[0:00] Take your Bibles to go with me to Jeremiah 19. I know what time it is. You don't have to worry about that. I know what time it is, but here's a great message from the Scriptures for all of us. In Jeremiah chapter 19, we're going to learn that sometimes it is too late to get right.
[0:17] How about that? Sometimes it is too late to get right. In Jeremiah chapter 18 and verse 4, that's a verse that everybody likes to preach because it says that the clay was marred in the hand of the potter.
[0:31] So he made again, he made again, made it again another vessel. But in chapter 19 and verse 11, he said this, And I say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Even so will I break this people and this city.
[0:48] As one breaks a potter's vessel that cannot be made whole, that cannot be made whole again. And they shall bury them in Topheth till there be no place to bury.
[1:02] This is a very sad passage of Scripture because Israel and Judah have gone so far that God says that's it.
[1:12] As a nation, it's time for a terrible, terrible spanking, punishment, chastisement. Father in heaven, I pray that night that you would help us as we see what you did with your people.
[1:26] We understand something about your character and that we not play with sin. That we not act like it's okay to do anything we want to do. That we realize that although you are good and kind and merciful and long-suffering, that if we continue in our foolishness, there will come a breaking.
[1:43] And I pray God that you would work in our lives, help us to learn and grow and get that. I'll give you praise in Jesus' name. Amen. Jeremiah chapter 19 and verse 1. We get God's message through Jeremiah.
[1:55] And I want you to pay attention that what Jeremiah does is exactly what we ought to do. Jeremiah only says what God says to say. And Jeremiah gets it from the Lord.
[2:05] In Jeremiah 19, verse 1, it says, Thus saith the Lord. Now, he got that straight from God. I don't get that straight from God. But I got this straight from God. And I take this right here and I preach that. That's what we do.
[2:16] Real preaching ought to simply be this is what God said. Not what's popular, not what people want to hear, not what we'd like to stack up as being the message. This message is going to be very clear.
[2:27] Just like chapter 18, he's still using that. So look if you would in verse 1. Go and get a potter's earthen vessel. And get the old people. Get the leaders of the people and the leaders of the priests.
[2:38] Get the old people. I'm fixing to illustrate a message. And it's not going to be hidden. And I want the old gray heads, the political leaders, and spiritual leaders. And I want you to be here and get my message.
[2:49] He takes them in verse 2 to the east gate. And when they get to the east gate there, they proclaim. The east gate overlooks the garbage dump. The east gate is where they have worshipped idols.
[2:59] The east gate is where they have sacrificed their children. They have worshipped false gods. And God promised them the worst imaginable evil is going to happen to them.
[3:10] Look at verse 3. And say, Hear ye the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. Behold, pay attention.
[3:22] I will bring evil upon this place. The witch whosoever heareth. It's funny. His ears. They won't burn. They'll tingle. You aren't going to believe what I'm about to do to you because you have not done right.
[3:41] And then he says, And I didn't do this to you. You brought it on yourself. Chapter 19 and verse 4. He said, Because you have forsaken me. That's why this is happening. You walked away from God.
[3:53] You chose to go your own way. And not only did you do that in verse 4, they made God's house a strange place. They went into the place where they were supposed to worship God.
[4:03] And they worshipped other gods. And they burned incense to other gods. And in verse 4, They even killed their children there. Look at verse 4. And have filled this place with the blood of innocents.
[4:17] Not only did they do that, They built in verse 5 also the high places of Baal. Baal's a demon god. Baal's a false god. Baal's a god of the wicked people. The god who don't believe in the god of heaven.
[4:29] And they burned their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal. How far gone do you have to get that you would take one of your children and put it in the arms of a big metal statue god worshipping place and burn your child?
[4:45] How far gone do you have to get before you would throw your children into a fire and burn them? And I won't say anything about abortion right there.
[5:01] But how far gone you got to get to get there. How far gone you got to get to get there. And don't blame this on God. You really need to look at chapter 19 and verse 5.
[5:13] You don't blame this on God. Somehow, somewhere along the way, Christians want to say what God programmed me to do that. God made me do it. It was God who predestined me.
[5:23] It was God who put that in me. And look what the Bible says. And just so you know, I checked it out in other versions. Because some of y'all will say that's the King James Version. It says that, not the others. Oh yeah, the others do too.
[5:35] Listen to what it says here. And it never came into my mind. Guess what it says in the ESV. For those of you who think I'm an ignoramus, neither came it into my mind. I thought I'd tell you that.
[5:48] Some would think that God has programmed them to do wrong. Even the sin they commit. They would say that God caused or allowed or predestined every sin on the planet. But this verse seems to say something a tad different.
[6:00] I commanded it not. Look at verse 5. I commanded it not. I spake it not. And I never even thought about it. That's crazy. That's crazy.
[6:13] That's crazy. These people have gone so far. And God's message through Jeremiah is that he is going to punish them. In chapter 19 and verse 6, he says, The days come, says the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet.
[6:27] It will be the valley of slaughter. They've gone so far that he will not allow their best laid plans to work. In chapter 19 and verse 7, he said, I will make void the council.
[6:38] All y'all can get together in Judah and Jerusalem. You can make all your plans you want to to stop Babylon. But Babylon is right outside the gates and are on their way. And you can make all the plans you want. You can hire all the armies you want.
[6:49] You can put up all the bulwarks you want. You can put up all the weapons you want. But you're not getting out of it. Punishment's on its way. And he said, You are going to die of killed by a sword. Chapter 19 and verse 7.
[7:00] He will cause them to fall by the sword. Chapter 19 and verse 7. They won't even get a decent burial. Look at chapter 19 and verse 7. And their carcasses, their dead bodies, like a deer laying on the side of the road, I'll leave it there until the buzzards come and eat it.
[7:17] And the coyotes and the hyenas and the other animals come and get it. I will leave your city. This beautiful city. The city I made. Verse 8. Desolate.
[7:29] Hissing. People walking by are going to go, Can you believe it? How can you see? Look what happened. They'll be astonished and they'll hiss. And they'll go, Wow!
[7:40] I cannot believe this great city under David. This great city under Solomon. And look what's happened to it. Because of all the plagues God will send on them. He says, Jeremiah says, Not only that, It's going to get so bad in that city, There's coming a siege.
[7:55] And when the siege comes, Y'all are going to eat your children. Look at chapter 19 and verse 9. I guess that ought not bother them. If they were willing to sacrifice them to a demon And they got hungry, They ought to take a bite.
[8:05] Amen? But chapter 19 and verse 9, He says, I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons And the flesh of their daughters. They will eat the flesh of their friends.
[8:16] They will be in a tight place, In a siege, In a straightness. And those that have come to get them And they can't get out. They have gone so far, They can't come back.
[8:28] We saw a marred vessel get a second chance In the last chapter. In this chapter, God basically says, That's it. No more chances. That's it.
[8:38] No more chances. And I ask you tonight, Will you stay in your sin so long That the message changes? Will you send away your day of grace? Will you cross one of God's deadlines Where God comes down hard on you?
[8:53] Will you not listen to even this passage of scripture As a message from God? Sin has drastic consequences. Do not play with sin. Do not stay in sin.
[9:05] Do not excuse sin. So in chapter 19 and verse 10, It says, Then shalt thou break the bottle In the sight of the men that go with thee.
[9:16] So he says, Now I wanted you, You remember the last chapter, Jeremiah, I had you get the potter. He was making a vessel And he felt a hard spot in it And he fixed it And he made another vessel of it And he didn't throw the clay away.
[9:29] Hallelujah, Let's sing that song. Now this chapter, Let's sing this song. He broke the vessel. He said, I'm going to break it And throw it away. In chapter 19, Verse 11, That's what he says.
[9:41] Look at it. And shalt thou say, Shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of the armies, The Lord of hosts, The God of the heavens, Even so will I break this people.
[9:52] As one breaks a potter's vessel That cannot be made whole again. You can go so far. You can be so hard.
[10:03] There's no more hope for you. You know, In my Sunday school class, We're in the book of Revelation. And at this current place Where we are in the Bible, Half of the world's population is dead. About 4 billion people In today's economy are dead.
[10:17] And there are horrible things happening. There are 200 million whatever's Coming after the people. And you know what they do? They don't apologize. They don't repent. They don't come back to God.
[10:27] They continue to shake their fist In the face of God. God doesn't always keep Giving opportunities. Some of us, Like maybe you, You're like, I'm going to get right with God.
[10:41] I'm going to be 100% for Him. I'm going to do what I ought to do. But I'm going to do it next year When I'm in junior high school. I'm going to do it next year When I'm in high school. I'm going to do it next year When my business gets under control. I'm going to do it next year When I'm making enough money.
[10:52] I'm finally going to put God first eventually. That's probably what These people are thinking. That place of Topheth That we've talked about there. That refers to the place Where they kill their children.
[11:05] Some people say this word Topheth Had to do with beating drums. That when they kill their children They beat drums To cover the crying of their kids As they burned them.
[11:18] And Jeremiah preaches In Jeremiah chapter 19 and verse 14. Then came Jeremiah from that place. And he said He just got through preaching And he preached this very harsh message. I mean you got to remember what he did.
[11:29] He came and he got the old preachers And he got the old politicians And he got the people that had the money And the people that were behind the things. And he took all of them. He said y'all come with me. And he took them outside the gate Right to where they went.
[11:40] He's the man of God. They're following along. And he gets them out there. And he said bless God. This is where y'all been killing your kids. And God's fed up with it. And he just got the ripping. I'm talking this is not a nice message.
[11:51] I'm telling you Joel never reads this chapter. And then he gets through that. He said alright come on. I'm going to preach it again. Same message. Rerun. Missionary on deputation. He said let's go.
[12:02] And he says That he stood in verse 14 In the court of the Lord's house And he said to all the people. He said I preached it out there And I'm going to preach it here To the rest of you. I told all you leaders. Now I'm in here to tell you Verse 15.
[12:15] I will bring upon this city And upon all our towns All the evil I have pronounced. See what happens is We hear hell, hell, hell Hell is coming. People are going to die and go to hell.
[12:26] But we don't see hell. We hear that God will punish us And God will judge us. And then God is so patient And so kind And so long-suffering Nothing ever seems to happen. It's like you just keep getting away with sin And we're like Well he ain't never really going to do anything.
[12:39] He has never done anything. He's not going to do it. And so Jeremiah said Let me just explain something to you. I know we've been preaching And I know it hadn't happened. And y'all been thinking You were getting away with it. You've been thinking I was crazy. You've been thinking judgment's not coming.
[12:51] But it's happening. Just like I said. Chapter 19 and verse 15. And I'll tell you why. Because you harden your necks That you won't hear.
[13:04] When he preached They should have bowed their head. The tears should have come out of their eyes. They should have said Oh God! I want to get right. But they didn't. They just said Preach all you want. Don't care what you've got to say.
[13:15] You'll not make me change The way I lead my life. You'll not make me change What I do with my things. This message is hard to hear for anyone. We want to believe it's never too late.
[13:28] And you may say Well this is the Old Testament. You ever heard of a couple Named Ananias and Sapphira? They were in the New Testament. And they walked in And they told a lie And kept back part of the money And lied about it.
[13:40] And God dropped them right there. I mean that had to be One of the wildest days You ever heard of. The young people's ministry Was established Bury the liars. And the young people Took him out And buried him And a wife comes in And they say Well we just got back in From digging one grave Taking you out now.
[13:56] By the way The children of Israel They got all the way To the promised land And they were ready to go in. And they didn't go in. You remember the story? They didn't go in. They got right there And they said Ten spies said no And the people said We won't go.
[14:10] And Moses said We got to obey God We got to do what He told us to do. And Joshua and Caleb said We can do what God says We can do. And they said no And they didn't go in. And God didn't. The next day They came forward And they said Please give us another chance.
[14:23] And God said Nope. You're wandering Into the wilderness For 40 years. You said I was going To hurt your children. You said if you put me first I'd hurt your children. So your children Can get in But you're dying.
[14:35] God doesn't always Give second chances. We didn't read it tonight. But in 1 Corinthians Chapter 11 When the Lord's Supper Was given He said don't you play With the Lord's Supper. He said you play With the Lord's Supper.
[14:47] Some of the people In your church are weak And some are sick And some are asleep. Some are weak Physically weak Some are sick And some are dead Because you don't play With my holiness. If we stay too hard And too inflexible We refuse to hearken We refuse to listen We refuse to change God will do Whatever he needs To do.
[15:12] With some of us That may mean Take us out of here. With others of us It may mean Physically Cause us to give up And quit And turn to him. You do not belong To yourself.
[15:27] You are bought With a price. Therefore glorify God In your body. If you do not obey You will be changed Or chastised. God's people Don't get away With sin.
[15:43] Act While there is still time. Turn From your sin And rebellion. Don't tempt God To cause you To live in the consequences Of your sin.
[15:56] When I was in Tarrant City, Alabama There was a man That we would visit Almost every week. He was a shut in. And he was a big man.
[16:07] Very big man. He had been He had been an outdoor worker. I think he was a lineman. For the If I remember right He was a lineman. And when we would go see him Of course Steve and I Were just kids.
[16:18] I mean I was like 21 or 22. And Steve was roughly The same age. And we'd go into his house And he'd say Boys sit down. And Steve was a pastor And I was assistant pastor. He'd say Boys sit down.
[16:29] And he'd say Let me tell you this. He said God dealt with me And dealt with me And dealt with me God told me to get my life Right with him But I didn't have time To look up I didn't have time To put him first I did what I wanted to do And then one day I got up And boom He put me on my back And I've been in this bed Looking straight up at him All this time And now I want preachers To come And now I want to do right And he said I can't even bend my hand To take my pills He said I refused to listen Too long We ought not play With God And sin It's not a game And thenび Yes I didn't have time Attempt me