WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.279 We're in Jeremiah, chapter 21 to 24. You'll need a Bible. It'll be difficult to follow without a Bible. They're by the door there. Please do get up and grab one. 00:00:11.019 --> 00:00:29.699 Next week is 25 to 29 in our race through Jeremiah. One of the things about sport that we love is you can have a team, let's say, or a boxer, and he's pretty average. He's something of a journeyman. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:40.100 And then suddenly he has the fight of his life and he comes alive. Or a football team. They're doing okay. And suddenly they came alive and you think, well, where did that come from? 00:00:41.060 --> 00:00:49.500 Can't be preaching as well, can't it? Preaching normally. And then suddenly it comes from nowhere. It's a bit like that in Jeremiah 21 to 24. 00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:59.240 Last week you're in the depths of despair. Jeremiah felt and experienced the pain of God's judgment like few others have or certainly have articulated. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:09.299 Chapter 16 to 20, Jeremiah is creaking under the strain of being committed to embracing and living and proclaiming the message of judgment. 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:16.420 It's almost too much for him. He almost breaks under the strain at the end of chapter 20. And then you get to chapter 21. 00:01:17.099 --> 00:01:19.539 The bell goes and Jeremiah comes out swinging. 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:22.079 Jeremiah looks like a different man. 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:28.459 He's recovered his prophetic mojo and he starts to preach with unmatched power and courage. 00:01:28.599 --> 00:01:32.480 He takes on all corners and all comers in the name of God. 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:35.959 God who's called him and equipped him for such a time as this. 00:01:36.679 --> 00:01:38.840 He's taken us down into the depths. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:43.359 But now there is a new confident, unshakable, fearless Jeremiah. 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:48.079 And he exposes us to the fearless blast of his prophetic preaching. 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:54.120 Four chapters, four basic commands from the living God that you and I would do well to heed. 00:01:54.760 --> 00:01:58.000 The first in chapter 21 is submit to God. 00:01:58.760 --> 00:01:59.819 Submit to God. 00:02:00.939 --> 00:02:07.359 In chapter 21 to 24, we're confronted with a carefully arranged snippet of sermons. 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:11.020 It's like a, now that's what I call Jeremiah's preaching. 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:14.919 Pronouncement, oracles, proclamations, whatever you want to call them. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:17.800 Made by Jeremiah to the leadership of Judah. 00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:22.639 And these snippets cover each of the kings that Jeremiah saw come and go. 00:02:22.780 --> 00:02:24.479 But they're not in chronological order. 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:26.659 In fact, they're in reverse order. 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:33.500 Because Jeremiah or Barak has selected the material to step us through this four-part response. 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:36.000 To the God who speaks into our world. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:38.139 So we pick up the narrative in chapter 21, verse 1. 00:02:39.020 --> 00:02:41.599 Where just for a change, Jeremiah is under pressure. 00:02:42.659 --> 00:02:44.139 This is the word that came to Jeremiah. 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:47.379 From the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent him. 00:02:48.099 --> 00:02:49.639 Pasha, the son of Malchiah. 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:52.219 And Zephaniah, the priest, the son of Messiah. 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:55.699 Saying, I inquire of the Lord for us. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:58.500 For Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, is making war against us. 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:01.939 Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:03.900 And will make you withdraw from us. 00:03:03.900 --> 00:03:07.140 Now to refresh your memory, Zedekiah is the last king of Judah. 00:03:08.379 --> 00:03:11.319 He is one of the godly Josiah's sons. 00:03:11.500 --> 00:03:12.800 Three of whom sat on the throne. 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:18.939 All of them, I think it's fair to say, were spiritual idiots. 00:03:18.939 --> 00:03:22.280 The dad, Josiah was godly. 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:23.599 The son was spiritual idiots. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:27.759 And Zedekiah has just had his name changed from Mataniah. 00:03:28.079 --> 00:03:31.359 And he's been stalled as the puppet king of Jerusalem. 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:34.879 For ten years, he sits on the throne. 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:41.319 And he's now in the process of blowing everything by starting a pointless rebellion against mighty King Nebuchadnezzar. 00:03:41.500 --> 00:03:42.939 Who's already invaded Jerusalem. 00:03:44.439 --> 00:03:51.159 He shows his barefaced cheek by sending his chief advisor and chief priest to ask for a miracle through Jeremiah. 00:03:51.340 --> 00:03:52.979 Get us out of this, Jeremiah. 00:03:52.979 --> 00:03:56.599 And Jeremiah can hardly contain his laughter or his scorn. 00:03:57.939 --> 00:03:58.939 You'll see that from verse three. 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:03.259 Jeremiah said to them, thus you shall say to Zedekiah, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel. 00:04:03.419 --> 00:04:06.599 Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands. 00:04:06.959 --> 00:04:08.620 And with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon. 00:04:09.259 --> 00:04:11.719 And against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. 00:04:11.959 --> 00:04:14.379 And I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:16.180 It's not quite the answer they were expecting. 00:04:17.579 --> 00:04:18.459 Did you hear that? 00:04:18.459 --> 00:04:21.139 God is on the side of the opposition. 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:23.180 It's the ultimate betrayal. 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:29.459 In fact, Jeremiah says you really need to get used to the idea of God not being on your side. 00:04:29.799 --> 00:04:34.799 Because both the exodus and the conquest are about to be reversed before your very eyes. 00:04:34.899 --> 00:04:35.620 Look at verse five. 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:39.799 I myself will fight against you with outstretched arm. 00:04:40.779 --> 00:04:42.740 With outstretched hand and strong arm. 00:04:42.839 --> 00:04:44.699 It's classic exodus language. 00:04:46.060 --> 00:04:47.740 Exodus, conquest, phrase. 00:04:47.740 --> 00:04:52.680 God will fight for you with an outstretched hand and a strong arm. 00:04:52.960 --> 00:04:55.720 Except now, he's coming against you in anger. 00:04:56.660 --> 00:04:59.220 And in fury and in great wrath according to verse five. 00:05:00.220 --> 00:05:04.139 Can you even begin to imagine how much this must have felt? 00:05:05.780 --> 00:05:11.060 For generations, Judah had rested on the fact that God had repeatedly said, 00:05:11.280 --> 00:05:14.019 I will be your God and you will be my people. 00:05:14.019 --> 00:05:21.620 Yet now, this same God is smashing his own people with a hammer. 00:05:21.620 --> 00:05:22.899 Nebuchadnezzar. 00:05:22.899 --> 00:05:23.759 Look at verse six. 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:28.180 I will strike down the inhabitants of the city, but man and beast. 00:05:28.740 --> 00:05:29.980 They shall die of great pestilence. 00:05:30.540 --> 00:05:34.920 After it declares it all, I will give Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his servants, and the people in the city who survive. 00:05:35.500 --> 00:05:39.180 The pestilence, sword and famine, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:40.620 And into the hand of their enemies. 00:05:41.340 --> 00:05:42.860 Into the hand of those who seek their lives. 00:05:43.139 --> 00:05:45.259 He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:48.759 He shall not pity them, or spare them, or have compassion. 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:48.839 Listen. 00:05:50.980 --> 00:05:54.680 Now, I'm guessing that the king wasn't overly enthusiastic about this message. 00:05:55.939 --> 00:05:58.019 It's a bit disorientating, isn't it? 00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:01.300 You know that TV show, Who Do You Think You Are? 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:10.500 And all the way through, isn't it, the twist in the program is, you are not who you think you are. 00:06:10.500 --> 00:06:18.000 When you find out that your grandfather was Reggie or Ronnie Cray, it can be a bit discombobulating, isn't it? 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:25.500 Or when you find out there was kind of terrible, terrible behavior in your ancestors, you're not who you think you were. 00:06:26.220 --> 00:06:27.220 It's discombobulating. 00:06:27.540 --> 00:06:28.759 It's disorientating. 00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:35.159 How much more, if our lives, in our lives, we think God is on our side. 00:06:35.259 --> 00:06:39.879 How disorientating it is to find out, in fact, that God is against us. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:49.399 And Jeremiah announces to the king, and the freshly energized Jeremiah couldn't really care less about what the king thinks. 00:06:50.500 --> 00:06:54.839 Because his concern is to call the kings and the people to submit to God their judge. 00:06:54.839 --> 00:07:03.439 So, 21 verse 8, to this people you shall say, thus says the Lord, behold, I set before you the way of life and death. 00:07:04.579 --> 00:07:08.060 Again, Jeremiah is preaching Deuteronomy, chapter 30, verse 20. 00:07:09.919 --> 00:07:14.739 He who stays in the city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:21.859 But he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans, who are besieging you, shall live, and shall have his life as a prize of war. 00:07:21.860 --> 00:07:26.360 For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the Lord. 00:07:27.139 --> 00:07:30.480 He will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire. 00:07:30.759 --> 00:07:34.180 The way to live is to submit to God. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:37.500 To God who comes in judgment. 00:07:39.240 --> 00:07:43.460 Similarly, chapter 21, verses 11 to 14 is an appeal to face reality. 00:07:43.459 --> 00:07:50.479 He appeals to the king to choose justice and integrity over exploitation and fraud. 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:56.079 But he knows that he's whistling in the wind because the king has already decided to self-destruct. 00:07:57.279 --> 00:07:58.819 The coming judgment is inevitable. 00:07:59.259 --> 00:08:02.319 I'll punish you according to the fruit of your deeds, says the Lord in verse 14. 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:11.839 Jeremiah is under no illusions about either the motivation or the likely response of Zedekiah to his message. 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:18.480 But it doesn't stop him calling on both the king and, more importantly, actually, the people to submit to the Lord. 00:08:20.819 --> 00:08:23.659 Now, I know that things have changed since Jeremiah's day. 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:27.579 The Lord Jesus became one of us. 00:08:28.899 --> 00:08:31.500 He lived and died and rose again for us. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:33.400 He ascended for us. 00:08:33.500 --> 00:08:35.460 He is seated at the right hand of God for us. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.860 God's grace has been poured out on us in new and fresh ways. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:44.360 Including the fact of the Holy Spirit's presence with us. 00:08:45.940 --> 00:08:49.620 He has moved into us, enabling us to know and to love God. 00:08:49.620 --> 00:08:57.720 But we mustn't make the mistake of thinking that the basic shape of our daily experience of life with God is radically altered. 00:08:57.720 --> 00:09:06.340 You see, for Jeremiah, the basic building block of his discipleship was submitting to the God of the universe. 00:09:06.340 --> 00:09:09.100 And for you and I, it's exactly the same. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:21.560 Listen to these words of a New Testament writer, who I think was more sensitive than any of the others to the basic continuity of the shape of faith across the whole of the Bible. 00:09:21.559 --> 00:09:24.139 Jesus' half-brother James. 00:09:24.239 --> 00:09:26.259 Here's what he says in typically prophetic language. 00:09:26.359 --> 00:09:27.259 Chapter 4, verse 1. 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:28.439 What causes quarrels? 00:09:29.019 --> 00:09:30.079 And what causes fights among you? 00:09:30.119 --> 00:09:30.759 Is it not this? 00:09:30.899 --> 00:09:32.459 That your passions are at war within you? 00:09:33.119 --> 00:09:34.459 You desire and you do not have. 00:09:34.500 --> 00:09:34.939 So you murder. 00:09:35.079 --> 00:09:35.379 You covet. 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:36.279 You cannot obtain. 00:09:36.659 --> 00:09:37.719 So you fight and you quarrel. 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:40.000 You do not have because you do not ask. 00:09:40.239 --> 00:09:43.859 You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions. 00:09:43.860 --> 00:09:45.000 You adulterous people. 00:09:45.259 --> 00:09:48.860 Do you not know, therefore, that friendship with God is enmity with the world? 00:09:50.800 --> 00:09:54.220 Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 00:09:54.639 --> 00:10:02.019 Or do you suppose that it's no purpose that Scripture says he yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us? 00:10:02.659 --> 00:10:03.639 But he gives more grace. 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:07.740 Therefore, it says, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. 00:10:08.800 --> 00:10:10.340 Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. 00:10:11.060 --> 00:10:12.539 Resist the devil and he'll free from you. 00:10:12.539 --> 00:10:14.379 Draw near to God and he'll draw near to you. 00:10:14.459 --> 00:10:15.959 Cleanse your hands, you sinners. 00:10:16.539 --> 00:10:18.219 And purify your hearts, you double-minded. 00:10:18.620 --> 00:10:20.079 Be wretched and mourn and weep. 00:10:20.339 --> 00:10:23.339 Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:26.620 Humble yourself before the Lord and he will exalt you. 00:10:27.299 --> 00:10:28.639 That could be Jeremiah, couldn't it? 00:10:30.539 --> 00:10:32.899 Now, there are far more details than we've got time to go into. 00:10:33.079 --> 00:10:34.240 But I want you to get the basic point. 00:10:34.299 --> 00:10:38.059 The basic point that we all face is submission. 00:10:38.059 --> 00:10:43.619 God calls us to humble ourselves before him. 00:10:44.739 --> 00:10:46.959 Jeremiah calls the king and the people to submit to God. 00:10:47.379 --> 00:10:49.179 James says, submit yourselves to God. 00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:54.059 And that is the basic building block of discipleship. 00:10:54.059 --> 00:10:58.819 And just in case you have noticed, it is really hard. 00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:01.500 Why is it hard? 00:11:01.500 --> 00:11:08.860 It's really hard to submit to other people because of our passions, our longings, our desires, because we don't want to. 00:11:08.860 --> 00:11:13.019 It's really hard to submit to God because we don't want to, do we? 00:11:13.060 --> 00:11:14.399 We want to get our own way. 00:11:14.500 --> 00:11:17.340 We want to deal with our own appetites by satisfying them. 00:11:17.560 --> 00:11:19.100 We want to feel good about ourselves. 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:21.519 We want to keep our pride intact. 00:11:21.680 --> 00:11:23.580 We want to laugh and not cry. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:25.879 We want to avoid, not face the truth. 00:11:27.060 --> 00:11:31.659 And the challenge is to accept that God is God and we are not. 00:11:32.980 --> 00:11:34.000 And so we submit to him. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:40.799 Jesus himself said, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. 00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:45.580 And so let me ask you, how is that going for you tonight? 00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:53.779 To what extent is your life, if any, about submitting to God? 00:11:54.919 --> 00:11:56.759 Of dying to yourself? 00:11:56.759 --> 00:12:01.120 Where are you feeling the struggle right now? 00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:05.200 Where are you finding that you have to fight every day? 00:12:06.059 --> 00:12:09.039 What is weighing heavily on your heart? 00:12:09.139 --> 00:12:10.779 What are you praying about every day? 00:12:10.860 --> 00:12:15.379 Because you actually are deeply concerned about the gap between that. 00:12:16.259 --> 00:12:21.960 Between what you're thinking and doing and saying and what God asks of you in his words. 00:12:21.960 --> 00:12:26.259 And equips us for in the Lord Jesus by the Spirit. 00:12:27.740 --> 00:12:32.660 And I would go as far to say tonight that if there is no struggle to submit in your life now. 00:12:33.500 --> 00:12:39.860 That if you can't actually identify areas where you're having to fight in the strength which God supplies. 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:42.360 Then the strong likelihood is this. 00:12:42.460 --> 00:12:48.160 You are drifting dangerously into pretense or apathy or cold heartedness. 00:12:48.500 --> 00:12:49.600 You're heading for the rocks. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:59.920 And it may be that you've drifted off the path of real daily glad painful submission to Jesus. 00:13:00.139 --> 00:13:01.840 Because that is real discipleship. 00:13:04.220 --> 00:13:08.779 You see the problem is if we're not submitting to God. 00:13:08.899 --> 00:13:11.519 Then the only possible alternative is we're living for ourselves. 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:16.320 It may well be on the outside. 00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:19.120 The appearance of our life looks healthy and relatively impressive. 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:25.580 But beneath the surface it has become subtly and definitely all about us. 00:13:27.340 --> 00:13:28.580 Doing what we want. 00:13:29.940 --> 00:13:31.060 Pursuing what we want. 00:13:31.259 --> 00:13:32.740 Living for ourselves. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:36.159 And if that is us what are we to do? 00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:40.720 There's only one solution to this kind of spiritual condition. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:45.540 It is, isn't it, seeing the beauty of Christ again. 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:55.200 Taking hold of him by faith as we repent of our renewed quest for dominance. 00:13:55.200 --> 00:14:01.840 No one has expressed this more clearly than Thomas Chalmers in his famous sermon, 00:14:02.280 --> 00:14:03.940 The Expulsive Power of a New Affection. 00:14:04.820 --> 00:14:07.080 It's a remarkable sermon. 00:14:08.920 --> 00:14:10.400 Let's think of the teenage boy. 00:14:10.580 --> 00:14:13.460 The teenage boy, he loves sport. 00:14:13.800 --> 00:14:14.660 He loves playing games. 00:14:16.040 --> 00:14:17.100 He loves mucking about. 00:14:17.100 --> 00:14:19.379 You can't get him into the bathroom. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:20.519 He stinks. 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:22.300 You can't get him into the bathroom. 00:14:23.379 --> 00:14:24.960 He wears tracksuits all the time. 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:26.320 That's all he wears. 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:28.200 He's in tracksuits. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:29.159 You just can't get him out. 00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:32.540 You say let's go for a dinner with the family and he's just in a tracksuit all the time. 00:14:33.659 --> 00:14:36.019 Suddenly, he's in the bathroom all the time. 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:39.620 He stinks of lynx Africa. 00:14:39.620 --> 00:14:42.879 He puts stuff in his hair. 00:14:44.179 --> 00:14:46.159 And he's clean. 00:14:47.340 --> 00:14:48.620 He started wearing jeans. 00:14:50.580 --> 00:14:51.440 Is that what teenagers are? 00:14:53.379 --> 00:14:55.620 He's wearing branded sportswear. 00:14:56.460 --> 00:14:56.700 I don't know. 00:14:57.200 --> 00:14:58.019 What's happened? 00:14:59.039 --> 00:14:59.879 What has happened? 00:15:00.019 --> 00:15:00.639 There's something happened. 00:15:00.740 --> 00:15:01.799 He's become interested in the girl. 00:15:02.860 --> 00:15:08.019 And that affection for her has driven out his grey tracksuit bottoms. 00:15:08.019 --> 00:15:13.579 And it's driven out the not caring about what he smells like or what he looks like. 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:15.559 Because there's a new affection in his life. 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:18.860 And this is how we fight sin. 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:21.439 The expulsive power of a new affection. 00:15:21.740 --> 00:15:26.000 As we see Jesus in his beauty, it drives out our rebellion. 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:27.740 It drives out our apathy. 00:15:29.480 --> 00:15:31.439 It drives out our stubborn pride. 00:15:32.019 --> 00:15:37.840 You see, you will not change tonight by beating yourself up and trying to work yourself into a froth of repentance. 00:15:38.019 --> 00:15:45.539 What will change you is actually knowing the Lord Jesus as he's portrayed to us at the table tonight through the gospel. 00:15:45.899 --> 00:15:53.559 That it's when you see Jesus broken for you, given for you, that you will gladly bow before him. 00:15:55.159 --> 00:15:57.899 That you'll throw your hands up, I hope, and you'll say, I've been an idiot. 00:15:58.019 --> 00:15:59.279 I've been utterly foolish. 00:16:00.100 --> 00:16:04.399 And so tonight, I invite you to gaze by face at the Lord who loves you. 00:16:05.659 --> 00:16:08.279 As you come to the table, the Lord who died for you. 00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:09.759 The Lord who reigns for you. 00:16:10.199 --> 00:16:12.939 The Lord who is interceding for you. 00:16:12.980 --> 00:16:13.559 And submit to him. 00:16:13.579 --> 00:16:14.339 That's the first thing. 00:16:15.819 --> 00:16:19.980 Now the second thing in chapter 22 is where Jeremiah urges his peers to pursue integrity. 00:16:19.980 --> 00:16:29.360 The further we go in Jeremiah, the more I admire this intense, introverted prophet who's unafraid of no one. 00:16:32.060 --> 00:16:36.800 We've already seen him front up to Zedekiah right at the end of his reign as the Babylonians come knocking on the door. 00:16:38.300 --> 00:16:39.800 It turns out there wasn't a new thing. 00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:45.079 In the extracts of his preaching in chapter 22, we find that Jeremiah has gone head to head with the previous three kings. 00:16:45.979 --> 00:16:51.240 His basic message is laid out in verses 1 to 9, where judgment is announced and explained to the king of Judah. 00:16:51.839 --> 00:16:54.059 And the prospect for all the kings is the same. 00:16:55.539 --> 00:16:58.259 Verses 8 and 9, again, draw on Deuteronomy. 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:00.719 Deuteronomy chapter 29, verse 22. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:01.659 Here's what Moses said. 00:17:02.019 --> 00:17:07.240 He said, the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:11.680 will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the Lord has made it sick, 00:17:11.779 --> 00:17:15.079 all the nations will say, why has the Lord done this to this land? 00:17:16.579 --> 00:17:18.279 What caused the heat of his great anger? 00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:21.539 Then the people will say, it's because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord. 00:17:22.339 --> 00:17:25.120 The God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:27.140 And they went and served other gods. 00:17:27.720 --> 00:17:31.900 And worshipped them, gods whom they had not known, whom he had not allotted to them. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.160 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, 00:17:34.500 --> 00:17:36.799 bringing upon all the curses written in this book. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:38.319 And the Lord uprooted them from the land. 00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:40.779 In his anger and fury and great wrath. 00:17:40.839 --> 00:17:42.919 And he cast them into another land as they are this day. 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:48.700 So Jeremiah goes and takes God's word and he preaches this message to Shalom. 00:17:50.159 --> 00:17:51.680 Jehoaz, as he's called in Kings. 00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:53.639 And Jehoiakim. 00:17:54.019 --> 00:17:55.339 That's Josiah's other two sons. 00:17:55.960 --> 00:17:57.399 Jehoiakim and Jehoiakin. 00:17:57.980 --> 00:18:00.599 Confusingly, he's also known as Jeconiah and Keniah. 00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:00.719 Josiah. 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:02.959 Josiah's grandson. 00:18:03.240 --> 00:18:07.039 And they shared none of Josiah's love for God. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:15.099 Which explains why he begins chapter 22, verse 10, by telling them, don't mourn for Josiah. 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:18.339 Josiah, he's gone. 00:18:18.939 --> 00:18:20.879 And his feckless sons are not going to measure up. 00:18:21.320 --> 00:18:23.300 Now just look very quickly at what he says to each of these kings. 00:18:23.800 --> 00:18:24.940 Chapter 22, verse 11. 00:18:25.120 --> 00:18:25.740 Shalom, okay. 00:18:26.780 --> 00:18:27.840 He shall return here no more. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:30.240 But in the place where they've carried him captive, there shall he die. 00:18:30.320 --> 00:18:31.460 And he shall never see this land again. 00:18:32.840 --> 00:18:34.980 Jehoiakim's turn in 22, 13 to 19. 00:18:35.080 --> 00:18:42.600 And Jeremiah points out that his reign, unlike his dad, was marked by exploitation, consumption and fraud. 00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:49.379 Woe to him, verse 13, who builds his house by unrighteousness and his upper rooms by injustice. 00:18:50.119 --> 00:18:51.859 Jeremiah hates loft extensions. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:56.259 He makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages. 00:18:56.539 --> 00:19:00.539 Who says, I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms. 00:19:01.859 --> 00:19:03.439 Loft extensions really got to him. 00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:05.639 Who cuts out windows for it. 00:19:06.459 --> 00:19:07.519 Panels it with Caesar. 00:19:07.919 --> 00:19:09.379 And painting it with vermilion. 00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:10.559 Beware of vermilion. 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:13.639 Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? 00:19:13.980 --> 00:19:16.539 Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? 00:19:17.019 --> 00:19:17.839 Then it was well with him. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:20.000 He judged the cause of the poor and the needy. 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:20.679 Then it was well. 00:19:21.399 --> 00:19:23.119 Is not this to know me, declares the Lord. 00:19:23.179 --> 00:19:25.599 But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain. 00:19:25.700 --> 00:19:28.399 For shedding innocent blood and for practicing oppression and violence. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:32.460 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah. 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:35.179 They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, my brother, ah, our sister. 00:19:35.559 --> 00:19:38.379 They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, Lord, or Ah, his majesty. 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:40.419 With the burial of a donkey you shall be buried. 00:19:40.859 --> 00:19:42.519 Dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem. 00:19:42.659 --> 00:19:43.240 Go, Jeremiah. 00:19:44.980 --> 00:19:46.599 He actually said this stuff to the king. 00:19:49.220 --> 00:19:51.200 Did you notice the striking phrase in the middle? 00:19:51.679 --> 00:19:54.240 He, Josiah, judged the cause of the poor and the needy. 00:19:55.319 --> 00:19:56.200 And it was well. 00:19:56.200 --> 00:19:59.279 Is not this to know me, declares the Lord. 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:01.900 His point is quite simple. 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:05.340 Josiah was the real deal and you are not. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:10.840 And no wonder that the whole region is breaking out in lament in verses 20 to 23. 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:15.319 There's a massive chasm at the heart of Judah for King Jehoiada. 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:19.220 It's not the real thing, nor was Jehoiakim Jeconiah. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:20.220 Verse 24. 00:20:20.220 --> 00:20:23.360 As I live, declares the Lord. 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:29.100 Though Keniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with a signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off. 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:35.579 Give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. 00:20:35.579 --> 00:20:39.980 And the Chaldeans, I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country. 00:20:40.099 --> 00:20:40.519 Verse 28. 00:20:40.819 --> 00:20:44.740 Is this man, Keniah, a despised broken pot, a vessel no one cares for? 00:20:45.859 --> 00:20:46.839 Why is this happening? 00:20:48.740 --> 00:20:50.079 It's not from a lack of love. 00:20:50.199 --> 00:20:52.500 It's because they've refused to seek God and live. 00:20:52.579 --> 00:20:53.240 So verse 30. 00:20:53.419 --> 00:21:01.579 Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah. 00:21:01.740 --> 00:21:03.079 It's actually quite simple. 00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:06.779 For example, Jeremiah says, you are self-seeking shams. 00:21:10.659 --> 00:21:12.639 These are the anointed ones of God. 00:21:12.740 --> 00:21:14.480 They are the Davidic kings. 00:21:14.980 --> 00:21:16.319 They are the Christ's. 00:21:16.419 --> 00:21:17.539 They are the messiahs. 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:26.119 And they are not there to expose our lack of integrity because none of us are the messiah. 00:21:27.879 --> 00:21:32.460 But I do think we need to remember that in Israel, the king was to be the model Israelite. 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:36.379 Which certainly included pursuing righteousness and justice. 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:46.240 And in the New Testament, it is equally clear that as men and women who follow in the steps of the perfect king, we too are called to righteousness and justice. 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:52.019 And in that sense, their lives do speak into our lives. 00:21:52.019 --> 00:21:55.799 James again picks up this prophetic teaching. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:56.400 Do you remember? 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:58.079 He applies it and he says this. 00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:00.960 Be doers of the word, not hearers only. 00:22:01.799 --> 00:22:02.500 Deceiving yourselves. 00:22:02.779 --> 00:22:08.519 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he's like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:10.720 He looks at himself and he goes away. 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:12.200 And he forgets what he looks like. 00:22:12.200 --> 00:22:20.680 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he'll be blessed in his doing. 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:21.539 And this. 00:22:21.620 --> 00:22:27.180 If anyone thinks he's religious and doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:30.279 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God. 00:22:30.600 --> 00:22:31.360 The father is this. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:33.360 Visit orphans and widows in their affliction. 00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:35.160 Keep oneself unstained by the world. 00:22:35.160 --> 00:22:41.740 2 verse 8, he says, if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 00:22:41.820 --> 00:22:42.360 You're doing well. 00:22:43.900 --> 00:22:49.100 For as Jeremiah says and puts it more succinctly, is not this to know me, declares the Lord. 00:22:51.600 --> 00:22:59.220 One of the dangers of being a reformed church like ours, I think, is that we are slow to pursue integrity. 00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:10.500 We are so scared of legalism that we often don't put enough emphasis on the importance of being Christ-like. 00:23:11.259 --> 00:23:22.779 Which reaches every part of our life, not just the religious part, and shows itself in speaking the truth, in loving fearlessly, unapologetically, and backing that up with real compassion. 00:23:22.779 --> 00:23:34.500 A deep sense that God is sovereign Lord of all, and he knows what is best for all people, and he's shown us that in his word and in the Lord Jesus. 00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:40.660 And so we need to throw ourselves into pursuing integrity. 00:23:40.660 --> 00:23:53.340 If you think that you can cut corners, if you think you can break your word, do you think in the end God will let you get away with that? 00:23:55.420 --> 00:23:59.019 Of course we do it in the strength that God supplies, and it's often very difficult. 00:23:59.380 --> 00:24:09.100 Knowing, of course, that the only way we can actually depend on, and the only one who can actually deliver us, is the true leader, which Jeremiah takes us to in chapter 23. 00:24:10.660 --> 00:24:14.560 He continues with this charm offensive with the Judean leadership, verse 1. 00:24:15.340 --> 00:24:19.779 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, declares the Lord. 00:24:20.220 --> 00:24:23.519 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people, 00:24:23.779 --> 00:24:28.000 you've scattered my flock, and I've driven them away, and you've not looked after them. 00:24:28.080 --> 00:24:32.060 Behold, I will look after you, for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. 00:24:33.220 --> 00:24:34.800 You think you can mess about with God? 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:40.919 Incredibly, God meets the staggering stupidity with verse 3. 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:47.519 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock, out of all the countries where I've driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 00:24:47.700 --> 00:24:48.579 Where have you seen that before? 00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:50.559 It's Genesis language. 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:55.379 And I'll set shepherds over them, who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed. 00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:57.059 Neither shall any be missing. 00:24:57.059 --> 00:25:02.059 Nothing can deflect God from his loving purposes for his people. 00:25:03.099 --> 00:25:05.259 Which is why he promises what he does in verse 5. 00:25:05.379 --> 00:25:06.940 Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord. 00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:14.980 When I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as a king, and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land in his days. 00:25:15.259 --> 00:25:17.220 Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. 00:25:17.539 --> 00:25:19.339 And this is the name by which he will be called. 00:25:19.619 --> 00:25:21.159 The Lord is our righteousness. 00:25:21.579 --> 00:25:22.740 A Davidic king will come. 00:25:23.019 --> 00:25:24.500 The real deal will arrive. 00:25:24.500 --> 00:25:28.920 He'll reunite Israel, which does exist at the moment, and Judah. 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:32.640 He'll bring God's people to live together in peace with God and each other. 00:25:32.700 --> 00:25:34.420 When he shows up, the exile will be over. 00:25:35.660 --> 00:25:37.480 In 23 verse 7, people will say, 00:25:38.380 --> 00:25:41.740 As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 00:25:42.440 --> 00:25:46.299 But as the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel, 00:25:46.299 --> 00:25:49.200 out of all the countries where he'd driven them, they shall dwell in their own land. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:55.819 The guy who can do this is the only one worth depending on. 00:25:56.819 --> 00:25:59.580 And in the rest of the chapter, God is speaking through his prophet. 00:25:59.700 --> 00:26:04.600 He exposes the sheer stupidity of relying on anyone else apart from Jesus. 00:26:05.819 --> 00:26:07.360 Let me walk you through the lowlights. 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:08.479 Verse 23 verse 9. 00:26:09.439 --> 00:26:11.179 Concerning the prophets, my heart's broken within me. 00:26:11.219 --> 00:26:11.979 All my bones shake. 00:26:12.039 --> 00:26:12.839 I'm like a drunken man. 00:26:12.899 --> 00:26:13.979 Like a man overcome with wine. 00:26:14.879 --> 00:26:16.599 Because of the Lord and because of his holy words. 00:26:16.679 --> 00:26:17.119 Verse 11. 00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:18.699 Both prophet and priest are ungodly. 00:26:18.779 --> 00:26:19.979 Even in my house I've found evil. 00:26:20.919 --> 00:26:21.579 Verse 13. 00:26:21.639 --> 00:26:24.099 In the prophets of Samaria, I saw an unsavory thing. 00:26:24.139 --> 00:26:25.259 They prophesied by Baal. 00:26:25.659 --> 00:26:27.299 By Baal and led my people Israel astray. 00:26:27.379 --> 00:26:29.159 But in the prophets of Jerusalem, I've seen a horrid thing. 00:26:29.879 --> 00:26:30.279 They're worse. 00:26:30.339 --> 00:26:31.019 They commit adultery. 00:26:31.019 --> 00:26:33.019 They walk in lies and so on. 00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:36.119 Ungodliness has gone out from Jerusalem to all the land. 00:26:36.119 --> 00:26:37.239 And so 23 verse 16. 00:26:37.379 --> 00:26:38.119 Thus says the Lord of hosts. 00:26:38.219 --> 00:26:40.839 Don't listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. 00:26:41.639 --> 00:26:42.919 Filling you with vain hopes. 00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:44.379 They speak visions of their own minds. 00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:45.439 Not from the mouth of the Lord. 00:26:46.819 --> 00:26:49.659 These prophets have no mission. 00:26:49.879 --> 00:26:50.439 No message. 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:51.539 No mandate from God. 00:26:52.579 --> 00:26:53.519 They cannot be trusted. 00:26:53.659 --> 00:26:54.699 They cannot be relied upon. 00:26:55.299 --> 00:26:56.339 And they need to face that. 00:26:57.179 --> 00:26:58.639 And I am sorry to break it to you. 00:26:58.639 --> 00:26:59.699 But neither can we. 00:27:01.959 --> 00:27:03.919 Because you are not the center of the universe. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:04.539 And neither am I. 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:08.339 And on our own, we have no answers. 00:27:08.579 --> 00:27:10.339 No strategies worth saying out loud. 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:11.479 No resilience. 00:27:11.679 --> 00:27:12.159 No wisdom. 00:27:12.439 --> 00:27:12.699 Nothing. 00:27:13.959 --> 00:27:16.459 Not only are you and I not the real deal. 00:27:16.599 --> 00:27:18.919 But we are intrinsically inconsistent. 00:27:19.919 --> 00:27:20.359 Unreliable. 00:27:20.459 --> 00:27:22.519 We have nothing apart from God. 00:27:24.839 --> 00:27:26.239 But God, on the other hand. 00:27:26.279 --> 00:27:26.939 Look at verse 28. 00:27:26.940 --> 00:27:29.720 The prophet was a dream. 00:27:29.779 --> 00:27:30.180 Tell the dream. 00:27:31.500 --> 00:27:33.860 But let him who was my word speak my word faithfully. 00:27:33.980 --> 00:27:34.420 Verse 29. 00:27:34.580 --> 00:27:37.279 Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord. 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:39.340 And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. 00:27:41.019 --> 00:27:44.059 Our job is not to manipulate or manufacture words. 00:27:44.220 --> 00:27:47.980 But to depend on the one who will come speaking all truth. 00:27:47.980 --> 00:27:53.180 Ultimately, the one who is the word of God made flesh. 00:27:54.559 --> 00:27:56.400 And so what has all that got to do with us? 00:27:57.779 --> 00:28:02.460 We need to depend on the one true ruler who comes from God. 00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:09.360 And all our authority, all our content, all our energy, anything good in us, ultimately comes from him. 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:19.459 And then, sin in us makes it very easy to have too high an opinion of ourselves and our own ability. 00:28:19.859 --> 00:28:22.279 And especially that is true of those of us who are leaders. 00:28:24.019 --> 00:28:28.740 Sin makes it far too easy to slip into thinking that we are nicer than we actually are. 00:28:29.419 --> 00:28:30.779 And we're smarter than we are. 00:28:31.299 --> 00:28:33.059 And we are more significant than we actually are. 00:28:34.119 --> 00:28:37.799 And Jeremiah stridently reminds the leaders of his day and all of us down through history 00:28:37.799 --> 00:28:40.419 that the only word worth listening to is the word of God. 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:44.579 And the only leader worth following is the one who comes from God. 00:28:46.159 --> 00:28:49.859 And so our job is very, very clear as a church to speak where it is from God 00:28:49.859 --> 00:28:52.019 as we follow the one who comes from God. 00:28:53.339 --> 00:28:54.319 It's not rocket science. 00:28:55.919 --> 00:28:57.500 But we are still very sinful. 00:28:58.899 --> 00:28:59.859 And so it is hard. 00:29:00.659 --> 00:29:03.180 Which is why, finally, in chapter 24, 00:29:04.119 --> 00:29:05.980 we need to rely on grace. 00:29:07.799 --> 00:29:10.639 Jeremiah draws this part of his book to a close 00:29:10.639 --> 00:29:12.940 by relating the vision that he saw during the period 00:29:12.940 --> 00:29:16.799 right back at the beginning when Zedekiah was supervising affairs in Jerusalem 00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:18.200 for the Babylonians. 00:29:18.299 --> 00:29:19.799 The vision, again, is not complicated. 00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:23.859 There are very good figs and very bad figs. 00:29:23.940 --> 00:29:25.919 And there's that beautiful moment in verse 3. 00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:26.879 And the Lord said to me, 00:29:26.919 --> 00:29:27.740 What do you see, Jeremiah? 00:29:28.599 --> 00:29:29.500 I said, figs. 00:29:31.079 --> 00:29:34.159 What does come as more of a shock is the interpretation 00:29:34.159 --> 00:29:35.579 because it's all the wrong way around. 00:29:35.579 --> 00:29:39.059 The good figs are the one that go into exile. 00:29:40.159 --> 00:29:40.559 Verse 6, 00:29:40.639 --> 00:29:42.159 I will set my eyes on them for good 00:29:42.159 --> 00:29:44.399 and I will bring them back to this land. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:45.819 I will build them up and not tear them down. 00:29:45.919 --> 00:29:47.119 I will plant them and not pluck them up. 00:29:47.879 --> 00:29:49.539 I will give them a heart to know me that I am the Lord 00:29:49.539 --> 00:29:51.119 and they shall be my people and I will be their God 00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:52.879 for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:56.839 It's Exodus 19 and 20 and 30 all rolled into one. 00:29:57.359 --> 00:30:00.099 The new covenant figs are the figs who go into exile. 00:30:00.099 --> 00:30:04.859 And King Zedekiah and his cronies are the bad figs, 00:30:04.899 --> 00:30:06.000 in fact very bad figs. 00:30:06.039 --> 00:30:07.839 And I'm not really sure I can spot the difference 00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:09.019 between the bad and the very bad. 00:30:10.139 --> 00:30:10.799 But God can. 00:30:10.919 --> 00:30:11.319 Verse 9, 00:30:11.399 --> 00:30:12.159 I will make them a horror 00:30:12.159 --> 00:30:14.179 to all the kingdoms of the earth 00:30:14.179 --> 00:30:16.359 to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt and a curse. 00:30:16.639 --> 00:30:19.159 There's the choice that we all face embodied here. 00:30:20.459 --> 00:30:21.959 And it's the choice between 00:30:21.959 --> 00:30:25.899 relying on God's grace and doing it ourselves. 00:30:25.900 --> 00:30:29.620 That's the thing about exile. 00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:30.920 When you're faced with exile, 00:30:31.040 --> 00:30:33.640 the only option is to go on relying on the grace of God. 00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:37.000 Because you've got to face the fact that you've been beaten, 00:30:37.560 --> 00:30:38.380 you've been defeated, 00:30:38.740 --> 00:30:39.860 you've been disenfranchised, 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:42.380 you've been disappointed and you've been dispossessed. 00:30:44.100 --> 00:30:45.660 Real exiles have lost everything. 00:30:46.440 --> 00:30:47.140 And they've faced it. 00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:49.600 And they have to throw themselves on the mercy of their house. 00:30:49.980 --> 00:30:51.480 But in doing so they find grace. 00:30:52.080 --> 00:30:52.700 Look at verse 6. 00:30:52.700 --> 00:30:55.840 God's sovereign grace 00:30:55.840 --> 00:30:58.259 actually gives us the one thing 00:30:58.259 --> 00:30:59.680 that we need more than anything else 00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:00.400 when we've got nothing 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:01.759 and that is a new heart. 00:31:03.140 --> 00:31:04.779 And the ability to live for him. 00:31:06.600 --> 00:31:09.059 To live for him and with him 00:31:09.059 --> 00:31:10.220 that we don't possess on our own. 00:31:11.340 --> 00:31:12.960 And that is the gift that brings us 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:14.519 the ability to please God. 00:31:16.600 --> 00:31:18.720 This gift comes with batteries included. 00:31:19.720 --> 00:31:20.720 It is grace. 00:31:20.720 --> 00:31:24.740 But it's such a difficult lesson to learn, isn't it? 00:31:27.299 --> 00:31:30.620 I wish I could tell you that the last 30 odd years 00:31:30.620 --> 00:31:31.880 of my Christian pilgrimage 00:31:31.880 --> 00:31:34.279 have been all paths of grace. 00:31:36.839 --> 00:31:38.860 I think the path to Christian maturity 00:31:38.860 --> 00:31:40.539 is not a smooth one, is it? 00:31:40.579 --> 00:31:44.319 We switch back to growing pride 00:31:44.319 --> 00:31:46.279 followed by being humbled. 00:31:46.279 --> 00:31:48.619 of increasing competence 00:31:48.619 --> 00:31:50.639 which leads to self-reliance 00:31:50.639 --> 00:31:52.220 and ends with painful repentance. 00:31:53.740 --> 00:31:55.579 That is something that is deep rooted in me 00:31:55.579 --> 00:31:56.279 and in you. 00:31:57.960 --> 00:31:58.960 There is something, isn't it, 00:31:58.980 --> 00:32:00.279 that wants to say to the Lord, 00:32:00.519 --> 00:32:01.619 I'll take it from here. 00:32:02.759 --> 00:32:04.359 You know that prayer when you're in the car park? 00:32:04.700 --> 00:32:05.720 You're driving around the car park 00:32:05.720 --> 00:32:06.720 and you cry out to me, 00:32:06.740 --> 00:32:07.940 Lord, please find me a space. 00:32:08.379 --> 00:32:09.720 And they say, oh, don't worry, Lord, I've found one. 00:32:09.720 --> 00:32:11.680 It's a joke. 00:32:12.380 --> 00:32:13.579 It's just lighten the mood. 00:32:13.799 --> 00:32:14.720 But that is, 00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:17.759 it's quite a good joke if you've only got it. 00:32:18.600 --> 00:32:19.980 But there's something in us, isn't it, 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:21.400 which says, Lord, we'll take it from here. 00:32:22.740 --> 00:32:23.900 And we can spot 00:32:23.900 --> 00:32:25.600 that kind of foolishness in other people, 00:32:25.660 --> 00:32:27.000 but we find it very hard on ourselves. 00:32:28.700 --> 00:32:30.220 There's something in us 00:32:30.220 --> 00:32:31.299 that makes it very easy 00:32:31.299 --> 00:32:34.140 to rely on our very impressive selves 00:32:34.140 --> 00:32:36.339 rather than the God of the universe. 00:32:36.339 --> 00:32:38.539 There's something in us 00:32:38.539 --> 00:32:40.419 which finds it far easier to talk 00:32:40.419 --> 00:32:41.740 than to listen to the word of God. 00:32:43.179 --> 00:32:45.579 Which is why we must constantly remind each other 00:32:45.579 --> 00:32:46.980 that we live by grace alone 00:32:46.980 --> 00:32:48.319 through faith alone in Christ alone. 00:32:50.039 --> 00:32:52.779 And this is another one of those areas 00:32:52.779 --> 00:32:54.699 where the pattern of the Old Testament 00:32:54.699 --> 00:32:56.619 is actually replayed in the New Testament. 00:32:57.659 --> 00:32:58.619 How does Galatians begin? 00:32:58.720 --> 00:32:59.139 Do you remember it? 00:32:59.159 --> 00:33:01.000 Grace to you and peace from God our Father 00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:02.299 and the Lord Jesus Christ 00:33:02.299 --> 00:33:04.519 who gave himself for our sins 00:33:04.519 --> 00:33:06.139 to deliver us from the present evil age 00:33:06.140 --> 00:33:08.400 but verse 6, 00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:10.220 I'm astonished that you're so quickly deserting. 00:33:11.020 --> 00:33:12.540 Him who called you in the grace of Christ 00:33:12.540 --> 00:33:14.320 and are turning to a different gospel. 00:33:14.980 --> 00:33:15.520 That's us. 00:33:17.460 --> 00:33:20.020 The marvellous truth of Jeremiah 21 to 24 00:33:20.020 --> 00:33:21.120 and the entire Bible 00:33:21.120 --> 00:33:22.860 is that you can sum it up by saying 00:33:22.860 --> 00:33:24.500 submit to God 00:33:24.500 --> 00:33:27.180 as you pursue integrity 00:33:27.180 --> 00:33:29.340 depending on the one true leader 00:33:29.340 --> 00:33:30.380 Jesus Christ 00:33:30.380 --> 00:33:32.280 who gives us his grace. 00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:33.580 That is the beauty of the gospel. 00:33:33.579 --> 00:33:36.859 It is that God 00:33:36.859 --> 00:33:39.059 doesn't simply call us to 00:33:39.059 --> 00:33:41.240 but he actually gives to us 00:33:41.240 --> 00:33:42.859 the resources that we need to do it. 00:33:43.859 --> 00:33:46.019 The grace that he holds out to us 00:33:46.019 --> 00:33:46.799 in the Lord Jesus 00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:49.220 he gives us new hearts 00:33:49.220 --> 00:33:51.000 and through the power of the Spirit 00:33:51.000 --> 00:33:52.740 this amazing grace 00:33:52.740 --> 00:33:54.419 enables us to submit 00:33:54.419 --> 00:33:57.639 and enables us to pursue integrity 00:33:57.640 --> 00:33:59.580 and grace 00:33:59.580 --> 00:34:01.520 that enables us 00:34:01.520 --> 00:34:03.040 to run to the only one 00:34:03.040 --> 00:34:03.920 who can give us grace. 00:34:05.040 --> 00:34:06.300 It is amazing grace. 00:34:08.460 --> 00:34:10.000 John Newton once wrote these words 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:10.579 to a friend 00:34:10.579 --> 00:34:13.280 I am not what I ought to be 00:34:13.280 --> 00:34:16.119 ah how imperfect and deficient 00:34:16.119 --> 00:34:18.420 I am not what I wish to be 00:34:18.420 --> 00:34:20.160 I abhor what is evil 00:34:20.160 --> 00:34:22.280 and I would cleave to what is good 00:34:22.280 --> 00:34:24.340 I am not what I hope to be 00:34:24.340 --> 00:34:26.840 soon I shall put off with mortality 00:34:26.840 --> 00:34:28.660 all sin and imperfection 00:34:28.660 --> 00:34:31.260 and though I am not what I ought to be 00:34:31.260 --> 00:34:33.180 nor what I wish to be 00:34:33.180 --> 00:34:34.760 nor what I hope to be 00:34:34.760 --> 00:34:36.900 I can truly say 00:34:36.900 --> 00:34:39.960 I am not what I once was 00:34:39.960 --> 00:34:42.440 a slave to sin and Satan 00:34:42.440 --> 00:34:45.200 and I can heartily join with the apostle 00:34:45.200 --> 00:34:47.240 and say that by the grace of God 00:34:47.240 --> 00:34:48.800 I am what I am 00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:51.640 and it is by the grace of God 00:34:51.640 --> 00:34:54.000 that we will become 00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:54.700 what we will become 00:34:54.700 --> 00:34:56.820 and so in the light 00:34:56.820 --> 00:34:58.200 of that grace 00:34:58.200 --> 00:34:59.920 let us submit to God tonight 00:34:59.920 --> 00:35:02.640 let's pursue integrity 00:35:02.640 --> 00:35:04.340 let us run to the Lord Jesus Christ 00:35:04.340 --> 00:35:05.380 run to the table 00:35:05.380 --> 00:35:08.620 this branch of David 00:35:08.620 --> 00:35:11.320 in whom we find grace upon grace 00:35:11.320 --> 00:35:11.800 let's pray