Is Anyone Listening | Jeremiah 25 | Pastor William Hixson

be back in the pulpit here.

my time away.

We're continuing in Jeremiah. I'd like

you to look in Jeremiah 25.

Remember, this Sunday morning,

uh we have a missionaries from

Argentina.

And uh they will be with us. And that's

James Morrell, his wife Danielle,

and his What is it?

>> Donnel.

And the 13-year-old daughter,

uh they will be with us. They have more

children, but they're just have the one

with them on this trip.

So, we're he's the field director of uh

the country of Argentina

for Gospel Mission South America. I just

left them when I was on my trip.

Uh we were running around together for 2

weeks.

So, looking forward to seeing them here.

They will just be here

uh late Saturday and

early Sunday for Sunday morning.

And then they got they're going up to

Salem Bible Church for the evening.

So, it's going to be a zoom in, zoom

out.

I call your attention to the book of

Jeremiah chapter 25.

Jeremiah 25 · chapter mention

Chapter 25.

And I'm going to be reading from the ESV

tonight instead of the King James.

But uh Jeremiah 25.

The word that came to Jeremiah

concerning all the people of Judah

in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son

of Josiah, king of Judah,

that was the first year of

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. So,

this is dated. We got a date. We You

exactly when

this particular prophecy was given by

God.

What Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all

the people of Judah and all the

inhabitants of Jerusalem.

For 23 years

from the 13th year of Josiah the son of

Amon king of Judah to this day the word

of the Lord has come to me. So at this

when this message was given Jeremiah had

been in the ministry in Jerusalem for 23

years.

And has spoken persistently to you

but you've not listened. How many of us

have kids you have to tell them third

third third third time to get anything

done?

Well, Jeremiah kept saying it and saying

it saying it and nobody's getting it.

And sometimes that's us too, isn't it?

If we're just honest with ourselves.

Uh and so uh

but anyway after 23 years of of of uh

speaking the same kind of thing

uh

he says

verse four, you've neither listened nor

inclined your ears to hear. Although the

Lord persistently sent to you all his

servants the prophets saying, "Turn now

every one of you from his evil way and

evil deeds and dwell upon the land that

the Lord's given you and your fathers

from of old forever."

So Jeremiah wasn't the only one.

Other prophets God raised up and were

saying the same thing.

You know

if you're going in a path that's not

right

and your family comes to you and say,

"This is not good."

And your pastor comes to you and says

"This is not good."

And your best friend comes to you and

say,

"This is not good."

Sooner or later you to get the idea,

right?

And so

over and over and over again, like a

what

like one of those old records on my

grand- grandma's player where

it hits the bump and it

And and so over and over and over again

uh

the same message was going out to the

nation.

Time was running out.

The time for warning

the time for repentance

the time for uh listening

is running short.

And so it's that's that's today, too,

isn't it?

Whether it we're dealing with Israel or

the unbelievers around us or churches

that are not what they ought to be or

people, the time for repentance is

getting shorter

every day.

So it says in verse 6, "Do not go after

other gods to serve and worship them or

provoke me to anger with the work of

your hands.

Then I'll do you no harm."

Give it Give it up on the idolatry. And

those of you that have been with us for

this class, Anthony's joining us here

tonight, but

70 times in this book, it mentions

idolatry.

They had a big problem.

And Jerusalem is the capital of the

nation but it's also the

place where the Jewish temple is. It's

the holy city, and the holy city is not

holy. The holy city is in idolatry and

immorality and all kinds of other

things.

And so in verse 6, "Do not go after

other gods to serve and worship them or

provoke me to anger with the work of

your hands. Then I'll do you no harm.

Yet you have not listened to me,

declares the Lord, that you might

provoke me to anger with the work of

your hands to do your own heart. The

work of their hands, they became idol

builders.

As you've heard me quote one famous uh

reformer,

our hearts are idol factories.

Your heart, my heart, we're going to

produce an idols. Something we love more

than God, something that keeps us aback

from doing the right thing.

Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts,

because you've not obeyed my words,

behold, I'll send all the tribes of the

north,

declares the Lord, and for

Nebuchadnezzar,

king of Babylon, my servant. We call him

Nebuchadnezzar. This text calls him

Nebuchadnezzar.

His

His Chaldean name is Nabû-kudurri-uṣur,

according to my Hebrew professor.

Nebuchadnezzar's hard enough to

pronounce.

But my my servant, he's calling

Nebuchadnezzar my servant. He This is an

unsaved servant. God uses unsaved

people. God uses wicked nations to

publish punish

other wicked nations.

We should remember that in America,

right?

We may be in for a bigger spanking than

we expect.

We may be surprised who gives it to us.

And I'll bring them against this land

and its inhabitants and against all

these surrounding nations. I'll

devote them to destruction and make a

horror and a hissing and an everlasting

destruction. So, that sounds pretty bad.

Moreover, I will banish from them the

voice of mirth and the voice of

gladness, the voice of the bridegroom

and the voice of the bride, and the

grinding of the millstone and the light

of the lamp. And people aren't going to

get married, people aren't going to be

doing their business. It's everything's

topsy-turvy and

uh there's no stability, there's no

uh rest.

This whole land shall become a ruin and

a waste, and these nations shall serve

the king of Babylon 70 [snorts] years.

Now, this is extremely important.

Where have we heard that 70 years

before?

In the Bible.

>> Daniel.

>> Daniel. Guess where Daniel got it.

He got it from Jeremiah.

Daniel was reading Jeremiah.

And he was reading this chapter.

And what Daniel read produced the

prophecy in Daniel.

This is very interesting stuff.

Cuz the 70 years is a very important

subject in the Bible.

And he Daniel Daniel didn't make it up.

He was reading We're going to turn to

Daniel and we'll see it. He was reading

Jeremiah

in Babylon.

Now, Jeremiah was ministering in

Jerusalem. Daniel was in Babylon. But

Jeremiah's

uh book got into Daniel's hands in

Babylon.

Interesting, isn't it?

And then he says, "Oh, verse 11, the

whole land shall become a ruin and

waste, and these nations shall serve the

king of Babylon 70 years." He's talking

about the Gentile nations around Israel

that are in idolatry. Then after 70

years are completed, I will punish the

king of Babylon and that nation, the

land of the Chaldeans, for their

iniquity, declares the Lord, making the

land an everlasting waste. Which he did.

Do you remember the handwriting on the

wall wall? Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.

You're weighed in the balance and found

wanting, Belshazzar.

So, God did what he prophesied here.

I'll bring on the land all the words

that I've uttered against it, everything

written in the book of which Jeremiah

prophesied against all the nations. For

many nations and great kings shall make

slaves even of them, and I'll recompense

them according to their deeds and the

work of their hands.

So, we There's several things going on

here. God's going to punish the Gentile

nations right around Israel. God's going

to punish

Israel, and he's going to punish the

nations, a second group of nations, and

the rest of the world. It's a big

prophecy. It's a very big prophecy.

Thus the Lord God of Israel said to me,

"Take from my hand this cup of the wine

of wrath.

And make all the nations to whom I send

you drink it.

They shall drink and stagger and be

crazed

because of the sword

that I'm sending

among them."

I'm going to stop my reading right

there, and let's get started. Let's

Let's just think about what we're

getting into here.

This chastening and correcting of God's

people, Israel, was predicted here in

great detail.

God told him what he was going to do,

and then he did it.

Um

When you were a child, you probably

weren't like this, but I was. My mother

would tell me, "You do this and you're

getting three whacks."

I mean, she would even tell how many.

And so, what God is doing here, he's

he's a

making it very clear before it happens

what's going to happen and why it's

going to happen.

So, my mom just didn't grab me and start

whacking, you know. I knew why I was

getting it. I knew how many I was going

to get.

And after the first two hit, I knew

there was going to be a third.

So, God is very clear on what he's going

to do and why he's going to do it and

who he's going to do it to.

He's going to punish Israel, they get

their whacks. He's going to punish the

nations around Israel

and they're going to get their whacks

and he's going to punish the whole

world, they're going to get their

whacks.

This This moves out of the immediate

situation and goes into the ultimate

judgment at the end of time.

For all nations.

Uh

And this prophecy

uh

is given

in a wonderful way.

Charles Feinberg, Hebrew scholar,

wonderful Christian man,

said this prophecy is precisely dated to

show its extraordinary significance.

Remember the early parts of this verse?

It gave the time.

So, God put a prophecy in. He He dated

it.

The date is given in those first verses.

And we know what's coming.

Now, Daniel as an old man

begins to read this very prophecy from

this very book.

And

uh this is a fascinating thing.

66 years later,

time is almost up.

God said 70 years. It's 66 years. Daniel

in chapter 9 verse 1 realizes, "Hey, the

time's almost up." Jeremiah gave a

prophecy.

And he starts to read it in Daniel

Daniel 9:1

chapter 9 verse 1 and 2. Oh, can you

turn there with me?

Now,

Babylon's gone.

The Persians are running The Iranians

are running things, the Persians.

And in the first year of Darius, the son

of Ahasuerus,

by descent a Med, who was made king over

the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first

year of his reign, I Daniel perceived in

books the number of years that according

to the word of the Lord to who?

From who?

Jeremiah.

So, guess what? Daniel's in Babylon,

Jeremiah was in Jerusalem, and somehow

Jeremiah's writings got to Babylon.

And Daniel had them,

and as an old man, he's reading them and

he's thinking, "Time's almost up.

God's going to get us out of here.

We're going to return.

But there's also chastening going to

happen.

According to the word of the Lord to

Jeremiah the prophet must pass before

the end of the desolations of Jerusalem,

namely 70 years.

So, what does Daniel do

when he reads the book of Jeremiah?

He starts to pray.

And we get so excited about the prophecy

that comes to Daniel at the end of this

chapter, we forget the wonderful prayer

that was prayed

in response to the earlier prophecy.

Daniel in verse 3 turns his face to the

Lord and seeking it by prayer and pleas

for the mercy with fasting and sackcloth

and ashes.

So, Daniel's getting on his knees.

And he's asking God to do

what he has told he said in the book of

Jeremiah

to do.

And I'll just turn it down to verse 19.

"O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord,

pay attention and act. Delay not for

your own sake, my my God, because your

city and your people are called by your

name." And then of course the angel

comes and he learns all about the 70

weeks and and that this prophecies

doesn't just deal with the immediate

present but the ultimate

times in history in that wonderful

section

of scripture. He gets his answer.

So, it's a fascinating thing.

Uh

Philip Ryken calls it the Olympics of

divine judgment and all the nations of

the earth were there.

And you know, nations all go to the

Olympics. Well, God's saying all the

nations are going to the judgment.

And then he said, "When God serves the

drinks, no one is allowed to be a

teetotaler."

God's going to talk about a cup of wrath

that everybody's going to drink.

And uh

it's going to get pretty serious here.

Go with me now to Jeremiah 25 and let's

uh

look at verse 2

verse

uh

Where did I stop?

Verse I I stopped at 14, didn't I?

Let's read in verse 25. 15, I'm sorry.

Thus says the Lord the God of Israel

said to me, "Take from my hand" This is

what the Lord says, "This cup of the

wine of wrath

and make all nations to whom I send you

drink it."

No teetotalers in this place.

Everybody's got to drink it.

"They shall drink and stagger and be

crazed because of the sword that I'm

sending against them."

So, verse 17, 25:17. "I took the cup

from the Lord's hand and made all

nations to whom the Lord sent me drink

it. Jerusalem and the cities of Judah,

its kings and officials to make them a

desolation and a west waste and a

hissing and a curse as it is this day.

Pharaoh, king of Egypt" That's the

nations that were out at that time. "His

servants, his officials, all his people,

and all the mixed tribes among them, all

the kings of the land of Uz, and the

kings of the land of the Philistines,

Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant

of Ashdod, Edom, Moab, the sons of

Ammon, all the kings of Tyre" Now he's

widening out. "And all the kings of

Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands

of the sea, Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all

who cut the corners in their hair, and

all the kings of the Arabia, and the

kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in

the desert, all the kings of Zimri, all

the kings of Elam, all the kings of

Media, and all the kings of the north

far and near, one after another, and all

the kings of the world that are on the

face of the earth." Wow, that's

expanding, isn't it? That's quite a

judgment.

"And after them the king of Babylon

shall drink."

And we moved into end times here,

haven't we?

We're not in Jeremiah's time. We're not

even in Daniel's time. We're moving out

to end time judgment.

"And you'll say to them, "Thus says the

Lord of God of Israel, drink and be

drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more

because of the sword that I'm sending

among you."

And if they refuse to accept the cup

from your hand to drink, then you'll

say, "Thus says the Lord, you must

drink."

It's like my mom catching me as a little

boy with a some Lucky Strikes in my

in my dresser.

She made me eat one.

I didn't want to do it, but she wouldn't

stop.

God said, "You must drink.

You must drink."

And so,

that's the picture.

For behold, I begin to work disaster,

verse 29,

at the city that's called by my name.

What's that?

Jerusalem.

And shall you go unpunished? In other

words, if I'm punishing Jerusalem, you

think I'm not going to punish you?

You shall not go unpunished, for I'm a

summoning sword against all the

inhabitants of the earth, declares the

Lord of hosts. And again, we're moving

from

Jerusalem judgment to the judgments of

the nations of Jeremiah's day around

Jerusalem to the judgment of the world

at the end of history.

You therefore shall prophesy against

them all these words and say to them,

"The Lord will roar from on high and

from his holy habitation utter his

voice. He'll roar mightily against his

fold and shout like those who read tread

grapes against all the inhabitants of

the earth, and clamor the clamor will

resound to the ends of the earth, for

the Lord has an indictment against the

nations. He's entering into judgment

with all flesh, and the wicked will he

put to the sword." Sound like the book

of Revelation, doesn't it? You know why?

Cuz it is.

This is the same kind of thing.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Behold,

disaster, verse 32,

is going forth from nation to nation,

and a great tempest is stirring from the

farthest parts of the earth.

And those pierced by the Lord on that

day shall extend from one end of the

earth to the other. They'll not be

lamented or gathered or buried. They

shall be dung on the face of the ground.

Wail, you shepherds, and cry out, and

roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,

for the days of your slaughter and

dispersion have come, and you shall fall

like a choice vessel. No refuge will

remain for the shepherds, nor escape for

the lords of the flock. A voice and a

cry of shepherds and the wail of the

lords of the flock, for the Lord is

laying waste

their pasture, and the peaceful folds

are devastated because of the fierce

anger of the Lord. Like a lion, he's

left his lair, for their land has become

a waste because of the sword of the

oppressor and because of his fierce

anger. These are amazing, stunning

prophecies.

So, Daniel's reading this as a He He He

He knew this prophecy as a young man.

He's now reading it as a as an old man,

and it became the catalyst for his

prayer

for the every everything that God was

saying.

Now, you see the same 70 weeks in 2

Chronicles 36:14-29.

Will you look over there with me? 2

Chronicles 36.

End of 2 Chronicles.

And 36 is the last chapter in 2

Chronicles. It's 1st, 2nd Kings, 1st,

2nd Chronicles.

Chapter 36 and verse 14.

All the officers of the priest and of

the people likewise were exceedingly

unfaithful following all the

abominations of the nations. They

polluted the house of the Lord that he

had made holy in Jerusalem. The Lord the

God of their fathers sent persistently

to them by his messengers plural.

Jeremiah wasn't the only one because he

had compassion on his people and his

dwelling place. But they kept mocking

the messengers of God, despising his

words, scoffing at his prophets until

the wrath of the Lord rose against his

people and there was no remedy.

Therefore, he brought up against them

the kings of the Chaldeans

who killed their young men with the

sword in the house of their sanctuary

and had no compassion on the young man

or the virgin or the old man or the

aged. He gave them all into his hand.

And all the vessels of the house of God,

great and small, the treasures of the

house of the Lord, the treasures of the

king and of his princes, all these he

brought to Babylon. These prophecies are

mixed in together, right? In other

words, the prophet saw the judgment of

the first temple

and the end time judgments mixed

together back to back like

mountains. They didn't see the valley in

between.

It's typical of prophecy. And they

burned, verse 19, the house of God,

broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned

all his palaces with fire, destroyed all

his precious vessels. He took into exile

in Babylon those who'd escaped from the

sword and they became servants to him

and to his sons in the establishment of

the kingdom of Persia to fulfill the

word of the Lord by the mouth of

Jeremiah. Again, we're coming back to

Jeremiah until the land had enjoyed its

Sabbaths all the days that it lay

desolate, it kept Sabbath to fulfill 70

years.

Now, what's going on here? They were

supposed They were supposed to have a

Sabbath, remember? And and what a

Sabbath year. Not just a Sabbath day,

the seventh day, seventh year no work on

the land.

For 490 years they didn't do that.

And so God took it.

You owe me 70 years.

You owe me those Sabbath years that you

didn't do during that period.

And so they're 70 years in Babylon

because for 490 years they wouldn't do

what God told them to do. And that's a

hard assignment. You're not to work the

field this year, let the field rest, do

something else, become a jeweler or

potter or

you know, a carpenter, do something

else. You can do something else, but you

can't work the land. It's got to rest.

It's like there was a Sabbath day rest,

there was a Sabbath year rest for the

land. And by the way, that's good

agriculture, right? Land's got to

recover itself.

They wouldn't do it, wouldn't do it,

they

And finally God said, "All right, I'm

taking it all at once.

You know, you're not doing what I'm

saying. Yeah, it's just we're going to

get You owe me 70 years of the land

needs to rest for 400 uh every four

It's been 490 years and you owe me 70 of

those years

for Sabbath years and I'm getting them."

So, what's this teach us? It teaches us

one thing, when God says something, he

means it.

When God says, "This is what you're

supposed to do," guess what? That's what

you're supposed to do.

There's no room for

uh uh

ignoring it, there's no room for

twisting it and making it say something

it doesn't say.

God said it, I believe it, that settles

it. And if it It settles it whether I

believe it or not.

Cuz God said it.

This is a precious thing. When God says

something, it's true.

God holds us to it. God holds himself to

it.

And all that's very practical.

So, all these things are very

interesting to me.

Uh and I love these interactions. You

also see something similar in Zechariah

Zechariah 1:12–17

1:12 to 17.

I won't go to that one.

It's impossible to measure the

significance

of Jeremiah's prophecies.

Especially this one about the 70 years.

But Jeremiah looked like a failure.

Nobody listened to him.

Nobody liked him. His hometown didn't

like him. They tried to kill him, his

hometown.

And when he preached the temple sermon,

that everybody got mad. Who do you think

you are?

They They were extremely upset with him.

And I believe he was a lonely man, don't

you?

We've been studying Jeremiah, he was

lonely.

He had nobody.

God told him he couldn't marry.

And so he couldn't get married. He had

no no wife to encourage him, no family

to encourage him. His hometown hated

him, tried to kill him.

Now, if your hometown hates you, what

about everybody else?

So,

but Jeremiah

looked like a failure cuz nobody

responded to what he said.

One of the kings tore up the book of

Jeremiah and burned it in the fire.

So, Jeremiah outwardly failed.

Nobody listened.

Everybody went on like they were doing.

The king burned his

burned the first book of Jeremiah. They

had to rewrite it.

We haven't got to that yet, but we will.

So, Jeremiah didn't look very

successful, did he?

But he was.

And uh

I want you to think about this to me

this is a very important point.

Many a prophet

many a preacher or pastor

may

never even begin to imagine the effects

the vast effects

uh and the visible achievements of their

ministry in their lifetime.

There's an awful lot, you know, there's

big-time preachers that live in big

houses, and flying planes, and doing all

kinds of goofy stuff. I'm not talking

about them. But there's a lot of good

preachers in big churches, but there's a

lot of good preachers in little

churches.

And people think, "Well, they didn't do

anything. Why didn't they have a bigger

church?"

Well, some ground's harder to plow than

others.

Some places are harder to reach than

others, right?

You think Athens is an easy place?

No, you live here. You know it's not.

Not spiritually. It's I It's actually a

great place to live other than the fact

that the spiritual temperature is pretty

low.

But

Jeremiah was living in a time

when it looked like he was a total

failure. He couldn't make anybody

listen. He tried everything. He kept at

it. He just kept making people mad.

They finally threw him in a cistern and

said, "Stay down there a while. Cool

off."

So,

many a preacher

maybe has never or in this life will

ever see their effects of their ministry

the way God does.

And many a preacher or pastor or prophet

has achieved effects that vastly

outweigh his current visible

achievements.

Jeremiah's a case in point.

It took Daniel 60 some years later to

read his prophecy.

And get begin to pray and then get the

other prophecy of the Messiah coming.

It's so important in the Bible.

One man labors, another enters into his

labor, right?

And so we're not good uh

we're not good measures of our own

ministries as a church or as

individuals.

Many times we're doing more than we even

imagine.

Even the best people, even the most

successful people

never in this life know

the real success of their ministry.

You think You know, George Whitfield

died in his 50s.

Wesley lived a lot longer.

But do you think George Whitfield or

John Wesley or D.L. Moody or Charles

Spurgeon lived long enough to really see

the magnitude of their ministry?

No.

No. Nobody does. You don't. I don't.

One person

in our church might do more for the Lord

than the big churches have ever

produced.

But we don't live to see it

in this life.

Well, what what's it going to happen

then? In the the Beema seat of Christ,

at the judgment seat of Christ. That's

when we're going to see our ministry.

Not in this life.

We're not going to see the full resort

results of our ministry. We might see

the opposite.

What did Paul say in Thessalonians?

What's my joy of rejoicing? Even you in

the prep prep prep presence of the Lord

that is coming.

I'm going to be excited when I see you

in heaven.

And what's the judgment seat of Christ

all about? A reviewing and a

And the judgment seat of Christ is a

reviewing and a receiving and a and a

and a a rewarding.

It's a revealing, a reviewing, and a

rewarding.

And we're going to find out things

happen, maybe that

maybe we won one person and they won

100.

Then that 100 went out and won another

100.

Do you realize God's math is different

than yours? And we measure our life by

our lifetime, but that's a poor

measurement.

And I think that's a very important

thing. 1 Corinthians 3:13, 2 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 3:13 2 Corinthians 5:10

5:10, we're all going to appear at the

judgment seat of Christ and receive in

the body that the the things we've done

in the body, uh uh wood, hay, stubble,

or gold, precious stones.

There's going to be a reviewing. There's

going to be a receiving.

There's going to be a rewarding.

Then.

We don't get that in the middle of our

life. We don't get that at the end of

our life. We get it

then.

And so

it's just a it's a fascinating fact. So,

maybe one of you will lead one person to

the Lord.

They don't do too much for the Lord as

far as you could tell, but they got

saved. But then that person leads

another person to the Lord, and that

person that that you led to the Lord led

another person to the Lord, and that

person becomes a great missionary.

Wins a whole city.

And you know nothing about it because

you didn't live long enough.

>> [laughter]

>> And you get to heaven and where's all

these people? I mean, I get rewarded for

this? I don't I thought I won one.

Yeah, you won one and that one won one

and that one won 100,000 or something.

So, you don't know who's doing a big

ministry or who's doing a little

ministry. You don't know.

That's the point I'm trying to get

across. It it's a to me it's a very,

very important point. The ministry of

God's people is greater than they

realize in this life.

Nobody knows in this life.

Now, all of our ministries are bigger

than we deserve.

And

yet having said all of that,

I'm sure a lot of the things we thought

were good stuff, and God said, "Ah,

that's kind of okay, but this one you

really did good over here. This one this

one really produced something. I used

you in spite of yourself."

So,

important. Second lesson to take home is

the chastening or correcting of God's

people is the guarantee of his judgment

on the lost.

The chastening and correcting of God's

people is the guarantee of God's

judgment on the lost. If sin God doesn't

let sin go in us,

what's going to happen to the ones that

aren't saved?

That's Peter's argument, by the way.

In 1 Peter 4:17 to 18. Would somebody

1 Peter 4:17–18

open open their Bible and read that? 1

1 Peter 4:17

Peter 4:17 and 18.

Who wants to read that?

Read it loud, sir.

>> 4:17 to 18?

>> Yeah.

>> All right.

For the time is come for judgment to

begin at the house of God.

And if it begins with us first, what

will be the end of those who do not obey

the gospel of God?

And if the righteous one is scarcely

saved, where will the ungodly sinner

appear?

>> Okay, somebody read Amos 3:2.

Amos 3:2

Amos 3:2.

Amos 3:2

>> Okay.

>> Okay, you can read that. You're fast on

the draw, wife.

>> Okay, 3:2.

Um

Amos 3:2, "You only have I known of all

Amos 3:2

the families of the earth, therefore I

will punish you for all your

iniquities."

>> That's a good one, right? You have

special privileges. I've known you, you

know me,

and therefore more's expected of you.

And therefore I'm chastening you. So,

but the logic here is, again, 1 Peter,

if God doesn't let sin go in his own

people, he's not going to let it go in

others. So, I've told you many, many

times, my friend Leslie Sims, he

uh my mom he he the mom locked him out,

he lived at our house every summer. He'd

play with us kids, we'd get into

honoring us, sometimes it was me,

sometimes it was him. When mom's when

when I deserved a spanking, I got one.

When he deserved a spanking, he got one.

And my mom said, "If I'm going to raise

him,

I'm going to spank him."

She didn't love but she did it.

And so, if my Leslie should have been a

little smarter, if this woman spanks her

own kids, and I hang out here and I

start a fight with somebody,

uh I I'm probably going to get the board

too as well.

Now, my mom would end up in jail for

doing that now, but in those days it was

kind of common, right? In the '50s.

People would call out other people's

kids if they were not doing right.

Especially the men, but my mom, she'd do

it, too.

So, this is fascinating. Uh

Derek Kidner said,

"Judgment must begin with the household

of God." That's a principle. And that's

what we just saw.

So, the chastening of God's people is a

guarantee that his that he will judge

the lost.

"You don't think I'm a holy God? You

don't think I'm a uh a God that deals

with the sin? If I do it with my own

people, what am I going to do with those

that aren't my own?"

Warren Wiersbe, he he talks about all

the wonderful vivid images in this

chapter. Cup of wrath,

roaring lion, wine press, lawsuit,

storm, uh broken pottery, slaughtered

flock. There's a lot of images here

to keep put things in your mind.

So, let's step back a minute. The

correction of the Jewish nation is

verses 1 to 11. The judgment on the

Gentiles is verses 12 to the end.

That's the logic. And by the way, when

we get to the end of the book of

Jeremiah, he's going to pick out some

nations and say exactly what each one's

going to get.

We're not there yet.

Matthew Henry said, this is a logical

statement. If those who have some good

in them smart, and by smart he doesn't

mean you're intelligent, it means you

you're smarting cuz you're hurting,

right?

If those who have some good in them

smart so severely for the evil that's

found in them, can those expect to

escape who have worse evils and no good

found in them? If if uh

Jerusalem be punished

for learning idolatry from the nations,

shall not the nations be punished of

whom they've learned it?

Yeah.

So, it worked.

My mom was being biblical.

>> [laughter]

>> And so, you know, whoever whoever does

the problem, whether mine or somebody

else's kids, my mom said, "I'd rather

grow kids and grass." And she had the

whole neighborhood in her front yard.

But she she wouldn't take no sass.

And she would deal with it. And I'm

thankful. I needed it. I need more than

I got.

She's a loving mom.

So, if God will chasten his children,

he'll certainly judge the lost.

And the next point is the chastening of

God's people was after long neglect of

opportunity to repent.

God was patient. God was patient.

Sent this prophet.

Another prophet.

Another sermon.

Chance after chance after chance.

And

there was no repentance.

You know anybody like that? Maybe you

were like that.

And so, all of us are like that in

somewhat.

Matthew Henry said, "God keeps an

account

whatever we do or

how long we have enjoyed the means of

grace. And the longer we've enjoyed

them, the heavier will be our account if

we've not been improved by them."

That kind of shocks me, doesn't it?

I got saved when I was 13.

I didn't really live for the Lord. I

didn't start living for the Lord till I

was 21.

And I can never get those years back.

Can't get them back.

And I try to go to class reunions back

in Chillicothe, these get-togethers, and

and I don't even recognize the people.

all so old. It's like, "Who are you?"

I had my opportunity to minister.

I had my opportunity and I

messed it up.

I can't take it back.

And that's hard, isn't it? We only got

one life.

It's one only one life and it'll soon be

passed. Only what's done for Christ is

last will last. And Israel wasn't doing

the right thing.

So, here's a

the same divine principle Feinberg says

that

that worked against Judah's sin will

also be effective against Babylon's sin.

Now, that brings us to this whole cup

thing.

That brings us to the whole cup thing.

There's a cup of judgment that God's

going to make people drink.

Whether they want to or not.

The nations are going to drink of it.

It's a cup of judgment.

And it's a serious business.

Uh

and

God is going to see to it

that this happens.

R. K. Harrison said, "The cup is given

first to Jerusalem, then to the

uh

the uh southern nations and then to

those in the north."

So, everybody drinks.

This is a drink the unsaved cannot

escape.

Where Warren Wiersbe quotes this person,

Sydney Harris. I don't know who Sydney

Harris is, but he said an idealist

believes in the short run.

Uh the idealist believes in the short

run.

Uh a cynic believes in the long run.

So the idealist believes the short run

doesn't matter. The cynic believes the

long run doesn't matter. The realist

believes that what is

close or left

uh undone in the short run determines

the long run.

>> [laughter]

>> So we got one life.

One life. One short life will soon be

passed.

Only what's done for Christ

will last.

But what about the rest of it?

It won't last.

So these are strong words.

I I

Philip Ryken is one of my favorite

writers on Jeremiah. He's got a book

this thick of sermons. It's quite quite

good.

And I'm going to close with some of his

comments because they are that good

on Jeremiah 25.

He said, "Sometimes the Bible compares

God to a shepherd,

a father,

or a judge,

or a king.

But in this passage of scripture,

God compares himself

to a bartender."

It's a [laughter] little off the wall,

you know.

"You're going to drink this.

>> [laughter]

>> You're going to drink this."

And God offers a cup to his enemies, a

cup full of divine judgment. It's a

bitter cup of God's wrath for the

nations. Jeremiah 25:15.

Jeremiah 25:15

The first to drink of the wine of God's

wrath were the kings of Judah. It's

verse 17 and 18.

It was if it was the Olympics of divine

judgment and all the nations on the

earth are there.

While God serves the drinks, no one's

allowed to be a teetotaler.

Jeremiah's vision of judgement

widens out from Jerusalem to the Middle

East and from the Middle East to the

whole world.

And he quotes Psalm 75:8. Would someone

Psalms 75:8

look that up? And he quotes Isaiah

Isaiah 51:17

51:17.

Somebody besides Linda.

And he quotes Lamentations 4:21. Who

Lamentations 4:21

wants Psalm 75:8?

Psalms 75:8

No. Who wants Isaiah 51:17? Anybody?

Isaiah 51:17

Isaiah 51:17.

Isaiah 51:17

Uh Carol. And Lamentations 4:21. You

Lamentations 4:21

don't have to go far to that. It's right

after the book of Jeremiah. Lamentations

Who will? Yeah. Yes.

4:21. Okay, 75:8. Who wants to read it?

Who's reading it? John.

>> For in the hand of the Lord there is a

cup

and the wine is red.

It is full of mixture

and he pours it out of the same.

But the dregs thereof

all the wicked of the earth shall wring

them out

and drink them.

>> And why don't you read 22 while you're

there?

50 51:22.

>> You want the one at the beginning?

>> Isaiah 51:22.

Isaiah 51:22

Okay.

>> I've got 51:17.

>> Oh right. Well, let's forget that. Then

we'll just do 17. Now, I need

Lamentations. Sue. Lamentations 4: Who's

got Lamentations 4:21? Yeah.

Lamentations 4:21

>> Me.

Um rejoice and be glad, oh daughter of

Edom, that dwelleth in the land of Uz.

The cup also shall pass through to

and you will become drunk and strip

yourself naked.

>> Now, here's a beautiful thing.

Jesus drank that cup.

The cup that the Father has given me to

drink,

shall I not drink it?

You know, when we study

the Gospels, whether it's Mark or Luke

or John,

you see the same thing.

The cup that my Father's given me to

drink,

shall I not drink it?

Our Lord

drank the cup.

He drank the cup of God's judgment for

us

when he went to the cross.

That was the surprise, the surprise, the

surprise when then

that God put our sins

on our Lord

Jesus Christ.

And it's the Gospel that the bitter cup

of God's wrath ends up in the hand of

Christ. I'm quoting Philip Ryken.

And he said, "Jesus took the bitter cup

of God's wrath into his hands, and he

shrank from it. If you want the proof of

the sinfulness of sin, here it is. If

you want the proof of the reality of

judgment, here it is. If the Son of God

himself was hesitant to drink of such a

cup, will you be so bold to drink of it

yourself?"

There's a hymn that was written

by Anne Cousin.

Words were, and Ira Sankey wrote the

music.

O Christ, what burdens

bowed your head.

I'd like to read some of the verses.

O Christ, what burdens bowed your head,

our load was laid on thee.

Thou stoodest in the sinner's stead, did

bear all ill for me. A victim led, thy

blood was shed, now there's no load for

me.

Death and the curse were in our cup. Oh

Christ, twas full for thee.

But thou has drained the last dark drop.

Tis empty now.

For me.

That bitter cup

loved

make it up.

Now blessings brought

for me.

Father, as we come into your presence

today, we thank thee.

We thank thee that the communion cup is

called the cup of salvation.

And we drink the cup of salvation

because Jesus drank the cup of wrath.

And he hesitated.

He knew what was coming.

But he went to the cross

and he died

for us.

Died for our sins.

Paid for them completely

and totally.

We thank you for that, Lord.

We praise you for that.

We ask heavenly Father that you would

work in all our lives a great love for

our savior.

Great love for cross of Calvary.

In his name we pray.

Amen.

>> Amen.

>> Okay.

We'll be in 26 next week.

>> Lord,

[singing] as we go from this place,

[music]

loving [singing] you more,

trusting [music] you more.

May the power of your love

[singing and music] and the light of

your word shine

through [music] a sin-darkened [singing]

world.