[0:00] In Jeremiah chapter number 32, Jeremiah is going to make the purchase of some land by maybe the family farm, if you will. And it's such a wonderful story how God uses Jeremiah to give a picture of redemption.
[0:15] And what a great thing we get to do when we get to show this world a picture of something that is eternal and something that is wonderful. It's divided in three sections. We first have the story part where he is going to buy some land.
[0:28] I don't see anybody that works here in real estate. Maybe I'm missing you. But he makes a purchase while he is still in jail or on kind of like a house arrest that's going on.
[0:39] And we're going to read about that. We're going to see the conditions of it, of his purchase. And then it leads to a prayer. And then it leads to a response. Before I read Jeremiah 32, I want to read to you Psalm 4, 6.
[0:51] I want to start with this psalm and I want to end with this psalm. It says, There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Lord, lift up the light of thy countenance upon us. There be many that say, Who will show us any good?
[1:04] Lord, lift up the light of thy countenance upon us. That was in the portion of scripture that James read this morning. He was in Psalm chapter number 4. And that should be what we want to happen in our lives, that God would reflect upon us, that people would know him for who he is.
[1:20] One of the people that we met over the week was a kid named Dawson that lives a few doors down from Evans. And Thatcher was with me. And I asked the young man if he was a believer. And he said, No.
[1:31] And he said, But I said, Has anybody ever shared with you the message of Jesus? And he said, Two people have in my life. And I said, What did you think about it? And he said, I just don't know that I believe.
[1:42] I thought, If Jesus was here today on his front doorstep, would he be able to deny how wonderful he is? We know that it would be possible that people in Jesus' day did and that there's no amount of truth that would guarantee that he would make a decision.
[1:58] But in that little bit of time when him saying that and not used to hearing that, you take a deep breath because you just want to say, You don't believe that Jesus is all that he said he is? And you want to tell him everything that you know?
[2:09] And then you pray that he gets a good picture of who Jesus is and what Christianity is. Those two friends in his life will stay persistent about it and that he'll have good examples.
[2:20] So we'll read that verse again before we end and pray that it will be true for all of us, that that's what will happen. I want to read to you the first 15 verses and give you some comments on the verses to make sure you fully get all the details of it in this picture.
[2:35] Verse number one, The word came to Jeremiah from the lord of the tenth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. For when the king of Babylon, the army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which is in the king of Judah's house.
[2:53] Zedekiah is one of my favorite bad kings. He's scattered throughout the historical books, but he's really kind of fun to read about because he's kind of the fake king. He was supposed to hand the kingdom over him, but then as he got the opportunity to be the king, he's like, I want to run with it, you know.
[3:10] You don't get many chances to be king, and so I'm not giving up very easily. And it's kind of like if you follow sports, when a team's up by a whole lot on the basketball team, they'll put the kids in who never get to play, and they're supposed to just fill the time, but they go in there and they give it all they got.
[3:25] Well, there's Zedekiah. He's been told that they're going to be taken over, and he's supposed to just fill the spot, but he doesn't want to, and so the city's going to be surrounded, and it's just going to be horrible.
[3:36] His friends are going to leave them in the middle of the night. The enemy's going to come in. It's just going to be a horrible time, but Zedekiah didn't like the message of Jeremiah, and so sometimes Jeremiah would be put like in the, he would be in the deep prison.
[3:50] He would be in confinement. What's that word? Solitary confinement. He would be more like in a solitary confinement place, but right now he's more in this open area where he's being supervised where people can come and go, and we'll see that here in a second.
[4:04] Verse 3, For Zedekiah the king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.
[4:17] Jeremiah, why do you keep saying this? I don't like it when you say that. Verse 4, And Zedekiah the king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes.
[4:33] And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there should be unto him I visit him, saith the Lord, Though he fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper. So there's no chance of success for Zedekiah.
[4:45] He will see the king face to face, he will see his sons killed, his eyes will be removed, and he'll be taken. We don't know how things end, but we know that it said he will not succeed.
[4:59] Verse 6, And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Behold, Hanamil, the son of Shilam, thine uncle. The son of your uncle, we could just say it's his cousin. Alright?
[5:09] But a little more descriptive. In some languages you have not just one word for cousin, but when they say the word cousin, you know it's your uncle's son. Do we have that in South Africa? Many different words for cousin.
[5:21] So it's a little more descriptive, not just saying it's cousin, but we know exactly who's a son of whose uncle he is. She'll come to thee, saying, Buy thee my field, that is, Anathoth, for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.
[5:34] So he had the rights to buy it. Leviticus 25, Ruth 4, he was in line to purchase this piece of land that was supposed to stay inside of the family, and so he's going to make that decision.
[5:46] So Hanamil, my uncle's son, came to me in the court of the prison, according to the word of the Lord, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is, in Hanathoth, which is the country of Benjamin, for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine, buy it for thyself.
[6:02] Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. An opportunity came, and he believed it was from God. The circumstances were there. And he bought the field of Hanamil, my uncle's son, that was Anathoth, and he weighed him the money, and even seventeen shekels of silver.
[6:16] And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed with him the money, and the balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, which was sealed according to law and custom, that which was open.
[6:28] And I gave evidence of the purchase of Baruch, the son of Nerai, the son of Messiah, and the side of Hanamil, my uncle's son, and in the presence of witnesses, that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.
[6:41] And I charged the book before them, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, that the God of Israel, take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both the which is sealed, and this evidence which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.
[6:56] So taking this, not using eight and a half by eleven copy paper, but taking the scroll, the official document would be written on one side, the open document that he would keep would be on the other, it would be divided in the middle, it would be rolled up, they'd maybe put a hole in it, and they'd wrap it up with a cord, and then they'd put it in a safety deposit box, they would put it in a vessel, in a clay vessel, and it would be kept, and somebody would watch after that.
[7:21] So this is to be a record, he did everything in an official manner, because it was very symbolic what he was doing. He wanted people to know that he was really buying this piece of land, that is in a war zone.
[7:33] And then verse 15, For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land. So Jeremiah makes a land purchase while in prison, which seems a little bit odd, but not only does he buy this, but God comes to him in a dream and says, your cousin's going to come to you, and when he offers you to buy this piece of land that can stay in your family, that you have the rights to, I want you to buy it.
[7:59] I don't know if any of you have a piece of property that you would love to own. 2155 Olive Creek Drive in Fair Dealen, Kentucky. Sounds like a wonderful place, doesn't it?
[8:11] That is the Nelson Homestead. That's where my grandparents lived, and that's where my mom and all the uncles grew up. It's where all the family dinners took place for a long time. And then my family recently, the last few years, they sold it to somebody else outside of the family.
[8:27] And I often thought if I was in a position to purchase that land, that would have been my dream piece of land to have. It's near the Kentucky Lake. It's beautiful, people. Just got to trust me. And so if somebody came and offered me a piece of land like that, I'm in a position to buy it under normal conditions.
[8:43] There wouldn't be much of a story to be said. But what if my cousin came to me and gave me the description of the land and said, but it's in Afghanistan, all right? It's in a place that's in a war zone. It's in a place that for three generations we will never go back into and that you will never get to enjoy.
[8:59] Would you be interested in buying it? The decision would seem to be pretty illogical to make that decision. We see that God went to him and told him, Jeremiah, this opportunity is going to come. And meaning that Jeremiah would very likely have missed it if the word of the Lord wouldn't have come to him and said, be prepared for this opportunity that's going to come and make this decision.
[9:19] And I find that interesting because there's times that we make decisions that seem illogical to most people that are watching, but we believe by the word of the Lord and an inward desire and the opportunity that's there that it's a decision that we should make.
[9:34] And we talk like that often and we don't even think much about it. Today in the life group for the high school class, I was asking them if any of them had an example of that. And Emma Halbrook has been pestering us for a long time about an ESL ministering class.
[9:49] And I said, Emma, why would you want us to have English as a second language? And she said, I just feel like it's something that we should have. I feel like we have the resource to have it. I feel like we have the opportunities to have it.
[10:00] So we should have it, right? And none of us think that is odd, but I'd ask them, I'd say, could you show me? Is there a verse in the Bible that says Emma Halbrook, ESL, English as a second language?
[10:11] And she said, no, but there's other conditions where she said it seems like an opportunity that we should take. And this is one that Jeremiah is going to take and we're going to see some of the variables in which he is going to make this decision about making what seemed to be an illogical decision, but it was one that was going to give a picture of all those that were watching about redemption and hope.
[10:31] In the Bible, we have a lot of examples, and I'm going to name a few, and I bet you would know even more. Hosea marries a woman who is unfaithful, but he remains faithful to her. And if you read about his life, you see the faithfulness of God.
[10:42] We have Isaiah walks around without any clothes and barefoot for three days, and as he does that, people would recognize, or for three years, not three days, he walks around for three years, and he says, this is a warning of what is going to happen to you.
[10:59] The way that I'm living is going to be the fate of all of you. Ezekiel, he lays bound in ropes at times, and one time he shaves his head, striking some of his hair with a sword.
[11:09] Sounds like a very fancy haircut, doesn't it? And so he has a sword. Another time he covers his face, digging through a wall. He's told to eat with trembling and drink water with trembling. Avoided the mourning rituals of his wife that passed away.
[11:25] Jeremiah, the hero, he had taken his clothes one time, and he put them in a rock, and he was supposed to leave them there until they became tattered. Maybe something like you'd find at the mall, you know, the jeans were all tattered or something, but he was doing it before it was cool.
[11:39] And so he's a living example, smashing jars in front of them, or writing a sermon again. We've all done that, right? Writing and rewriting a sermon. Chapter 36, embedding paved stones, or taking the scrolls and throwing them in the Euphrates River in chapter 51 that we will give to.
[11:55] But we see a lot of action sermons. We see a lot of sermons that are lived out by people. And that's what we're told in the Bible, that there's times that we're going to live out a truth for other people to see.
[12:06] Speaking of preaching, in Titus 1.3 it says, But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior.
[12:17] Good way to understand what manifested is is to look at how it's used in other places. 1 John 1.2 says, For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and we bear witness, and we show unto you that eternal life, which was the Father, it was manifested unto us.
[12:33] Manifest is to make something clear to your mind, to the senses of one's judgment, that when we teach the Bible in a Sunday school class, the kids, or we preach it from a pulpit, or wherever we're at, we're supposed to make it clear.
[12:44] We're supposed to help reveal the truth of God's word. And then in decisions in our lives, we're told in James 2.26, For as the body without the spirit is dead, so our faith without works is dead also.
[12:57] People are supposed to see our message being lived out. We don't have a job that you don't take home with you. That we're supposed to take the message where we go and live it out. You've heard the saying before, that you may be the only Bible that some people read.
[13:11] I would just say, if that's true, open up your Bible and let them see that one as well, right? There's no reason for that to be the case. We ought to open up the Bible and teach them, but people certainly should be learning truths.
[13:22] You can think about people in your life that they embodied certain truths. Maybe it was a spouse that was caring for a loved one during hard years, and you looked at them and you saw just an unconditional love, but that should be seen.
[13:35] When I was a senior in high school, it's been a few minutes since I told a basketball story, Twain, so here's one for you, okay? When I was in high school, my last play at our gym, at my home court, all my friends, what they do is they would call a timeout, and then the seniors would go off one at a time, and they would clap for you.
[13:54] And then it was my last time to play, and I was dribbling down the court, and the coach called me over to the side, and he's talking to me. I was like, okay, what's this last play we're going to do? And he said, Trent, I want you to throw the ball and hit the wall right there.
[14:08] And he pointed to the back wall above the goal, this way out of the way. He said, I want you to throw the ball right there. And I'm like, coach, that doesn't sound like a good plan, all right? I know you know more about basketball, but that doesn't equal anything for us.
[14:19] He says, I want you to throw the ball right there. And I said, if that's what you want, coach. And so I went, and I came down court, and I just took the ball, and I threw it out of bounds, and I hit the wall, and everybody like, that was weird, and all right?
[14:31] And they clapped, and I left the court, and I went and sat down. I'm thinking, what was that about? And then as the game went on, he came over there, and he said, Trent, I wanted you to remember all the times that I told you to do something, and you listened to me, and how you led the team just to be obedient, and to trust the coach, and you didn't question, and all those things.
[14:52] And I was thinking, coach, we could have done that in so many different ways, right? And, but he wanted that moment with me, and I guess he knew that someday I would need an example, and so he gave that moment to me right here.
[15:02] But there's times where you live something out, and people watch that in your life, and I appreciate that he was trying to do that. You know, you should probably leave that off the basketball court, but he was trying to help me make an example for other people that were watching, and we have that opportunity, and it's a great honor that we would have an opportunity to live out the message, and people would be watching us.
[15:24] So this purchase of the land was a demonstration of redemption. The field represented as a redemption and the restoration that God had planned for his people, a plan of redemption. Leviticus chapter number 25, verses 23 through 25, it says, that property in Fair Deal in Kentucky.
[16:09] I wish it could have stayed in the family, but they were told of God here to keep it inside the family. And so when we have stories like in Ruth, chapter number 4, about the kinsman of Naomi that would come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was of his brother.
[16:23] So we see that throughout the Bible, this picture of redemption. The word redeeming is to buy out. The term was used specifically in reference to the purchase of a slave's freedom. So understanding words like redemption are important.
[16:39] Sometimes in the training center, I will tell a series of sentences and I'll ask them to finish because we want to know the difference between the words. Just like there may be a cousin, there's also a cousin who is your uncle's son, right?
[16:50] It's more descriptive. And when we think about our salvation, we want to know all the words and what they mean and we don't want to just jumble them together. And so when we have a broken relationship with God and we need reconciliation, Jesus offered his life in our place and that's propitiation for our sins.
[17:07] We've been made righteous by the atonement offered by the death of Christ. We're now justified in the sight of God and we would have remained captive in our sins if it was not for the redemption that God has provided for us.
[17:18] Redemption is that buying back of us and it's a wonderful thing. Our redemption is found in Christ, Romans 3, 24, being justified freely by his grace. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
[17:31] Ephesians 1, 7 says, In whom we have redemption through the blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of your grace. It was the blood of Christ that we received our redemption. And some of the benefits that we have, Revelation says we have eternal life.
[17:44] Ephesians says forgiveness of sins. Romans 5, 17, of righteousness. Galatians 3, 13 says, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is every man that hangeth on a tree so we're free from the curse of the law.
[17:59] Adoption into God's family, Galatians 4, Deliverance from sins, bondage, and Titus. Peace with God, Colossians 1, Indwelling of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians chapter number 6.
[18:10] To be redeemed then is to be forgiven, holy, justified, free, adopted, reconciled. So no wonder it's not just a theme in the Old Testament, a theme in the New Testament, but Revelation chapter number 5, verse 9 says, And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by the blood out of every kindred, tongue, and people, and nation.
[18:35] Not just an Old Testament theme, not just a New Testament theme, but an eternal theme. It's a wonderful theme. Redemption is wonderful. Those girls that sang earlier, we want them to know about redemption.
[18:47] The kids sitting beside you, we want them to know about redemption. Everybody in your family, we want them to know about redemption. We want people to know about redemption. It's life changing. It changes our eternity.
[18:58] And so people need to know, and they need to be provided with a picture of it. They need to know what that looks like. And so here, Jeremiah is going to get the opportunity to give a picture of redemption, to give a picture of redemption and a future hope of what will happen with that land.
[19:15] The purchase of the land was a demonstration. He had been criticized by his family. It said in Jeremiah chapter number 12, he was told that he wasn't supposed to go to family events, and that probably didn't help things. But when his cousin came to him that day, we don't know what his cousin was thinking.
[19:29] But we know that when his cousin left, they had to all say, we may not believe Jeremiah, but Jeremiah must certainly believe what he is preaching. He has put his money where his mouth is. He is preaching that there's going to be a time that this land will be given back to us.
[19:44] And Jeremiah put his money where his mouth is, and he bought that land, proving the sincerity of what was there. Maybe you remember the story of Elijah in 1 Kings chapter number 18. And they were told the servant, go and look towards the sea.
[19:56] And he went up and he looked and he said, there is nothing. And he said, go again seven times. And he came to pass the seventh time. And he said, behold, there arises a little cloud out of the sea like a man's hand.
[20:07] And so they went and looked seven times. They said, rain is supposed to come. I don't see anything. But on the seventh time, there was that little picture of hope. There was that little cloud that said that rain was coming.
[20:19] Caleb talked to us about some tomato plants. And I'm really impressed. Not only did you teach the Bible, but you called tomatoes a fruit. And I don't know that I would have done that. All right. And you said that the tomato plant, you had that first one that would come in.
[20:31] And then in a few weeks more would come. That first sign of hope. That first sign that, no, I wasn't crazy for planting tomatoes here. That there is a harvest that is coming. What a wonderful thing it is when somebody gets a glimpse of hope.
[20:44] That little cloud in the sky that said it's going to happen. Judgment is coming upon the people. But Jeremiah gets to offer some hope. And he says, I'll buy the land. It's going to belong to us again.
[20:54] I have no problem buying that land. That's wonderful. When things are completely dark, but there's a little bit of light. When there seems to be absolutely no hope, that God lets you be a picture of hope for some people.
[21:05] When you can make that small gesture, when you get to do something for somebody that says, no, not everybody's against you, and no, things aren't horrible. What a wonderful place for us to get to be when God allows us to do that.
[21:17] Often stepping outside of your comfort zone or making a seemingly illogical decision is not careless irresponsibility, but it's a necessary act of obedience. And that's what he did.
[21:29] An act of obedience. And we're going to see some of the things that are in Jeremiah's heart as he prays. Verse 16, Now deliver the evidence of the person of the brook, the son of Nera. I prayed unto the Lord, saying, O Lord God, behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out thy hand.
[21:43] There is nothing too hard for thee. Thou showest loving kindness in the thousand, and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them. The great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name.
[21:56] Jeremiah is going to all of his verses, all the way down to verse number 25 in his prayer. He's going to say, God, I just made a decision that seems illogical. I need to speak to you here in this moment.
[22:07] And he prays. So he teaches us some essential elements of a step of faith. He obeys, and then he asks questions. He says, Now when I deliver the evidence, I finish the transaction, I pray it unto the Lord, saying, A saying you might have heard before.
[22:22] If not, you ought to hear it more often. And it says, To understand why, submit, and apply. To understand why, submit, and apply. It had been clear to Jeremiah, God said, I want you to make this purchase.
[22:33] The opportunity came. He knew he should take it. And then he goes to God, and he says, God, I need some, I trust you. I know you're good. And in verse number 25, he'll say, God, you're the one who asked me to do this.
[22:46] How many of you have ever been on a timeshare presentation? Any of you ever done that? Free tickets to Disney World? All right, if you haven't seen me afterwards, sign up in the foyer, okay? How many again, how many of you have done this?
[22:57] All right, I guess not as many as I thought have. Have any of you ever sold timeshares? All right, good. I won't mind saying they're carnies, okay? These people are just going to try to get you in a room, and they're going to try to keep you there until you make a decision.
[23:11] This decision that Jeremiah was to make would have been one that would have not been logical before him that he shouldn't have made it. There shouldn't have been enough persuasion that his cousin should have given him to make the decision.
[23:22] He couldn't have said, oh, I know things are looking bad right now, but things are going to look so much better in the future, you know? That's what Jeremiah knew, but that isn't what his cousin was going to say. His cousin couldn't have sold it to him.
[23:33] Oh, there may be all the responsibility to the family. But if he first acknowledges the greatness of God, you might have thought, or I would have thought, he would immediately went in to say, God, I don't know what I'm doing.
[23:45] God, I just purchased this. God, I need answers. But look at how Jeremiah speaks to God. He says that there's nothing that is too hard for thee. And then he gives an example to say, thou hast made the heavens and the earth.
[23:57] That's pretty good on a resume for nothing being too hard for. He says, you're powerful and loving. Thou showest loving kindness in the thousands. He says, you're full of wisdom, great in counsel, verse number 19.
[24:09] Mighty in work for thine eyes are open all the ways of the sons of men. Verse 20, he says, then he talks about how God is personally involved in the world. Not only is he the creator of the universe, and does he give counsel in his works for mighty, but he says, which has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.
[24:26] God, you've done great things in the past. I know you'll do it again. I know you're involved in our lives. And then Jeremiah acknowledges the character of the one with the request. In verse 25, he says, and thou hast said unto me, O Lord God.
[24:40] And so before he said, I know this seems like a crazy decision, he takes all those verses to talk about the character of God. And he says, God, because of who you are, any request you make of me is one that I should be obedient in.
[24:54] Right? He didn't look at all the circumstances, but he talked about the character and nature of God. Thou hast said unto me. Maybe the most important part of that prayer was who he addressed it to.
[25:05] It was the God. That's all he spoke about. He went and he worshiped. He said, God, I'm making an illogical decision, but I'm going to worship you during this time. If you've heard this, why don't you finish it for me?
[25:15] If you want to make a decision concerning God's will, then there's three things you can look at. There's the written word, the inward, and the outward circumstances. Let's say that again.
[25:25] The written, the inward, and the outward. One more time, because you're getting so good at it. The written, the inward, and the outward circumstances. So verse 25, he said, Thou hast said unto me, O Lord God.
[25:39] God had spoken unto him and told him to make this purchase. And then in verse number seven, Hanamiel the son of Sheolam, that uncle shall come to thee. And so that's what he had. He had, God told him that his cousin was going to come to him and tell him that.
[25:55] He had God's word on the matter, right? If God tells you that your cousin's going to come to you, then you should be looking for your cousin to come to you. Pretty simple, right? But there may be times that we're not told that our cousin is going to come to our house and to make an offer.
[26:10] But that doesn't mean that God is silent. Here's some things that I know that God has told me. Proverbs 11, 30, The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise. That's something I have written word on.
[26:21] Galatians 6, 2 tells me that I should bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. 2 Timothy 2, 15 says, Study the show that self-approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
[26:34] So my cousin may not come to me around the corner and offer the Selmy lamb, but I should be looking for chances to win souls. I should be looking for opportunity to bear people's burdens. I should be looking to study God's word when it's available to me.
[26:47] Why? I have His written word on the matter. I have God's written word on things that I should be looking for these things. And into an urge, Jeremiah had a desire to do what God wanted. We've seen it testified again and again.
[27:00] Philippians 2, 13, For it is God which worketh in you both the will and the do of His good pleasure. A God-given desire is provided to Him. You know, in 1 Timothy chapter number 3 it gives a list of qualifications for a pastor or for a bishop, but it also says in verse number 1 that desires the office desires a good thing.
[27:18] That God not only expects a qualification, but He places a desire in you. Many of you might have heard growing up as I did, it seemed like everybody, anytime God asked them to do something, they didn't want to do it.
[27:29] And that was one of the ways that you knew that God really wanted you to do something is if you didn't really want to do it. Does anybody know what I'm talking about here? I really didn't want to do this, but what is the truth of the matter?
[27:40] You apparently did because you ended up doing it, right? You do. Maybe you didn't want the conditions. Jeremiah may not wanted to purchase land that day, but he wanted to be obedient to God. He wanted to do what was most important in making that decision in his life.
[27:55] And then here comes the outward circumstances. God said, look for your cousin and he is going to come. God gave a desire and it was met with an opportunity. We should take notice of when those things happen.
[28:05] Paul says in Acts 16, Tim, and after he had seen the vision immediately, we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.
[28:16] He assuredly gathered. How did he assuredly gather? Well, he had a desire to preach the gospel. He had an opportunity to preach the gospel. So he assuredly gathered that this is an opportunity that he should take.
[28:29] At Vision Chapel, we had some testimonies that were all great. Saturday night was really special. Jessica Paciocano told a testimony. She said, 11 years ago yesterday, some people came to her house and shared the gospel with her, invited her to the Vacation Bible School.
[28:44] Austin Cook told a story about how growing up and seeing God in his life. And then Evans talked about how Austin Cook came and shared the gospel with him at a basketball court there in Roswell.
[28:57] Just a few years ago, you in here, Evans, somewhere. All right, you listen, Evans. All right, you told that, right? And then I had in my life, one of the things that was changed my life was somebody paid for me to go on a missions trip after I graduated high school.
[29:10] And so we know that God didn't specifically tell Austin Cook to go to the basketball court that day and didn't specifically give an address to those people to go to Jessica's house. And nobody told that dentist specifically to pay for my trip to go on a missions trip.
[29:25] But they were all desiring good things and they were looking for opportunities. And when the opportunities came, they surely gathered that they should move forward. So I can't tell you what would have happened if they would have not been sensitive to the Holy Spirit, but I can tell you what happened because they were.
[29:41] You know, Evans has saved the day and Jessica has saved the day and I got to go on a mission trip that opened my eyes to so many things. And I'm so thankful that people desire the things of God from the Word of God and then when opportunity comes, they act upon those things.
[29:55] Then we have the response from God, verse 26, Then came the word of the Lord and the Jeremiah saying, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me? And so God responds back.
[30:06] Jeremiah says, There's nothing too hard for God. And then God responds and says, Is there anything too hard for me? And we could say, You know what? There's nothing that's even difficult for God. There's not anything that's not too hard for Him.
[30:17] There's nothing that's not even difficult for our God. So God wasn't done talking to Jeremiah. He told him to make a decision. Jeremiah prays and then God is going to continue to encourage him in this decision.
[30:30] Verse 27, Then came the word of the Lord and Jeremiah saying, God confirms what Jeremiah knew, that there's nothing that is too hard for him. God reminds him of some hard facts. The people have provoked me to anger.
[30:42] He says that over and over again. In great detail, God reminds him of the dire situation. Verse 29, He says, The roofs in which they offered incense to their false gods, I'm going to burn down.
[30:54] They've done evil since their youth in verse number 30. This city has been wicked since the day it was built. Verse 31, From the king all the way down to just the working class of people, they have been wicked.
[31:04] Verse 32. Verse 33, He says, And they have turned unto me the back and not the face, though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened or received instruction.
[31:15] And so God is saying it's personal to him. He is concerned about these people, that he is to try to instruct them from the morning until the end. So here's Jeremiah that made an illogical decision.
[31:26] He focuses on God and he worships God and then he says, God, it was you that told me to make this decision. And then God reminds him of what he was doing and keeps him there. That's almost like a missions video that was made there.
[31:39] You see the video on top of the roof and you see all those things that are going on, but God was keeping the need in front of Jeremiah and the opportunity that was there. When the word becomes unimportant in our lives, all the truths and the themes of the Bible will follow.
[31:53] So when Jeremiah had made this decision and maybe you get to a point where questioning it and God's word will remind him this is important. These people need a picture of redemption.
[32:04] Things are very dire. Things seem to be without hope. But Jeremiah, you're going to have an opportunity to be a messenger of hope in this moment. And that had to encourage him. You know, when you're reading God's word and God tells you to do something, Ty Pepperdine told us that when God was working in his heart to go to China, he got to a point where he said, God, I either have to stop reading the Bible or I'm going to have to be obedient to this.
[32:26] When you're reading the word and it puts the right desires in your heart and then you begin looking for souls to win, you begin looking for burdens to bear and then it comes to you and then you get involved in that, where should you continue?
[32:38] Right back in God's word where he keeps that right there in front of you and he explains to you why you're going to do this and he gives you assurance of what you're doing as something of value and importance in people's lives.
[32:50] And so Jeremiah was given an incredible promise. Don't miss this. Verse 42 and 43, For thus saith the Lord, like as I have brought all the great evil upon the people, so I'll bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.
[33:02] Verse 43, And the field shall be bought in this land. He says, Jeremiah, Jeremiah, the land is coming back. You've made a purchase and it makes sense in the long run because this land is going to be given back and that's what people need to be reminded of is that God is going to restore.
[33:20] You know, we have a story in the New Testament that makes me think about this. I don't know what Jeremiah's cousin thought that day. I don't know if he thought, man, I'm glad to have that one off the books. I can't believe that my cousin Jeremiah was willing to buy this piece of land.
[33:33] I don't know what he was thinking, but I know that people around him, it wasn't a logical decision to make that God spoke to him about it. We have examples of that in the New Testament. A lady named Mary comes to Jesus and she washes his feet and there's Judas and he says, why would you do this?
[33:49] We could have taken the money that you had and we could have sold it and made money and given it to the poor and Jesus says, don't you understand she saved this for the day of my bearing that she sees something.
[34:01] You know what? Mary had a desire to worship Jesus. She had an opportunity to do it she assuredly gathers that's what's going to happen and her story is still a blessing to us today because she took the opportunity that was there in front of them.
[34:14] Why would we ever be concerned when the world would ridicule the decisions we make? Because we see things differently than we do. We see that the land is going to be restored as Jeremiah did. We see that Jesus is going to the cross as Mary did and that this is an important moment and that she should watch the feet of Jesus.
[34:31] We can live differently because we see the end is different than other people and what an incredible honor that it is to be a picture of hope in this world.
[34:41] To be a small cloud to say that the rain is coming to make the purchase to say that the land is going to be restored to sit down beside somebody and put their arms around them and say just like I'm sitting here with you right now the God of heaven cares about you as well and you may not see him you cannot feel his experience you don't believe that he's there but I promise you he is and me sitting here with you right now is a picture of that hope that is available to you.
[35:07] So what an incredible honor. Don't tell me in here that God doesn't place these types of ideas and thoughts in your mind and heart because the Bible tells us in Ephesians 2.10 that we're made we're a workmanship created in Christ Jesus and the good works and he has ordained that we should walk in them that God is going to put godly desires in your heart to do something and then he's going to give you the resources to do it and then he's going to give you the opportunity to do it and then you're going to need to say I surely gather that's what I'm supposed to do and then you get to be a picture of some eternal truth into this world that needs to see it.
[35:40] Be in the word so that you'll know what you should be looking for. You're not looking for your cousin to sell you a piece of land but there's a lot of things that we should be looking for and don't let fear hold you back. Stay in the word when these opportunities come so you don't get discouraged and believe the lie that what you're doing doesn't matter.
[35:57] Psalms 4.6 There will be many that say who will show us any good and we say Lord lift up the light of thy countenance upon us. Don't you want to be like Jeremiah?
[36:07] Don't you want to make a decision that may appear to be illogical to other people but knowing what God has revealed to us makes complete sense and that in doing that action or whatever it is people are going to be given some hope they're going to get to see what redemption is.
[36:24] Let this be your prayer. Say God would you shine upon us this week would you let me see? I want to be sensitive to you. I want to have the desires. How do we cultivate those desires in our lives? We spend time in his word and it tells us what we should be looking for and what we should be desiring.
[36:38] And say God I want to desire what you have me to desire and give me eyes to see when the opportunity comes and give me the courage to act upon it because I want to provide some hope to some people that I see.
[36:49] Heavenly Father thank you for your word. Thank you for the hope that is found. Lord I thank you for brothers and sisters at work very diligently to give hope to a world that is so great need of it.
[37:01] And I pray for them. I pray that this week that you'll give us the desires that we should have and they will be met with opportunities. And just like Jeremiah Lord we will obey you and then we will come to you in prayer and worship and say God we did that as an act of worship to you.
[37:17] With every head bowed and every eye closed and Christian would you pray and would you speak to God and would you tell him that's the decision you make in advance for tomorrow that when the opportunity comes for you to be a picture of hope in this world that you will do that and make that decision.
[37:34] If you're in here the night and you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you don't know that heaven is your home let us take the word of God and show you.
[37:45] If you're in here the day and you say you do not know if heaven is your home meaning that when you die that you will spend eternity there would you raise your hands so that I can pray for you. By your profession we have a room full of people that believe in here the day and there are going to be so many opportunities if we'll have the eyes to see it and if we'll be looking for it.
[38:05] I pray that we will. Would you do business with the Lord at the altar or at your seat but will you make a decision that in advance when the opportunities come you will act upon them.