00:25:20.950 Exodus 20 into his prayer in Jeremiah chapter 00:25:20.950 --> 00:25:26.940 32 It means that God shows his loving kindness 00:25:26.940 --> 00:25:32.500 to thousands of generations of those that love 00:25:32.500 --> 00:25:38.220 Him. To those who are related to Him in covenant, 00:25:39.319 --> 00:25:45.920 God is loving kind. And so it's understood by 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:48.720 some that this word loving kindness means loyal 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:53.420 love that's based upon a relationship. The relationship 00:25:53.420 --> 00:25:59.859 exists. Therefore, I will be loving and loyal 00:25:59.859 --> 00:26:03.900 to this one with whom I'm in relationship. However, 00:26:05.559 --> 00:26:07.759 there are other places where this same word is 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:11.160 used in the context of God's everlasting loving 00:26:11.160 --> 00:26:14.099 -kindness, not in relation to covenant only. 00:26:15.700 --> 00:26:18.140 And probably it's better to understand it here 00:26:18.140 --> 00:26:21.460 in that sense. Yes, God was going to be faithful 00:26:21.460 --> 00:26:23.599 to his people because of the covenant that he 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:27.640 had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and 00:26:27.640 --> 00:26:33.539 with David, but his loving kindness preceded 00:26:33.539 --> 00:26:38.319 the covenant. That's the point. It is better 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:42.380 here to see this faithful love as that which 00:26:42.380 --> 00:26:45.359 preceded the covenant and made room for the covenant 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:49.799 that God made with his people. God acts in love 00:26:49.799 --> 00:26:52.319 and in grace toward us not merely because He 00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:56.500 has a covenant with us based on the cross, but 00:26:56.500 --> 00:27:01.319 because God is, by His eternal nature, loving 00:27:01.319 --> 00:27:07.720 and kind. You say, well what does all of this 00:27:07.720 --> 00:27:10.099 have to do with the circumstances of my life 00:27:10.099 --> 00:27:11.859 today? There are two things I want to say to 00:27:11.859 --> 00:27:17.930 you. God is the maker of heaven and earth. That 00:27:17.930 --> 00:27:22.049 means that God in His sovereignty is able to 00:27:22.049 --> 00:27:24.910 oversee the circumstances of your life this morning. 00:27:27.990 --> 00:27:30.309 Now like Israel, you may have gotten into your 00:27:30.309 --> 00:27:36.289 circumstances because of disobedience. And so 00:27:36.289 --> 00:27:38.589 we don't say that God created the circumstances 00:27:38.589 --> 00:27:42.569 in that sense. It's perhaps been you that have 00:27:42.569 --> 00:27:46.380 created the circumstances. But never are our 00:27:46.380 --> 00:27:50.940 circumstances outside of God's superintendents. 00:27:53.019 --> 00:27:56.559 He is always overseeing our circumstances, even 00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:59.579 in our disobedience, as with the people of Israel 00:27:59.579 --> 00:28:03.920 here. He had told them what would happen if they 00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:06.480 disobeyed. They disobeyed. It came upon them. 00:28:08.380 --> 00:28:11.619 But God is overseeing Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon 00:28:11.619 --> 00:28:14.559 coming against His people. And though it will 00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:16.519 be a harsh discipline, and we'll get into that 00:28:16.519 --> 00:28:20.480 next week about God's discipline, God has been 00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:23.880 loving kind and He is going to restore His people. 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:30.880 This morning you need to understand and believe 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:34.559 that your circumstances too, however miserable 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:38.319 you may be, however difficult they are, however 00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:42.059 chafing against you, that your circumstances... 00:28:42.349 --> 00:28:46.789 are shepherded by sovereign hands, a God who 00:28:46.789 --> 00:28:50.230 made heaven and earth and who is not going to 00:28:50.230 --> 00:28:54.150 fail in shaping the circumstances of your life 00:28:54.150 --> 00:28:59.369 too, for your good and for his glory. The second 00:28:59.369 --> 00:29:01.869 thing I want you to see is that just as God's 00:29:01.869 --> 00:29:05.069 faithful love and grace was all that Jeremiah 00:29:05.069 --> 00:29:07.869 needed to keep him going in the midst of his 00:29:07.869 --> 00:29:14.980 distress, it's also enough for you. God is loving 00:29:14.980 --> 00:29:21.140 kind. God is faithful in His loyal love to you. 00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:25.519 And all that you need in the midst of your circumstances 00:29:25.519 --> 00:29:33.799 is Him. I hope that you will believe that this 00:29:33.799 --> 00:29:35.880 morning and that you will turn from the anxiety 00:29:35.880 --> 00:29:40.420 that may be eating away at your joy, or the guilt 00:29:40.420 --> 00:29:45.960 that is eroding your peace. or the doubts and 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:52.839 self -condemnation that are destroying that walk 00:29:52.839 --> 00:29:57.420 with God that you have known. I hope that you 00:29:57.420 --> 00:29:59.619 will believe what I am saying this morning and 00:29:59.619 --> 00:30:02.640 receive from God's loving kindness what you need 00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:08.779 in the midst of your circumstances. But the cross 00:30:08.779 --> 00:30:10.980 represented back here on our wall this morning, 00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:14.500 at that cross that Jesus died on, God demonstrated 00:30:14.500 --> 00:30:21.180 that the entire debt of your failures, of your 00:30:21.180 --> 00:30:25.240 sins, was paid for forever by what Jesus did. 00:30:26.980 --> 00:30:31.960 He proved His love and His kindness toward you. 00:30:32.819 --> 00:30:36.319 And He is not going to drop you now. wherever 00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:39.240 this day finds you in the pilgrimage of your 00:30:39.240 --> 00:30:45.400 life, God is going to be faithful, because He 00:30:45.400 --> 00:30:50.079 is a faithful God. If we believe not, yet He 00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:56.079 abides faithful, for He cannot deny who He is. 00:30:57.119 --> 00:31:03.650 He cannot deny Himself. This last week we had 00:31:03.650 --> 00:31:05.930 a lot of work to do around our house, and I was 00:31:05.930 --> 00:31:11.869 trying to be helpful to my wife. Sometimes sincerity 00:31:11.869 --> 00:31:17.130 is not enough. I went down to the basement, and 00:31:17.130 --> 00:31:20.809 I noticed that a string had come off of one of 00:31:20.809 --> 00:31:23.690 our lights. We have the old -fashioned kind of 00:31:23.690 --> 00:31:25.609 light. You pull on the string and it comes on, 00:31:26.529 --> 00:31:28.150 you know? And the string had come loose, and 00:31:28.150 --> 00:31:29.730 so I thought, well, I'm going to replace that 00:31:29.730 --> 00:31:31.940 string. She hasn't even asked me to do it. I'm 00:31:31.940 --> 00:31:34.099 going to show her how godly I am. I'm going to 00:31:34.099 --> 00:31:38.980 build before she asks. And so I got a five -gallon 00:31:38.980 --> 00:31:42.079 bucket that I used for these purposes. And I 00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:44.220 turned it upside down. And I stood up on that 00:31:44.220 --> 00:31:48.859 bucket. And I replaced that string. And then 00:31:48.859 --> 00:31:52.880 I put my foot back to get off the bucket. Freeze 00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:56.920 that frame for just a moment. I wish I could. 00:31:58.920 --> 00:32:01.380 We had an open house yesterday and as part of 00:32:01.380 --> 00:32:03.900 the open house my wife had a lot of food to prepare. 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:06.960 And one of the things she did was to get about 00:32:06.960 --> 00:32:11.700 four or five pounds of grapes. And she had washed 00:32:11.700 --> 00:32:14.140 these grapes and prepared them for yesterday. 00:32:14.200 --> 00:32:16.339 She put them in plastic bags in the basement 00:32:16.339 --> 00:32:19.359 where they would be cool. She had them sitting 00:32:19.359 --> 00:32:25.839 in a pan that was on a laundry basket. That was 00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:31.130 right beside my five gallon bucket. Now we'll 00:32:31.130 --> 00:32:37.490 go back to the action. My foot comes down, hits 00:32:37.490 --> 00:32:42.029 the laundry basket, slips the grapes up into 00:32:42.029 --> 00:32:46.049 the air, and between my foot hitting the basket 00:32:46.049 --> 00:32:48.230 and hitting the floor, somehow those grapes got 00:32:48.230 --> 00:32:52.609 underneath my foot. And I saw myself dancing 00:32:52.609 --> 00:32:57.049 on four pounds of grapes. Have you ever seen 00:32:57.049 --> 00:33:00.970 that I Love Lucy where she's in Italy? I tell 00:33:00.970 --> 00:33:03.029 you that's the first thing that came to my mind 00:33:03.029 --> 00:33:05.549 when I looked down and saw my foot on those grapes. 00:33:08.170 --> 00:33:11.670 I was devastated. My wife was working hard and 00:33:11.670 --> 00:33:14.849 here I had destroyed these grapes. And so I take 00:33:14.849 --> 00:33:21.750 the grapes upstairs. And I present my work to 00:33:21.750 --> 00:33:26.849 her. This wasn't what she had in mind by preparing 00:33:26.849 --> 00:33:32.210 the grapes. And you know what? She was loving 00:33:32.210 --> 00:33:37.990 kind. She didn't even yell at me. She didn't 00:33:37.990 --> 00:33:42.029 say an unkind thing to me. It was almost like, 00:33:42.430 --> 00:33:46.509 oh well, we can get more grapes. I felt terrible. 00:33:47.349 --> 00:33:53.009 My joy was gone. Believe me. My peace had disappeared. 00:33:53.970 --> 00:34:00.519 My marriage was on the rocks. And yet, my wife 00:34:00.519 --> 00:34:05.480 is so wonderful that she was loving kind to me. 00:34:06.279 --> 00:34:08.719 Now, she wasn't loving kind to me because there's 00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:12.840 a marriage license that I have. I didn't have 00:34:12.840 --> 00:34:16.019 to pull down and say, honey, see this? You have 00:34:16.019 --> 00:34:20.800 to forgive me. No. It wasn't because of the covenant 00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:25.780 that she forgave me. We have a covenant. But 00:34:25.780 --> 00:34:30.309 what preceded the covenant was love. And what 00:34:30.309 --> 00:34:33.050 has preceded God's covenant with you and me is 00:34:33.050 --> 00:34:36.269 love. Oh yes, God's faithful to us because of 00:34:36.269 --> 00:34:39.610 the covenant. And the promises he's made to us 00:34:39.610 --> 00:34:43.170 because of the cross. And that provides the foundation 00:34:43.170 --> 00:34:46.349 for it all. But God's love supersedes all of 00:34:46.349 --> 00:34:50.710 that. It surrounds all of that. God is loving 00:34:50.710 --> 00:34:54.530 kind. This morning some of you are beating yourselves 00:34:54.530 --> 00:34:56.929 to death because you have stepped on the grapes. 00:34:58.349 --> 00:35:01.269 You have made a mess of things and the peace 00:35:01.269 --> 00:35:03.469 and the joy of God, and you're wondering how 00:35:03.469 --> 00:35:06.090 God can ever love you. Friends, God never stopped 00:35:06.090 --> 00:35:11.210 loving you. God never stopped loving you. He 00:35:11.210 --> 00:35:15.849 is full of loving kindness. Great is His grace 00:35:15.849 --> 00:35:21.250 toward us. So this morning my plea with you is 00:35:21.250 --> 00:35:24.670 to take your grapes to Him and show Him the mess 00:35:24.670 --> 00:35:28.809 you've made. And don't be afraid to do that. 00:35:29.389 --> 00:35:33.210 Don't be afraid of God. God will restore you. 00:35:33.230 --> 00:35:37.670 God will reach out and embrace you. Because He 00:35:37.670 --> 00:35:42.070 loves you. And so stop beating yourself over 00:35:42.070 --> 00:35:46.369 the head. And don't allow Satan anymore to rob 00:35:46.369 --> 00:35:48.869 you of the joy you ought to have by producing 00:35:48.869 --> 00:35:53.469 false guilt in your life. Satanic guilt. To receive 00:35:53.469 --> 00:35:56.199 the forgiveness that God has for you. and let 00:35:56.199 --> 00:36:01.119 him restore you out of the rich, deep love that 00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:05.139 he has in his heart for you always because of 00:36:05.139 --> 00:36:11.800 Jesus. Let's pray. I don't know where this message 00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:15.059 finds you this morning, but if you're like me 00:36:15.059 --> 00:36:19.980 and you've had that kind of a week, perhaps you 00:36:19.980 --> 00:36:24.059 need to come this morning to the cross and just 00:36:24.059 --> 00:36:30.659 there bow and... Show the Lord the mess. And 00:36:30.659 --> 00:36:34.340 thank him that in his loving kindness he delights 00:36:34.340 --> 00:36:39.079 to forgive and to restore you. And let him do 00:36:39.079 --> 00:36:46.099 that for you at this moment, will you? Oh Father, 00:36:46.139 --> 00:36:49.659 I pray that you embrace that one or those several 00:36:49.659 --> 00:36:51.860 who are here this morning deeply in need of this 00:36:51.860 --> 00:36:56.360 message. Help them to see that in the midst of 00:36:56.360 --> 00:37:03.380 the circumstances that are so raw and so heavy 00:37:03.380 --> 00:37:11.019 that you are present and you're great in your 00:37:11.019 --> 00:37:16.139 loving kindness. May they experience that loving 00:37:16.139 --> 00:37:18.519 kindness and let that Lord be enough for them 00:37:18.519 --> 00:37:22.320 to go on in their circumstances. and to know 00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:25.300 that you're going to bring them through the circumstances 00:37:25.300 --> 00:37:31.760 in a way that will help them grow, which will 00:37:31.760 --> 00:37:38.940 honor you. Let's stand together with our heads 00:37:38.940 --> 00:37:53.110 bowed and sing to the Lord this morning. That 00:37:53.110 --> 00:38:07.070 saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but 00:38:07.070 --> 00:38:28.360 now am found, Was blind, but now I see. God's 00:38:28.360 --> 00:38:58.389 grace that is greater than all. Lord, we stand 00:38:58.389 --> 00:39:06.130 amazed in the presence of a God who loves us 00:39:06.130 --> 00:39:11.449 and a God who receives us and a God who restores 00:39:11.449 --> 00:39:17.429 us in such grace. And this morning we give our 00:39:17.429 --> 00:39:22.400 hearts to you afresh. And we commit ourselves 00:39:22.400 --> 00:39:26.739 anew to walk in this grace in which we stand 00:39:26.739 --> 00:39:32.559 in Jesus Christ. And Lord, may we not only experience 00:39:32.559 --> 00:39:35.940 it ourselves, but share it with others and be 00:39:35.940 --> 00:39:40.619 gracious people because we are filled with a 00:39:40.619 --> 00:39:50.800 God whose loving kind to thousands. In Jesus' 00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:52.019 name, Amen.