Well, turn in Jeremiah, Jeremiah 46 to 52.
If you've not got a Bible, it'd be great to get one.
And let me say thank you.
Thank you for turning up each week.
This series on Jeremiah has certainly stretched me,
and it really has stretched you.
And there's been times when I've been preaching on 1.75 speed,
and you've been very, very patient with it.
I hope it's done you good.
It's done me a lot of good.
Do pray.
I'm off to Wales.
Tomorrow, to preach, I'm at a conference.
So each morning until next Sunday,
I'm doing a series in Acts
at the Reformed Presbyterian Global Alliance Conference,
which sounds a lot more glamorous than it is.
But, yeah, do pray that that would be a good time.
And then I'm on holiday for a couple of weeks.
Let's bow our heads in prayer again.
Father, we ask that the same,
your same Holy Spirit who inspired Jeremiah,
Jeremiah,
our Lord, that he would enlighten our hearts and minds,
and that you would speak to us tonight at the end of this magnificent and yet difficult book.
And so we pray for your help in Jesus' name.
Amen.
I came across an article this week,
which had a quotation from a book I'd never heard of,
The Canticle for Leibovitz.
I don't know if you've read it.
The book envisages a dystopian scene far into the future,
where the world as we know it is finally falling apart.
And as they survey the wasteland that was Earth,
a scientist asks the priest,
how can such a great and wise civilization have destroyed itself so completely?
Perhaps comes the answer from the priest,
by being materially great and materially wise and nothing else.
By being materially great and materially wise and nothing else.
Sooner or later, individuals, nations, civilizations,
that are materially great and materially wise and nothing else,
do pay a heavy price.
And we live in a part of the world which is materially great
and materially wise and nothing else.
In the UK, over the past 15 years,
we have systematically made decisions
which undermine the foundation of society as we know it,
with barely a nod in the direction of serious and moral debate.
We've redefined marriage.
We've proposed and are proposing again assisted suicide.
We have allowed abortion up to birth in certain instances
with children with a disability.
And we are proposing conversion therapy.
And at the same time as all those things,
we are still one of the most effective producers and consumers
in human history.
But we're not bothered, are we, really, where the rubbish goes.
We are materially great, materially wise and nothing else.
And we are remarkably similar to the Babylonians
and the Egyptians and the Philistines
and every other nation that populates the pages of chapters 46 to 52.
On Sunday, May the 3rd,
when we began that journey,
and it was May the 3rd this year,
when we started our journey in Jeremiah,
we read these words from chapter 1 and verse 5.
Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.
And before you were born, I consecrated you.
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
And then verse 10,
See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.
But having gone through the book,
what is strange about those verses?
What's strange about those words,
especially in the light of the last 45 chapters?
As you cast your mind back over the past 11 weeks in Jeremiah,
can you remember much about the nations?
And there has been, I think, the occasional throwaway comment,
but Jeremiah's preoccupation and God's preoccupation
has been entirely with Judah.
As the Lord pleads for those people to submit
to the inevitable judgment,
to take the pathway of grace,
which will lead them into and eventually out of exile in Babylon.
And so in chapter 1,
if Jeremiah was expecting foreign travel,
he must have been a bit disappointed.
God appointed him as a prophet to the nations,
and he only gets to go to Egypt,
dragged by his disobedient compatriots.
And so in chapter 46,
after a very long wait,
Jeremiah does eventually
get to be a prophet to the nations,
as God had said.
Now, interestingly,
the dates when you go through them
at the start of some of these oracles
show that this has been a feature of his ministry
for many years.
But as Jeremiah and Barak
shape Jeremiah's ministry
into a book,
they hold off on the material
to the nations
right to the end.
Why?
It's because in the final version
of Jeremiah's book,
the second half of chapters 25 to 31,
51,
trace
one of the most radical reversals
in all of human history.
Back in chapter 25 and 26,
Judah is
united.
Babylon is the weapon
in God's hands.
And Jeremiah finally comes
to terms with this.
And he emerges
out of his angst
to bring the word of God
to the generations of the exiles.
There's a new force, isn't there?
A new freshness
that helps them
to look beyond
the exile
to God's dramatic intervention
in the new covenant.
He calls them to repent,
to face their sins,
to throw themselves
on God in faith.
He explains that
as they do that,
then God will dramatically
reverse their fortunes.
In chapter 46 to 51,
every nation,
including both Egypt
and Babylon,
and every new Babylon
that's going to emerge
in the future,
is punished
and God's people
are rescued.
This is the final message
of the book.
It's the final version
of the book,
which is then packed off
in the diplomatic bag
and sent to Babylon.
And it isn't really a surprise
it would have come
as quite a comfort
if you'd just been transported
to Babylon
in exile
that these nations
which have committed
such heinous crimes
will not get away with it.
These seven chapters,
they are long, aren't they?
If you read them,
they are graphic
and they are incredibly rich
in imagery.
They cover a huge
geographical area
and a significant time span.
But their message
they bring out
is they bring
our extraordinary journey
to a close.
It can be summed up
in two things, really.
These chapters ask
two things of us
as a church.
And the first is
that we go
to all the world.
We go to all the world.
Every so often
in the Old Testament,
here at the end
of Jeremiah,
in Amos,
in the middle of Ezekiel,
the horizons
suddenly expand
and they take in
not just Judah
or Israel,
all those
little ex-Nation states
in the southeast corner
of the Mediterranean,
but they take in
every nation
of the world.
Completely unexpectedly,
Jeremiah speaks
about the fate
of Egypt
in chapter 46
and the once
great Philistia
in chapter 47
and Judah's second
cousin Moab
and Ammon
in Edom
and then Damascus
and Kedor
and Hazor
and Eon
and the much
less significant
Babylonian vassal states
before embarking
on a sweeping
condemnation
of Nebuchadnezzar's
Babylon
and every superpower
that will arise
in its wake
and the very fact
that God
addresses
all the nations
and God commands
all the nations
is something
that you and I
can easily miss
and it's so
staggeringly,
breathtakingly,
politically incorrect
but the God
of the Bible
is unapologetically
the God
of all the nations
that God,
the creator
of the cosmos
retains his authority
over all nations
as they spread
across the earth
from the table
of nations
in Genesis chapter 11
to its dismissal
of Pharaoh's hubris
in the Exodus
to his holding
Moab
and Edom
and Ammon
to account
for the way
that they treat
his people
as they walk
through the wilderness
in numbers
to his judgment
on the Canaanite tribes
in Joshua
to the toppling
of the Philistine
god Dagon
and his giant
henchman Goliath
in 1 Samuel
over and over
and over again
God asserts
I am the Lord
over all the earth
and there is no other
look with me
at chapter 46
and verse 7
Egypt may huff
and puff
but listen to what
God says
46 verse 7
who is this rising
like the Nile
like rivers
whose waters surge
Egypt rises
like the Nile
like rivers
whose waters surge
he said
I will rise
I will cover the earth
I will destroy cities
and their inhabitants
and God says
bring it on
advance of horses
rage of chariots
let the warriors
go out
men of Cushham
put who
handle the shield
men of lured
skilled in handling
the bow
but that day
is the day
of the Lord God
of hosts
a day of vengeance
to avenge himself
on all his foes
the sword shall devour
and be sated
and drink its fill
of their blood
for the Lord God
of hosts
holds a sacrifice
in the north country
by the ravine
Ephraites
the Philistines
they may strut
their very aggressive stuff
but God will overpower them
and overcome them
in a flash
through the Egyptians
of all people
chapter 47 verse 3
at the noise
of the stamping of hooves
of his stallions
at the rushing
of his chariots
at the rumbling
of their wheels
the fathers
look not back
to their children
so feeble
are their hands
they're too scared
to look out
even for their own kids
because of the day
that's coming
to destroy
all the Philistines
to cut off
from tyre and side
and every helper
there remains
for the Lord
is destroying
the Philistines
the remnant
of the coastland
of Kaphtor
and then one of the most
disturbing statements
in the whole book
of Jeremiah
in verse 5
boldness has come
upon Gaza
boldness is seen
as a judgment
in the Bible
Moab is a madman
brought to silence
48 verse 4
Ammon will be
terrorized by God
driven out forever
49.5
Edom will be made
small among the nations
49.15
Damascus is reduced
to feebleness
49.24
the tiny states
Cador Hazel
will follow suit
before Elam
scattered to the four winds
49.36
and Yahweh
the God of Judah
is the Lord
of all the earth
and if we were
in any doubt
about that at all
then the sweeping
condemnation of Babylon
in chapters 50 to 51
make that clear
and of course
Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon
is condemned
isn't it
for wreaking havoc
in Judah
and enjoying it
far too much
but these chapters
go far beyond that
just look at how
Babylon is described
in 1523 for example
how the hammer
of the whole earth
is cut down and broken
how Babylon
has become a horror
among the nations
now strictly speaking
Babylon wasn't the hammer
of the whole earth
Babylon did not become
a horror
among all the nations
but this is not just
exaggeration
it is the start
of a depiction
of Babylon
that is the archetype
of human rule
and rebellion
against God
and the judgment
of Babylon
is a message
to everyone
who will ever
oppose God
in time and space
and so chapter 50
and verse 46 says
at the sound
of the capture
of Babylon
the earth
shall tremble
and her cries
shall be heard
among the nations
and the poetic
language is there
which tells us
how God
will use Babylon
and call it
to account
in chapter 51
it's a further
suggestion
that Babylon
is already
a symbol
as it was
back in Genesis 11
in the tower
of Babel
of all that is
wrong in the world
it is the city
of man
which will one day
be destroyed
chapter 51
verse 25
behold I'm against you
or destroying mountain
declares the Lord
which destroys
the whole earth
I'll stretch out
my hand against you
and roll you down
from the crags
and make you
a burnt mountain
verse 29
the land trembles
and writhes in pain
for the Lord's
purposes against Babylon
stand to make
the land of Babylon
a desolation
without inhabitant
finally verse 47
therefore behold
the days are coming
when I will punish
the images of Babylon
her whole land
shall be put to shame
and all her slain
shall fall in the midst
of it
then the heavens
and the earth
and all that is in them
shall sing for joy
over the fall of Babylon
for the destroyer
shall come against them
out of the north
Babylon must fall
for the slain of Israel
just as for Babylon
have fallen
the slain of all the earth
the fall of Babylon
at the end of Jeremiah
at the hands of the Medes
represents the eventual fall
of every evil empire
because the sovereign lord
of the universe
Jeremiah tells us
will ensure that justice
is done
Babylon will fall
now what on earth
does this have to do
with us
these chapters
in the Old Testament
are the equivalent
of Revelation chapter 18
these chapters
are Jeremiah's exposition
of the universal
unchanging sovereignty
of our God
and so here is how
John picks up
on these chapters
to describe his vision
in Revelation 18
remember Babylon
encapsulates
every anti-God force
in the world
and it's dealt
with like this
after this
I saw another angel
coming down from heaven
having great authority
and the earth
was made bright
with his glory
and he called out
with a mighty voice
fallen fallen
is Babylon the great
she's become
a dwelling place
for demons
a haunt
for every unclean spirit
a haunt
for every unclean bird
a haunt
for every unclean
undetestable beast
it picks up
the language
of Jeremiah
for all nations
have drunk the wine
of the passion
of her sexual immorality
and the kings
of the earth
have committed
immorality with her
and the merchants
of the earth
have grown rich
from the power
of her luxurious living
this is a nation
being described
that is materially wise
and materially great
but having nothing else
and God's people
are called
to come out from her
before she's judged
along with the kings
of the earth
for this reason
her plagues
will come in a single day
death and mourning
and famine
and she will be
burned up with fire
for mighty
is the Lord God
who's judged her
and the kings
of the earth
who committed
sexual immorality
and lived in luxury
willow with weep
and wail over her
and when they see
the smoke of her burning
they will stand
far off
in fear of her torment
and say
alas
you great city
you mighty city
Babylon
for in a single hour
your judgment
has come
what does this matter
it matters
because ultimately
this is the foundation
for our mandates
to go out
into all the world
as Christ's church
this matters
because this is the reason
we must go out
into all the world
because our God
is the Lord
of all the world
when Jesus says
all authority
in heaven
and on earth
has been given to me
go therefore
to all nations
make disciples
baptizing them
in the name of the Father
the Son
and the Holy Spirit
and teaching them
to do all I've commanded
what is the authority
with which Jesus speaks
it is the authority
of God
displayed
in Jeremiah 46
to 51
and elsewhere
it is the authority
of the Lord
of the nations
which the Father
has devolved
to the Son
and so Philippians 2
tells us
doesn't it
therefore God
has exalted him
Jesus
and bestowed on him
the name that is
above every name
so that at the name
of Jesus
every knee should bow
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ
is Lord
to the glory
of God the Father
and so as we come
to the end
of this academic year
as we come to the end
of this series
we can reflect
I think
in Jeremiah
on how God
has enlarged
our view of him
as the sovereign Lord
and his glory
and that we are his
and that he is
the Lord
of the universe
of the cosmos
and because of that
we must go where
he sends us
as a church
one writer says this
the highest
of all missionary
motives
is neither obedience
to the great commission
importance that is
nor love
for sinners
who are alienated
and perishing
strong as that incentive is
especially when we
contemplate the wrath
of God
but the highest
of all missionary
motives
is zeal
burning
and passionate
zeal
for the glory
of Jesus Christ
only one
imperialism
is Christian
and that is
concern for his
imperial majesty
Jesus Christ
and for the glory
of his empire
or kingdom
before this
supreme
goal
of the Christian
mission
all unworthy
motives
wither and die
salvation
that's the first
part of the message
of these chapters
that we are to go
into all the world
because God is
the Lord of all the world
and the second
is not complimented
as you go
as his church
preach
salvation
and judgment
which comes through Christ
if any book of the Bible
is about this
great biblical theme
of salvation
through judgment
it's got to be Jeremiah
in fact
the first two thirds
of the book
the unique thing
about this book
is the way
in which it
details the prophet's
own struggle
to embrace this
how Jeremiah
had to
internalize
his own message
he had to understand
that salvation
would come through judgment
there's no other book
in the Bible
I think
that exposes us
to the gut-wrenching way
the heart-rending
quality
of the judgment
of God
and then we are
flooded with relief
by Jeremiah
with the realization
that God the judge
is also God
who's working
through salvation
it's a book
isn't it
that details
infidelity
as we've listened
to Jeremiah
and heard the sins
of Judah recounted
the sins of Egypt
and Babylon
they're displayed
for all to see
the anguish
of the prophet
is played out
before us
and of course
the dominant note
in all of the oracles
against the nations
is judgment
it's crazy
to suggest otherwise
it's why it makes
Jeremiah overwhelming
we've seen enough
of the text
to get that
we want to cry
enough
Lord
enough
telling us
about the judgment
we know that
but there are
minor notes
that often we miss
in Jeremiah
there are grace notes
which keep sounding
through these
thunderous messages
so look with me
at 46 verse 25
and the Lord of hosts
the God of Israel
said behold
I am bringing
punishment
upon Ammon
of Thebes
and Pharaoh
and Egypt
on her gods
and her kings
upon Pharaoh
and upon all those
who trust in him
I'm going to deliver
them into the hand
of those who seek
their life
into the hand
of Nebuchadnezz
the king of Babylon
and his officers
and afterwards
Egypt will be inhabited
as in the days
of old
declares the Lord
and this
48 verse 47
yet
I will restore
the fortunes
of Moab
in the latter days
declares the Lord
49 verse 6
afterwards
I will restore
the fortunes
of the Ammonites
declares the Lord
49 verse 39
in the latter days
I will restore
the fortunes
of Elam
declares the Lord
and these chapters
are
all the more remarkable
because when you look
at the language
of 48 and 49
of talking about restoring
it's the same
language that's used
in chapter 3
verse 7
and 17
and 1215
and 16
it's precisely
the same language
that God used
about restoring
the fortunes
of Judah
after the exile
so alongside
the judgment
of the nations
who oppose God
Jeremiah holds
out hope
to people
from Egypt
and Moab
and Ammon
and Elam
he holds out
hope presumably
to those
who will bow
before him
it's noticeable
but it's not
explained
that there's
no such hope
held out
to the Philistines
Damascus
Kedor
Hazor
or Babylon
this is
not a universal
salvation
if I can put it
like this
in the end
of Jeremiah
it is
the God
of mercy
saving those
who are drawn
to him
in faith
in fact
it's impossible
to read
Jeremiah
I think
it's impossible
to read
the Bible
and come away
without getting
the idea
that when
God speaks
some respond
and are
rescued
and some
reject
the very
same words
and they
are lost
and it is
our job
as a church
to go
and proclaim
this message
which produces
salvation
and judgment
in the Lord
Jesus Christ
and as Sunday
by Sunday
you come
and hear
God's word
you need to know
and I need to know
that it will
save some
and it will
harden others
which tells you
that it's not
work for the
faint hearted
when you tell
the gospel
in Little Stars
or the language
class
or Club 16
or Ignite
or in Sunday
school
or in house
group
God's word
will do two
things
it will
save some
and it will
harden others
for Jeremiah
his message
to the nations
in the short term
at least was bad
news
in these chapters
he says
the violence
of the nations
particularly
against God's
people
will be avenged
the arrogance
of the nations
will be brought low
the gods
of the nations
will be powerless
to save
the nations
in turn
will be
devastated
by other nations
but there will
also be a
stunning reversal
for Judah
Jeremiah 51
ends like this
from verse 59
after all the
poetic
extravagance
there's something
pretty prosaic
the end of
verse 59
51
the word that
Jeremiah the prophet
commanded
Saraiah the son
of Neriah
the son
of Massiah
when he went
with Zedekiah
king of Judah
to Babylon
in the fourth
year of his reign
Saraiah was
the quartermaster
he was in charge
of the stores
and Jeremiah
wrote in a book
all the disaster
that should come
upon Babylon
all these words
that are written
concerning Babylon
and Jeremiah
said to Saraiah
when you come
to Babylon
see that you
read all these
words and pray
oh Lord
you have said
concerning this
place that
you'll cut it
off
so that nothing
shall dwell
in it
neither man
nor beast
and it shall
be desolate
forever
when you finish
reading this book
tie a stone
to it
cast it
into the middle
of the river
Euphrates
and say
thus shall
Babylon sink
to rise no more
because of the
disaster
that I'm bringing
upon her
and they shall
become exhausted
thus far
are the words
of Jeremiah
that's how his
word finish
he's told
read it out
pray
perform a dramatic
sign
throw it in the
river
and probably
run off
and that's it
for Jeremiah
all we get
at this point
whether it's
Jeremiah or
Baruch
they stick in
a large section
of 2 Kings
24 and 25
detailing the
events of the
exile
he doesn't
change anything
at all
he just
wants to
underline
everything
that God
has said
through Jeremiah
played out
exactly as he
announced
and the fact
that Jeremiah's
message
the salvation
and the judgment
that he proclaimed
would one day
be brought to
life in real
time
by one man
who is a
descendant of
Jehoiachin
it's funny
that the book
ends with him
is that he
really was a
hopeless king
he ruled for
three months
and he spent
the next 37
years in
captivity in
Babylon
politically
speaking
Jehoiachin
was an
idiot
but he
was a
Davidic
idiot
and just
like two
kings
Jeremiah
ends like
this
in the
37 year
of exile
Jehoiachin
king of
Judah
in the
12th
month
on the
25th
day of
the
month
evil
Moradach
king of
Babylon
in the
year that
he began
to reign
graciously
freed
Jehoiachin
king of
Judah
and brought
him out
of prison
there's this
harmless king
and the new
guy in charge
wants to look
gracious
so he
wheels out
Jehoiachin
he speaks
kindly to him
he gives him
a seat above
the seats of the
kings who were
with him in
Babylon
Jehoiachin
changes his
prison clothes
he eats at
the king's
table
he gets an
alliance
it's not much
but it's
enough
it's the
hope of a
king from
David's
line
a
Deuteronomy
17 kind
of king
a king
who will
bring in
the new
covenant
of Jeremiah
30 to
33
the hope
of the new
covenant
is flickering
because of
Jehoiachin
or Jeconiah
as he's also
called
he's alive
and God's
plan is
still on
track
and so
several
hundred years
later
another
Jewish man
Matthew
was able to
write these
words at the
start of his
gospel
and after the
deportation of
Babylon
Jeconiah
was the
father of
Shealtiel
and Shealtiel
the father of
Zerubbabel
and Zerubbabel
the father of
Abiud and Abiud
the father of
Eliakim and
Eliakim the father
of Atol
and Azal the
father of
Zadok and
Zadok the
father of
Achim and
Achim the
father of
Eliud and
Eliud the
father of
Eliezer and
Eliezer the
father of
Mathen and
Mathen the
father of
Jacob and
Jacob the
father of
Joseph the
husband of
Mary of
whom Jesus
was born who
is called
Christ.
Jeremiah
preaches
salvation through
judgment.
Not salvation
through judgment
is embodied and
achieved and
acted and
proclaimed in
the Lord Jesus
Christ.
And we
have to do
the same.
To preach
Jesus Christ
and call people
to repentance
come what may
in the face of
coming judgment.
We push
Jesus to the
center of
church life
and we
call on people
to respond to
him by faith
and we know
that that will
either lead to
hardening and
judgment or
salvation.
And that
brings us to
the end of
this most
personal of
books where
Jeremiah lays
out for us how
the prophet of
God had to get
this message of
God's glorious
sovereignty revealed
in the coming of
Christ in judgment
and salvation under
his skin and he
had to feel it
and he had to
live it and he
had to submit to
it.
He had to swallow
it and then he
had to preach it
and he had to
get it under
his skin.
And we have to
get the gospel
of salvation
through judgment
under our skin
so that we can
never be the
same again.
So that it is
burnt into our
hearts and our
minds so that it
motivates every
corner of church
life.
So that we
live in it by
the power of the
Holy Spirit.
And if tonight
we don't have
that God
given resolve,
let's throw
ourselves on
God.
The God who
loves us and
gave himself for
us and ask
him to give us
the grace that
we need to
proclaim Christ
to our
children, to
the ministries
that we have in
this church and
to the nations
that are in
this city.
Because 2
Corinthians 4
verse 1 says
therefore having
this ministry by
the mercy of
God we do
not lose
heart, we
don't give
up.
But we've
renounced
disgraceful and
underhanded ways,
we refuse to
practice cunning
or to tamper
with God's
word and we
won't pretend to
be something that
we're not.
But by the
open statement of
the truth we
would commend
ourselves to
everyone's
conscience in
the sight of
God and even
if our gospel
is veiled,
it's veiled to
those who are
perishing,
in their
case the
God of
this world
has blinded
the minds
of unbelievers
to keep
them from
seeing the
light of
the gospel
of the
glory of
Christ who
is the
image of
God.
For what we
proclaim is
not ourselves
but Jesus
Christ as
Lord,
with ourselves
as your
servants for
Jesus'
sake.
For God
who said
that light
shine out of
darkness
has shone in
our hearts
to give the
light of the
knowledge of the
glory of God
in the face
of Jesus
Christ.
And so let
us go into
all the world
because God
is the Lord
of all the
world.
And let us
preach Christ
salvation
through judgment.
Let's pray.