WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.720 Prophecy of Jeremiah in chapter 9. 00:00:05.900 --> 00:00:12.160 We're going to consider a few verses there in chapter 9, verses 23 and 24. 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:22.600 So it's Jeremiah chapter 9 and at verse 23. 00:00:22.600 --> 00:00:52.579 Thus says the Lord, 00:00:52.600 --> 00:01:11.520 Well, we know from the likes of Deuteronomy and other passages that the Lord gave certain warnings to Israel before they actually entered into the land of Canaan. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:11.719 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:44.859 God was concerned that they would always keep that in mind. 00:01:45.659 --> 00:01:51.920 And that follows through, of course, right through into our own circumstances today as well. 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:59.280 Because that same emphasis we find here in our generation as well. 00:02:00.060 --> 00:02:03.780 There are two types of boasting, as you can see from these verses. 00:02:03.939 --> 00:02:06.280 Two types of boasting in these two verses. 00:02:06.460 --> 00:02:13.139 There's first of all the boasting of those who boast in their wisdom, in their strength, in their riches. 00:02:13.139 --> 00:02:23.079 And then there are those who boast in the Lord as the one who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness. 00:02:23.299 --> 00:02:25.459 So they're not just two types of boasting. 00:02:25.579 --> 00:02:27.539 They're two contrasting boastings. 00:02:27.979 --> 00:02:31.500 They're in contrast with each other quite deliberately in these verses. 00:02:31.679 --> 00:02:33.139 Now, Judah here was facing disaster. 00:02:33.139 --> 00:02:37.519 Disaster, they had refused to listen to the prophets that the Lord had sent to them. 00:02:37.899 --> 00:02:40.839 All the many warnings and promises, indeed, that he had given them. 00:02:41.179 --> 00:02:46.000 And they were facing disaster now as Jeremiah carried through his ministry. 00:02:46.339 --> 00:02:52.560 Facing the disaster of exile, which eventually, of course, came to pass as the Lord had, in fact, said. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:57.920 And they were seeing their security, as many people are today. 00:02:58.539 --> 00:03:02.400 Seeing their security in what you might call the trinity of worldliness. 00:03:03.319 --> 00:03:05.219 And you'll find that in verse 23. 00:03:06.099 --> 00:03:11.599 That trinity of worldliness, wisdom, might, riches. 00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:16.020 These are the essence of worldliness. 00:03:16.020 --> 00:03:24.719 And it makes this passage, makes these verses so incredibly important and relevant to the age in which we live. 00:03:25.340 --> 00:03:33.620 They're just as relevant tonight to us in Stornoway or in Scotland in our age as they were in Jeremiah's day to the people of Judah. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:39.140 Because these will always be the trinity of worldliness. 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:45.820 They will always be the things that men's and women's hearts yearn for instead of God. 00:03:46.920 --> 00:03:53.480 And here is Jeremiah, the Lord saying to Jeremiah, that this is the message he's to keep presenting. 00:03:53.939 --> 00:03:57.320 That the person who boasts, let him boast in this. 00:03:57.420 --> 00:04:01.939 That he understands the Lord, not in the things of worldliness. 00:04:03.540 --> 00:04:11.180 And that's why we find these two types of boasting are so important for us to keep in contrast and bear in mind. 00:04:11.180 --> 00:04:22.639 There's first of all the boasting, as we see, based on what might say self-confidence, the boasting of worldliness, the boasting of sinful arrogance, sinful trusting in oneself. 00:04:23.400 --> 00:04:24.620 That's what he says here. 00:04:25.139 --> 00:04:29.920 Boasting, of course, means, as it often does in the Bible, the New Testament as well. 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:33.680 Paul uses the word boast quite a number of times. 00:04:34.900 --> 00:04:42.960 And it carries with it the idea of actually trusting or having confidence in something. 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:50.180 When Paul says, let me not glory or boast in anything except in the cross of Christ. 00:04:50.180 --> 00:04:53.879 What he's really saying is, I don't want to boast in anything else. 00:04:54.019 --> 00:04:55.360 I don't want to boast in myself. 00:04:55.660 --> 00:04:57.120 I want to boast in this. 00:04:57.340 --> 00:05:02.819 I want to have the confidence, my confidence placed entirely in the cross of Christ. 00:05:02.819 --> 00:05:10.019 And so that element of boasting carries with it the element of trusting or confidence. 00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:11.800 There's a sinful boasting. 00:05:12.599 --> 00:05:20.819 There's a righteous boasting, if you like, where your confidence is on the ability of another, of Jesus, of God himself. 00:05:22.339 --> 00:05:26.339 This is the contrast that he's bringing out here in these three elements. 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:27.779 First of all, wisdom. 00:05:28.539 --> 00:05:31.800 Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. 00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:35.660 By wisdom there, he means human thought. 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:37.540 Mere human thought. 00:05:37.860 --> 00:05:38.620 Human planning. 00:05:38.819 --> 00:05:39.800 Human application. 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:48.800 By the wisdom that people we think have ourselves naturally, applying that to the world and to our own circumstances. 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:51.759 Well, he's saying here, let not the wise man boast in that. 00:05:52.080 --> 00:05:53.319 Let's not trust in that. 00:05:53.420 --> 00:05:56.439 Let's not place our confidence in that, is what he means. 00:05:56.439 --> 00:06:05.019 Now, we read in 1 Corinthians, in chapter 1 into chapter 2, and I think that these two passages are so closely connected. 00:06:05.139 --> 00:06:13.279 You might say that almost that 1 Corinthians, that part of 1 Corinthians we read, is almost a commentary on these verses in Jeremiah. 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:21.579 Because you remember there that Paul is saying that the word of the cross, the preaching of the cross, is foolishness to those who are perishing. 00:06:21.799 --> 00:06:23.279 Who are those who are perishing? 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:26.159 Those who are trusting in the wisdom of the world. 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:31.220 But he says, we are not trusting in that. 00:06:31.540 --> 00:06:38.560 We are actually preaching Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:41.820 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men. 00:06:42.340 --> 00:06:47.460 And, of course, then he went on to speak about Jesus being our wisdom, our righteousness. 00:06:47.459 --> 00:06:54.599 So, there are two passages that are many, many hundreds of years apart when they were written. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:07:00.959 And yet, they are very much focused in on what is wisdom and what are we to boast in? 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:03.000 Where is our confidence to be? 00:07:04.060 --> 00:07:12.560 And there is Jeremiah, long before the apostle Paul was born, and yet coming to speak out the same truth of God. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:29.939 And in that passage, of course, we read in 1 Corinthians 2, as we went on, verses 4 and 5, he says that his speech and his message, as he came to Corinth with the message of the gospel, 00:07:29.939 --> 00:07:42.060 they were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 00:07:42.060 --> 00:07:44.019 That is the rationale of the gospel. 00:07:44.379 --> 00:07:47.759 That is the end result of preaching the gospel. 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:50.339 That is what preachers of the gospel aim at. 00:07:50.579 --> 00:07:59.040 That is what God calls us to be as preachers of the gospel, to preach the wisdom of God in Christ and in the death of Christ and the person of Christ. 00:07:59.340 --> 00:08:01.819 And what is the end result we pray for? 00:08:02.060 --> 00:08:07.560 It's that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 00:08:08.459 --> 00:08:11.639 And this is what Jeremiah was lamenting. 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:21.060 This is a chapter, as many of the chapters in Jeremiah are laments, where he's pleading with the Lord, where he's pouring out his heart before God. 00:08:21.060 --> 00:08:26.100 And as that chapter begins, here is his great complaint. 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:35.100 Oh, that my head were water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people. 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:43.460 And he goes on to, as he does often, to bring before God the departure on the part of the people from the ways of God. 00:08:43.460 --> 00:08:47.980 And we're in the same position, are we not, today? 00:08:48.920 --> 00:08:55.820 As we see so much departure from the ways of God, not just in the world, because that's what you expect in the world, 00:08:55.820 --> 00:09:06.860 but also among confessing churches, confessing Christians, who are actually now sadly moving apart away from the core elements of Scripture 00:09:06.860 --> 00:09:12.120 and denying some of the things that God has said are essential features of the gospel. 00:09:13.040 --> 00:09:16.100 Well, that's what Paul was dealing with in Corinthians as well. 00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:17.560 This is the end for which he preached. 00:09:17.559 --> 00:09:19.500 This is the purpose he had in preaching. 00:09:19.959 --> 00:09:24.039 This is so that he would actually bring people to see, through the blessing of God, 00:09:24.339 --> 00:09:30.559 that their faith, their confidence, their boasting would not be, in the words of Jeremiah, 00:09:30.779 --> 00:09:35.759 the wisdom of men, but in the wisdom of God in Christ. 00:09:37.259 --> 00:09:42.000 That's what, of course, we've countered in our own generation. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:48.179 The ideology that's out there, the ideology that dismisses the gospel, that dismisses God, 00:09:48.940 --> 00:09:53.039 the secularist, humanist, atheistic ideologies of our age, 00:09:53.639 --> 00:09:58.200 that's what is countered by the likes of these passages of Scripture. 00:09:59.779 --> 00:10:04.919 Let me just read to you from something that Professor Peter Atkins, 00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:08.899 he's a retired professor nowadays, he's in his 80s, I believe. 00:10:08.899 --> 00:10:15.840 He was a professor of chemistry at Oxford University, but he's also a prominent atheist and humanist, 00:10:16.379 --> 00:10:20.840 and has spoken quite a bit along on those issues as well. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:22.919 This is what he said at one time. 00:10:23.459 --> 00:10:27.779 I regard teaching religion as purveying lies. 00:10:28.740 --> 00:10:33.759 To assert God did it is no more than an admission of ignorance, 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:36.840 dressed deceitfully as an explanation. 00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:43.940 To say that God made the world is simply a more or less sophisticated way of saying 00:10:43.940 --> 00:10:47.960 that we don't understand how the universe originated. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:54.820 A God, in as far as it is anything, is an admission of ignorance. 00:10:56.220 --> 00:10:57.700 There's the atheistic mind. 00:10:58.160 --> 00:10:59.500 There's the unbelieving mind. 00:10:59.620 --> 00:11:03.400 There's the antagonistic mind to the gospel, to the things of God. 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:05.019 There is the wisdom of this world. 00:11:05.019 --> 00:11:10.299 There is the wisdom that the foolishness of preaching and of the word of God actually seeks, 00:11:10.379 --> 00:11:11.659 as Paul put it, to counter. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:17.159 And we could actually say, in response to that statement, 00:11:17.579 --> 00:11:23.899 this statement is an intended proof, an unintended proof of ignorance. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:28.480 He speaks about that it's ignorance dressed deceitfully 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:31.920 that claims that God is the creator of the universe. 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:38.360 Well, in response to that, we can say that this very statement is itself an unintended proof of ignorance, 00:11:38.940 --> 00:11:41.800 very unconsciously on the speaker's part. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:44.460 But that's the world we face. 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:46.800 That's the world that's always been faced by the church, 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:52.839 but it's much more sophisticated in our day than it has been, I suppose, ever in the history of the world. 00:11:53.079 --> 00:11:56.399 So that's the first thing he says in terms of this trinity of worldliness. 00:11:56.539 --> 00:11:58.439 Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. 00:11:58.620 --> 00:12:02.099 Secondly, let not the mighty man boast in his might. 00:12:02.859 --> 00:12:03.219 Power. 00:12:04.279 --> 00:12:06.019 People crave power. 00:12:06.019 --> 00:12:06.340 Power. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:09.740 It isn't just in politics or in financial matters. 00:12:10.179 --> 00:12:14.199 Power is something that every human being, to a sense, in a sense, craves. 00:12:14.419 --> 00:12:18.460 Power is something that if we're left to ourselves, we will actually crave as well. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:21.259 Power is something the gospel delivers us from. 00:12:21.439 --> 00:12:25.919 Because when you come to know the Lord, then you come to know that your power is in him, 00:12:26.059 --> 00:12:28.340 not in your own ability, not in yourself. 00:12:28.860 --> 00:12:32.899 It can be physical or mental or status or financial. 00:12:32.899 --> 00:12:39.659 All the things that give influence over other people, especially, the word power covers all of that. 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:47.120 And you know very well that our generation, as much as any other, is actually marked by power. 00:12:47.480 --> 00:12:48.740 People taking control. 00:12:49.179 --> 00:12:51.480 People have the power to manipulate. 00:12:51.659 --> 00:12:58.579 And especially people having the power to keep others under their control, to take over their lives. 00:12:59.059 --> 00:13:00.139 You'll see it all the time. 00:13:00.139 --> 00:13:03.679 In big business, you'll see it all the time in politics. 00:13:04.319 --> 00:13:10.179 You'll see it in every single aspect, every single stratum of human society. 00:13:11.419 --> 00:13:14.000 Here is God's counter to that. 00:13:14.120 --> 00:13:17.639 Let not the mighty man boast in his might. 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:27.419 Indeed, if you went through, again, to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, where Paul was given this thorn in the flesh to assault him, 00:13:28.199 --> 00:13:30.699 this messenger of Satan, as he called it. 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:32.240 Why was that? 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:35.419 It was to keep him from being overexalted. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:38.740 He had been taken up to the third heaven. 00:13:39.740 --> 00:13:42.500 Saw things which he couldn't put into human language. 00:13:42.659 --> 00:13:45.279 And heard things, rather, which he couldn't put into human language. 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:48.500 And then the Lord gave him this thorn in the flesh. 00:13:48.620 --> 00:13:50.120 Whatever it was, we're not told. 00:13:50.220 --> 00:13:51.179 But it was painful. 00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:56.100 And he pleaded with the Lord three times that he might take it away. 00:13:57.399 --> 00:13:59.139 Paul was a man who was used to pain. 00:13:59.899 --> 00:14:02.240 And this must have been excruciatingly painful. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:07.299 But the Lord said, my grace is sufficient for you. 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:11.000 For my strength is made perfect. 00:14:11.419 --> 00:14:11.700 Where? 00:14:12.379 --> 00:14:13.580 In weakness. 00:14:14.419 --> 00:14:20.100 In other words, we hand over our strength when we hand over ourselves to the Lord by faith. 00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:25.340 When we actually, by the grace of God, are enabled to deliver ourselves into the hands of Christ. 00:14:25.500 --> 00:14:26.299 What are you doing? 00:14:26.299 --> 00:14:29.179 You're actually presenting yourself to him. 00:14:29.219 --> 00:14:33.500 And you're saying, Lord, take away my might and give me yours. 00:14:34.379 --> 00:14:36.819 Take away my power and let me have yours. 00:14:36.959 --> 00:14:41.899 Because I read in your word that your power, your strength is made perfect. 00:14:42.059 --> 00:14:44.819 It comes into its own in my weakness. 00:14:47.339 --> 00:14:50.979 There are two things that come together in an amazing way. 00:14:52.299 --> 00:14:55.019 There's no such thing with God as weakness. 00:14:55.019 --> 00:14:57.439 He's the almighty one. 00:14:58.500 --> 00:15:07.039 And yet he's saying, in our weakness, his almightyness comes into its own, as it were. 00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:09.720 It's made perfect in our weakness. 00:15:10.220 --> 00:15:17.659 And therefore, Paul went on to speak of saying and say, therefore, I will actually boast in my infirmities. 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:22.419 For when I am weak, then I am strong. 00:15:22.419 --> 00:15:26.240 There's the Christian way of looking at life. 00:15:26.860 --> 00:15:31.419 There is the believer's way of defining strength. 00:15:32.620 --> 00:15:35.139 Defining wisdom in terms of strength. 00:15:35.299 --> 00:15:36.279 It's not in our strength. 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:37.879 It's not in human power. 00:15:37.979 --> 00:15:39.199 It's not in human ability. 00:15:39.719 --> 00:15:42.679 It's not in human control over other people. 00:15:42.679 --> 00:15:47.000 It's in the Lord's strength made perfect in our weakness. 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:51.159 So there's wisdom and power. 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:54.179 Let not the rich man, wise man boast in his wisdom. 00:15:54.340 --> 00:15:56.220 Let not the mighty man boast in his might. 00:15:56.799 --> 00:15:59.399 Let not the rich man boast in his riches. 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:04.959 There's the third element of this trinity of wordiness, isn't it? 00:16:05.259 --> 00:16:18.399 You've got the wisdom of human beings, their own ingenuity, the sense that we can, as human beings, actually take control and look after things and have everything in the right order. 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:23.120 There's a power that we seek for ourselves and seek to control others by. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.060 There's the third one, riches. 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:30.259 How did Jesus describe the seed that fell among the thorns? 00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:38.279 Well, he said, it took root, grew for a while, till the thorns choked it. 00:16:38.299 --> 00:16:39.759 And what did the thorns represent? 00:16:40.980 --> 00:16:46.639 The cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches. 00:16:47.899 --> 00:16:51.840 They choke the word and it becomes unprofitable. 00:16:51.840 --> 00:17:04.600 And all the way through the New Testament, following on from these writings of the Old Testament and Jeremiah and in the book of Proverbs, especially, that has so much to say about wisdom and practical wisdom. 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:06.220 You have the same emphasis. 00:17:06.840 --> 00:17:09.700 Let not a rich man trust in his riches. 00:17:10.019 --> 00:17:12.400 What did Jesus say about the possession of riches? 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:14.039 He didn't say that was wrong. 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:16.440 Abraham was rich. 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:17.799 He was a man of God. 00:17:18.299 --> 00:17:19.120 Job was rich. 00:17:19.360 --> 00:17:20.539 He was a man of God. 00:17:20.539 --> 00:17:23.539 A man singularly godly in his generation. 00:17:24.139 --> 00:17:31.639 Nowhere does the Bible tell us that the possession of riches, that the blessing of God by giving us riches is itself wrong. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:39.899 But it does say that the love of riches is disastrous. 00:17:39.900 --> 00:17:53.140 And it does say that, as Jesus himself put it, that finding riches and having riches is a great stumbling block to entering the kingdom of God. 00:17:53.280 --> 00:17:59.100 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. 00:17:59.460 --> 00:18:02.560 And, of course, Peter then said, well, who then can be saved? 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:09.720 And, of course, Jesus said, well, with human beings it's impossible, but not with God. 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:20.859 I think it was Spurgeon who once said, we have seen rich men going through the eye of a needle, baggage and all. 00:18:20.859 --> 00:18:28.019 In other words, what he was saying was, we have seen rich people saved by the grace of God, the same as poor people. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:36.099 But we have to actually take the warnings of Scripture and say, let not the rich man boast in his riches. 00:18:36.099 --> 00:18:47.599 We're told that in the days of Jeremiah, the people of Judah, and you'll find, of course, materialism so, so often by the prophets denounced, 00:18:47.859 --> 00:18:51.699 especially when those who did have riches exploited the poor. 00:18:52.819 --> 00:18:56.799 What's going on there all the way through history, of course, has been going on, and it is today. 00:18:56.799 --> 00:19:08.919 And you'll find that we're told that 3 to 5% of the people of Judah owned 50 to 70% of the land. 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:17.879 Of course, the land was ultimately the Lord's, but in possessing it, a very small minority of the people, of the population, 00:19:18.379 --> 00:19:24.879 actually came to control the majority, the main part of the land, 50 to 70%. 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:33.440 And that itself, of course, tells us something about the society that Jeremiah actually belonged to and preached to. 00:19:33.840 --> 00:19:38.620 And he reaches the source of it, really, the problem in verses 12 to 14, 00:19:39.940 --> 00:19:41.300 where he says, 00:19:41.360 --> 00:19:44.380 Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? 00:19:44.700 --> 00:19:47.380 To whom must the mouth of the Lord spoken that he may declare? 00:19:47.380 --> 00:19:53.120 Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:54.359 And the Lord says, 00:19:55.019 --> 00:19:58.939 Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, 00:19:59.199 --> 00:20:02.479 and have not obeyed my voice or walked with it, 00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:05.559 but have stubbornly followed their own hearts, 00:20:05.879 --> 00:20:10.739 and have gone after the Baals as their fathers taught them. 00:20:11.459 --> 00:20:13.139 There's the crux of the issue, you see. 00:20:13.299 --> 00:20:15.299 He's saying this is what the Lord is teaching him. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:18.019 This is what he's being given to say to the people, 00:20:18.059 --> 00:20:19.179 even though they're not listening. 00:20:19.180 --> 00:20:22.340 This is the crux of the issue. 00:20:22.580 --> 00:20:25.080 Because they have forsaken my law, 00:20:25.320 --> 00:20:30.400 and have gone after the Baals in the stubbornness of their own hearts. 00:20:31.400 --> 00:20:32.960 You look out over society, 00:20:33.060 --> 00:20:36.580 I'm not saying that it's exactly the same as for Jeremiah's day. 00:20:36.660 --> 00:20:38.539 Judah was a theocratic society, 00:20:38.539 --> 00:20:40.380 which had God as its head. 00:20:40.460 --> 00:20:42.620 They were a covenant people of God. 00:20:42.619 --> 00:20:45.739 We can't say that that's true of our society, 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:46.979 our people today. 00:20:47.719 --> 00:20:50.459 But nevertheless, the same principles apply, don't they? 00:20:50.659 --> 00:20:52.500 When you put the word of God aside, 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:53.299 what are you left with? 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:54.719 You're left with human wisdom. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:57.500 When you actually put the power of God aside, 00:20:57.599 --> 00:20:58.299 what are you left with? 00:20:58.519 --> 00:20:59.979 We're left with, very often, 00:21:00.059 --> 00:21:01.359 what comes to be tyrannous. 00:21:02.759 --> 00:21:03.559 And exploitation, 00:21:03.899 --> 00:21:07.719 when you come to actually put the riches of God's grace behind you, 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:08.459 and aside, 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:10.399 when you come to put the riches of salvation, 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:12.060 the riches of God's word, 00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:13.600 the riches of God's kingdom, 00:21:13.820 --> 00:21:14.660 what are you left with? 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:17.400 You're left with a kingdom of human construction. 00:21:19.100 --> 00:21:20.380 And that's a disaster. 00:21:21.940 --> 00:21:24.320 Let not the rich man boast in his riches 00:21:24.320 --> 00:21:29.560 any more than the mighty man boast in his might, 00:21:30.340 --> 00:21:33.759 or the wise man boast in his wisdom. 00:21:35.100 --> 00:21:38.540 God and the gospel shows us the proper way, doesn't it? 00:21:38.539 --> 00:21:41.960 In Proverbs chapter 14, verse 34, 00:21:42.460 --> 00:21:46.359 words that we've been familiar with for so many years, 00:21:46.420 --> 00:21:48.159 most of us probably learned them in our youth. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:52.019 Righteousness exalts a nation, 00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:56.059 but sin is a reproach to any people. 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:00.440 It wasn't confining it just to Israel. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:03.180 This is the Bible speaking about every nation. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:06.279 Righteousness exalts a nation. 00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:07.740 What is the opposite of righteousness? 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:09.279 Sinfulness. 00:22:10.660 --> 00:22:15.259 Righteousness and sin are the opposites the Bible brings before us. 00:22:15.619 --> 00:22:17.759 Well, I didn't want to spend too much on this, 00:22:17.859 --> 00:22:19.359 but now that the time is passing, 00:22:19.420 --> 00:22:20.079 we'll need to move on. 00:22:20.920 --> 00:22:23.639 This is the boasting then based on self-confidence, 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:25.399 the sinful boasting, 00:22:25.879 --> 00:22:30.019 the boasting of human beings in their own abilities, 00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:30.819 their own actions, 00:22:30.940 --> 00:22:31.639 their own riches. 00:22:31.640 --> 00:22:35.820 But then he goes on to speak about the boasting that's based on knowing God. 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:38.860 Let him who boasts boast in this, 00:22:39.360 --> 00:22:43.240 that he understands and know me and knows me. 00:22:44.380 --> 00:22:45.780 When he says understand, 00:22:45.940 --> 00:22:47.580 he means also have insights, 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:51.340 a word that means having proper insight into things, 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:53.759 to see things as they are, 00:22:54.140 --> 00:22:57.300 and to know the source of what is really true prosperity, 00:22:57.299 --> 00:23:00.000 or the source from where all blessings come from. 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:05.819 All of that is really built into the meaning of this word that Jeremiah is using here, 00:23:05.859 --> 00:23:07.539 this word understanding. 00:23:08.119 --> 00:23:10.299 And he ties that up with knowing, 00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:13.099 that he understands and knows me. 00:23:13.700 --> 00:23:17.680 And the idea of knowing carries in the Hebrew sense of it, 00:23:17.960 --> 00:23:21.480 also that the meaning of a commitment to something. 00:23:21.480 --> 00:23:25.799 That's what you find so often the marriage relationship in the Old Testament. 00:23:26.120 --> 00:23:29.579 It talks about the man knowing his wife, 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:32.799 and the product of that is a child. 00:23:33.400 --> 00:23:38.200 It's the intimate relationship of marriage that produces seed, 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:39.700 produces children. 00:23:40.420 --> 00:23:42.319 That's as God intended it. 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:46.759 But that word know is used, 00:23:47.099 --> 00:23:50.099 and it's also used of our relationship spiritually with God, 00:23:50.099 --> 00:23:51.480 and God with us. 00:23:51.899 --> 00:23:53.720 He knows us. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:55.259 We know him. 00:23:55.720 --> 00:23:59.480 We have an intimate relationship with him spiritually, 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:04.139 where he has committed himself to his people, 00:24:04.519 --> 00:24:05.759 and his people to him. 00:24:05.819 --> 00:24:09.579 Remember the words of Jesus in John chapter 17, 00:24:09.579 --> 00:24:12.480 that usually called a high priestly prayer, 00:24:12.619 --> 00:24:15.220 that wonderful prayer that is recorded for us there 00:24:15.220 --> 00:24:17.199 before Jesus went out to face the cross, 00:24:18.539 --> 00:24:20.179 where he's saying to the Father, 00:24:21.139 --> 00:24:25.379 as he seeks that the Father will glorify him 00:24:25.379 --> 00:24:28.779 with his own self, 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:31.779 with the glory he had with him before the world was, 00:24:33.079 --> 00:24:35.539 and that he had given his people his word. 00:24:36.019 --> 00:24:36.559 But he says, 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:38.799 this is eternal life. 00:24:39.579 --> 00:24:41.299 That they might know you, 00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:43.379 the only true God, 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:46.179 and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 00:24:47.159 --> 00:24:51.519 He's defining eternal life in terms of knowing God, 00:24:51.679 --> 00:24:54.399 because this wonderful relationship with God 00:24:54.399 --> 00:24:56.399 that comes through the grace of God, 00:24:56.500 --> 00:24:58.359 and by our exercise of faith, 00:24:58.419 --> 00:24:59.000 and of trust, 00:24:59.079 --> 00:25:00.319 and confidence in God, 00:25:00.579 --> 00:25:01.980 that is knowing God. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:04.419 Knowing in that personal, 00:25:04.859 --> 00:25:05.679 intimate way. 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:06.600 And he says, 00:25:06.700 --> 00:25:07.880 that's eternal life, 00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:08.720 to have that, 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:10.700 to know God in that way. 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:13.120 But he says here, 00:25:13.420 --> 00:25:15.519 to know that I am the Lord, 00:25:16.100 --> 00:25:18.120 who practices steadfast love, 00:25:18.779 --> 00:25:19.180 justice, 00:25:19.539 --> 00:25:20.820 and righteousness in the earth. 00:25:20.860 --> 00:25:20.960 Now, 00:25:21.019 --> 00:25:22.060 I find it interesting that 00:25:22.059 --> 00:25:23.919 that the Lord here, 00:25:23.919 --> 00:25:24.619 to Jeremiah, 00:25:25.159 --> 00:25:27.740 is countering the trinity of worldliness, 00:25:27.740 --> 00:25:28.339 if you like, 00:25:28.819 --> 00:25:35.899 by this great triad of qualities that belong to God himself, 00:25:36.159 --> 00:25:36.720 where he says, 00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:39.220 I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:40.419 and justice, 00:25:40.859 --> 00:25:42.460 and righteousness in the earth. 00:25:43.059 --> 00:25:43.980 Steadfast love, 00:25:44.460 --> 00:25:46.359 words we've seen before so often, 00:25:46.919 --> 00:25:48.319 the loving kindness, 00:25:48.439 --> 00:25:49.859 as it is in the older translations, 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:53.379 and both the steadfastness of God's love, 00:25:53.500 --> 00:25:55.299 and the kindness of God's love, 00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:57.500 are actually built into this word in Hebrew. 00:25:58.459 --> 00:25:59.599 And you need both, 00:25:59.740 --> 00:26:00.299 in a sense, 00:26:00.359 --> 00:26:00.899 you need both, 00:26:01.339 --> 00:26:02.199 the older translation, 00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:02.859 and this one, 00:26:02.879 --> 00:26:04.519 to bring out the full meaning of it. 00:26:04.599 --> 00:26:07.039 Because it is steadfast love, 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:09.019 it's love that's unflinching, 00:26:09.159 --> 00:26:11.419 and will not be moved from its objective. 00:26:12.139 --> 00:26:14.039 But it's also loving kindness. 00:26:14.039 --> 00:26:17.500 It's love that does good to people. 00:26:18.159 --> 00:26:20.759 It's love that showers gifts on his people. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:22.759 It's kindness love. 00:26:23.700 --> 00:26:25.039 That's the love of God. 00:26:25.879 --> 00:26:27.220 Greatest gift of all, 00:26:27.559 --> 00:26:28.740 as we are reminded in prayer, 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:30.779 is, of course, 00:26:30.859 --> 00:26:32.420 the Lord Jesus Christ himself, 00:26:32.779 --> 00:26:35.000 who was given by God the Father, 00:26:35.819 --> 00:26:38.980 as the great gift of love to his people. 00:26:38.980 --> 00:26:43.700 And here is the very emphasis he says here, 00:26:43.779 --> 00:26:44.920 the steadfast love. 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:46.200 Boast in this, 00:26:46.279 --> 00:26:47.779 that he understands and knows me, 00:26:48.099 --> 00:26:51.740 that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love. 00:26:51.819 --> 00:26:52.240 In other words, 00:26:52.360 --> 00:26:53.819 our worship of God, 00:26:54.339 --> 00:26:56.079 our commitment to God, 00:26:56.480 --> 00:26:58.140 our service for God, 00:26:58.380 --> 00:26:58.860 in a sense, 00:26:58.920 --> 00:27:00.740 these are all responses, 00:27:01.220 --> 00:27:02.360 by the grace of God, 00:27:02.460 --> 00:27:03.900 to his steadfast love. 00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:05.660 Why do we worship him? 00:27:05.660 --> 00:27:07.620 Because we value his love, 00:27:07.860 --> 00:27:09.700 because he has revealed himself to us, 00:27:09.940 --> 00:27:11.880 and we come to treasure his love. 00:27:12.200 --> 00:27:14.100 And we treasure his love in such a way 00:27:14.100 --> 00:27:15.400 that we come before him, 00:27:15.420 --> 00:27:16.100 as we do tonight, 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:16.860 to worship him, 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:18.360 to give thanks for it, 00:27:18.900 --> 00:27:19.900 and to say that 00:27:19.900 --> 00:27:23.080 we indeed come to boast in him. 00:27:24.360 --> 00:27:27.019 And our confidence and trust is here. 00:27:27.019 --> 00:27:29.420 And also justice. 00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:32.240 Let him know that I am the Lord 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:35.700 who practices steadfast love and justice. 00:27:37.180 --> 00:27:37.680 You know, 00:27:37.700 --> 00:27:39.980 the more often I go on in life, 00:27:40.779 --> 00:27:43.119 the more I believe that justice 00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:46.079 is such a crucial element 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:52.500 in the whole spectrum of human life, 00:27:52.740 --> 00:27:54.859 and indeed in God's government as well. 00:27:54.859 --> 00:27:59.379 If you take justice out of things altogether, 00:27:59.659 --> 00:28:00.719 what are you left with? 00:28:01.259 --> 00:28:01.579 Well, 00:28:01.979 --> 00:28:05.039 you're left with inequity and untruth. 00:28:06.399 --> 00:28:07.899 If you take justice out, 00:28:07.939 --> 00:28:08.979 then everything falls to bits, 00:28:09.059 --> 00:28:09.459 doesn't it? 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:10.799 You know, 00:28:10.819 --> 00:28:11.240 some people, 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:12.039 you'll hear them saying, 00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:14.479 those who have committed horrendous crimes, 00:28:15.299 --> 00:28:16.939 and have either taken their own life, 00:28:17.559 --> 00:28:20.740 or else have come to be put to death 00:28:20.740 --> 00:28:21.719 in some way or other, 00:28:21.720 --> 00:28:24.660 in the perpetration of these crimes, 00:28:24.740 --> 00:28:25.160 or whatever. 00:28:25.940 --> 00:28:26.559 And people, 00:28:26.680 --> 00:28:28.620 people say like the great dictator, 00:28:28.740 --> 00:28:29.640 let's just say Hitler, 00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:30.299 for example, 00:28:30.779 --> 00:28:31.900 you'll find some people saying, 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:32.059 well, 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:32.500 well, 00:28:32.500 --> 00:28:33.220 he got off with it. 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:34.799 He didn't face justice. 00:28:35.559 --> 00:28:37.920 He didn't appear before any human court. 00:28:38.620 --> 00:28:39.740 He wasn't actually given 00:28:39.740 --> 00:28:41.600 any verdict over him 00:28:41.600 --> 00:28:42.839 by a human judiciary, 00:28:42.839 --> 00:28:45.140 so as to sentence him for his crimes. 00:28:45.579 --> 00:28:47.259 He didn't escape justice. 00:28:48.099 --> 00:28:49.740 He went to face justice, 00:28:49.980 --> 00:28:51.819 like you and I will have to face justice, 00:28:51.980 --> 00:28:53.920 because here is the justice of God, 00:28:54.160 --> 00:28:55.779 the justice of God's government, 00:28:56.140 --> 00:28:58.099 and every aspect of God's government 00:28:58.099 --> 00:28:59.079 is just. 00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:02.119 There's nothing unfair about it. 00:29:02.519 --> 00:29:04.180 There's nothing unjust about it. 00:29:04.359 --> 00:29:06.059 There's nothing imbalanced about it. 00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:08.680 God's justice is justice 00:29:08.680 --> 00:29:10.099 that's towards the righteous 00:29:10.099 --> 00:29:11.420 and towards the wicked, 00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:12.680 towards the saved, 00:29:12.839 --> 00:29:13.819 towards the lost, 00:29:13.819 --> 00:29:15.319 but that justice 00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:17.359 is justice through and through. 00:29:17.819 --> 00:29:18.899 It is not deflected. 00:29:19.259 --> 00:29:20.819 It is not in any way marred. 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:22.639 It's not to be called into question. 00:29:23.019 --> 00:29:25.439 It is our most precious thing for us, 00:29:25.559 --> 00:29:27.059 that the God we worship 00:29:27.059 --> 00:29:28.839 is a just God. 00:29:30.599 --> 00:29:31.240 You know, 00:29:31.319 --> 00:29:32.220 Christ's death, 00:29:32.919 --> 00:29:34.339 so Catechism reminds us 00:29:34.339 --> 00:29:36.659 that his death, 00:29:37.220 --> 00:29:38.939 the purpose of it, 00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:40.179 or part of the purpose of it, 00:29:40.179 --> 00:29:40.559 was this, 00:29:40.559 --> 00:29:44.319 to satisfy divine justice. 00:29:46.399 --> 00:29:48.740 God's eternal justice, 00:29:49.079 --> 00:29:52.980 God's perfect justice, 00:29:53.579 --> 00:29:55.700 which demanded from us 00:29:55.700 --> 00:29:56.740 for our sins 00:29:56.740 --> 00:29:59.460 an atonement adequate 00:29:59.460 --> 00:30:02.019 or sufficient 00:30:02.019 --> 00:30:04.000 to actually satisfy God, 00:30:05.099 --> 00:30:06.779 and God knew we could never do it. 00:30:08.019 --> 00:30:09.319 Our sin prevented it, 00:30:09.319 --> 00:30:10.200 our lostness, 00:30:10.759 --> 00:30:11.500 our corruption. 00:30:12.099 --> 00:30:12.980 What did God do? 00:30:13.819 --> 00:30:15.200 He gave his son over 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:18.079 to the death of the cross 00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:21.579 and died a death 00:30:21.579 --> 00:30:23.480 that is of God's hand just, 00:30:24.200 --> 00:30:26.279 so that he might be just, 00:30:26.379 --> 00:30:27.319 as Romans put it, 00:30:27.799 --> 00:30:29.000 and the justifier 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:31.619 of the one who believes in Jesus. 00:30:34.139 --> 00:30:35.139 Such a precious, 00:30:35.299 --> 00:30:35.859 precious thing, 00:30:35.980 --> 00:30:36.259 justice. 00:30:36.259 --> 00:30:39.099 And when you remove it 00:30:39.099 --> 00:30:39.940 out of a society 00:30:39.940 --> 00:30:40.500 or get it 00:30:40.500 --> 00:30:41.920 in any society 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:43.059 where justice begins 00:30:43.059 --> 00:30:44.400 to be corrupted 00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:46.319 and cease to be justice, 00:30:46.460 --> 00:30:48.279 then so many problems 00:30:48.279 --> 00:30:50.160 will actually follow from that. 00:30:51.140 --> 00:30:52.200 Here is God saying, 00:30:52.740 --> 00:30:53.000 this, 00:30:53.500 --> 00:30:54.640 if you're going to boast, 00:30:54.759 --> 00:30:54.980 he says, 00:30:55.079 --> 00:30:56.099 let the one who boasts, 00:30:56.599 --> 00:30:57.319 boasts in me 00:30:57.319 --> 00:30:58.000 that I 00:30:58.000 --> 00:30:59.599 am the Lord 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:00.980 who practices justice. 00:31:01.400 --> 00:31:01.940 And of course, 00:31:02.039 --> 00:31:02.579 righteousness 00:31:02.579 --> 00:31:04.039 is the third one, 00:31:04.359 --> 00:31:05.519 God's own standard. 00:31:05.519 --> 00:31:07.559 The standard he conforms to, 00:31:08.039 --> 00:31:09.519 the very essence 00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:10.439 of his being, 00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:11.199 is righteous. 00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:13.519 Everything he does 00:31:13.519 --> 00:31:14.240 in seeing, 00:31:14.659 --> 00:31:15.899 he sees righteously, 00:31:16.199 --> 00:31:18.199 he actually speaks righteously, 00:31:18.299 --> 00:31:19.579 he acts righteously. 00:31:20.579 --> 00:31:21.639 It's a standard 00:31:21.639 --> 00:31:23.139 of perfection. 00:31:24.899 --> 00:31:25.919 The opposite, 00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:26.519 as we said, 00:31:26.579 --> 00:31:27.139 of righteousness 00:31:27.140 --> 00:31:28.880 is sin. 00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:31.280 Remember that great text 00:31:31.280 --> 00:31:34.440 in 2 Corinthians 5, 00:31:34.540 --> 00:31:35.340 verse 21, 00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:37.140 talking there about 00:31:37.140 --> 00:31:39.000 the great exchange 00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:40.560 that took place 00:31:40.560 --> 00:31:41.259 on the cross. 00:31:42.520 --> 00:31:42.920 He says, 00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:43.560 for God, 00:31:44.140 --> 00:31:44.580 the Father, 00:31:44.740 --> 00:31:45.460 he means especially, 00:31:45.940 --> 00:31:46.900 made him, 00:31:46.980 --> 00:31:47.560 that's Jesus, 00:31:47.759 --> 00:31:49.420 to be sin for us. 00:31:50.100 --> 00:31:51.259 The one who knew 00:31:51.259 --> 00:31:51.920 no sin 00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:53.580 to be made sin 00:31:53.580 --> 00:31:54.220 for us 00:31:54.220 --> 00:31:54.840 who are sinners. 00:31:55.520 --> 00:31:55.800 Why? 00:31:55.799 --> 00:31:57.879 So that the righteousness 00:31:57.879 --> 00:31:58.759 of God, 00:31:59.720 --> 00:32:01.379 that we might become 00:32:01.379 --> 00:32:02.859 the righteousness 00:32:02.859 --> 00:32:03.919 of God in him. 00:32:04.460 --> 00:32:04.700 See, 00:32:04.819 --> 00:32:05.119 there's the, 00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:06.379 there's the opposites. 00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:07.319 Sin, 00:32:07.819 --> 00:32:08.339 righteousness. 00:32:09.700 --> 00:32:10.139 We, 00:32:10.639 --> 00:32:10.899 sin, 00:32:11.259 --> 00:32:11.579 God, 00:32:11.659 --> 00:32:12.039 righteous. 00:32:14.019 --> 00:32:14.659 Jesus, 00:32:15.240 --> 00:32:16.000 in himself, 00:32:16.139 --> 00:32:16.639 sinless, 00:32:17.059 --> 00:32:17.879 became sin, 00:32:18.299 --> 00:32:19.079 was made sin. 00:32:19.220 --> 00:32:19.460 Why? 00:32:20.019 --> 00:32:20.619 So that we, 00:32:20.740 --> 00:32:21.240 who are sinful, 00:32:21.379 --> 00:32:22.159 be made righteous. 00:32:22.160 --> 00:32:24.759 That's the core 00:32:24.759 --> 00:32:25.320 of the gospel. 00:32:26.220 --> 00:32:26.960 That's the essence 00:32:26.960 --> 00:32:27.740 of atonement. 00:32:29.180 --> 00:32:30.300 And it follows on 00:32:30.300 --> 00:32:31.160 from God himself 00:32:31.160 --> 00:32:33.259 being the righteous God. 00:32:35.460 --> 00:32:36.960 So these three things, 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:38.340 let him who boasts, 00:32:38.500 --> 00:32:39.240 boast in this, 00:32:40.180 --> 00:32:41.100 that he understands 00:32:41.100 --> 00:32:42.000 and knows me, 00:32:42.700 --> 00:32:43.680 that I am the Lord, 00:32:44.420 --> 00:32:44.980 who practices 00:32:44.980 --> 00:32:46.019 steadfast love, 00:32:46.140 --> 00:32:46.420 justice, 00:32:46.540 --> 00:32:47.080 and righteousness 00:32:47.080 --> 00:32:47.980 in the earth. 00:32:48.519 --> 00:32:49.360 There's one more thing. 00:32:50.099 --> 00:32:51.619 For in these things, 00:32:52.199 --> 00:32:53.399 I delight, 00:32:53.579 --> 00:32:54.339 says the Lord. 00:32:55.159 --> 00:32:55.399 You see, 00:32:55.559 --> 00:32:56.740 this is not just something 00:32:56.740 --> 00:32:58.699 that's true about God 00:32:58.699 --> 00:32:59.819 in some sort of 00:32:59.819 --> 00:33:00.519 mechanical, 00:33:01.119 --> 00:33:02.459 unfeeling sort of way, 00:33:02.519 --> 00:33:03.119 you might say. 00:33:03.779 --> 00:33:04.619 These are things 00:33:04.619 --> 00:33:05.240 the Lord says 00:33:05.240 --> 00:33:07.000 that I delight in. 00:33:08.659 --> 00:33:09.919 He delights 00:33:09.919 --> 00:33:11.299 in these three things. 00:33:12.579 --> 00:33:13.579 In practices, 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:14.839 steadfast love, 00:33:14.939 --> 00:33:15.399 and justice, 00:33:15.539 --> 00:33:16.099 and righteousness. 00:33:16.759 --> 00:33:17.639 And not only that, 00:33:17.640 --> 00:33:19.320 but the meaning here 00:33:19.320 --> 00:33:20.200 really carries over 00:33:20.200 --> 00:33:21.500 surely into 00:33:21.500 --> 00:33:22.840 the whole idea 00:33:22.840 --> 00:33:23.820 that he delights 00:33:23.820 --> 00:33:24.620 in finding 00:33:24.620 --> 00:33:26.220 these things 00:33:26.220 --> 00:33:27.040 in us too. 00:33:27.940 --> 00:33:29.180 That we are committed 00:33:29.180 --> 00:33:30.920 as Christian people 00:33:30.920 --> 00:33:33.600 by the grace of God 00:33:33.600 --> 00:33:35.000 as far as is possible 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:35.500 for us 00:33:35.500 --> 00:33:38.440 to practice 00:33:38.440 --> 00:33:40.520 steadfast love. 00:33:40.660 --> 00:33:41.500 Love that's 00:33:41.500 --> 00:33:42.400 committed. 00:33:42.660 --> 00:33:43.620 Love that is true. 00:33:43.820 --> 00:33:44.740 Love that is real. 00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:47.060 And justice. 00:33:47.640 --> 00:33:50.200 And righteousness. 00:33:52.060 --> 00:33:53.480 And our relationships 00:33:53.480 --> 00:33:54.340 with each other, 00:33:54.740 --> 00:33:55.640 with the world 00:33:55.640 --> 00:33:56.320 out there. 00:33:57.220 --> 00:33:58.380 All of these, 00:33:58.460 --> 00:33:59.000 these three 00:33:59.000 --> 00:34:00.300 are so important. 00:34:01.600 --> 00:34:02.360 It's the essence 00:34:02.360 --> 00:34:04.280 of the Christian life 00:34:04.280 --> 00:34:04.860 as it is 00:34:04.860 --> 00:34:05.960 the essence 00:34:05.960 --> 00:34:07.080 of God himself 00:34:07.080 --> 00:34:08.720 and what he's like. 00:34:09.619 --> 00:34:10.440 I remember another 00:34:10.440 --> 00:34:12.599 of the minor prophets, 00:34:12.599 --> 00:34:13.619 the prophet Micah 00:34:13.619 --> 00:34:15.719 and how he 00:34:15.719 --> 00:34:17.059 actually came 00:34:17.059 --> 00:34:17.360 to, 00:34:17.900 --> 00:34:18.659 in chapter 6, 00:34:18.779 --> 00:34:20.679 to ask these questions. 00:34:21.019 --> 00:34:21.420 He knew, 00:34:21.539 --> 00:34:21.799 of course, 00:34:22.440 --> 00:34:23.679 the answer to them. 00:34:24.719 --> 00:34:25.739 This was the Lord himself 00:34:25.739 --> 00:34:26.759 actually saying to him 00:34:26.759 --> 00:34:27.860 as he again 00:34:27.860 --> 00:34:29.500 accused his people 00:34:29.500 --> 00:34:29.880 rightly 00:34:29.880 --> 00:34:31.659 of their sins 00:34:31.659 --> 00:34:34.239 and their abandonment 00:34:34.239 --> 00:34:34.900 and turning away 00:34:34.900 --> 00:34:35.440 from the Lord. 00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:35.940 Well, he says, 00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:37.500 with what shall I 00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:38.659 come before the Lord? 00:34:39.539 --> 00:34:40.460 Shall I bow myself 00:34:40.460 --> 00:34:41.700 before God on high? 00:34:42.159 --> 00:34:43.240 Shall I come before him 00:34:43.240 --> 00:34:44.380 with burnt offerings, 00:34:44.880 --> 00:34:46.260 with calves a year old? 00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:47.360 Will the Lord 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:47.920 be pleased 00:34:47.920 --> 00:34:49.300 with thousands of rams, 00:34:49.500 --> 00:34:50.500 with ten thousands 00:34:50.500 --> 00:34:51.599 of rivers of oil? 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:52.920 Shall I give my 00:34:52.920 --> 00:34:53.780 firstborn 00:34:53.780 --> 00:34:54.940 for my transgression, 00:34:55.500 --> 00:34:56.800 the fruit of my body 00:34:56.800 --> 00:34:57.519 for the sin 00:34:57.519 --> 00:34:58.480 of my soul? 00:34:59.280 --> 00:34:59.579 You see, 00:34:59.679 --> 00:35:00.300 there is God 00:35:00.300 --> 00:35:01.280 through the prophet 00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:01.940 really saying, 00:35:01.940 --> 00:35:04.400 what is it 00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:05.059 you're going to do 00:35:05.059 --> 00:35:06.119 as a basis of 00:35:06.119 --> 00:35:08.059 finding acceptance 00:35:08.059 --> 00:35:08.780 with me? 00:35:10.220 --> 00:35:11.440 He has told you, 00:35:11.639 --> 00:35:11.880 O man, 00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:12.519 what is good 00:35:12.519 --> 00:35:14.179 and what does 00:35:14.179 --> 00:35:15.000 the Lord require 00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:15.460 of you 00:35:15.460 --> 00:35:17.599 but to do justice 00:35:17.599 --> 00:35:20.099 and to love kindness, 00:35:20.639 --> 00:35:21.320 steadfast love 00:35:21.320 --> 00:35:21.920 that means, 00:35:22.659 --> 00:35:24.440 and to walk humbly 00:35:24.440 --> 00:35:26.280 with your God. 00:35:28.039 --> 00:35:29.099 Or in the words 00:35:29.099 --> 00:35:30.559 of Jeremiah 00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:31.360 as we've seen, 00:35:31.940 --> 00:35:34.260 he has told you, 00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:34.619 O man, 00:35:34.700 --> 00:35:35.320 what is good 00:35:35.320 --> 00:35:37.260 to boast in 00:35:37.260 --> 00:35:38.159 steadfast love 00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:40.099 and in justice 00:35:40.099 --> 00:35:42.099 and in righteousness. 00:35:43.039 --> 00:35:44.300 For the Lord says, 00:35:44.659 --> 00:35:46.059 in these I delight 00:35:46.059 --> 00:35:48.139 and we say, 00:35:48.260 --> 00:35:48.500 Amen, 00:35:48.840 --> 00:35:49.159 Lord, 00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:51.320 we delight in them 00:35:51.320 --> 00:35:52.420 also. 00:35:52.960 --> 00:35:53.740 Let's pray. 00:35:56.159 --> 00:35:57.539 Our gracious God, 00:35:58.240 --> 00:35:59.159 we give thanks 00:35:59.159 --> 00:36:00.820 tonight for the 00:36:00.820 --> 00:36:01.780 steadfast love 00:36:01.780 --> 00:36:03.039 and the power 00:36:03.039 --> 00:36:04.460 and the righteousness, 00:36:05.100 --> 00:36:05.600 the justice 00:36:05.600 --> 00:36:06.480 that is yours 00:36:06.480 --> 00:36:08.420 and we give thanks 00:36:08.420 --> 00:36:09.080 that these have been 00:36:09.080 --> 00:36:09.740 revealed to us 00:36:09.740 --> 00:36:10.440 through the gospel 00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:11.900 and especially 00:36:11.900 --> 00:36:12.700 in the person 00:36:12.700 --> 00:36:13.460 of your Son, 00:36:14.200 --> 00:36:15.519 O Lord Jesus Christ. 00:36:16.519 --> 00:36:17.019 Lord, 00:36:17.080 --> 00:36:17.740 we give thanks 00:36:17.740 --> 00:36:18.200 for him 00:36:18.200 --> 00:36:18.700 tonight 00:36:18.700 --> 00:36:20.140 as he came 00:36:20.140 --> 00:36:20.680 to stand 00:36:20.680 --> 00:36:21.680 between us 00:36:21.680 --> 00:36:22.660 and the holy God 00:36:22.660 --> 00:36:24.240 and for the way 00:36:24.240 --> 00:36:25.000 that he is 00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:25.539 himself, 00:36:26.080 --> 00:36:26.820 our righteousness, 00:36:27.420 --> 00:36:28.039 our peace, 00:36:28.039 --> 00:36:29.779 all the things 00:36:29.779 --> 00:36:30.679 that we required 00:36:30.679 --> 00:36:31.380 but could never 00:36:31.380 --> 00:36:32.900 create for ourselves. 00:36:33.880 --> 00:36:34.300 O Lord, 00:36:34.380 --> 00:36:34.759 help us, 00:36:34.820 --> 00:36:35.099 we pray, 00:36:35.199 --> 00:36:36.460 to walk humbly 00:36:36.460 --> 00:36:37.139 before you 00:36:37.139 --> 00:36:38.460 and to walk 00:36:38.460 --> 00:36:39.079 in such a way 00:36:39.079 --> 00:36:39.619 that seeks 00:36:39.619 --> 00:36:40.400 like the apostle 00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:42.460 to know of your strength 00:36:42.460 --> 00:36:43.219 made perfect 00:36:43.219 --> 00:36:43.940 in our weakness. 00:36:45.019 --> 00:36:45.619 Help us, 00:36:45.759 --> 00:36:46.059 we pray, 00:36:46.219 --> 00:36:48.000 to detach ourselves 00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:48.779 more and more 00:36:48.779 --> 00:36:49.460 from the ways 00:36:49.460 --> 00:36:50.099 of the world 00:36:50.099 --> 00:36:51.779 and forgive us, 00:36:51.860 --> 00:36:52.219 we pray, 00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:53.739 when we fall 00:36:53.739 --> 00:36:54.739 into these ways 00:36:54.739 --> 00:36:56.500 as we so often do. 00:36:56.500 --> 00:36:57.800 help us 00:36:57.800 --> 00:36:58.559 in our thoughts 00:36:58.559 --> 00:36:59.980 and in our actions 00:36:59.980 --> 00:37:02.159 to follow the example 00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:03.360 of the Lord himself 00:37:03.360 --> 00:37:05.699 and in such a way 00:37:05.699 --> 00:37:06.159 that would 00:37:06.159 --> 00:37:07.739 indeed find 00:37:07.739 --> 00:37:08.880 these great qualities 00:37:08.880 --> 00:37:10.579 that your word speaks 00:37:10.579 --> 00:37:10.880 of 00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:12.639 to be true of us also. 00:37:13.179 --> 00:37:13.840 Hear the prayers 00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:14.579 of your people. 00:37:15.159 --> 00:37:15.840 Be with us now 00:37:15.840 --> 00:37:16.900 and pardon our sin 00:37:16.900 --> 00:37:18.340 for Christ's sake. 00:37:18.480 --> 00:37:18.719 Amen.